Hunter Moran Hangs Out Read Online Free PDF

jump, ripping the whole envelope open, and the letter flutters away in a couple of pieces. “Are we dead?” I yell.
    Zack is swatting his head, dancing around; then we’re out of there.
    But not before I get a quick look into the living room window. No one is asleep on the floor. Not Steadman. Not even Fred.

Chapter 9
    We dart around the side of the house and nearly knock Becca over. “Great lunch,” she says, “if that dog didn’t keep going for my shins.” She rubs her leg. “Have to get to Gussie’s Gym. The new kid, Alex, is waiting.”
    â€œGo for it,” Zack says.
    We barrel through the house, yelling, “Steadman! Fred!”
    In the kitchen, Linny is telling Nana that we’re operating on half-cylinders.
    We race through the living room and peel off to take the stairs two at a time.
    Nobody.
    Nothing but a crumpled-up Hershey bar wrapper on Steadman’s bed.
    â€œStolen from me,” Zack says.
    We head for the basement, even though we know Steadman wouldn’t set foot down there. We’ve told him an alligator lives in the furnace room.
    It’s probably not true, but you never know. We saw that on
Would You Believe?
Monday, 6 AM .
    Zack and I clump down loudly. We make noises deep in our throats to terrify the maybe-alligator.
    The light at the bottom of the stairs is out again. When I’m grown-up and rich, I’m going to have a guy work for me; he’ll do nothing but change lightbulbs every two minutes.
    We trip over a ratty old rug that Mom calls an antique and crash into Pop’s tools. Pop says he’s building a retreat for himself down there. Zack says it’s more like a dungeon.
    â€œSteadman,” I whisper. “Where are you?”
    We stand absolutely still.
    Steadman doesn’t answer.
    Fred doesn’t growl.
    We do hear something. What? We don’t wait to find out. We race up the stairs and out the front door and sink down on the steps.
    There are no two ways about it. Steadman has been kidnapped.
    â€œWhat should we do?” I ask Zack.
    â€œWe can’t tell Nana,” he says. “She’ll drop dead of a heart attack.”
    â€œWilliam is useless,” I say.
    â€œAnd Linny will never believe us.”
    â€œShe will if she can’t find Steadman.” We poke our heads in the front door. “Hey, Linny.”
    â€œShe’s out back somewhere,” Nana calls.
    We dash around the side of the house, through Fred’s oasis, and into the yard. Linny is leaning against the playhouse. And she’s holding . . .
    Holding . . .
    â€œThe kidnap letter,” Zack says.
    And that’s when Linny begins to scream at the top of her lungs.
    Linny loves Steadman. We all do. This is the worst thing that’s ever happened to us. Steadman won’t even make kindergarten. “I’m glad that at least he had that Hershey Bar,” Zack says over Linny’s yelling.
    We go over to her. With both hands she’s ripping up what’s left of the letter.
    â€œStop!” Zack sputters. “Are you demented?”
    We dive for it, but Linny dashes around the playhouse. We tackle her, and the three of us crash into the birdbath, which is more muck than bath.
    A thousand pieces of the letter float over the yard, some of them caught in Pop’s half-dead rosebush, most of them covered with mud.
    Linny is still screaming.
    â€œWe’re going to get Steadman back,” I tell her as Zack crawls around, gathering up microscopic pieces of paper.
    â€œSteadman?” Linny yells. “Steadman?” Her face lookslike a purple eggplant. Skinnier, though. “What are you talking about?”
    â€œYou don’t know? Steadman’s been kidnapped,” I say. “And the letter is probably the ransom note. You never should have ripped it up. We need all the clues we can get, and we have only . . .”
    â€œ. . . two and a