Read Online No More Pranks by Monique Polak - Free Book Online

coming from?” Leblanc called out.
    â€œI’ve had it with you! I can’t take it any more!” the voice repeated, even more loudly than before. This time I noticed some static in the background, which is when I figured out who it was. Rosalie’s father! Rosalie had rewound the tape and was playing it back at maximum volume.
    â€œWhat’s going on?” Leblanc yelled. Without knowing it, he’d loosened his grip on me. I jumped to the floor, landing near the pile of blankets. Don’t move, Rosalie, I thought to myself.
    There was no time for a plan, but I had to do something. Just then I noticed a slight wiggling in the cord next to the blankets. It’s Rosalie, I thought. She’s pulling on one end. But why? What is she trying to tell me?
    Then I got it. You’re brilliant, Rosalie, I thought. Absolutely brilliant. I reached for the cord and looped it around Leblanc’s ankles.
    â€œWhat the—” Leblanc was still trying to figure out where the voice was coming from. As I tugged on one end of the cord, Rosalie leapt up from under the blankets and crashed into Leblanc’s knees.
    Leblanc fell flat on the floor, head first, making a thud as he landed.
    I thought he’d try to get up, but he didn’t. He just lay there, breathing heavily.
    â€œI think we knocked him out,” Rosalie said. The two of us worked quickly, wrapping the cord around Leblanc’s body so he wouldn’t be able to use his hands or feet.
    We dragged him over to the pile of blankets. He didn’t look too happy when he began to come to. “What’s she doing here?” he asked, eyeing Rosalie.
    â€œSorry about all the yelling,” Rosalie said, pulling out the tape recorder and turning it back on. “I can’t take it anymore!” her father’s voice blared.
    â€œThat was just my father,” she added, grinning up at Leblanc. “Don’t worry, he’s learning to control his temper.”
    On the way back, I took over at the wheel. My hands tingled with excitement. Once I got us past the small island, all I’d have to do was follow the path of the Saguenay back to Tadoussac.
    Rosalie sat, squatted, close to Leblanc. “Darned kids. You won’t get away with this!” he muttered. A minute later, when he tried to break free, Rosalie tightened the cord around him. After a while he stopped squirming and just stared straight ahead at the water, his chest heaving up and down.
    The sky was beginning to turn pinkish orange when we reached the confluence. Which was when this totally incredible thing happened. The kind of thing you might think only happens in books or movies.
    We heard splashing. Then, as if a water fountain was bursting from the bottom of the Saguenay, this huge spray of water shot up into the air. It was a whale coming up for air. As its tail rose into the sky, I spotted the familiar triangular scar.

Chapter Fourteen
    If you read the Tadoussac newspaper or watch the news, you’ll know what happened next. Leblanc lost his boating license and had to pay a huge fine. If you ask me, he kind of liked the attention. In the newspaper photographs, he’s smiling so much you’d think he was some kind of soap-opera star. And in a way, as Aunt Daisy said, he was.
    Other Zodiac operators were scared by what had happened to Leblanc, so there werea lot fewer violations of the whale-watching rules that summer.
    As for Rosalie and me, I guess you could say we became kind of like local heroes. We got free hot dogs and fries at the chip wagon, and the guys at Uncle Jean’s kayaking company stopped giving me the crummy jobs. There were still two weeks till I had to go back to Montreal to start over at a new school—but to tell you the truth, I didn’t want to leave.
    I guess sometimes when you’re really dreading something, it can end up surprising you. I’ve got to try to remember that in the future.
    Rosalie and I