Hamish X and the Cheese Pirates by Sean Cullen Read Free Book Online

told. My daddy sat me down at the kitchen table to tell me he’d been accepted to work on an oil rig in the Caspian Sea. That’s somewheres in Russia. The money was good but he’d be gone fer a while. He’d send money home and when he had a place he’d send fer me, but until that time Aunt Jean would be takin’ care o’ me. I cried all night, I don’t mind admittin’ that. He left the next day. He told me to be good and work on my slider.
    I did my best to get along with Aunt Jean, but she were an ornery cuss of a woman. I was certain she was takin’ all the money my daddy sent home and keepin’ it fer herself but she swore she never got a cent from my “good fer nuthin” daddy. She never let me get the mail from the mailbox at the end of the lane so I couldn’t be shore if she was lyin’ or not.
    To make a long story short, a letter came one day with bad news. It were from the oil company my daddy got hired on with. The letter said he’d been lost in a storm, swept off the rig in the darkest part o’ the night. There was nothing left of him. Just like that, I were all alone in the world. All I have to remember him is a picture of me and my momma and him, smilin’ on the back porch in the sunshine. And his baseball mitt. I keep ’em under my bunk.
    As soon as Mean Jean found out I was orphaned, she couldn’t get me outta her life quick enough. The very next day she called a number and the ODA come and carted me off. I ended up here. And that’s just about the whole sorry tale.

Chapter 7
    Mimi finished her story as the sun finally plunged behind the rim of the tundra. It seemed that the sun itself had decided that the story was too sad to bear and hid its face behind the earth.
    â€œHow long have you been here?” Hamish X asked. “Seven long years,” Mimi said.
    â€œHave you tried to escape?”
    â€œEscape to where? There ain’t nowhere to go. The nearest town is nine hunnert kilometres away over barren wastes. If the cold don’t get ya, the giant polar bears will. Or the wolves. 33 I imagine some orphan meat would make a fine change from the seal they’re used to.”
    Hamish was silent as he thought for a moment. “What about a boat? The harbour?”
    â€œYa ain’t gonna have any joy there. There’s savage dogs and the guard at the dock is the meanest of ’em all. Got a face that looks like somebody dropped a forklift truck on it. We call ’im—”
    â€œForkliftface?”
    â€œHow’d ya guess? Anyhoo, he carries the key in his pocket all the time.” Mimi shook her shaggy head. “Might as well resign yerself to a long stay in Windcity Orphanage makin’ cheese fer Viggo. I only hope I can hold out two more years till I turn fourteen. Then I hope I can go back to Cross Plains and whup old Mean Jean.” Mimi smiledfiercely at that thought, her features barely visible in the fading light.
    â€œWhat if you can’t stick it out that long?”
    â€œOh, I will. There ain’t no other choice. Some kids crack and they get taken away by the grey agents, them ODA folks. They’s never heard of agin. I don’t know what happens to ’em but I bet they just dump ’em on the street somewheres to fend fer themselves. I’ll make it two more years. I shore will.”
    They hung in silence for a moment, thinking about years and how long they could be. “What about you?” Mimi asked suddenly. “You gotta tell your story now. Only fair.”
    â€œI’d really like to tell you my story but …”
    â€œBut nothin’,” Mimi said. “You gotta tell!”
    â€œIt’s not that I don’t want to. I wish I had a story to tell,” Hamish X said. “I don’t know where I come from or where I’ve been. I know one thing though … I have to find Mother. I have to find her. I know she’s out