I Kill the Mockingbird Read Online Free PDF Page B

“That’s his name.”
    Mort laughs.
    “What’s so funny?” she asks.
    “Balder is the Norse god of beauty, light, and joy,” says Mort.
    “So?”
    “So that’s a wiener dog.”
    Just then, Balder’s leash snags beneath a knee-high pile of self-help books. Balder gives a loud YIP! and a tug. The books topple over, and the dog is off to the races again.
    “Could somebodyplease stop him?” Mort asks calmly.
    “Balder!” Ginny shouts again. The dog glances back over his shoulder, offers another excited YIP! and keeps going. The dachshund skids around another bookshelf, knocks over a pile of old LIFE magazines, and then stops to chase his tail for a moment. He is obviously having the time of his life.
    “I’ve got him! I’ve got him!” Ginny moves toward Balder, but beforeshe gets too close the dog sprints away.
    “Run, run, run,” says Mort, “as fast as you can. You can’t catch Balder, he’s—”
    “—a small Norse god trapped in the body of a wiener dog,” I say.
    Mort laughs. “That’s exactly what I was going to say.”
    The dachshund appears at the end of a row of murder mysteries. At the other end of the row, Elena squats down so that she is at eye level with the littlecanine. “Balder!” she yells. “Stay!”
    The dog skids to a full stop.
    “Come!” says Elena.
    Balder stares at Elena’s face for a moment as if he’s considering the request.
    “You heard me,” Elena tells the dog.
    Suddenly, Balder puts his head down and races toward Elena at top speed. At the last moment, he leaps into her arms and proceeds to cover her face in licks and kisses.
    “Nice job, Frigga,”Mort tells Elena.
    “Who’s Frigga?”
    Ginny sits on the floor next to Elena and begins to pet her dog. “Frigga is Balder’s mom. She was a queen. She could see the future, but she wouldn’t tell anybody about it.”
    “How do you know that?” asks Elena.
    “I read books,” Ginny says as if this should be obvious.
    Mort reaches down and takes the dachshund from Elena’s arms. “I will hold on to Balder,” hesays to Ginny. “Our friendly staff will help you find some dog books.”
    “Thank you,” Ginny says politely. “I’d like that.”
    Michael, Elena, and I spend the next half hour assembling a stack of titles featuring great canines. We find used copies of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz , Lassie Come Home , The Phantom Tollbooth , Because of Winn Dixie , The View from Saturday, and Babe the Gallant Pig .
    Ginnyexamines the pile. “Are you sure these are dog books?”
    Mort points to a picture book called Noodle . Its cover features a simple, bright painting of a sleeping dachshund. “This is a macaroni cookbook.”
    “I don’t believe you,” says the girl.
    Mort shrugs. “Suit yourself.”
    Ginny digs a handful of paper money plus a bunch of coins from her pocket. She holds it out toward Mort. “This is all I’vegot.”
    Mort takes a five dollar bill and two quarters from Ginny’s palm. “You drive a hard bargain.”
    Ginny puts her change away and retrieves Balder from Mort’s arms. “Thank you,” she says.
    “Come back soon,” says Michael.
    “And your little dog, too,” adds Mort. Once the door swings shut, he sighs. “I love my job.”
    “You just love chasing wiener dogs,” says Elena.
    Mort’s mustache perks up. “Isn’tthat what I just said?”
    Elena takes one of the To Kill a Mockingbird copies that are still stacked on the counter. “We forgot to give Ginny one of these.”
    “That’s not a dog book,” says Michael.
    “There’s a dog in it,” says Elena.
    “A dead dog with rabies doesn’t count.”
    Elena shrugs. “A sale is a sale.”
    “That little girl does not want a copy of To Kill a Mockingbird ,” Mort tells us.
    “Shedoesn’t know what she wants,” says Elena. “That’s why she needs us.”
    “Yes,” says Mort, “but we must use our power for good.”
    “What power?” I ask.
    Mort takes out his Cub Scout knife and begins to cut the empty