Read Online Acting Out by Laurie Halse Anderson - Free Book Online
Authors: Laurie Halse Anderson
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Josh asks.
I nod. The other cases include three dogs, two cats, a raccoon family, and a red fox. So sad. We couldn’t help Puff or the others who have died, but maybe we can make it safe for the rest of the animals in Ambler.
Sunita looks at David. “How is Rover doing?”
“Dr. Mac is taking care of him. Trying to figure out what’s up.” David doesn’t meet her eyes.
Jules leans in. “Does Dr. Mac think it’s antifreeze with him, too?”
“She doesn’t know yet,” David says, finally looking up. “We’ll see.”
The talk of Rover makes me remember how crucial our timing is. I stand up. “We need to get going.”
“Where?” Jules asks.
“Right here.” Maggie points to the area of the map that the strings converged on. “We’ll look for spilled antifreeze.”
“We can have some adults drive us over,” Sunita suggests.
“I’m on it,” Brenna says, pulling out her phone once more.
A few minutes later, we have a plan. Brenna’s dad will pick up four of us, and Mr. Darrow willtake the rest of us over to Beltzville Lake. We gather up our clipboards and paper. Josh decides to bring the map and corkboard because they will fit in his dad’s van.
When Brenna’s dad arrives, he has some bad news for us. A couple of sick great blue herons have been brought to him, and he thinks it could be the antifreeze again. We have no time to lose.
At the lake we divide into two groups. My group consists of Jules, me, David, and Mr. Darrow. Brenna, Josh, Sunita, Maggie, and Mr. Lake are in the other group.
Mr. Darrow has brought flashlights from Wrenches & Roses, and he hands them out to a few of us in each group. “I know it’s light out, but these might help detect the liquid’s sheen,” he says.
The air is warm for April, and people are relaxing at the lake. Lots of people have brought along their dogs and kids to enjoy the day. I see a group of teenagers fishing and a golden retriever paddling near the lake’s edge. Nearby, a girl tosses a Frisbee to her cocker spaniel. He runs, leaps, and gracefully catches it. I wonder if we should warn anyone. But no, we don’t want to make people panic. We should just try to find the antifreeze as fast as possible.
First, we scour the huge parking lot. Spilledantifreeze seems likely to be where cars usually are. We shine our flashlights around the empty spaces, hoping to pick up some sheen from the antifreeze. The flashlights are also helpful for looking beneath the cars parked around the lot. It’s a good thing Mr. Darrow thought to bring them.
Unfortunately, though, the flashlights don’t turn up any antifreeze. After a half hour of searching, we’ve found nothing. We decide to move closer to the lake.
We spread out to cover more space and step carefully as we search the ground. We sweep our flashlights from side to side. My group moves east from the parking lot toward the boat launch along the shoreline. The other group will move west along the shoreline from the parking lot toward the playground. If we don’t find anything on that pass, we’ll move farther from the shore and search again.
“What’s this?” David asks, investigating a patch of wet ground beside a storage shed.
“There’s no sheen to it,” Jules says, passing her flashlight’s beam across it.
We trace a trail of wet earth back to a dripping faucet on the far side of the shed.
“Just water,” David sighs.
Mr. Darrow turns the faucet tight to the rightand the drip stops. If only we could stop the antifreeze leak just as easily.
“At least we’ve stopped some water waste,” I say to David. He looks disappointed.
We scan the beach to see where the other group is. They’re pretty close to the playground, and it’s easy to tell by their methodical walk that they haven’t found anything yet, either. I’m starting to feel discouraged. I wonder if we will turn up anything at all. Back at Wrenches & Roses this had seemed like such a good plan.
“Once we get to the boat
I nod. The other cases include three dogs, two cats, a raccoon family, and a red fox. So sad. We couldn’t help Puff or the others who have died, but maybe we can make it safe for the rest of the animals in Ambler.
Sunita looks at David. “How is Rover doing?”
“Dr. Mac is taking care of him. Trying to figure out what’s up.” David doesn’t meet her eyes.
Jules leans in. “Does Dr. Mac think it’s antifreeze with him, too?”
“She doesn’t know yet,” David says, finally looking up. “We’ll see.”
The talk of Rover makes me remember how crucial our timing is. I stand up. “We need to get going.”
“Where?” Jules asks.
“Right here.” Maggie points to the area of the map that the strings converged on. “We’ll look for spilled antifreeze.”
“We can have some adults drive us over,” Sunita suggests.
“I’m on it,” Brenna says, pulling out her phone once more.
A few minutes later, we have a plan. Brenna’s dad will pick up four of us, and Mr. Darrow willtake the rest of us over to Beltzville Lake. We gather up our clipboards and paper. Josh decides to bring the map and corkboard because they will fit in his dad’s van.
When Brenna’s dad arrives, he has some bad news for us. A couple of sick great blue herons have been brought to him, and he thinks it could be the antifreeze again. We have no time to lose.
At the lake we divide into two groups. My group consists of Jules, me, David, and Mr. Darrow. Brenna, Josh, Sunita, Maggie, and Mr. Lake are in the other group.
Mr. Darrow has brought flashlights from Wrenches & Roses, and he hands them out to a few of us in each group. “I know it’s light out, but these might help detect the liquid’s sheen,” he says.
The air is warm for April, and people are relaxing at the lake. Lots of people have brought along their dogs and kids to enjoy the day. I see a group of teenagers fishing and a golden retriever paddling near the lake’s edge. Nearby, a girl tosses a Frisbee to her cocker spaniel. He runs, leaps, and gracefully catches it. I wonder if we should warn anyone. But no, we don’t want to make people panic. We should just try to find the antifreeze as fast as possible.
First, we scour the huge parking lot. Spilledantifreeze seems likely to be where cars usually are. We shine our flashlights around the empty spaces, hoping to pick up some sheen from the antifreeze. The flashlights are also helpful for looking beneath the cars parked around the lot. It’s a good thing Mr. Darrow thought to bring them.
Unfortunately, though, the flashlights don’t turn up any antifreeze. After a half hour of searching, we’ve found nothing. We decide to move closer to the lake.
We spread out to cover more space and step carefully as we search the ground. We sweep our flashlights from side to side. My group moves east from the parking lot toward the boat launch along the shoreline. The other group will move west along the shoreline from the parking lot toward the playground. If we don’t find anything on that pass, we’ll move farther from the shore and search again.
“What’s this?” David asks, investigating a patch of wet ground beside a storage shed.
“There’s no sheen to it,” Jules says, passing her flashlight’s beam across it.
We trace a trail of wet earth back to a dripping faucet on the far side of the shed.
“Just water,” David sighs.
Mr. Darrow turns the faucet tight to the rightand the drip stops. If only we could stop the antifreeze leak just as easily.
“At least we’ve stopped some water waste,” I say to David. He looks disappointed.
We scan the beach to see where the other group is. They’re pretty close to the playground, and it’s easy to tell by their methodical walk that they haven’t found anything yet, either. I’m starting to feel discouraged. I wonder if we will turn up anything at all. Back at Wrenches & Roses this had seemed like such a good plan.
“Once we get to the boat
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