Grace Read Online Free PDF Page A

the small wooden box we used as a table and the sweet scent of kerosene filled the room. The sight of the flame at least made it seem warmer.
    â€œThat will help,” she said.
    â€œI’ve got an idea. I’ll be right back.”
    I crawled out the clubhouse door and ran to the house. Fortunately the back door was unlocked and I tiptoed in. My parents’ room was across the hall from the one Joel and I shared and I could hear my father’s heavy snore echoed by my mom’s lighter snore. I softly pulled their door shut, then looked through the hall closet until I found what I’d come for. When I returned, Grace was in the sleeping bag with her coat still on. She had found our Etch A Sketch and was drawing. The bag of food was open next to her. The clubhouse already seemed a little warmer.
    â€œLook at this,” I said. “A heating pad.” I plugged it in the opposite side of the extension cord. An amber light glowed on its control box and within a minute it was toasty warm. “Try this.”
    â€œThis is great.” She looked a little relieved as she put it inside the sleeping bag. “Have you always lived here?” she asked.
    â€œNo, we moved here last May.”
    â€œDo you like it?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œWhat don’t you like about it?”
    â€œEverything.”
    â€œLike what?”
    â€œLike our first week here my mom dropped me and Joel off at the movie theater. After the show a gang of kids followed us out to the parking lot. They wanted to beat us up because we were clean-cut.”
    â€œYou got beat up?”
    â€œNo, but almost. My mother drove up and they ran off. But you know how it is. There’s a fight at school almost every day.”
    â€œI know what you mean.”
    â€œMy mom grew up here. She said Utah was a nice place to raise a family but it must have changed.”
    â€œIt might just be this area. It’s poor. There’s a lot of trailer parks and stuff,” she said. “Where did you used to live?”
    â€œCalifornia.”
    â€œI’ve always wanted to go to California.”
    â€œPeople were nicer in California. The whole time I was there, there was only one fight at school. And it wasn’t so cold there.” I rubbed my nose. “What about you? You like it here?”
    She sighed. “I wish we’d never come. We moved here from Hawaii.”
    Hawaii seemed like a foreign country to me and as exotic as any place I could imagine. “I’ve never met anyone from Hawaii. Why’d you move here?”
    â€œMy mother got married again. Stan said he had work here but he doesn’t ever work. He just sits around and drinks beer.”
    â€œThink you’ll ever go back?”
    â€œI hope so.”
    â€œHow’s the heating pad?”
    â€œIt’s really warm.”
    â€œGood,” I said. “You can adjust it if it gets too hot.”
    â€œThanks.”
    â€œAre you going to school tomorrow?”
    â€œIt’s Saturday.”
    â€œOh yeah, right.” I felt a little stupid. “Do you want me to bring you something to eat in the morning?”
    â€œThat would be nice.”
    I pointed to the orange pump. “If you’re thirsty, it works. Just lift the handle. There’s a cup there.” Joel and I had tied a string to the handle of a tin cup and hung it from the spigot.
    â€œGroovy. It’s like indoor plumbing.”
    I smiled. “Well, I’ll go so you can get some sleep.”
    â€œThanks. Oh, where do you…”
    I looked at her blankly.
    â€œâ€¦go to the bathroom?”
    I blushed. “There’s an outhouse on the other side of the chicken hut. It’s just a little over that way. It’s kinda creepy, but it’s better than nothing.”
    She nodded. “Okay.”
    â€œAll right. Good night.”
    I crawled out and shut the door behind me. The snow was falling heavily now; by tomorrow