Promise Page 7

  When they had climbed through the trapdoor, Yo-Yo went from one side to the next, looking out in all directions. “This is so awesome!” he said. “You can see forever up here.”

  Kaden thought about the first time he climbed up the tower. Emmett had brought a ladder and Kaden followed him, circling upward from landing to stairs, landing to stairs. When they reached the top, Kaden scrambled through the trapdoor and did exactly what Yo-Yo was doing.

  As Yo-Yo peered out the windows, Kubla made soft chortling sounds, his black feet grasping one of the metal window frames. Kaden hung the rope on the peg and let the rock drop noisily to the floor. The bird half flew, half jumped to land on the rock. He stood there for a while, gurgling and muttering, then jumped to the floor. With both feet together, Kubla hopped halfway across the floor and picked up something with his beak. Then he strutted back, one foot in front of the other like a proud general. Opening his wings, he made a flying leap back to the window frame, where Kaden stood beside Yo-Yo. A matchstick was in the bird’s beak.

  “Watch this,” Kaden said to Yo-Yo. He took the matchstick from Kubla and dropped it out the window. Kubla dove after it.

  It was Kubla’s favorite game, retrieving matchsticks. The bird’s aviator stunts, barrel rolls, loops, and torpedolike plummets always fascinated Kaden. The bird tightly turned out of a dive and unbelievably came up with the matchstick grasped in his shiny black beak. Unless distracted, Kubla rarely missed his retrieve.

  “That’s so wicked!” Yo-Yo said. Kubla returned, landed on Kaden’s head, and leaning over, held the matchstick in front of Kaden’s eyes.

  Kaden dropped the matchstick for Kubla again and sat down, leaning against the wall. He opened the backpack and took out two sandwiches and juice boxes. He handed a sandwich to Yo-Yo as Kubla flew back through the window. Kubla took one look at the open backpack, dropped the matchstick onto the floor, and hopped into the backpack. The backpack looked alive as the crow moved inside, and there was a muffled sound of the bird pecking at the cookie package.

  It wasn’t long before Kubla emerged from the backpack with a cookie in his beak and darted quickly through the open window.

  “He’ll go over to the dead limb on that tree,” Kaden said without standing up to look. But Yo-Yo watched attentively as the bird dove downward. Just as Kaden said, it landed on a large dead limb. The limb was near the top of the tallest tree but the tree reached only half the height of the tower.

  “Crows can’t hang on to things with their feet,” Kaden explained. “He’ll bite down and get a little bit but most of it will crumble and fall. Then he’ll fly down to eat the pieces. When he’s finished, he’ll be back for another but I won’t let him have any more.”

  Kaden wolfed down his sandwich and stood up. He went over to the metal chest, opened the lid, and dropped in the backpack. The lid slammed shut just as Kubla returned. Squawking, Kubla jumped up on the lid, then jumped to Kaden’s shoulder and gave it a peck.

  “Ouch! No!” Kaden exclaimed, pushing the bird off. “He’s mad he doesn’t get seconds,” he told Yo-Yo.

  Yo-Yo had been so engrossed watching Kubla, he’d only taken one bite of his sandwich. Before he knew what was happening, a flutter of wings came toward his hand. The bird grabbed at the sandwich and made his getaway, taking most of the sandwich with him.

  Kaden laughed at Yo-Yo’s startled expression. “Snooze, you lose,” he said, “especially with peanut butter sandwiches. They’re his favorite.”

  Yo-Yo looked toward the dead limb. Kubla stood with the bread hanging from his beak.

  “That’s why I made three,” Kaden said. “I figured Kubla would get one somehow.”

  Kaden opened the chest again, pulled out the backpack, and tossed it to Yo-Yo. Yo-Yo reached into the backpack but quickly pulled his hand back out.

  “Gross!” he exclaimed, holding up his hand. A thick gooey white glob covered his fingers. Kaden laughed.

  “It’s not funny,” Yo-Yo said, but Kaden kept laughing.

  “Give me your canteen.”

  “Won’t do any good. You used up all the water washing off poison ivy but there’s an old rag in there.” Kaden pointed to the chest.

  Yo-Yo opened the chest. “Wow, there’s a bunch of stuff in here.”

