Jackie's Wild Seattle by Will Hobbs Read Free Book Online

was meant as an offhanded compliment. He looked at me and said in a wounded sort of way, “Well, yeah, but I’m not exactly volunteering.”
    I decided not to ask what he meant.
    I was almost finished hanging my clothes in the closet when Cody came flying upstairs with late-breaking news:
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    1) Uncle Neal had a bumper sticker on the back of his old truck that said VERY FUNNY, SCOTTY, NOW BEAM DOWN MY CLOTHES.
    2) Another one said FRIENDS DON’T LET FRIENDS EAT FARMED SALMON.
    3) Uncle Neal said it was hard to drive and keep an eye out for new bumper stickers, so Cody could help out with that.
    4) Rosie said Sage didn’t like kids under a certain size because a little kid had been really mean to her when she was a puppy.
    5) Rosie has a son named Robbie who is seven, too. Jackie is a “midgewife” and delivered Robbie when he was born.
    6) Jackie was going to show Cody how to collect the eggs from the henhouse. You had to stand up to the rooster but you couldn’t hit him with anything or kick him because you might break his leg.
    7) The baby porcupine and the baby skunks are almost as cool as Chuckie. He got to help with bottle feeding—it was major the way Chuckie tugged on the bottle. The baby skunks don’t even stink.
    8) When he asked a couple of people about Tyler, they acted like they were busy.
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    After that last item, my little brother looked at me funny. I said, “How come you were asking people about Tyler?”
    â€œI thought you’d want to know,” he replied sheepishly.
    â€œCody, all kinds of people help out here. Close to a hundred every week this time of year, Jackie said. They come and go all day.”
    â€œHalf of the animals die,” Cody blurted out, hurt in his voice, on his face.
    â€œWho told you that?”
    â€œTyler did. He said some of them get put to sleep. The bodies get taken away and cremated.”
    Before I could say a thing, my little brother turned and ran. Cody bounded down the stairs yelling, “Jackie’s going to take us to see some low-flying fish!”

8
UNDERGROUND WITH A TOUGH CUSTOMER
    Cody was right, Jackie had plans for us. She drove us straight into downtown Seattle. We parked under a viaduct across from where people drove on and off the ferries. Next thing I knew we were strolling along Alaskan Way, the street closest to the water. A pier full of tourist traps caught my eye, and we started browsing.
    In the very first shop, Cody found himself a color poster of Mount Saint Helens erupting. A conch shell, a candy bar, and a plastic tarantula later, he had maxed his weekly allowance. I was the treasurer and warned him there wouldn’t be any advances. “I’m a grasshopper, not an ant,” he declared. Cody suffered through another hour of browsing until we climbed the steps to Seattle’s famous Pike Place Market. He was in search of the low-flying fish Jackie had advertised, whatever they were.
    Pike Place was spilling over with tourists. The first section we entered was an open-air flower market, a riot ofexotic fragrances. I would have bought an arrangement of dahlias for Jackie if she wasn’t up to her ears in flowers at home and I hadn’t spent $14 on a Seattle photo calendar. A woman speaking an Asian language was weeding seconds from the bulk flowers and tossing them under the table. She saw me standing there sort of blissfully, sort of wishfully. She smiled and presented me with a beautiful orchid. I said thanks, turned around, and slipped its stem through a buttonhole in Jackie’s blouse.
    The appeal of the flower section escaped Cody. Our grasshopper dragged us through the vegetable section and ever closer to the strong smell of seafood. We were soon surrounded by crab, squid, and octopus. The fish came next, iced down and on display. “Where are the low-flying fish?” Cody fretted, craning his neck. “That’s the whole reason I came.”
    Jackie