Jackson Jones, Book 1_ The Tale of a Boy, an Elf, and a Very Stinky Fish - Jenn L. Kelly [21]
“I don’t have anything for you.”
Jackson made it a habit not to lie. Because lying is oh-so-very wrong. But Jackson did not want some umpteen-hundred birds attacking him. So he decided that it was okay to lie. Just this one time.
“I don’t have it. See? Not in my hands!” Technically he wasn’t lying. The gum wasn’t in his hands.
A large, yellow pheasant, the size of a fat dog, waddled over to him, his tail flaring out angrily. His sharp pointy beak was an inch from Jackson’s hands. Jackson trembled a little, but kept his hands still. The sharp pointy beak moved to Jackson’s nose, the large, yellow eyes glaring at him. And with a wet snort,
the bird turned away, squawking loudly at the other birds. They all waddled away, chattering to each other. Jackson’s heart stopped pounding.
“Whoop! Good catch, Jackson!” Rayaa called out. Jackson pulled the gum out of his pocket and looked at it in wonder. It was a good catch. Huh.
“Meeka, you know better than to tease the birds!” Rayaa scolded.
Meeka sulked, sucking on the ends of her hair. Her brown bangs fell into her eyes as she stared at the ground.
“I just wanted some gum for myself. I wasn’t giving them any. They just happened to be there when I opened it,” Meeka pouted.
Rayaa frowned and then hugged Meeka tightly, “Meeka, you need to stop getting into trouble.”
Meeka nodded solemnly at her, “I know, Rayaa.”
Rayaa turned to Jackson. “Thanks for helpin’, Jackson. I really appreciate it. Sometimes it’s hard to take care of two sisters, you know.”
“Two sisters? There’s another one?”
Rayaa nodded her head at the house. “Eleissa is in there. You saw her reading inside. That’s her job. She reads.”
Jackson shrugged, unimpressed. “Anyone can read.”
Rayaa smiled mysteriously. “Ah yes, but Eleissa can read anything.”
“So what? I can read anything too.” (Actually he couldn’t read French, but we won’t get into that right now.)
Rayaa smiled even more mysteriously. “Yes, but Eleissa can read things that haven’t even been written yet!”
She glanced up at the sky. “Well, it’s getting late, and I have to go. I’m sure there are a lot more crubbies, around and I need to do my job.” She looked pointedly at Meeka.
Meeka smiled a little smile from under her bangs. Rayaa pulled her aside and began speaking quietly to her. Jackson couldn’t hear exactly what they were saying, but he heard, “key…door…garden shed” and then, very distinctly, “put that fish back!”
Meeka nodded and hugged Rayaa. Rayaa surreptitiously kissed her on the head. (I’ve already explained this word, but just in case you’ve forgotten…surreptitiously is like when your little sister is holding an ice cream cone and you lick it when no one is looking.) She turned and walked away. Meeka straightened her uniform and approached Jackson.
“Shall we continue?” she asked, very businesslike.
Chapter 29
In Which There Is a Great Deal of Important Talk. Also, Feathers.
What were you guys talking about?” asked Jackson as they came closer to the hedge entrance.
“Oh. Um. Nothing.” Meeka glanced down at her fingernails for a moment then flashed Jackson a charming smile. “Shall we go in through the back door?”
“Do you do a lot of tours here?” Jackson asked as they began walking.
“Oh, I get enough work,” Meeka reached up and pulled a huge yellow feather out of her hair.
“How is all of this happening in my Great-Aunt Harriett’s hair?” Jackson reached up and pulled a pink feather out of his own hair. “I mean, I know I saw her put a dog in her hair once, during a tornado, but…do people really just climb in?”
“We-ell, there are many different ways to get here,” she said as she reached up and pulled a green feather out of Jackson’s hair.
“How is that possible? Do people just trip and fall into her hair all the time?” Jackson gestured wildly as he spoke. A