  As Yo-Yo wiped off his hand Kaden carefully removed the extra sandwich and the bag of cookies from the backpack. He turned the backpack inside out and took the rag from Yo-Yo.

  “It didn’t get on the sandwich or the cookies,” Kaden said as he wiped the bird’s droppings from the backpack. With his index finger and thumb, Yo-Yo picked up a small corner of the sandwich’s baggie and held it up for inspection. Satisfied, he ripped open the baggie and took a big bite.

  Kubla flew back through a window. Yo-Yo turned his back on the bird but Kubla was undeterred. He reached over Yo-Yo’s shoulder and tried to nab the sandwich. Kaden reached out and took hold of the bird. “You’ve had enough, you little pig. Let Yo-Yo eat.”

  Yo-Yo finished his sandwich and started rummaging through the chest. Pushing aside a book, a pad of paper, and a wadded-up T-shirt, he inspected an assortment of rocks and feathers. He picked up a turtle shell and then looked inside a small box, which held some dried butterflies and a cicada shell. On the bottom of the chest was a long, flat metal tool with a wooden handle. The metal was smooth on one side, but sharp pointy teeth completely covered the other side.

  “What’s this?” he said.

  “It’s a rasp. I’m making a walking stick for Gram.” Kaden pointed to a long stick with a big knob of wood on one end leaning in the opposite corner of the tower. “I’ll scrape it with the rasp until it’s the right thickness for Gram’s hand. Then I’ll have to sand it smooth, and I’m going to carve a crow from that knob.”

  Yo-Yo put the rasp back, pulled out the binoculars, and looked out the windows. Kaden sat back down on the floor, continuing to pet Kubla. Kubla made little gurgling noises of contentment, almost like a cat’s purr.

  “Emmett’s pretty cool showing you how to get up here,” Yo-Yo stated as he looked through the binoculars.

  “Yeah, it was my tenth-birthday present from Emmett. Gram gave me Cabin Two with a set of intercoms, but Emmett gave me a secret hideout.”

  “So this,” Yo-Yo said, waving his arm around the tower, “and that,” he added, pointing to Kubla, “is your secret.”

  “Yeah,” Kaden answered.

  “How come you keep this a secret? If you told everybody, you’d be the kid with a tower, not the kid with the dad in prison.”

  “Can’t. We’re not really supposed to be up here. Emmett’s a good friend of the sheriff’s and he said it was okay if I didn’t tell anyone. Besides, telling would only make things worse. Everyone knows the reason the stairs were removed.”

  Kaden said nothing more. He just continued petting Kubla, who had settled comfortably in his lap. Yo-Yo waited but when Kaden didn’t explain, he finally said, “I don’t.”

  Kaden poked the straw into his second juice box and slurped on it until the sides of the box collapsed inward. He tossed the empty box into a corner. The movement caught Kubla’s attention and he hopped over to inspect it.

  “When they caught Dad stealing in Chapston City, they searched the cabins, too. They found stuff there but they also found a bunch of his stolen goods stashed up here. And that was the end of the bottom stairs.”

  “When they searched the cabins was it like on TV?” Yo-Yo asked excitedly. “Did they have those forensic guys and stuff?” He tossed his second empty juice box into a different corner. Kubla marched over to investigate it, too.

  “I don’t know. At the time, I didn’t know about any of it, not about Dad stealing, getting caught, going to prison, none of that,” Kaden said. “I was just three.”

  “So when did you find out?”

  “In first grade. Luke told me. I used to play with him at school. Then he had this birthday party. That’s when he told me.”

  “Figures it’d be
Luke,” Yo-Yo said, “but I can’t believe he invited you to his party.”

  “He didn’t. I found out about my dad when Luke told me I wasn’t invited because his dad said my dad was a thief.”

  “So what did you do?”

  “I didn’t believe him. But I was upset I wasn’t invited to the party and when I told Gram why, she was madder than a hornet. But she also told me it was true. She said my dad was in prison for stealing but it had nothing to do with me or anybody else. And that’s about all she’s ever said. All the rest I’ve picked up along the way. People talk a lot in Promise and they must think I’m deaf.”

  “What does Emmett say?”

