Road Trip by Gary Paulsen Read Free Book Online

steps, wrench it free, and tear back. Dad’s circling the car, trying to get closer. He’s got an arm in front of his face, still trying to look inside the car. I push him out of the way, but my hands are shaking so hard I can’t hold the nozzle. He takes the extinguisher from me and points it toward the engine while he squeezes the lever. A spray of white foam muffles the flames and the fire is out. Dad and I take a closer look inside. Empty. All that worry for an abandoned car.
    We each take a deep breath. I don’t know about him, but I’m shaking all over and my eyes are watering from the smoke. I look in the ditch at the side of the road: no one. Dad’s scanning the road in both directions. Neither of us can see anyone who might have been driving the car.
    All this time cars have been passing us by on the highway. Not a single person stopped to help, though plenty slowed down to look. It was just Dad and me.
    We turn back toward the bus. Gus is bent over, catching his breath. From trying to run, I guess. He
is
prettyold. Mia’s patting his back, trying to get him to take a sip of water, talking on her cell phone. Who’s she calling—the fire department? The police? A news helicopter? They always seem to have footage like this on the evening news. Theo’s eyeing the car and pacing the shoulder. He keeps glancing at his phone and staring into the trees near the side of the road. The wet patches under his arms are back even though it was Dad and me who ran to the car. Atticus is glued to Theo’s side, his eyes locked on Theo.
    “I can’t believe that just happened,” I tell Dad.
    “And Gus said
I
was hard on my vehicle.” Dad laughs.
    It’s the most we’ve spoken since this morning. Dad opens his mouth, but before he can speak I turn and walk to the bus. I’m not ready for a heart-to-heart yet, even though we did just save each other’s butts. I’m too shaky. We walk in silence but I reach over and grab his arm when he stumbles a little. We pretend not to notice. Or that I’m leaning on him, too.
    “You guys are so brave.” Mia throws her arms around me and squishes me in a big hug. I’m having trouble breathing, but I don’t try to pull away. “The rest of us didn’t know what was going on. But you ran toward the fire without a second thought. Like you knew exactly what to do.”
    “It was boneheaded,” Gus says, scratching his head,“but you looked pretty fine doing it. Crazy.” He pats Dad and me on our shoulders.
    Theo doesn’t say anything; his thumbs are flying over his phone. I hope he’s telling all his friends what Dad and I just did. It’d be cool to have the word spread around town before we get home. He probably took pictures; I’ll have to ask him to forward some to me later. Atticus whines a little as he leans against Theo’s leg. Poor guy. I sit next to him on the shoulder of the road and wrap my arms around his neck. He licks my cheek and I feel the shaking start to fade. My hands feel steadier the longer I pet him.
    A cop car, an ambulance, and a fire truck come screaming down the highway, followed by a tow truck. Mia must have called everyone. I take the pictures of the men as they climb out of their rigs. It must be boring for them—nothing but a smoking car, four shaky people standing around, and an anxious border collie. And Theo pacing back and forth, texting.
    Dad walks over to the policeman, who jots notes as Dad gestures at the car. The paramedics start for us, but we wave them away with thumbs-up; no one’s hurt here. They get back in the ambulance and take off. Once the firefighters see that the fire is out, they climb back onto their truck. The tow truck guy loads the ruined car onto his flatbed. I snap a picture, kicking myself that I didn’t think to take out my phone when the engine was still onfire. That would have been the most dramatic picture I ever took. I’ll have to ask Theo if he took pictures or just stood there texting.
    “I never saw a car