Dotty’s Suitcase by Constance C. Greene Read Free Book Online Page B

kept her head down. “They won’t,” she said firmly, not entirely believing it. “They won’t. Keep on looking.” If they came back and found me and Jud here, tramping around, searching for something, they’d probably kill us. They’d shoot us dead.
    â€œWe could look farther in,” Jud suggested. “In from the road. Maybe that guy threw it way far in.”
    It was a thought. “I was just thinking that,” Dotty said. They traveled back in and resumed their search. The light was fading fast.
    â€œWe better go home. I’m cold and I’m hungry, and besides,” Jud said, “they might come back, and if they do, I don’t want to be here.”
    â€œO.K.” Dotty didn’t want to be there, either, if they came back. Even as she spoke, her foot touched something that didn’t feel like weeds or grass or an old beer bottle or anything like that. Whatever it was it was solid. Dotty knelt down to see better.
    â€œIt looks like a box,” she said. The box lay partly hidden under a scraggly bush.
    â€œOpen it,” Jud said softly, his breath tickling her cheek. “Open it quick.”
    â€œAll it is is an old box,” Dotty scoffed, her heart beating madly. “I wouldn’t give you a nickel for it.” She ran her hand lovingly over the surface.
    Jud leaned down to look, his nose almost grazing their find. “Never saw no box with a handle on it,” he observed. “Looks like a suitcase to me. Is anything in it? Is it heavy? Lemme see if it’s heavy.” He tried to take the box away from her, and Dotty warned, “Hands off!”
    â€œYou’re not the boss!” he cried, beginning to jiggle the way he did when he had to go to the bathroom.
    â€œPick it up. See what’s inside,” Jud said, jiggling madly.
    â€œGo on behind that tree over there,” Dotty said. “I won’t look.”
    Jud scuttled behind the tree. Quick as a fox, Dotty worked the clasps on the box and the lid sprang open.
    Even in the dim light she could see what the box held. She heard Jud coming back and slammed the lid shut, fastening it with shaking fingers.
    â€œWhat do we want with an old box …” he began, then stopped.
    â€œThere’s a car coming,” he said.
    Dotty stumbled to her feet, clutching the box. “Are you sure?”
    â€œListen yourself.” He put a finger to his lips. “Can’t you hear it? It’s coming this way and it’s coming fast.”
    Dotty strained her ears. He was right. There was a car coming. “Come on!” she whispered. Crouching low, she ran. Jud followed. They ran as fast as their legs would go, carrying them away from the highway, away from the approaching car, into the woods.

CHAPTER 10
    â€œListen here,” Jud panted behind her, about twenty minutes later. “I got to rest. That’s all there is to it. I got to rest.” He made heaving noises, and she saw him put his head down between his knees. Nothing came up.
    Dotty had a bad stitch in her side. It hurt something fierce. She leaned against a big old elm tree to get her breath. Then she stood taut, listening. In the distance behind her, there was no sound except the sighing of the wind.
    â€œWe forgot the hamburger,” Dotty said at last. “Oh, my. Won’t Aunt Martha be mad!”
    Jud raised his head, and for a moment he looked very old and very wise.
    â€œNo, she won’t,” he said. “I got it.” He tapped his bulging pocket. “I got it right here, but I couldn’t fit the milk. I had to leave the milk.” He smiled, revealing the empty space in his gums that had recently held two teeth.
    Dotty felt herself getting calmer. She held the suitcase close to the stitch in her side, as if it were a hot-water bottle and would help to ease the ache.
    â€œGood for you,” she said reluctantly.
    Jud noticed the way she held the