Read Online As Easy as Falling Off the Face of the Earth by Lynne Rae Perkins - Free Book Online

right,” she said. “I just always worry—”
    “You don’t need to worry,” he said. “Everything will be fine.”
    “I liked his old camp where they made them write postcards home before they could eat dinner,” she said.
    “Where would he send them?” asked Skip.
    “I don’t know,” she said.
    “Don’t worry,” he said. “Everything is fine. Nothing’s going to happen.”

AT THE END OF THE DAY
    T he crew caravanned to Del’s house to unload the hunks of chopped-up tree into stacks in his backyard. Ry fully intended to help out with all that, but he slipped into the house, for only one minute, to plug in his phone. In the kitchen he busted open the packaging of his new charger and scanned for an outlet. The voices of the others shuttled past the open window. Weren’t there any outlets in this house? Was Del waiting to see if electricity was a fad, too?
    Aha! He found one. The phone lit up. He turned to go back outside, but the phone called him back. It said there were messages. He would just check.
    From Nina: You’re in Montana. Right?
    From Connor: I don’t know. So, you wanna play b-ball? Oh, wait—you moved. Duh.
    Ry gave his phone raspberries. He didn’t text back. And when no one answered—grandpa, mother, father—he didn’t leave a message. He stood in the dim kitchen, thinking. He had relatives, aunts and uncles. They were far away, and he didn’t have their numbers with him, but they existed. He guessed that was the next thing he should do. He was starting to work it out when he heard Del’s voice outside the window.
    “I’ve been thinking about it,” Del said. “I think I should just give him a ride home.”
    “What?” said Beth.
    Ry drew closer. Beth was tossing Del chunks of wood from the bed of Pete’s pickup. Del was stacking them next to the house. Their conversation was punctuated by wood falling on wood.
    “I could loan him the money for a train ticket,” said Del. “But it just doesn’t feel right to put him on a train when we don’t know for sure that someone’s going to be there at the other end. I would feel responsible if something happened.”
    “That must be why you had him shinny out on a dead tree limb,” said Beth.
    “He was wearing a harness,” said Del. “It was completely safe.” Ka-thunk.
    “I guess,” said Beth.
    “And besides, it’s fun,” said Del.
    “Uh-huh,” said Beth. “He looked like he was having a great time.
    “Doesn’t he live, like, a thousand miles from here?” she asked. “That’s a bit of a hike.”
    “I was thinking of heading in that direction anyhow,” said Del. “I have some errands to run out there.” Thunk .
    “Right,” said Beth. “Errands. In Wisconsin.” Clunk. Chunk.
    “On the way there,” said Del. “More likely on the way back. People I haven’t seen for a while. It’ll only take a couple of days. Three or four, round trip.”
    Ry stepped quietly backward into the shadowy house. He went out the backdoor, to where Pete and Arvin were ka-thunking their own pile of wood alongside the garage. He helped them stack, but his thoughts blurred out their conversation. They spoke to him a few times, and laughed when he didn’t answer.
    “He’s somewhere else right now,” said Arvin. Pete moved his hand in front of Ry’s face. “Come back,” he said. “Anybody there?”
    Ry came back into focus. “Oh,” he said. “Sorry. I was thinking about something.”
    “What’s on your mind?” asked Arvin. “Hey…you all right?”
    Ry needed to talk it around. So he told them about the conversation he overheard between Del and Beth.
    “In a way,” he said, “It would be easier for me than anything else. Otherwise, it’s finding my relatives and them buying me plane tickets and flying me wherever when probably my grandpa just isn’t answering the phone. I hope. But what kind of person does that? Isn’t it kind of…extreme?”
    Arvin answered first. “Only compared to most people,” he said.