Road Trip by Gary Paulsen Read Free Book Online Page A

fire before,” I say.
    “As these things go,” Mia says, “it was pretty tame. Sometimes the tires explode.”
    “Why do you know so much about burning cars?”
    “I dated a guy who was kind of known for car fires.”
    “How does someone get known for
that
?”
    “Insurance scam. Getting rid of evidence. Making a point about territory. You know—there are lots of reasons to set fire to a car. He knew most of them.” Mia sounds almost … breezy.
    “What kind of aura did
he
have?” I ask.
    “Very dark and heavy.”
    I look over at Theo to see his reaction. Nothing. He’s pacing and texting. Atticus is trotting back and forth next to Theo, his eyes never leaving the woods on the side of the road.
    “What kind of riffraff have you gotten caught up with, missy?” Gus snaps. “Sounds like the kinda people who’ll steal from ya, gut ya, leave ya for dead in the ditch.” He notices Mia’s expression. “Don’t act so surprised. These things happen.”
    Before Mia can answer, Dad heads over to us as the cop drives away. “Back in the bus. We’ve got a border collie pup waiting for us.”
    We all climb on, and Dad pulls into traffic. Atticus must be rubbing off on Theo, because he keeps looking out the side windows and behind us. Atticus surprises me and sits not with Mia, but next to Theo. From my seat behind them, they look like their heads are connected, the way they swivel together looking out the windows. Theo pulls out his phone when he gets another text. It reminds me.
    I send a text to my mom. I need a few screens to tell the whole story of Dad and me and the fire.
    “Dad.” He nearly drives off the road at the sound of my voice. Can’t blame him after the silent treatment I’ve been giving him. “I just texted Mom, told her what happened.”
    “Thanks, son. I better call her, reassure her we’re okay. Gotta call the girl who’s holding the dog for us, too, let her know—”
    “—that we’re hopelessly lost but making good time.” I finish his sentence. It’s an inside joke from the Boy Scouts hiking trip we took a couple years ago.
    It’s good to see Dad smile at me in the rearview mirror. I smile back, but just a little one so he knows we haven’t worked everything out yet.

ATTICUS
    The car that was on fire was the same one I saw Bobby sitting in outside Theo’s place.
    As soon as he saw the car, Theo started looking along the side of the road. So did I. We didn’t see anyone. Theo stopped looking once he started texting. I kept looking. I couldn’t smell anything because of the smoke. I know Bobby’s smell from when I bit him this morning.
    When the cop came, Theo pulled up the hood on his sweatshirt and kept his face down.
    Theo’s ice cold when I lean against him, but he can’t stop sweating.
    When we got back on the bus, he jammed all his stuff in his bag that had been on the seat next to him, and he’s holding the shoulder strap so tight his knuckles are white.
    We’re both watching out the windows. Because someone is after him.

The Drag Race
    “Uh, Dad? How fast are you going? It feels like we’re flying, and speeding in a bright yellow school bus isn’t the kind of thing that slips under the radar.”
    Radar.
    As soon as the word leaves my mouth, I know I’ve jinxed us. Sure enough, I hear the sirens and see the lights from behind. Dad mutters to himself and jerks the bus to the side of the road, spewing shoulder dust and pebbles in our wake.
    “Another cop.” Theo sighs and rubs his face.
    “Another ticket.” Dad sighs and rubs
his
face.
    “Another delay.” Mia bites her lip. “I know your dad says it’ll all work out, but I’m worried about getting the dog in time.”
    She’s not the only one. His picture flashes throughmy mind and I get edgy. I hope Dad’s been keeping in touch with the shelter to let them know we’re on the way.
    Gus turns in his seat to watch the cop walk to the bus from where he pulled in behind us. “Yup, we just blew past the