Read Online The Name of This Book Is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch - Free Book Online

always asked for her help planning their trips. From the best beaches in Costa Rica to the coziest cabins in Colorado, no matter where you were going Cass’s mother had a book on the subject. She had guides to trekking in Nepal even though she’d never gone on a single hike in her life, and maps for helicopter skiing in Canada even though she was afraid of flying
and
she didn’t like the snow.
    To Cass, nothing was more torturous than hearing about all these fabulous places she would never get to see. To her mother, books were better than travel. “Who needs to go somewhere when you can read about it,” her mother liked to say. “You don’t even have to wait in line at the airport!”
    Now, finally, her mother had decided to take a vacation—or at least to add a vacation onto a work trip. And Cass wasn’t invited?
    “I know it doesn’t seem fair,” her mother said, “but it’s just not practical. Next time, you’ll come—I promise.”
    Once she got over the shock, Cass assured her mother that the Hawaiian work-plus-vacation trip was no problem. “I’ll be okay,” she said. “Anyways, I like staying with Grandpa Larry and Grandpa Wayne. Because they let me do whatever I want. Just kidding!”
    “Thank you for being so mature and understanding,” said her mother, hugging Cass for the third time in as many minutes.
    Her mother might not have been so grateful had she known what Cass was thinking while they were hugging. The reason Cass was being so mature and understanding was that she had come to the conclusion that the timing of her mother’s trip was perfect.
    In reality, she hadn’t been kidding when she said her grandfathers let her do whatever she wanted. With her mother gone, it would be much easier to go back to the magician’s house and start digging. And then to solve the mystery of his death. And then to save the rest of the world from suffering the same fate. And then to have everybody know what a hero she was and that her predictions were real and that she wasn’t just crying wolf.

Unfortunately, Cass’s mother seemed to think that her absence meant Cass should have less freedom rather than more.
    A week after she broke the news about her trip, even though she was late for the airport, her mother spent twenty minutes listing all the things Cass wasn’t allowed to do while she was gone. Including sliding down the fire pole and riding in the back of Wayne’s pickup truck.
    Cass’s mother pushed a credit card into Cass’s hand. “For emergencies,” she said. “But there better not be any!” Then she turned toward Cass’s substitute grandfathers (and now substitute guardians). “Remember, she’s not as adult as she seems—she’s still our little girl.”
    Which was just about the most infuriating thing her mother could say.
    “Don’t worry—we’ll keep her on a tight leash,” said Grandpa Larry.
    Which made Cass even madder.
    “Yeah, Sebastian has a few extras,” joked Grandpa Wayne.
    Which was so unfunny it wasn’t funny.
    Apparently, keeping Cass on a tight leash meant dragging her around with them wherever they went. As soon as her mother left, Grandpa Larry and Grandpa Wayne started filling all her out-of-school time with trips to flea markets and swap meets and garage sales and auto parts junkyards. They said they were “just checking out the competition,” but Cass noticed they never left anywhere empty-handed. After two days with them, Cass never wanted to see another old or broken thing for the rest of her life.
    Still, the field trips were a relief compared to the time she spent in the shop. Whenever she was at the fire station, Cass worried that Gloria might show up and tell her grandfathers about seeing Cass at the magician’s house. What had Gloria called her—a trespasser and a thief? Hearing those words would be enough to get her grandfathers to call her mother. And to get her mother to cancel the rest of her trip. And to get Cass in pretty much the