Secret Star by Nancy Springer Read Free Book Online Page A

universe. In the silence he seemed light-years away.
    That night Tess had trouble getting to sleep. And when she finally dozed, the nightmare began. Something was wrong, something was wrong, nothing could ever be warm or safe or right again, the bedroom walls rippled and wavered like vertical water, and under them, or behind them, was—the wrong thing, the bad thing, that was going to take away—take away—take someone away—
    She woke up.
    Then she lay there with her heart urgently pounding because of the dream, because somehow the dream made her think of Kamo, Kam—where was he? She didn’t know; that was what was wrong, more than anything. God, what an idiot she was, she had yelled at him, sent him away, and—maybe he was her brother, and even if he wasn’t, she still felt—something, like he was maybe the one other person in the lonesome universe—but she had never found out where he lived, and she didn’t know where or how to find him. What if he never came back?

6
    She skipped school the next day and searched for him, starting around Hinkles Corner, asking at the post office and the video rental place and the Qwik Stop Gas & Lottery and the Paperback Trader. Most people she asked knew who Kam was and stared like they saw something branded on her forehead. Gossips. They probably think he’s fed me drugs or made me pregnant . Just because he was a tough-looking stranger with long hair and scars.
    People knew who Kamo was, but nobody seemed to know where to find him. And nobody had seen him that day.
    Tess started asking at houses, up one long rickety set of steps to the front door and then down and then up the next one. Half the time nobody was home. The other half the time nobody could help her.
    It got to be afternoon, and Tess hadn’t eaten; her belly felt as achy and hollow as her chest. She gave up on Hinkles Corner and started hiking toward Canadawa, asking at houses along the way. On the far hills she could see school buses crawling like yellow caterpillars. She knocked at a farmhouse, asked about Kam. Walked on, asked at another. Another. Next minute, it seemed, she saw the sun hanging heavy like an egg yolk over the hills and realized she should have been at work.
    Oh, God. She had to find Kam.
    But—if she lost her job, forget everything. She and Daddy wouldn’t eat.
    Tess ran.
    Had to get to work. She ran along the road, panting, her empty belly aching so badly she couldn’t keep her legs going right. Eyes on the ground, she had to concentrate on every step, and she was miles away, and it was late, damn, she knew she was good and late. Hours late. Near the IGA finally, on the back alley that ran alongside the railroad right-of-way. Almost there, running like molasses up the delivery lot, past the Dumpster, toward the back door—
    She heard gravelly scuffling noises, and looked up, and there were Butch and Kamo.
    Kam.
    Standing like a flint knife.
    Butch in a white apron, hands to Kam’s chest, shoving him around. Yelling stuff Tess couldn’t understand at first; to her they were just sounds hanging on the air. “Get out! I’m tired of your ugly face hanging around.”
    There was no time to sort it out, what it was about, why her heart was pounding. Tess kept running, toward them, and Butch was shoving Kam, making him stagger back, and Kam’s hands were curled into fists, though he didn’t lift them, and his face was hard, his single eye narrow and hard, though he kept his voice quiet. “I got a right—”
    â€œLike I care? Sludge face.” Butch grabbed Kam by the shoulders. “You get out of here. Now. Or I—”
    â€œStop it!” Tess didn’t understand what was going on, but she knew she didn’t like it. She barreled between them, knocking Butch’s hands away from Kam. “Stop acting like jerks.”
    Butch stood back from Kamo, but he yelled at Tess like it was all her