Read Online The Alex Crow by Andrew Smith - Free Book Online Page B

Jupiter.
    â€œSorry,” Cobie Petersen said. “I just find you endlessly fascinating, Larry.”
    Larry’s jaw kind of hung open slightly, and he stared blankly at Cobie Petersen—probably the way one would look out at a pair of glowing red eyes in the middle of a creepy forest at night. When he regained his composure, Larry said, “We heard screams—the most horrible sound you could ever imagine—coming from deep in the woods that night. The whole camp was terrified, and when we looked, Earth cabin was completely empty. We searched and searched all the following day, but there was no sign at all of Marshmallow Jeff and the boys from Earth. It was like they had completely vanished into thin air.”
    Max, Cobie, and I glanced at one another, trying to gauge by each other’s face whether or not we should believe Larry’s story.
    Robin Sexton twitched, rocked slightly, and stared into the fire.
    Then Larry’s voice lowered to a sinister whisper, and he said, “We only ever found one clue that remained of Marshmallow Jeff and the boys from Earth. Out there . . .”
    Larry stretched his arm out and pointed off into the woods on the opposite side of the creek from the mess hall. “Their shoes—six pairs, counting Marshmallow Jeff’s—were all perfectly lined up by the well house. And there were a few marshmallows scattered on the ground. That was it. Nothing else. It was a mystery, but the boys and Marshmallow Jeff were never seen again. Unless, that is, if you believe the stories some people tell of seeing a big barefoot white man who wanders the woods and hunts for children with baits of marshmallows.”
    â€œI call bullshit,” Cobie Petersen said.
    â€œOh yeah?” Larry was irritated. “I dare you kid—right now, I bet you could go out there in the woods past the well house, and you’ll see footprints—bare feet—that belong to Marshmallow Jeff and the crazy boys he abducted from Earth.”
    And Larry added, “I dare you, tough guy. Let’s all go take a look inside the old Earth cabin right now, if you have the balls. Marshmallow Jeff and his friends are waiting for you.”

DEMIKHOV’S DOGS AND THE ALEX CAT
    Max said, “Maybe we should just go to bed now.”
    Larry shook his head. “No. It’s you guys’ turn.
You
got to tell a story now. You know—normal kids at camp and all.”
    â€œWell, your story was horseshit, Larry, and mine’s true,” Max said.
    â€œWhatever you say, kid.”
    Max folded his knees and hugged his shins. He leaned toward the fire with a look of concentration in his eyes, and said, “My father gets paid to think up and make things that should never exist in the first place.”
    â€œThat’s a start,” Larry said. “I’m interested, kid. Like what kinds of things?”
    Of course, I sat there cringing at the thought of all the stories Max might tell about life in our home, and I was also confident I didn’t even know half of the terrible things my American brother could possibly reveal.
    â€œOne time, we had a pet cat,” Max began. His voice was low and solemn.
    This intrigued me. There were no cats in the Burgess home, so I suspected Max’s
scary story
was not going to end well for his leading character.
    â€œWhen I was in third grade, one afternoon my father brought home a cat—one of his projects he’d been developing for the place where he works.”
    â€œAwww . . . ,” Larry said. “What was the cat’s name?”
    â€œWhat does it matter?” Max shrugged. “It was a cat. Everything our dad brings home is always named Alex.”
    It touched me that Max said
our dad
, until he pointed at me and added, “Except
him
. For some reason Dad didn’t name
him
Alex.”
    What could I say? I wondered if Max suspected I was one of our father’s