Amos Gets Married Read Online Free PDF Page A

fountain.”
    “Duunnc!”
    “What is it, Amos? We don’t have time to mess around.”
    “I think you better see this.”
    Dunc moved around the bank of lockers. Amos was standing in front of his. The door was hanging wide open.
    The locker was empty.

“Do you mind if we stop by Melissa’s house on the way home? She said she has a present for me.”
    “No.” Dunc straightened his handlebars and concentrated on the road.
    “Is something bothering you?”
    “It’s the case. I was
sure
Ralph was guilty. I guess someone else must have put that stuff in the custodians’ closet. I don’t have another suspect now that Ralph is out of the picture.”
    “I told you, we’ll go to school early tomorrow and look for somebody with ink-stained fingertips. It’ll be a cinch.”
    Dunc sighed. “I know. It’s just that I wasso sure it was Ralph. How could I have been so wrong? I’m sorry about all your stuff.”
    “I’m not. Now I don’t have to bring any books to school. I just hope whoever took the worms takes good care of them. I kind of started to like them. I named some of them and thought maybe I could train them to come, or heel …”
    Amos pulled up in Melissa’s driveway. Dunc stopped at the curb.
    “Aren’t you coming in?” Amos asked.
    “No, I’ll wait out here. You two are enough to make anybody throw up, with all those dumb names you call each other.”
    “Hi, honey-muffin!” Melissa waved at Amos from the upstairs window.
    “See what I mean?” Dunc said.
    Amos spread his arms out. “Can I help it? The girl’s crazy about me. Be right back.”
    The front door opened, and Amos disappeared inside. In a few minutes he was back out carrying a big white box with a red bow tied around it.
    “What did she get you?”
    “I don’t know. She said not to open it until I get home.”
    Dunc stepped on one pedal and pushed off. “Come on—I’ll race you.”
    First Amos tried to carry the box under his arm. Then he tried to balance it on his lap. He finally had to get off and carry the box with one hand and push his bike with the other.
    Dunc was waiting for him on the front porch. “What kept you?”
    Amos ignored him. He dropped his bike on the lawn and headed for the front door. Dunc followed him into the living room.
    Amos ripped the top off of the box. Inside was a brand-new pair of Rollerblades, a fluorescent green sweatband, and a wristband to match.
    “Wow!” Amos pulled the blades out of the box. “She’s
really
crazy about me!”
    “Too bad you can’t keep all this stuff,” Dunc said.
    Amos stiffened. “What do you mean?”
    “I mean, you’ll probably want to give it all back, considering she’s out of her head and everything.”
    “I will?”
    “Sure. It’s only right. She must havespent a lot of money on this stuff. Look at this tag. It says
Stephenson’s.
That’s the most expensive store in town.”
    Amos sighed. “I
would
have to have you around to remind me of these things. Why couldn’t I have someone without a conscience for my best friend?”
    Dunc shrugged. “Just lucky, I guess. Want me to help you take it back to her?”
    “No. I think I’ll wait awhile and figure out something better to tell her than ‘I can’t keep this stuff because you’re nuts.’ ”
    Dunc rubbed his chin. “You’ve got a point there.” He snapped his fingers. “I know. We’ll take the stuff back to Stephenson’s ourselves. You can give the money to Melissa and tell her they didn’t fit.”
    Amos put the blades back in the box. “You don’t think maybe I should keep them? You know, on the outside chance that she really loves me?”
    Dunc shook his head.
    “I was afraid of that.”

Stephenson’s was next to the Pioneer Mall on the way toward town. Amos lived on the outskirts of town in a development. It took the boys twenty minutes to bike to the mall. It would have taken less time, but Amos was still having trouble figuring out how to carry the big white box.
    Dunc locked