Hunter Moran Hangs Out by Patricia Reilly Giff Page A

Appolonia,” I put in.
    Sarah Yulefski screws up her face. “You’re going the wrong way.”
    I sigh. “All right, what news?”
    She leans closer. “It’s really bad. Terrible, as a matter of fact.”
    â€œI’m bracing myself,” I say, and Zack tries not to laugh.
    She takes her time, running her tongue over her teeth, dislodging a Rice Chex, twirling around to see if anyone’s listening.
    As if anyone in the whole world would be interested in what Sarah Yulefski has to say.
    Wrong.
    She leans forward. Whispers one word.
    Zack’s eyes are as big as pizzas and I can hardly swallow.

Chapter 2
    â€œA kidnapping,” Yulefski breathes. “It’s going to happen right here in Newfield. Actually, it’s someone . . .”
    We lean forward, two inches away from Yulefski and her teeth.
    â€œ. . . in your family,” she finishes, looking ecstatic at her bad news.
    Zack and I stagger back.
    â€œGive me a buck twenty-six,” she says, “and I’ll tell you the rest.”
    We dig into our pockets and come up with our life savings. Sarah Yulefski counts every penny, every dime, as if we were out to cheat her. “All right,” she says at last. “The victim will fit in a cage.” She frowns. “I think he said
thick
. A thick cage? Thick something, anyway.”
    â€œWhat? Who?” I manage. My legs are going to give way any minute. Zack sinks down on the sidewalk.
    Yulefski holds up her hand. “I’m getting to that. I was hanging around in Vinny’s Vegetables and Much More,listening to various conversations as I picked out bags of healthy snacks.”
    â€œGet to it, Yulefski,” Zack says.
    â€œThree things,” she says. “Item one. The kidnapper was muttering to someone. Or maybe to him- or herself. I couldn’t tell if it was a man, woman, boy, or girl.” She shrugs. “It could have been an alien for all I know.”
    Zack cuts in. “Didn’t you get a look?”
    â€œI was in the beef jerky aisle,” she says. “The napper was around the corner, probably looking at the cleavers on sale.”
    Cleavers!
    â€œItem two. The kidnapper whispered that the victim never kept quiet for a minute. I think that’s what he said; it was hard to hear. I had to poke my nose into all those packs of jerky.”
    I remind myself never to eat beef jerky for the rest of my life.
    Sarah Yulefski runs her fingers through her knotty hair. “So here’s the deal. I caught just a bunch of words:
Moran. Cage. Need thick? Thick money?
” She takes a breath. “Yes, he or she sounded like a foreign agent:
lure the victim in. Try not to get caught
.”
    She works on her teeth. “You can see that. It would mean jail for the rest of his or her miserable life. You can’t keep someone in a cage, throw him a little food once in a while . . .”
    Zack makes impatient circles with his hands. “Keep going.”
    At the same time, I’m almost yelling. “Are you sure he said
Moran?
”
    â€œOne at a time here,” Yulefski says. “And yes, I heard
Moran. M-o-r-a-n
. As for item three . . .” She looks embarrassed. “What was item three, anyway?”
    Impossible.
    She sucks on her braces. “Don’t worry, it will come to me.”
    Probably two years after the kidnapper strikes.
    Sarah Yulefski tosses her hair over her shoulder, just like
TV Witch Girl
, two o’clock, Friday afternoon. She disappears up the street.
    Zack and I stare at each other. Should we head for the police station? Should we tackle Pop with the news?
    Who’d believe Sarah Yulefski?
    Zack reads my mind. “Only us, Hunter. Only us.”

Chapter 3
    We head for home without our life savings. Yulefski has no mercy. Not only is our family in terrible peril, but last week she charged us a buck seventy-four for our worm