Project Jackalope by Emily Ecton Read Free Book Online Page B

wasn’t just that Bob made me want to take a shower. I just wanted to get out of there. I slung my backpack over my shoulder, and that was when I heard the small ripping sound.
    Agatha heard it, too, and a panicked expression shot across her face. Not exactly the look you want when you’re trying to play things cool.
    “Agatha, Jeremy, wait a minute,” Bob said, taking a step toward us. “What’s going on? You’re not in school. What are you up to.” He didn’t even bother to make it a question, he just accused us flat out. Uncool, man.
    Agatha smiled, “Conference day, that’s all. Right, Jeremy?”
    I nodded and shifted my weight nervously. The fabric on the backpack started to give way. Not much, maybe an inch. But enough to make me want to throw up. And enough to make Bob eye my bag suspiciously.
    It’s not like he was buying the conference stuff either. He narrowed his eyes. “Don’t try to con me, Agatha. What have you got there?”
    Agatha grabbed my arm. “Nothing! Thanks for the help! See you soon!” Then she made a break for the door.
    I took off after her and felt the backpack rip again. I swung it around and clutched it to my chest just as the strap broke. I could feel the pointy prongs stabbing into my chest as I ran, but I didn’t stop. I just hoped my gravestone didn’t end up saying “death by jackalope.”
    Thankfully, Bob didn’t follow us. I’m guessing he has an allergy to anything that might be labeled “physical activity.” He just watched through the window as we took off through the zoo and out into the park.
    As soon as we were out of sight, Agatha gasped and flopped to the ground under a tree. “That was so stupid. All we did was make Bob suspicious. And he’s a good guy! I’m so paranoid now! Why am I so paranoid of everybody?”
    I shrugged and clutched nervously at the bag on my chest. Good guy or not, Bob creeped me out. But tobe honest, everybody was creeping me out these days. And Bob was really the least of my concerns. I had the jackalope immobilized for the time being, but if he wanted to get free, I wasn’t going to be able to stop him. He was one twitch away from a starring role on the ten o’clock news.
    “Agatha, we’ve got a big problem here.” I indicated the bag with my head.
    “We’ve got a couple of big problems here,” Agatha said, barely glancing at the bag. The jackalope squirmed and popped his head out of the top of my backpack. He looked like a jackalope burrito. So much for hiding him.
    “Jeremy, we can’t keep this up. Those guys in the suits? If they really are CIA, that’s huge. We can’t keep running from them. We’ve got to confront our problems head-on.”
    I nodded. “Great. Um, could you look at my bag a sec? Speaking of head-on?”
    Agatha looked up and saw the jackalope staring down at her. “Oh, crap, Jeremy, you’re supposed to keep him hidden.”
    “Yeah, sorry about that.” Like the burrito look was my idea.
    Agatha dug around in her book bag and pulled out a scarf, which she wrapped around the jackalope’s head, so instead of a jackalope burrito, it looked like a turban-wearing bunny burrito. Much better.
    “There’s only one thing to do, Jeremy,” she said, tying off the top of the turban.
    “Oh yeah? What’s that?” Since all of Agatha’s ideas had turned out so well.
    “We’re going home. We’re going to clear our names.”

8.
I Play Keep-Away
    “I don’t know about this, Agatha.” We were standing in the hedges of the apartment building across the street from ours. I was spending way too much time in hedges these days, that’s for dang sure.
    The jackalope was now safely stowed in an environmentally friendly reusable grocery bag made from all-recycled materials. (I know this because it was written in huge hot pink letters across the front of the bag. Pretty snazzy, if you’re blind.) Agatha had picked it up at the local minimart on the way home. I owe her a dollar.
    “Look, I know it seems dumb.