Bone Gap by Laura Ruby Read Free Book Online

window. She was only two stories up, but a fall could still mean broken legs, and broken legs would mean that she was just as trapped as she’d been before. Even more than trapped. Completely helpless. So she held on, taking huge gulps of air, tensing her muscles, priming them for flight.
    â€”Ready.
    â€”Set.
    â€”Jump.
    She sprang from the window, extending her arms as far as she could. Her forearms thudded against the branch, the bark scraping her skin as she scrambled to get a firm grip. She hung from the tree, feet dangling, sliced palm stinging. She barely had a second to congratulate herself for making it before the branch creaked and then cracked. She fell, hitting first one branch, then another, then another before thudding to the ground.
    She sprawled there, lungs gasping for the breath that had been so violently knocked from them.
    Which was when she saw the beast. Because of course there was a beast.
    A beast for the beast.
    It growled, showing her its graveyard teeth.

Finn
THE NIGHT MARE
    MIGUEL WAS WAITING ON THE STEPS OF THE LONOGAN house, work gloves in his lap, a little sheepdog frantically bulldozing his knee.
    â€œThis dog has mental problems,” Miguel said. “Doesn’t he get that I’m sitting down?”
    â€œThat’s what happens when a sheepdog lives with show cats.”
    The dog, a mottled thing named Mustard, ran over to Finn and jackhammered his calf. Finn allowed himself to be herded over to the steps. A posthole digger, shovels, a few bags of quick-set concrete, large buckets with lids, a role of fencing wire, pliers, and a couple of hammers were piled on the ground near the bushes.
    Miguel stood next to Finn while Mustard danced around their legs. “You just missed the Lonogans. They left the truck and said we should start in the southwest corner, where the fence is the worst.”
    The new posts were already stacked in the bed of the pickup, so they loaded the rest of the equipment and filled the buckets with water for the concrete—jobs made more difficult with Mustard’s determination to keep them together. When Finn opened the door to the cab, Mustard leaped inside.
    â€œLet’s hope he can dig,” said Miguel.
    The southwest corner of the fence abutted the main road but also separated the Lonogan property from the Rude farm. Finn knew the fence was in sorry shape, but it was even worse up close. The wire between the posts was rusted and torn, bowed up along the bottom by animals snuffling underneath it and down on the top by animals leaning or climbing over it. The corner post leaned toward the road, and large black ants covered its surface. Finn pulled a chunk from the post, exposing the smooth tunnels made by the insects.
    â€œThat one has to go,” said Finn.
    â€œI don’t know,” said Miguel. “Maybe this is where the Lonogans store their larvae.”
    With the pliers, they plucked the staples holding the wire to the post. They dug around the base of the post to loosen it, then kicked the post over. Hundreds of ants spilled from the lacy wood. Immediately, the dog tried to herd the insects with hisnose. When that didn’t work, he ate them.
    â€œThat’ll teach you,” said Finn.
    â€œI hope you’re not talking to the bugs,” Miguel said.
    The new posts were thicker and longer than the old ones, so Finn and Miguel took turns with the posthole digger to widen and deepen the hole. When it was deep enough, they inserted the post into the hole, checking with a level to make sure it was straight. Then Miguel held the post while Finn poured a little water into the hole. After that, a layer of concrete mix, then more water, more mix, until the hole was full.
    Miguel said, “One down, eleventy million to go.”
    They moved on to the next post, Mustard on their heels, muzzle littered with ant parts.
    â€œWhat the hell happened to this one?” Miguel said. The post was splintered and gouged,