Showdown in Crittertown by Justine Fontes Read Free Book Online Page A

Cheddar. Did you find out anything else?”
    Before I could answer, Jane asked, “What’s all the squeaking about?”
    Jill handed me her assignment pad. I felt guilty lying to such nice children. But I had my “orders.” So I wrote, “Nothing much. Just the crafts.”
    Jill looked skeptical. “Really? Then why did you stop working?”
    â€œYes,” Jane teased. “Look at all April’s done while you’ve been squeaking.”
    April blushed. Then she said softly, “I call them ‘imagination doors.’” She added, “You can put them anywhere you want your mind to wander.” She had used Popsicle sticks, twine, and tiny acorns to make several small doors. Instead of a house number or name, each one had a label like “the future,” “precious memories,” or my favorite, “happy thoughts.”
    â€œI think they’re great!” Tanya declared. “You could use them in a dollhouse, or just put them on a wall, your locker, a tree—anywhere.”
    â€œI bet we sell a bunch of these at the fair,” Hannah said.
    So we all started making “imagination doors.” Coming up with different labels for them was fun.
    At least it would have been if my mind hadn’t kept wandering to scary places. What if we did get into a war with the library colony? What if they really were making weapons far worse than anything our colony had?
    â€œWhy don’t you write a label?” Jane prompted me.
    â€œYes, Cheddar. You have such neat little handwriting.” Jill rolled a pen toward me.
    I lifted the pen and held it over a square of bright paper trimmed with toothpicks. Where did I want my imagination to go? What door did I want to open?
    â€œWhat’s he writing?” Javier asked.
    Andy guessed, “I bet it says, ‘cheese store.’”
    â€œOr ‘the moon,’” Bill chimed in. “Cheddar likes to think the moon really is made of green cheese.”
    â€œWhat’re you talking about?” Ian asked.
    â€œHaven’t you heard the old jokes about the moon being made of green cheese?” Jill replied.
    â€œIt’s because the moon looks lumpy, like cheese curds before they’ve hardened into ripe cheese,” Bill added. “Cheese makers call unripe cheese green, like green tomatoes.”
    â€œSo there’s no cheese that’s really green?” Javier sounded disappointed.
    â€œRight,” Bill said. “And the moon isn’t made of cheese.”
    Javier laughed. “Duh!”
    Jane looked up from Cheddar’s writing. “It starts with a ‘P.’”
    My body blocked the rest of the letters, so the children couldn’t read the label until I finished. I stepped back to make sure I’d spelled it right.
    â€œPeace,” April read aloud in her sweet, soft voice.
    â€œPeace,” Javier repeated loud enough for the other children to hear.
    â€œThat’s very nice,” Nilla squeaked.
    Grayson shook his head. “Yes, ‘very nice,’ but how do you propose to achieve it?”
    Sadly, I had no idea.

Chapter 8   Opening the Door
    As soon as we reached the post office, Grayson said, “We have to tell Pops about the weapons.”
    Brownback agreed that secret metallurgy did suggest an arms buildup.
    Grayson said, “There are plenty of paper clips at the post office. We just have to figure out how to heat the tips. And if General History can do that, so can we!”
    Without waiting for his grandfather to answer, Grayson rushed off to find the best tinkerers in the colony. I started to call after him, but Brownback stopped me. “Let him go, Cheddar. I’d rather talk to you and Nilla.”
    â€œHave you made any progress on the treaty yet?” he asked.
    I looked down at the floor.
    Brownback chuckled. “I know. Peace isn’t easy. That’s why I thought you might need some