Trickster

Trickster by Laurie Halse Anderson

Book: Trickster by Laurie Halse Anderson Read Free Book Online
Authors: Laurie Halse Anderson
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Chapter One
    O ne waiting room—totally swept,” I announce, parking the broom against the wall of the clinic. “Can we go now?”
    Brenna Lake turns around at the front door. “Duh, no, David. We can’t go until Mr. Quinn calls.” She sprays window cleaner on the messy nose prints left by a Saint Bernard. “Keep sweeping,” she orders. “I can see dog hair everywhere.”
    “What are you talking about?” I ask. “I did a perfect job.”
    “Yeah, right,” Brenna says.
    We’re on cleaning duty today at Dr. Mac’s Place, the veterinary clinic across the street from my house. I always knew I’d end up working here. I’m close by, I’m great with animals, and people love me. It took a few years of pestering Dr. Mac, the vet, but she finally caved in.
    There are five volunteers: Brenna, Zoe, Sunita, Maggie, and me. Dr. Mac—also known as Dr. J.J. MacKenzie, Maggie and Zoe’s grandmother—brought us together a couple of months ago. The clinic was overrun with sick puppies, and she was desperate. We’ve been regulars ever since.
    We help her with all kinds of cases—real emergency room stuff like surgery and day-to-day things like checkups and shots. The medical details are cool, but sweeping floors is the pits. I try not to clean too much. It’s bad for my health.
    A few more minutes and we are out of here. Today we’re taking a road trip.
    Brenna sprays the next pane of glass. “I don’t know why you’re so excited. All we’re going to do at Quinn’s Stables is shovel manure and bounce along on old horses. What’s the big deal?”
    “
What’s the big deal
?” I stare at her. Did she really say that? “We’re going to be with horses.That’s the big deal! We’re going to ride, and groom, and—and—everything!”
    My broom falls to the floor with a bang, and Sunita looks up from the receptionist’s desk. She’s been entering addresses into Dr. Mac’s computer. Sunita is the quietest of all of us. She’s probably the smartest, too.
    “Brenna’s teasing you, David,” Sunita says. “I think she’s as excited as you are.”
    “Am not,” Brenna answers.
    “How can you not be excited about riding a horse?” I ask.
    “Look, I’ve ridden before,” Brenna says, rubbing the window harder. “It was the most boring half hour of my life.”
    Brenna is one of those natural kind of girls: old jeans, work boots, save the whales, that kind of stuff. She was the only one who wasn’t totally psyched when Dr. Mac told us we’d be helping out at Quinn’s Stables for a few weeks. I’ll fix that.
    “You had a slowpoke, that was the problem,” I tell her. “You need a good horse. Mr. Quinn has tons of them. But you can’t ride the quarter horse, the one he’s picking up in Maryland today. He’s all mine.”
    “The horse cost a quarter?” Brenna teases.
    “No—it’s a kind of breed. Quarter horses are strong and fast. You’ve probably seen them on TV. They use them in rodeos for roping and barrel racing. Has to be a smart horse to do that.”
    “Mr. Quinn won’t let you ride a fast, expensive horse,” Brenna scoffs. “Not with your history.”
    “What history?” Sunita asks.
    “Didn’t you hear what he did?” Brenna puts down the window cleaner and paper towels. “It was in the newspaper last year. David was riding with a bunch of people at Quinn’s Stables and took off from the group. It took half the police force to find him.”
    “That was you?” Sunita asks. “No—even you wouldn’t do something like that.”
    It was a little more complicated than Brenna makes it sound. It happened at the end of fourth grade. Fourth grade stank. I wish I could sweep up the whole year and throw it in the trash. My dad left when I was in fourth grade.
    Dad was the one who taught me how to ride. He went to high school with Mr. Quinn, and they had been good friends ever since. Dad had me up on a horse before I learned to walk. Riding was our thing to do together.
    I had been thinking

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