Read Online The Creek by Jennifer L. Holm - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Jennifer L. Holm
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Penny’s birthday party.
The kids set up the trail over two long days. Benji conned his dad into letting them borrow slabs of slate intended for a garden path, which they planted in the ground, like tombstones, and inscribed with chalk epitaphs such as “Rest in Pieces” and “Here Lies Skel E. Ton.” A rubber hand in the dirt in front of one of the tombstones gave the effect of a corpse clawing its way out of a grave. Mac planned to supply scary music—groans and moans and clanking—piped in from his older brother’s speakers. Oren painted Ping-Pong balls to look like eyeballs, for pelting at kids as they went through, and Penny made fake blood fromcorn syrup and red food coloring.
They decided to charge fifty cents to go through, and to sell refreshments as well. The mothers were happy to help out, as they were under the impression that the kids were trying to raise money for new softball equipment. Penny’s mom made chocolate chip cookies, Mrs. Albright supplied festive little bags of popcorn, and Mrs. McHale baked a batch of oatmeal cookies.
Mrs. Loew contributed a bag of store-bought cookies, which the boys thought was lame; but Penny, who had overheard her mother talking on the phone with Oren’s mom, whispering about a divorce, figured that Mrs. Loew had better things to worry about than baking cookies.
“I certainly hope you kids aren’t driving Mrs. Albright crazy,” Mrs. Carson said as Penny and Teddy dug through the oversized hanging plastic garment bags where Halloween costumes and old clothes were stored.
Boxes and old junk were piled in the middle of the attic, where long strips of plywood flooring had been nailed down. Pink cotton-candy insulation extended beyond the flooring on all sides. Teddy stood at the edge of the flooring on the far side of the attic, looking likehe wanted to take a leap onto the fuzzy stuff.
“Teddy, get away from that insulation!” his mother ordered.
“Why?” he asked mutinously.
“Because it’s very dangerous. There’s bits of sharp glass in all that pink fuzz.”
He peered down at it as if he didn’t quite believe her.
Penny was trying on a red yarn wig, the remnant of an old costume. She modeled the wig with a little shake of her head.
“You look stupid!” Teddy said.
“What was this from, Mom?” Penny asked, her hair sticking out from underneath the yarn.
“A costume party Dad and I went to before we got married. I was Raggedy Andy and your dad was Raggedy Ann.”
“Raggedy Ann? No way,” Teddy moaned. “Dad wouldn’t dress like a girl!”
“Trust me, your dad made a very cute Raggedy Ann,” Mrs. Carson said wryly.
Penny and Teddy burst out laughing.
“You kids would tell me, you know, if anyone was giving you a hard time, right?” her mother asked abruptly.
Penny thought of the dog skull at the creek. Shecouldn’t tell her mother about that because she wasn’t supposed to be down at the creek. And she couldn’t really confess her fears about Caleb because her mother didn’t like them to talk about him. When it came right down to it, there really wasn’t
anything
she could tell her.
Finally Penny said, “Like a strange man asking us to take a ride or something?”
“Exactly,” her mother answered.
There was a moment of silence as Penny looked past her mother at Teddy, who was sitting very still.
“Sure, Mom,” she said, but she wouldn’t meet her eyes.
Bats flying crazily above the Albrights’ house lent a scary cast to the night of the Mockingbird Lane Haunted Trail. The Albrights’ backyard looked downright forbidding in the dark. It was perfect.
Penny, wearing a sheet and a rubber skull mask, was more excited about the haunted trail than her birthday, which was the next day. All the kids would be coming over for her party the next evening—everyone except Zachary, of course—and she was a little worried. She had invited Amy, and she was starting to think that maybe it hadn’t been such a goodidea. How did
The kids set up the trail over two long days. Benji conned his dad into letting them borrow slabs of slate intended for a garden path, which they planted in the ground, like tombstones, and inscribed with chalk epitaphs such as “Rest in Pieces” and “Here Lies Skel E. Ton.” A rubber hand in the dirt in front of one of the tombstones gave the effect of a corpse clawing its way out of a grave. Mac planned to supply scary music—groans and moans and clanking—piped in from his older brother’s speakers. Oren painted Ping-Pong balls to look like eyeballs, for pelting at kids as they went through, and Penny made fake blood fromcorn syrup and red food coloring.
They decided to charge fifty cents to go through, and to sell refreshments as well. The mothers were happy to help out, as they were under the impression that the kids were trying to raise money for new softball equipment. Penny’s mom made chocolate chip cookies, Mrs. Albright supplied festive little bags of popcorn, and Mrs. McHale baked a batch of oatmeal cookies.
Mrs. Loew contributed a bag of store-bought cookies, which the boys thought was lame; but Penny, who had overheard her mother talking on the phone with Oren’s mom, whispering about a divorce, figured that Mrs. Loew had better things to worry about than baking cookies.
“I certainly hope you kids aren’t driving Mrs. Albright crazy,” Mrs. Carson said as Penny and Teddy dug through the oversized hanging plastic garment bags where Halloween costumes and old clothes were stored.
Boxes and old junk were piled in the middle of the attic, where long strips of plywood flooring had been nailed down. Pink cotton-candy insulation extended beyond the flooring on all sides. Teddy stood at the edge of the flooring on the far side of the attic, looking likehe wanted to take a leap onto the fuzzy stuff.
“Teddy, get away from that insulation!” his mother ordered.
“Why?” he asked mutinously.
“Because it’s very dangerous. There’s bits of sharp glass in all that pink fuzz.”
He peered down at it as if he didn’t quite believe her.
Penny was trying on a red yarn wig, the remnant of an old costume. She modeled the wig with a little shake of her head.
“You look stupid!” Teddy said.
“What was this from, Mom?” Penny asked, her hair sticking out from underneath the yarn.
“A costume party Dad and I went to before we got married. I was Raggedy Andy and your dad was Raggedy Ann.”
“Raggedy Ann? No way,” Teddy moaned. “Dad wouldn’t dress like a girl!”
“Trust me, your dad made a very cute Raggedy Ann,” Mrs. Carson said wryly.
Penny and Teddy burst out laughing.
“You kids would tell me, you know, if anyone was giving you a hard time, right?” her mother asked abruptly.
Penny thought of the dog skull at the creek. Shecouldn’t tell her mother about that because she wasn’t supposed to be down at the creek. And she couldn’t really confess her fears about Caleb because her mother didn’t like them to talk about him. When it came right down to it, there really wasn’t
anything
she could tell her.
Finally Penny said, “Like a strange man asking us to take a ride or something?”
“Exactly,” her mother answered.
There was a moment of silence as Penny looked past her mother at Teddy, who was sitting very still.
“Sure, Mom,” she said, but she wouldn’t meet her eyes.
Bats flying crazily above the Albrights’ house lent a scary cast to the night of the Mockingbird Lane Haunted Trail. The Albrights’ backyard looked downright forbidding in the dark. It was perfect.
Penny, wearing a sheet and a rubber skull mask, was more excited about the haunted trail than her birthday, which was the next day. All the kids would be coming over for her party the next evening—everyone except Zachary, of course—and she was a little worried. She had invited Amy, and she was starting to think that maybe it hadn’t been such a goodidea. How did
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