Read Online Don't Scream (9780307823526) by Joan Lowery Nixon - Free Book Online Page A

Peaches. It might have been a squirrel. With the streetlight out, it was awfully dark.”
    Mr. Chamberlin squinted as if he were seeing me for the first time. “You were one of those kids tormenting Peaches yesterday. I recognize you.”
    As Mom and Dad looked at me with surprise, I said, “We weren’t tormenting Peaches, Mr. Chamberlin. I tried to explain to you at the time. One of the boys picked a sprig of oleander, and the branch snapped back. Peaches was probably under the bush, and the noise must have scared her, so she let out a squawk and ran up to your porch.”
    â€œIt’s not the first time that’s happened.” He snarled and leaned toward me, his face red with anger. “For all I know, you’ve made off with Peaches. Where is she? What have you done to her?”
    Frightened, I took a step back, clutching Pepper tightly, but Dad placed a strong hand on my shoulder, steadying me.
    â€œMr. Chamberlin,” he said soothingly, “Jess and her friends wouldn’t hurt your cat. Jess loves cats. See … she’s holding Pepper, her own cat.”
    â€œI didn’t say it was
her.
It was that evil boy,” Mr. Chamberlin said.
    â€œThese kids are not evil.”
    â€œThat one is. I can tell. There’s pure evil in his eyes.”
    â€œWho are you talking about?” I asked.
    â€œThe one with the evil in his eyes.” Mr. Chamberlin nodded to himself and smirked. “I could recognize it.”
    I backed up against Dad’s strong bulk forreasssurance. “We were on the sidewalk. We weren’t close enough for you to see his eyes.”
    â€œI know what I saw.”
    Dad tightened his arm around me, while Mom said, “Mr. Chamberlin, you’re tired and upset. I suggest that you go home now. Phil will go with you. As soon as Jessie and I get dressed, we’ll look around the neighborhood for your cat.”
    â€œGood idea,” Dad said. He took Mr. Chamberlin’s arm, helped him from the chair, and guided him out the front door.
    The moment the door closed behind them I grabbed Mom’s shoulders. “Mom! He’s crazy!”
    Mom nodded. “Don’t be disturbed by what he said, Jessie. He lives in a miserable world he created for himself, so just feel sorry for him and help him find his cat.”
    â€œOkay,” I said, although I was still shaky from Mr. Chamberlin’s accusations. “I’ll look around the elm tree and see if I can find any sign that Peaches was there last night.” Trying to smile, I added, “Maybe she climbed the tree and can’t get down.”
    â€œMaybe,” Mom said.
    I ran up the stairs, two at a time, and pulled on jeans and a T-shirt. No matter what I’d told Mom, or what I’d been trying to tell myself, I knew Peaches wasn’t stuck in the tree. We’d have heard her yowls all over the neighborhood. And I’d become more and more convinced that the animal I’d seen last night
was
Peaches.
    Why hadn’t I told them that I’d seen the tree “move”? Why hadn’t I admitted that I thoughtsomeone had been behind the tree? Because it sounded stupid? Because I hadn’t gone outside to find out then and there what was going on?
    Mom took off toward the far end of the block, and I made straight for the tree. The sky was a faint, flat blue, already faded with heat. Against it the large elm, its heavy limbs drooping, stood out starkly.
    I approached the tree, skirting the stack of boxes and plastic bags containing the Maliks’ trash. As waves of the fishy odor of heat-spoiled tuna rose from the top bag, I fought to keep from gagging.
    It took a moment for the idea to register. Tuna? Peaches? Had she been drawn by the scent of her favorite meal?
    Gingerly I approached the trash bag, but it hadn’t been torn open by a ravenous cat. The mound of black plastic remained securely tied shut.
    I gasped as another