Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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ISBN: 978-1-62672-814-1
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The house only had the one bathroom, but there were plenty
of bedrooms upstairs. Jaycee claimed a room at the back of
the h
ouse. It was dark and smelled wet, but the door had a
lock that worked.
Arlo took the room at the front of the house that had
been his moms childhood bedroom. The flowered wallpaper
had faded so much that it looked like dusty snowflakes. The
bedsprings squeaked, but the mattress was much softer than
the one Arlo had in Chicago, or the foldaway in Philadelphia.
The windows looked out to the gravel driveway, the trees,
-1 and beyond that to the jagged, snowcapped mountains in
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Arlos m
other had gone to take the trailer back to the rental
place. His sister was locked in her room, unpacking and lis-
tening to music. His u
ncle Wade was off in his workshop.
So as Arlo inspected the spiky plant beneath his window,
he was alone. U
ntil he realized he w
asnt.
-1 Fifty feet away, by the edge of the gravel driveway, a dog
0 was watching him. Arlo assumed it was a dog, not a coyote
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Arlo was too old and mature to need tucking in, but he
didnt object when his mother went upstairs with him to see
how he had unpacked.
By flashlight, he showed her how he had sorted his
clothes from head to toe, with shirts and hats going in the top
drawer, pants in the middle, socks and underwear in the bot-
tom drawer. Logically, underwear belonged in the m
iddle
drawer, but there was more room in the sock drawer. Besides,
he often put his socks and underwear on at the same time, so
it saved opening another drawer.
His mom agreed it just made sense.
I was thinking, Arlo, she said. The diner in town has
really good pancakes, and I bet they have wifi, too. Maybe
on Sundays we could go there with the computer to call
your dad. It would be like hes having breakfast with us.
Arlo thought it was a g reat idea. More than that, it sounded
like the kind of suggestion his mother used to make, com-
bining something fun (pancakes) with something important
-1 (calling Dad).
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-1 The last answer came first. When the class spilled out for
0 morning recess, Arlo stood off to the side, watching as several
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Back in his room, Arlo sat on his bed, pinning the cuffs of
his Ranger pants. The fabric was heavythicker than denim
jeanswhich made it tough to wiggle the pins through.
His thumbs had deep indentations from the effort.
He could hear a cars tires on the gravel driveway. Head-
lights swept across his room. A fter a few moments, two car
doors opened and shut. His mom must have picked Jaycee
up from the bus.
The final pin was proving very stubborn. He wiggled
it and pushed with all his might. It suddenly poked
through
right into his thumb.
Arlo gasped, more from surprise than pain. He stared at
his thumbprint and the tiny hole in the center of it. A pearl
of deep red blood swelled out of it. -1
Thats when things got strange. 0
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ARLO FOUND HIS MOTHER IN THE KITCHEN, trying to get the stove
lit. She looked over, clearly noticing the uniform, so Arlo
figured he might as well just ask: Can I join Rangers? The
meeting is tonight.
Its fine, she said.
Really? he asked.
Really. Do you want me to shorten your pants?
You know how to do that? he asked. It was as if his
mother had just revealed she was a part-time nuclear physi-
cist.
I used to sew all the time when I was your age. I was
pretty good. I made my own dresses. The third burner on -1
the stove finally lit. 0
+1
The First Church of Pine Mountain was also the Only Church
of Pine Mountain. The building consisted of two tall trian-
gles covered in wood shingles connected by a low brick
rectangle.
As they pulled into the parking lot, Arlos m
other asked if
he wanted her to come in with him.
Arlo unbuckled his seat belt. Ill be fine. But he hesi-
tated with his hand on the door latch. He was suddenly
aware of his breathing.
If they need me to sign any forms, you can just bring
them home.
Arlo h
adnt considered that there might be forms. What
if it cost money to join? They didnt have any extra money.
And what if Uncle Wades uniform was wrong, or outdated,
and they needed to buy a new uniform? What if there
-1 was a test you had to pass to even join Rangers? Arlo was
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