Read Online The Lost and Found by E. L. Irwin - Free Book Online Page A

us from the rearview mirror, his eyes going from me, to Josiah, to Rob, and back again. I shifted my gaze out the window, doing my best to avoid all of them.
    Billy pulled into the Saveway parking lot and stopped. “I see Red parked down the street, boys. Don’t do anything stupid and get the sheriff ticked off at you. Meet back here in an hour and we’ll eat. Here’s ten dollars for each of you. You younger fellas stick together. You older ones behave .”
    Billy said he was going to grab a coffee and find a bench to keep an eye on the one main street in town. Ethan and Kelly wanted to go to the pet store, and I wanted to find the library before it closed. Pretty quickly everyone took off in different directions.
    I didn’t see where Josiah went, mainly because I was doing my best not to pay attention to him. I’d been noticing him far too much for my peace of mind. And I was very much afraid he was starting to become aware of it. My mind contemplated his reactions to Rob as well, trying to decide if Josiah was jealous of the blond boy. Since I didn’t understand it, I determined to just ignore it.
    I found the library easily enough and then spent about fifteen minutes in bliss as I perused the rows and rows of books. I’d just settled on the floor with a stack I wanted to give a closer look to when Ethan darted in, followed quickly by Kelly. “Sage!” he cried breathlessly. “Please say yes. Please!”
    “They’re so cute and free !” Kelly chimed in.
    “Whoa. Wait. First off, pipe down. You’re in a library. Second, what are you talking about?”
    “A puppy . There’s a girl giving them away down the street. Please?”
    “A puppy? But, Ethan, Billy already has two dogs. Have you asked him?”
    “He said to ask you.”
    Great . “Are you going to take care of it? Puppies are a lot of work.”
    “Yes! I promise. I’ll do whatever you ask me to.”
    “You’ll keep your grades up?”
    “Promise. Please?”
    I stood up and put three books back and took three books with me to check out. Ten minutes later Ethan was dragging me down the road to where a girl about fifteen or so sat beside a box full of wiggling tan and grey fluff balls. She smiled at our approach. “I hear you have puppies.” I smiled back at her.
    “Yes ma’am. Five.”
    I bent over and looked in the box. The puppies seemed to be a mixed breed. Part Australian Shepherd maybe, part who-knows-what. They were cute though. Really cute. Ethan had picked one up. It was a marled blue and brown color. Had one white paw and the ears stood partly up. The puppy had one blue eye, the other one golden brown. Ethan was laughing as the puppy showed its affection by licking all over his face.
    “I take it you like that one?”
    “Isn’t she beautiful?” Ethan asked through puppy breath.
    I reached over and scratched her ears. “She is. Have you picked a name?”
    “Daisy,” he replied instantly.
    “All right. But you have to take care of her.”
    “I will. I swear.”
    “Well, let’s go get food and other supplies you’ll need.” We thanked the young girl, whose name turned out to be Maggie, and then with Ethan carrying Daisy and Kelly skipping along beside them, we walked back to the bus.
    Billy chuckled as we approached him. “I wondered what your answer would be.”
    “Ethan swears he’ll take care of her.”
    “He will. I’ll see to it he does. He’s taken a responsibility for the pup. He’s going to follow through now. Right, Ethan?”
    “Right.”
    I set my books next to Billy on the bench. “I’m going to take Ethan inside to get some supplies he’ll need.”
    “Here,” Billy said as he handed me a $50 bill. “This should cover most of it.”
    I hesitated — I had money — Billy didn’t have to pay for everything like we were children.
    “I know you can probably pay yourself. I just want to be able to do something for The Kid.”
    I took a deep breath, nodded, and accepted his gift.
    I grabbed a cart on the way