The Hole in the Wall - Lisa Rowe Fraustino [45]
“Let’s just follow the rules, okay? Let the adults handle it. In case you didn’t notice, Sebby, we’re just kids. We can’t do anything.”
“Oh, yeah? That’s what you think. I mean, well, I may be just a kid, but”—I pointed the ol’ Daniels eyebrow in the direction of the gore—“I happen to know my way around this place. And believe me, nobody who follows the rules is gonna find out any of Boots Odum’s secrets. After we know something for certain about Jed, then we can tell Ma. I promise.”
Barbie finally let go of my aching elbow and crossed her arms to stare me down. “Okay, what do you have in mind?”
I was glad she said that, because if she hadn’t I was gonna hafta try and bend back her wrist. If I could get her on her knees, I could make her do anything. Unfortunately, there was also the risk of missing her wrist and getting my blankety-blank kicked.
“Well . . . ,” I said, “we don’t want Ma coming to look for us. So . . . the first thing,” I said (making it up as I went), “is to get home in time for spaghetti night, or there won’t be a second thing.”
We hurried home, talking it over on the way. We’d return to the cavern after supper, we decided, and bring the rest of the chickens so whatever was petrifying them could leave their bodies. Ma would never even have to know what had happened to them. Sweet! And we’d board up the hole in the feed closet so the hens couldn’t get out again. Something back there had to have caused the petrifying problem, we figured.
We’d get fresh batteries for the flashlight tomorrow so we could look around for more clues in the tunnel and cavern. And then we’d sneak into the gore to look around at the base of the cliff below the tunnel. If there was any sign of Jed in sight, we’d find it.
Along our walk home we came across Celery sitting on a rock, shivering. She fluttered onto my sneaker and rode the rest of the way back to the henhouse. Barney was thrilled to see her. I propped Jed’s protest signs against the hole in the closet to keep Celery out of there during supper time.
We had no idea what hour it was, so we hurried into the house. Grum sat in her rocker, clicking her false teeth over her yarn ball. Ma hunched over the sink clanking pots and pans. The pillow and the cushions on the couch looked as if Pa had just gotten up. Everything seemed normal. The tunnel, the cavern, the rock wall, the boulder—none of that seemed real. Not the visit from Odum, not Ma’s fight with Pa, not him leaving.
Maybe none of that had happened. Maybe I’d imagined all of it. The whole day. No, three whole days! Maybe I’d just now gotten out of bed Thursday morning and was on my way to tend the chickens. They’ll all gather around my feet when I walk in, squawking for their corn.
“Good, just in time to wash your hands for supper,” said Ma with a smile over her shoulder. Her glasses were all fogged up with steam, making me think of the magic glasses that had shown us the secret world hidden in the rocks. I felt in my pocket for them, and instead something crinkled under my hand. Jed’s letter. Just as good. It proved the chaos was all real.
Humming, Ma turned to stir something on the stove. And then the hum broke right out into an old rock ’n roll song. Not a sad sort of my-life’s-gone-wrong song, either. A dancing-in-the-streets sort of song. You’d think she’d be in a sad mood after what happened with Pa, not knowing what the future would be, but I hadn’t seen her looking this happy in a long time. No, I’d never seen her looking this happy. She looked younger and perkier, as if weights had been lifted off her face.
Barbie and I made faces at each other. I shrugged. She shrugged back. Then we smiled, just happy to see Ma happy.
Grum looked up and smiled at us smiling at each other. “So, what have you two been up to?” She always wanted to know that.
“Oh, not much. Just goofing around outside,” I said. “What have you two been up to?”
“Let’s see. Your mother and I rented a family movie for tonight, then we both had a little nap, and now I’m keeping her company while she