  “He’s never told me much either. It’s like this big secret.”

  “Well, I’ve noticed Luke isn’t into secrets,” Yo-Yo said.

  “Yeah, he brings it up whenever he gets a chance. You want a cookie?” Kaden said, changing the subject.

  Yo-Yo pointed to Kubla. “I don’t think it’s possible, not with that thief over there.” The word “thief” had popped out without any thought and Yo-Yo instantly regretted it. But it didn’t upset Kaden.

  “He is a thief and a tricky one, too.” Kaden laughed. “You just have to be trickier.” Kaden pulled a straw from one of the empty juice boxes, waved it around to catch the bird’s attention, and tossed it out the window. Kubla followed the straw and Kaden quickly opened the chest.

  “And you gotta be quick,” he said, cramming a whole cookie in his mouth.

  Yo-Yo followed Kaden’s example and while watching Kubla play fetch, the two boys finished off Emmett’s cookies.

  “Have you ever been in an airplane?” Kaden asked.

  “Yeah. Why?”

  “I guess it looks like this, doesn’t it?”

  “Only when you first take off. Soon the trees are just like a lumpy green blanket. Cars and trucks look like little toys and you can’t see people at all. Not like this. From up here, people would look small but you could still see them pretty good, even without binoculars.”

  Kaden agreed. From here he was close enough to recognize someone walking up from the barricade. Unless you’re trying to recognize someone from a memory formed eight years ago when you were only three, Kaden thought. He closed his eyes and tried to recall just a glimpse or a shadow from the past. But all he could picture was a stranger in jeans, work boots, a gray T-shirt, and a cowboy hat.

  “There’s one more secret,” Kaden said hesitantly. “Something nobody in town knows yet. Just Gram, Emmett, and me.” And he told Yo-Yo about the letter, the man with the white pickup truck, and his worries about the backpack.

  Tuesday, September 6

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  TRUMPETS

  As usual, Doris pulled into Emmett’s drive in the morning. Unlike usual, Emmett was not in the kitchen. Instead, as Doris and Kaden stepped off the bus, he stuck his head out of the shop door at the end of the driveway.

  “There are some blueberry muffins keeping warm in the oven,” he called out. “And I already made coffee. Make yourselves at home.”

  Kaden told Doris about the fishing trip while they ate but Emmett never came in the house.

  “I wonder what he’s doing out there,” Doris said. “I thought for sure he’d be coming in to join us.” She looked at her watch. “We need to get going.”

  “I’ll go see what he’s up to. I have to get something anyway,” Kaden said. “I’ll meet you at the bus.”

  When Kaden rushed out to the shop he was surprised the shop door was locked. Emmett never locked his doors. Kaden could hear the table saw going and he pounded on the door until he heard the saw stop. Emmett stuck his head out an open window.

  “I’m working on the school sign,” he said. “You can’t come in. Nobody gets to see it until it’s up.”

  “I need my trumpet,” Kaden said.

  “Oh yeah. Wait right there.” A few seconds later the door opened again, just wide enough for Emmett to hand Kaden the black case.

  Kaden sat alone in the middle of Ms. Ales’s classroom, his backpack on his desk, the black trumpet case beside his chair. It wasn’t long before Yo-Yo came in.

  “Sweet! You’re going to get to be in band after all,” Yo-Yo said, nodding at the black case.

  “Yeah, I forgot to tell you. Emmett got it for me. Gram doesn’t know anything about it, so don’t say a word to her.”

  Yo-Yo just smiled and slapped his hand over his mouth.

  First bell rang and students started entering the room. Elana noticed the trumpet case right away.

  “How did you get that already?” she asked. “I didn’t think anyone got their instruments until band today.”

  “I didn’t order it through Mrs. Strokowski,” Kaden told Elana. “I got it in Chapston City.”

  “He probably burglarized the music store,” Luke sneered.

  Elana ignored Luke’s comment. “I’m going to play the clarinet. What are you playing, Yo-Yo?”

  “Sax,” Yo-Yo answered.

  “How about you, Luke?” Elana asked.

  “I didn’t sign up for band. Only losers would wear one of those dumb band uniforms.” As he said it, he gave the trumpet case a big kick. It skidded down the aisle just as Ms. Ales walked in.

