Read Online Building Blocks by Cynthia Voigt - Free Book Online Page B

sorry,” Kevin said. “We can’t. We’re not allowed.”
    â€œBut who would know? Is it far?”
    â€œNo, but—”
    â€œHave you got a flashlight?”
    â€œYes, but—”
    â€œLet’s get it.”
    Brann had made up his mind and he just swept Kevin along, because the kid was easy to sweep along. The way to do it was just not to give him time to answer. The flashlight was in a kitchen drawer, a heavy metal one, and Kevin ran upstairs to tell his grandparents he was going out now.
    â€œWe aren’t allowed,” Kevin reminded Brann.
    â€œYou aren’t allowed,” Brann told him. “Nobody’s said anything to me.” That was a weak argument, he knew, but he also knew how to win arguments with Kevin, like his mother did. “Look, I know you’re scared but you don’t have to go in or anything. I just want to see them. You won’t be breaking any rules or anything. You aren’t scared just to take me there, are you?”
    Kevin shook his head, no, his face ashamed.
    â€œThen let’s go,” Brann urged him.
    They crossed a couple of streets, then went up a road that wound with steep curves up a wooded hillside. They trudged up the hillside, with Brann urging Kevin to go faster, to keep going. “I’m sorry,” Kevin said. Brann didn’t answer, just grunted his impatience.
    Along the top of the hill was a cemetery, with dirt roads twisting through it. The entrance to the cemetery was marked by a statue of an angel with a sword,a monument to the men who died in the Civil War. Brann turned to look down the steep wooded hillside. At the foot of the hill the houses of the town began. Beyond, he saw the Ohio River, lying in the sun. It didn’t look bad from that distance, especially with the wooded hills rising on its far side.
    â€œIt’s nice, isn’t it?” Kevin asked.
    It was cooler up on the hill. All around thick green grass spread between the tombstones, and lush trees spread their branches. But nice?
    â€œThere’s nothing nice about being dead,” Brann said. “Let’s go.”
    This steep, blufflike hill undulated back into grassy fields, with woods edging them. The entrance to the caves was right at the edge of a field, where a few trees grew. A sudden short hillside among the sparse trees lay covered with dried leaves from past falls and a few dead branches. The opposite hillside rose up as sharply, making a miniature ravine. Kevin led Brann halfway down the slope, the leaves rustling under their bare feet, making it sound like fall underfoot even though the air around them was thick with summer. “They’re here,” Kevin said.
    Brann looked around. “Here?” He looked forsome undergrowth that would mask the entrance to a cave.
    The entrance wasn’t masked, it was just hard to see. It didn’t look like the entrance to anything. It looked like the narrow end of the ravine, with the big tree roots above. But once you knew where to look, you could see through the natural camouflage to a narrow slipping away, where a gap was created by the floor of the ravine falling down below the rise of the hill. Brann went right up to the entrance. It was so low, he had to bend over to shine the flashlight in. Kevin stood ten feet behind him, and even with his back to the younger boy Brann could feel the fear pouring out of him. He didn’t pay any attention.
    The beam of light showed the floor falling away. It looked like a slide, you could slide right down it.
    â€œI’ve never been in a cave,” Brann said, without moving his head.
    â€œAnyway,” Kevin answered.
    â€œI’m going in,” Brann decided.
    â€œDon’t. Please?”
    â€œLook, other kids must have, if they talk about it. That’s true, isn’t it?”
    â€œYes, but—”
    â€œI won’t go far. You don’t have to come.” In fact, Brann didn’t want