Read Online Crunch by Leslie Connor - Free Book Online Page B

soaking up some sun. Playing on the beach with Angus and Eva. Or just freewheeling his way home with them so as to avoid work.
    “Vince, you snake,” I said. And then, because timing is everything, I heard a chain slipping a gear. Greatness stood up and Goodness followed. Somebody was coming down the path between the yards.
    I stepped out of the barn. It was Vince. No doubt about that. He was pedaling. Strangely. He was holding Eva on his lap, huggy-bear style. He had one arm wrapped around her. He steered the bike with his other hand. Eva bumped from side to side over his knees. As they came along, I could see Angus sitting on the rear rack, backward, his heels propped up on the edge. He held Eva’s feet,one wedged under each of his arms. His eyes were closed with the effort of holding on.
    “Vince!” I yelled. “What are you doing?” I jogged toward them.
    “Doing—the best I can,” Vince strained. “Little help?” He let the bike coast into the yard. His fingers looked stiff as he stretched them to squeeze the brake. I met him and caught the handlebars. Vince was out of breath. He stood on tiptoe balancing the bike while Eva cried, almost silently, into his chest.
    “Is she hurt?” I asked.
    Vince shook his head no. “I’ve got the bike,” he said. “Get Angus down. Please.”
    I swept Angus from the back of the bike and let him down to the grass. Then I reached for Eva. She unpeeled slowly from Vince’s chest then hung limp in my arms. “Put her down,” Vince said. “She’s tired. Her grip is all gone.”
    I sat in the grass and cradled my little sister between my knees. I carefully unbuckled her helmet. “What happened to you guys? Where are your bikes?” I asked.
    Eva cried harder. Vince shook his head at me. Angus looked at me with huge, wide eyes. “Our bikes got stole,” he said.
    “Somebody stole your bikes? Both of them? You’re kidding.” I looked at Vince. “For real?”
    “Gone,” he said. “They left the helmets. That’s it.” He let the bike slide to the ground.
    Eva sobbed. “And my arms and legs have knots in them,” she said.
    Vince collapsed flat on his back. He rubbed his bicep and elbow, then stretched the arm up over his head. “Me too, Eva,” he said. “I got knots too.”
    “Angus? You okay, buddy?” I asked.
    “I’m okay, except my butt is asleep.” He squeezed his cheeks and picked a wedgie. “But I helped. I held on to Eva’s feet,” he said.
    “Yes, I saw you,” I said. “You were awesome.” I tried to think what Mom and Dad would say to them if they were here. Eva looked up at me.
    “Nobody ever stole our bikes before!” she said. She made hiccupping sounds then eruptedagain. “I was right down at the beach! I-I didn’t see a robber.”
    I looked at Vince. “Where did you leave the bikes this morning?”
    “At the side of the pavilion,” he said.
    “So just like always?” I said.
    “Yeah,” said Vince. “Only things are no longer just like always .”
    Lil came around to the yard. We gave her the bad news. “Oh! Horrible!” she said. “ Horrible! Who could be so low as to—”
    “Hey, Lil.” I showed her my palm, tried to get her to back off. It just didn’t seem like it was going to help to have the big sister all upset too. Lil knelt down in front of Eva.
    “And you had to ride three of you to one bike? The whole way home?” She wiped Eva’s cheeks with her thumbs.
    “We’re all in cramps,” Vince said. He pulled one leg behind him to stretch his thigh.
    “Vince, you could have called us,” Lil said.
    “Yep. My fault.”
    “No, I don’t mean it like that.” She reachedand tagged his shoulder apologetically.
    “But I forgot the phone. Mattie called the police as soon as we found out the bikes were missing. But it took them forever to show up.”
    We could have guessed that part. We knew that most of the force were on bikes or electric carts these days. I knew of only one department wheelie pod. Besides, a pair of