  “Whose is it?” she asked.

  “Mine,” Kaden answered.

  “Rules are you’re to take instruments to the music room when you arrive at school, not bring them into the classroom. You should have read that in the middle-school handbook. So go take it there now, please.”

  “Don’t blame him, Ms. Ales. It’s not his fault,” Luke said. “Breaking the rules is a family trait, isn’t it, Kaden? He’s just following in his daddy’s footsteps.”

  Ms. Ales ignored Luke, and Kaden said nothing. But as he walked to the music room he thought to himself, I’m glad people in band are losers. Every Tuesday and Thursday there will be a whole hour I won’t have to be around Luke.

  When Kaden got home from school, Gram was waiting on the front porch.

  “What’s this?” Gram said, holding up a piece of paper.

  “It’s my class schedule,” Kaden said, puzzled by Gram’s angry tone.

  “I know that,” Gram said. “What I want to know is what this is.” Gram pointed to fifth period, the class right after lunch. Kaden thought she had figured out he had signed up for band against her wishes.

  “Study hall,” he answered.

  “I can read,” Gram said. “What I asked is what it is. What do you do in study hall?”

  “Nothing really. It’s in the cafeteria after lunch every day. You can get your homework done if you have any. Otherwise, you’re supposed to read a book or something. But most of the kids just talk. It’s kind of like recess in elementary; you just don’t go outside. Middle school doesn’t have recess. Study hall is our only break.”

  The minute he said “break,” Kaden knew what would come next.

  “What do you need another break for? You just had lunch. That’s why they call it lunch break. And when did they forget homework means work at home? Has everyone totally forgotten the meaning of the English language?”

  Kaden took a deep breath. When Gram got on a roll, there was no stopping her.

  “I don’t know, Gram. I don’t make the rules. That’s just the way it is.”

  “And you go to study hall every day?”

  “You do if you’re not in band. If you’re in band, you only go to study hall on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Band is after lunch on Tuesdays and Thursdays.”

  Gram stared at the schedule a while longer, then handed it to Kaden. All evening Gram sat muttering on the porch glider but said nothing more about it until Kaden was in his cabin for the night.

  “Kaden,” she said through the intercom, “sign up for band.”

  Wednesday, September 7

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  ALL RILED UP

  When Kaden came in to eat breakfast, Gram was wearing her dress. It was her only dress and
she hardly ever wore it.

  “Why are you so dressed up? Did someone die?”

  “No, I’ve got some business to do,” was all Gram said, ignoring more questions from Kaden.

  When Kaden got on the bus, Gram followed. Doris also asked Gram about the dress and got the same reply. So did Emmett. He served the ladies some apple turnovers, then made up some excuse about needing Kaden’s help outside.

  “What’s up?” Emmett asked.

  “I don’t know. She was all riled up yesterday about study hall. But she solved the band problem.”

  “How’s that?” Emmett asked.

  “When she found out band meets the same time as study hall two days a week, she told me to sign up for band.”

  “Does she know you already have a trumpet?”

  “No. I’ll just give her the rental forms to sign tonight and she won’t suspect a thing when I come home with a trumpet tomorrow.”

  When Kaden and Emmett went back inside, Gram was fidgety.

  “When are you leaving?” she asked Doris.

  “I’ve got another fifteen minutes,” Doris said, pouring another cup of coffee. “If I left now, I’d be early and the kids wouldn’t be outside yet. Everyone knows I get to each of my stops at the same time every day.”

  “What’s the matter with parents these days? If you get there fifteen minutes early, it shouldn’t matter. They should have their children ready and waiting.”

  “Then we’d be at the school early and the teachers wouldn’t be there. They’re always running late.”

  “Well, it’s clear to me someone needs to get things straightened out at that school,” Gram said. “I guess it has to be me. I’ll be waiting in the bus.”

  “The bus?” Doris, Emmett, and Kaden all asked at the same time.

  “Of course,” Gram answered. “I’m going to the school. How else would I get there?”

  “The school?” they all three said in unison again.

  “Isn’t anyone listening this morning? I have business to do at that school and I’m taking the bus.”