Read Online Fight for Life by Laurie Halse Anderson - Free Book Online

chocolate?” Gran suggests. “It’s not good to shop on an empty stomach.”
    “That sounds great,” Zoe says.
    “Maggie?”
    “No, thanks. You guys go ahead. I want to look around awhile.”
    “Are you sure?” Gran asks. “You’ve never turned down hot chocolate before.”
    “I’m sure. Go ahead. I’ll meet you at the van later.”
    The two of them walk away without me. Zoe starts chattering a mile a minute, and Gran has a strange smile on her face. It almost seems as if she likes Zoe.
    I shake my head. Get a grip. I have more important things to worry about—I’m on a mission.
    I start moving down the aisles, asking the farmers if they know of a man who sold puppies at the market last week. It takes a few tries, but Mrs. Nestor, the lady who sells hand-crocheted doll clothes, remembers him.
    “Can’t recall his name, Maggie.” She scratches her head with her crochet hook. “I seen him a few times, here and out in Sayerville. Bent over, scrawny man. Tried to sell me a puppy. I told him, ‘What do I need with another dog?’” She laughs and shakes her head. “Cute pups, but they were just as skinny as he was.”
    This has to be the same guy. “Can you remember anything about him? What kind of car he drove, if he had anybody working with him, stuff like that?”
    “Nope, nothing.” She pulls a ball of purple yarn out of the bag at her feet. “He lives on Lafayette Road. Did tell me that. Does that help you any?”
    “That’s great! Oh my gosh, Mrs. Nestor, you’ve helped a lot! Thank you, thank you so much.” I’d like to give her a hug, but that is a very large crochet hook she’s holding.
    “Think nothing of it. Glad I could help, Maggie. Give my best to your grandmother.”
    “Thanks again,” I call as I jog down the aisle. I am going to get this guy. We’ll close him down. Just wait until I find Gran. She’ll be pumped, too. This puppy mill is history.

    I find Gran and Zoe standing by the popcorn stand. As Gran pays for a bag of popcorn, Zoe says something and the popcorn vendor laughs. Gran puts her arm around Zoe’s shoulder and gives it a squeeze. Zoe tosses some popcorn at Gran.
    That was dumb. No way Gran is going to stand for that.
    But Gran laughs and shakes her head as she picks the popcorn out of her hair. If I had done that, I bet she’d lecture me. But she doesn’t lecture Zoe. Instead she steals a handful of popcorn out of Zoe’s bag and tries to shove it in her mouth. Zoe squeals and everybody laughs again. This is sickening.
    They leave the popcorn vendor and walk straight toward me.
    “Oh, there you are, Maggie,” Gran says.
    “Yeah,” I answer.
    “Did you find what you were looking for?”
    She doesn’t want to hear about the puppy mill owner. She’s having too much fun with Zoe. And I don’t really want to tell her, not in front of Zoe.
    Gran studies my face. “Is something wrong?”
    “No, everything’s fine,” I say, trying to smile. “I’m ready to go.”

Chapter Thirteen
    G ran planned out the rest of the weekend for me. I had to do “everything in my power” to help Zoe settle in. That meant clearing some of my stuff from the guest room. I have a lot of stuff. Old soccer uniforms, a dozen pairs of sneakers that don’t fit me but are too important to throw away, tests I never got around to showing Gran ... and that was just one layer of junk in the closet.
    Once the guest room was sort of clean, Gran made me sit down to finish correcting my social studies test. I even had to fix my spelling mistakes. That took forever.
    Now it’s Monday morning—back to school. Before Zoe and I leave for the bus stop, I say good-bye to Mitzy. Her owners are coming to pick her up today.
    “Make sure Gran tells them that ‘Lie down!’ means ‘Come,’” I tell Mitzy. She licks my face, a very polite doggy good-bye. I’ll miss her mixed-up ways. Strange but true.
    When I get on the bus, I find an empty seat so Zoe and I can sit together. But she takes a