Read Online Summer According to Humphrey by Betty G. Birney - Free Book Online

approached slowly and the bird didn’t fight her, she scooped it up with a net and put it in a box. She’d read that mourning doves panic in a cage with bars, which is a little strange to me, since I think the bars on my cage give me wonderful protection from dogs and cats and other scary things.
    The next slide showed Katie examining the broken wing with her friend Dr. Singleton at the local Wildlife Refuge. He was a veterinarian who specializes in birds. It made me think of Dr. Drew, who helped me and helped my hamster friend Winky find a new home with one of my friends from Room 26.
    The two of them washed the wing and put medicine on it. Then they VERY-VERY-VERY carefully taped the wing back into its original position.
    “Og, isn’t Lovey very brave?” I squeaked to my neighbor, who took a long, noisy dive into the water in his tank. I could tell he was as impressed as I was.
    They gave Lovey food and water and let her rest.
    Katie turned off the projector and turned the lights up again. The rain was heavier now, pounding on the roof of the Nature Center.
    “Lovey’s wing is just about healed now,” she told the campers. “If things go well, before you go home, we’ll be able to free her back into the wild. Anyone who’d like to be part of Lovey’s release, let me know.”
    “ME-ME-ME!” I squeaked. But there was so much talking, no one could hear my hamsterish squeaks. In fact, all the campers gathered around Katie, begging to be part of the release.
    I looked over at Lovey in her crate. She didn’t look like anything was broken anymore. She looked strong and proud.
    “Did you hear that, Lovey?” I squeaked at the top of my lungs.
    I know birds can’t smile, but the look on Lovey’s face was as close as a bird could come to a big, fat grin. I think I was smiling a little bit, too, as the other campers left the Nature Center, chattering away.
    Brad stayed seated with his arms folded. How could he not think that would be exciting? Ooh, he made my whiskers twitch!
    And Gail was still writing nonstop. She didn’t even look up.
    Ms. Mac went over to talk to her. “You certainly are taking a lot of notes,” she told Gail.
    Gail looked up. “Oh, I’m finishing a letter to Heidi. I write her and my parents every day so they know everything that’s going on at camp.”
    Ms. Mac looked kind of serious. Then she said, “Why not put away the pen and paper for a little while? Since it’s raining, arts and crafts would be a good choice for your next session—you like that, don’t you?”
    Gail hesitated before folding up her paper. “Yes,” she said.
    “Come on,” Ms. Mac said. “I’ll walk you there.”
    Is it any wonder I LOVE-LOVE-LOVE Ms. Mac?
    Then I saw Brad standing and staring at Lovey. Katie came over to him.
    “Would you like to help with her release?” she asked Brad.
    The boy shrugged. “It doesn’t seem like such a big deal,” he said. “At my other camp, we had a ropes course. Now that was cool.”
    Katie gave him a curious look. “It sounds great. But this is something different. We could use your help. What was the name of that other camp you went to?”
    “White Pines,” Brad said in a husky voice. “It was a lot bigger than this.”
    “Why did you come here?” Katie asked, which was exactly what I was wondering.
    “My folks thought this would be a good change,” Brad muttered.
    Katie kept on smiling. “Sometimes at a smaller camp you can make more friends. I’ll be sure to let you know when we’re going to release Lovey,” she said.
    Brad didn’t say anything for a while. He just stared at Lovey.
    “Whatever,” he said.
    NOTE TO SELF: Humans can be very kind and caring to birds, hamsters and other small creatures. Most humans.

11
    The Thing Beneath the Floor
    W hatever! He said whatever !” I screeched to Og when all of the campers and counselors had left the Nature Center and gone to lunch. I had to talk extra loud because of the rain.
    “BOING-BOING,” Og