faster. Besides, people count on us. Especially now. Do you have any idea how many bikes Vince and I have put back on the road since Mom and Dad left?”
“Dew, you’ve been awesome. But I’m supposedto look out for you, and—”
“Look out for me ? I don’t need you looking out for me! What am I? Another five-year-old? I’m managing that shop while you’re hanging off a scaffold—”
“Hey!” She stopped me cold. “Don’t say it! I didn’t expect to spend my summer like this—covering everything that needs to be done around here. I’m supposed to be in a class. In the city. So don’t even say it, Dewey! Don’t!” She pulled her lips in. She was done talking.
I was done listening. I left the laundry and stomped off into the shop. I rolled the door shut behind me and leaned on it.
Hanging off a scaffold.
Okay. Superstupid thing to say to Lil. She was right; this was not the summer of her dreams. I felt like dirt.
Only two things in this world seem to set me straight when everything else has collided. One is a long, all-out bike ride. The other is a cleaning frenzy. The way I saw it, I didn’t particularly deserve the bike ride. Not until I apologized to Lil,and well, I wasn’t up for the taste of crow so soon after supper. Robert had run the Shop-Vac just the night before, so not much dust was floating around. I looked at the paper slips and the parts all plunked down on the bench ready for tomorrow.
The inventory, I thought. That’s sort of like cleaning.
I set to counting everything in sight. I made lists. I took a look at all the logged-in jobs and compared them to the parts we had in stock. Then I spent a while trying to stuff away the feeling that maybe Lil was right; maybe this was gaining on me—just a little bit.
23
ON SATURDAY AFTERNOON, ROBERT AND I heard lots of scrambling and rustling above the shop. He glanced up and said, “You grow big squirrels here on the Marriss mini-farm.”
Then we heard a victory cheer. “We did it!” Stomp, stomp, stomp! Dust fell from the boards above us.
I called to Vince, “Psst! Here they come!”
Angus and Eva threw open the Trap with a bang. They appeared at the hole and called, “Who’s down there?”
I answered them with a load roar and a growl. A second later Angus and Eva came running down the stairs into the shop.
“We made it!” Eva said. “All the way up the scaffold!”
“And in the hay door!” Angus shouted. “And here we go again!”
They took lap after lap. I watched them turning redder and redder in the dry heat. “They could use a run under the hose,” I mumbled. “And maybe a sandwich.”
“Hey, you know what?” Robert said. He set a wrench down and wiped his hands on a rag. “I say we all go for ice cream.”
“Ice cream?” Vince came around the corner.
“Come on. Let’s lock up. Just for an hour, Boss Man. Hallenrock Dairy is still open. Everybody should have a weekend. Or at least a couple of hours off on a Saturday.” Robert gave me a convincing sort of nod.
“I’m with him.” Vince pointed at Robert with a socket wrench.
“Have Angus and Eva even had lunch?” I asked Vince.
He shrugged. “They were in the garden for a while.”
“Yeah, but they’re not rabbits ,” I said.
“Bet they’re hotter than they are hungry.”
“Come on!” Robert said again. “Angus and Eva will like this.”
I looked at Vince. “Okay. We’ll take the tandem? We’ll pull the twins together?”
“You’re on,” said Vince.
On their next run through the shop, I caught Angus and Eva in my monster arms and told them, “ We’re going to make you eat ice cream !” They ran squealing around the back of the barn to tell Lil.
Big surprise: She decided to go with us. (I was a little sorry. I wanted points for taking Angus and Eva off her hands for a while.)
“Dew, bring money from the tin. We’ll treat at the dairy,” she said.
I locked up. We loaded up. We took the path toward the shore roads,
“Dew, you’ve been awesome. But I’m supposedto look out for you, and—”
“Look out for me ? I don’t need you looking out for me! What am I? Another five-year-old? I’m managing that shop while you’re hanging off a scaffold—”
“Hey!” She stopped me cold. “Don’t say it! I didn’t expect to spend my summer like this—covering everything that needs to be done around here. I’m supposed to be in a class. In the city. So don’t even say it, Dewey! Don’t!” She pulled her lips in. She was done talking.
I was done listening. I left the laundry and stomped off into the shop. I rolled the door shut behind me and leaned on it.
Hanging off a scaffold.
Okay. Superstupid thing to say to Lil. She was right; this was not the summer of her dreams. I felt like dirt.
Only two things in this world seem to set me straight when everything else has collided. One is a long, all-out bike ride. The other is a cleaning frenzy. The way I saw it, I didn’t particularly deserve the bike ride. Not until I apologized to Lil,and well, I wasn’t up for the taste of crow so soon after supper. Robert had run the Shop-Vac just the night before, so not much dust was floating around. I looked at the paper slips and the parts all plunked down on the bench ready for tomorrow.
The inventory, I thought. That’s sort of like cleaning.
I set to counting everything in sight. I made lists. I took a look at all the logged-in jobs and compared them to the parts we had in stock. Then I spent a while trying to stuff away the feeling that maybe Lil was right; maybe this was gaining on me—just a little bit.
23
ON SATURDAY AFTERNOON, ROBERT AND I heard lots of scrambling and rustling above the shop. He glanced up and said, “You grow big squirrels here on the Marriss mini-farm.”
Then we heard a victory cheer. “We did it!” Stomp, stomp, stomp! Dust fell from the boards above us.
I called to Vince, “Psst! Here they come!”
Angus and Eva threw open the Trap with a bang. They appeared at the hole and called, “Who’s down there?”
I answered them with a load roar and a growl. A second later Angus and Eva came running down the stairs into the shop.
“We made it!” Eva said. “All the way up the scaffold!”
“And in the hay door!” Angus shouted. “And here we go again!”
They took lap after lap. I watched them turning redder and redder in the dry heat. “They could use a run under the hose,” I mumbled. “And maybe a sandwich.”
“Hey, you know what?” Robert said. He set a wrench down and wiped his hands on a rag. “I say we all go for ice cream.”
“Ice cream?” Vince came around the corner.
“Come on. Let’s lock up. Just for an hour, Boss Man. Hallenrock Dairy is still open. Everybody should have a weekend. Or at least a couple of hours off on a Saturday.” Robert gave me a convincing sort of nod.
“I’m with him.” Vince pointed at Robert with a socket wrench.
“Have Angus and Eva even had lunch?” I asked Vince.
He shrugged. “They were in the garden for a while.”
“Yeah, but they’re not rabbits ,” I said.
“Bet they’re hotter than they are hungry.”
“Come on!” Robert said again. “Angus and Eva will like this.”
I looked at Vince. “Okay. We’ll take the tandem? We’ll pull the twins together?”
“You’re on,” said Vince.
On their next run through the shop, I caught Angus and Eva in my monster arms and told them, “ We’re going to make you eat ice cream !” They ran squealing around the back of the barn to tell Lil.
Big surprise: She decided to go with us. (I was a little sorry. I wanted points for taking Angus and Eva off her hands for a while.)
“Dew, bring money from the tin. We’ll treat at the dairy,” she said.
I locked up. We loaded up. We took the path toward the shore roads,
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