Read Online Nickel-Bred by Patricia Gilkerson - Free Book Online Page B

horse brush, currycomb and hoof pick in it, and
headed toward the house.
    Addie started up the long driveway, Nickel
stepping out quickly. He had a lot of energy left after just
plodding three miles in a thunderstorm. What a horse we had! I
turned to go to the house and throw my horse grooming tools at the
windows to distract the criminals.
    As I neared the house, the back door opened
and Chickie came running out. “Hey!” he yelled, looking at Addie on
Nickel. “One of those girls is out here! I’ll get her. Get back
here, girl!” He started running across the yard toward Addie. He
would go directly in front of me, trying to grab Addie. I couldn’t
let him grab her, or make Nickel spook and throw Addie, so I
jumped. I jumped a long way and I jumped hard, landing on Chickie’s
back. As we fell to the ground, I started hitting him on the head
with the heavy plastic box.
    About then, someone grabbed me from behind
and pinned my arms behind my back. This man was skanky and dirty
with greasy hair. A match for Chickie. It had to be Earl.
    “Hey, let go! He was trying to hurt my
friend!” I said, trying for innocence and indignation. I struggled
against him. Chickie picked himself up off the ground and wiped mud
and blood off his face. “I’ll take her inside,” he said. “The other
kid is long gone, so we better get goin’ ourselves and get outa
here.”
    “Yes, you should get out of here,” I
retorted, trying to seem braver than I felt.
    “Shut up and get inside,” said Earl. He
shoved me in the door, through to the living room, where he dumped
me into the fat armchair that was Miss Julie’s reading place. I got
a strong whiff of armpits from him, as well as cigarette smoke.
    “Look what I found,” he said. “She was
throwing stuff at the windows.”
    “Well, well, it’s the smart aleck brat,” said
a female voice, and Angel appeared in front of me, holding a large
knife. “You have to interfere in everything, don’t you?”
    “Piper,” my mother said in a shaky voice, “do
what they say. They don’t want to hurt us, they just want to take
some things.”
    “You shut up, too! I told you not to talk,”
said Angel.
    “Sweetie, we really should leave,” Chickie
said to her. “There are too many people here and we thought there
would only be one little old lady in the house. Would have been
easy pickin’s, but it’s not worth it. The other kid probably went
for help.”
    “Sweetie, we should leave,” Angel mimicked
him in a nasty voice. “Do you hear yourself? Where are your guts?
You need to put gags in all their mouths before I get super ticked.
We just need to hurry a little.”
    I looked over at Sam, Mom, and Miss Julie,
trying to tell them with my eyes that help would be coming. Sam was
bruised and had a bloody lip. He must have put up a fight. Mom
looked fierce. Her temper would help her out if she didn’t make
them angry. Miss Julie was paler than usual and I hoped she wasn’t
going to pass out as Chickie put kitchen towels in their mouths and
tied the towels behind their heads.
    “Now, Sugar-pie, don’t talk like that,”
Chickie said. “We decided before we came here what we wanted to do.
But all these people make it impossible. We should go.”
    “Hold on, bro,” said Earl. “I’m kind of
agreein’ with my Angel there. We’re here already, so let’s look for
jewelry and silver and stuff. Make it worth our while. We can be
gone fast where no one will find us, but let’s get some sparklies
to justify our time. A rich old lady like this must have collected
a lot of bling over the years.”
    “Wait! What do you mean, your Angel?
She’s my Angel, if she’s anyone’s,”said Chickie. “Tell, him,
Sweetie.”
    “I’m nobody’s Angel, but my own,” said Angel.
“You two can’t manage to find two dollars between you. Both of
y’all are loser dopers. And you !” She looked straight at me
with crazy, hate-filled eyes.
    “I had a chance with that handsome doctor