Philip and the Superstition Kid (9781452430423) by John Paulits Page B

said,
“I was supposed to go to Ohio to my Aunt Marie’s house, but now . .
. ” He jangled his rabbits’ feet again. “ . . . I don’t have to
because Aunt Marie said she was going away, too.”
    “ There’s a surprise,”
Emery mumbled again.
    Leon ignored him and sang, “So I don’t have
to go-o. I don’t have to go-o.”
    “ Leon, be quiet,” Philip
ordered angrily. Nothing annoyed Philip more than Leon making up
one of his ridiculous jingles and singing it over and over and over
again. “Nobody knows we’re here. If they find out, we’ll get chased
and this is a good place.”
    In a quieter voice Leon sang, “I don’t have
to go-o. I don’t have to go-o.”
    “ Leon, shut up!” Emery
threatened.
    Leon’s mouth snapped shut and he smiled
smugly.
    “ What?” Emery asked
impatiently.
    Leon’s mouth began to move. The boys could
tell he was singing something again but no sound came out.
    Philip felt his stomach began to shrink into
an aggravated ball. Then he read Leon’s lips.
    “ Oh no!” Philip cried.
“Emery!”
    “ What?” Emery asked in
alarm. He stared at Leon and read his lips, too. “Philip, that was
the dream! The thing on the island was Leon! A gigantic Leon coming
out of the trees, and we were going to be stuck on that island with
him forever.”
    Leon’s voice got louder. He smiled, looked
straight at Emery, and sang loud enough for him to hear, “I’m gonna
stay with you-u. I’m gonna stay with you-u.”
     
     

Chapter Two
     
    “ You’re gonna stay—in my
house—in my bed—with me—for how long?” Emery cried.
    “ Yep. No Aunt Marie in
Ohio for me. For a week, I guess.” Leon jangled his three rabbits’
feet and laughed his deep, strange laugh. “Yuk yuk.”
    “ How come you got luck?”
Emery asked, fuming. “I used my rabbit’s foot all week and didn’t
get any special good luck. I put it under my pillow last night and
got rotten luck.”
He glanced knowingly at Philip.
    Leon explained. “Because there’s only so
much good luck around, and three rabbits’ feet beats one. All the
good luck came to me.”
    Philip butted in. “Suppose
Emery used four rabbits’ feet. Then he’d get the luck.” Philip didn’t believe
in any of this rabbit’s foot/good luck stuff, but he wanted Emery
to win this battle.
    Leon gave a loud yuk. “Then I’d buy two more
and have five.”
    “ Yeah,” Emery argued,
“well I’d buy two
more and have six.”
    “ So, I’d get
seven.”
    “ Then I’d get
eight.”
    Philip nodded, urging Emery on.
    “ You couldn’t,” Leon
smiled confidently.
    “ Why not?” Emery
demanded.
    “ Because it would cost you
too much money.”
    “ It would cost you money,
too,” Emery snapped back.
    Leon smiled and his chipped tooth caught
Philip’s eye. Leon had been jumping on his bed once, he had told
them, and missed.
    “ I got lots of money. I
found it because I have my lucky rabbits’ feet.” He jangled the
feet again and then got to his knees and jangled his pocket. They
heard the tinkle of coins.
    Philip and Emery looked at one another.
    “ You found money?” Philip
asked softly.
    “ How much?” Emery
asked.
    “ Oh,” Leon started
counting on his fingers. “Two quarters, two dimes, five pennies,
and a nickel.”
    “ Where’d you find the
money?” Philip asked.
    “ Just looking around. The
rabbits’ feet made it be there.”
    “ Pffffff,” Philip
scoffed.
    “ There was a nickel just
out there now.” Leon pointed.
    “ I didn’t see any nickel,”
Emery said.
    Leon jangled his rabbits’ feet again and
smiled. “’Course not.”
    “ Stop shaking your feet,”
Emery said in annoyance.
    Leon sat back down and waggled his own feet.
“Yuk yuk,” he laughed.
    Emery moaned and Philip rolled his eyes.
    Suddenly, a dog started barking. Leon’s eyes
widened.
    “ What’s the matter?”
Philip asked.
    “ A dog barking. If two
dogs bark it means trouble.”
    “ What?” Philip said,
making a doubtful