Read Online Paint the Wind by Pam Muñoz Ryan - Free Book Online

different story.” She hurried away.
    Maya stared after Aunt Vi, intrigued by her exuberance, the way she bounded instead of walked, and the intense eyes that twinkled with excitement. She put the flowers in a jar with water and walked in the direction that Aunt Vi had pointed. She found a well-worn path in the grass that ended at a small clearing within a thicket of bushes.
    The latrine was another tepee with an elevated wood box, fitted with a toilet seat and a roll of toilet paper onan upturned dowel. Maya tied the eight tent-flap ribbons to ensure privacy, then turned to face the makeshift bathroom. She pinched her nose closed and hesitated. Damp grass and dirt squished beneath her boots, and she hoped it was from groundwater. She squirmed, but there didn’t seem to be an alternative.
    As she untied the last of the tent ribbons to get out, something hissed and zoomed past her. “Who’s there?” she called.
    Maya heard sizzling, then a series of earsplitting bangs that sounded like gunfire. She covered her ears and screamed. Was someone shooting at her?
    She flung herself forward, fell out of the opening, and landed facedown on the spongy ground.

A BOY DOUBLED OVER WITH LAUGHTER . “O H, THAT was so funny.…” He staggered around, giggling and pointing at her. “Look at you! You’re covered in mud! Oh, that was great. That was just great.” He dropped to the ground and rolled over. “I’m laughing so hard I’m crying.” Slowly, he lifted himself, sighed, and wiped the tears from his dark blue eyes. “Hey. I’m Payton.”
    Maya spit damp grass from her mouth and swiped at her backside. So this was her cousin. She’d only been around Payton for one minute but could already tell he was an annoying nuisance, and she didn’t like him. Maya narrowed her eyes and took a long, hard look at him. He was full-faced with deep dimples in both cheeks, shorter than Maya but not much, and sturdy. Bits of grass stuckin his blond hair, which was tousled from his hysterics. He wore jeans, boots, and a sweatshirt that read COWBOY UP! She turned and marched back toward the campsite.
    He hurried behind her. “Hey! I said , ‘I’m Payton!’ Aren’t you going to answer me? Where’re your manners? Don’t they have manners where you come from? Because it’s not polite not to say hello.”
    Maya kept walking.
    He ran to keep up, then turned, running backward alongside of her. “It was just some firecrackers. And they didn’t make that much noise. No one can even hear them this far away from camp. Oh, I know. You’re going to tell on me, aren’t you? I knew you were a snitch the minute I saw you get out of the truck. That’s all I need is a stupid girl out here who’s a tattletale.” His voice rose in pretend mockery. “   ‘Aunt Vi, Aunt Vi, that mean boy threwa firecracker at me.’ That would be the disgusting worst.” He finally turned around, darted ahead, and then circled back to keep pace with her. Maya had never seen anyone so unsettled and who jigged around so much. Before she reached the campsite, he finally stopped following her and veered toward the corrals. Good, she thought. The farther away, the better.
    She walked to the truck, retrieved her suitcase and her box of horses, and went to her tepee. Once inside, she secured the flaps.
    The tent smelled stale and was empty except for a thick foam cushion on the canvas floor, a sleeping bag, a pillow, and a stack of clothes. Maya unfolded two kerchiefs, a quilted vest, several pairs of shorts and jeans, and a few T-shirts. The clothes weren’t new, but as she held them to her body, they seemed the right size.She lifted the windbreaker-style jacket against her chest. It was much too big, but when she saw her mother’s name written on the label, she didn’t care. And even though she wasn’t cold, she put it on,