Hunter Moran Hangs Out by Patricia Reilly Giff Read Free Book Online Page B

fingers on her desk. “The books,” she says.
    I look down at the pile in my arms. I don’t even know what I’m doing with them.
    Mrs. Wu is frowning. As Sister Appolonia would say, she’s a no-nonsense person. She looks at us over her glasses. “You have to sign them out.”
    Sheesh. As if we’d steal these babies. They weigh as much as I do.
    I put the pile on her desk. I look over my shoulder to see if the kidnapper is coming, but he’s nowhere in sight.
    Mrs. Wu is nodding. “Excellent choices here.” She looks down at us over her glasses. “You also have six books out all summer. It’s going to cost.”
    â€œTomorrow,” I say. “We’re going to bring them right back.”
    I don’t stop to see what excellent choices we have. I take Steadman’s hand, and the three of us are out the door.

Chapter 14
    In the backyard, Nana barbecues hamburgers, with a little help from Linny and Becca. Becca’s going on about the new kid, Alex, who’s building steps for their workout practice. “Olympics, here we come,” she says.
    Linny’s nodding. She looks a little rumpled from lying under her bed, but she’s prepared. She’s got Steadman’s looks-like-real sword tucked under her jeans belt and William’s baseball bat against the picnic table an inch away from her.
    A worm is wandering around. One of ours? Sheesh, all that guy needs is a sunburn. I scoop him up, take a chunk of hamburger, and rush them both into the house.
    I’m no sooner outside again than Linny begins. “I want some help after supper.” She stares at Zack and me. “We’re going to string spoons and forks over the back steps. The front steps, too.”
    Zack shakes his head at me. This whole kidnapper thing has sent her right over the edge.
    â€œMaybe William can help,” I say.
    â€œYeah,” Zack adds. “He can paint the spoons and forks.”
    William gives Zack a nasty kick. “I have better things to do,” he says.
    And then a surprise. “I’ll help,” Nana says, dishing out some of that brown pudding, which turns out to be butterscotch, the stick-to-the-roof-of-your-mouth kind. “But why, Linny?”
    Linny takes a blob of pudding and swallows it down. “I hate to tell you this,” she says, “but there’s a kidnapper in town looking for a victim. All the evidence points to me.”
    Nana bites the side of her lip. I can’t tell if she’s trying not to laugh, or if she’s worried. “We’d better get that silverware up, then.”
    Linny nods. “If the kidnapper bangs into them, it will make enough noise to wake the neighborhood. I’ll be ready to dial 911.”
    â€œDon’t worry, I’ll help,” Steadman says.
    Great. That will take care of him for an hour. We’re free.
    Linny starts to gather up spoons. It gives us a great opportunity to get out of there without finishing the pudding, and without having to hang silverware all over the property.
    We slide out from the picnic table, and Mary waves bye-bye from her high chair. It’s her best trick.
    We stop in the kitchen to check on the worms. A couple are twirled around, heads or tails poked up out of the dirt. They look comfortable and happy. Good.
    We head for the lookout tower. It’s getting dark now, and the insects are going wild.
    A couple of problems. Yulefski is there ahead of us. We can see her legs dangling from the platform. Bradley the Bully is sloshing around in the edge of the pond, fishing for something.
    â€œWhat to do?” I whisper.
    â€œClimb quietly, that’s what,” Zack whispers back. “We have no choice. We’ll have to watch the kidnapper’s house. If he comes out, we’ll follow.”
    We take running jumps. Hand over hand we climb. We check to be sure Bradley hasn’t seen us.
    Yulefski looks up from her book.