Kyle's Island Read Online Free PDF Page A

the screen door bang behind me.
    * * *
    Down by the lake I saw Vicki, Andrea, and Josh just sitting on the pier, dangling their legs over the side. Andrea’s head turned when the door banged. She waved for me to come down, then said something to Vicki. Vicki moved over and patted the place where she’d been sitting, like she was coaxing some little kid. Well, I was coming, wasn’t I?
    â€œAre you okay?” Andrea asked as soon as I came near.
    It took me a minute to get calm enough to answer. “Mad, that’s all,” I muttered.
    â€œWe heard you yell,” Josh said. “Kids aren’t supposed to yell at grown-ups.”
    Just what I needed: a lecture from my little brother. I took a deep breath, all set to blast him, but then I saw the way he was looking at me. He looked so sad—pathetic, really. I shut my mouth. Josh sat there between the girls, soccer ball beside him like always, fooling with a clamshell. He didn’t look at me again.
    â€œI’m sorry about the yelling,” I said. “Don’t worry—things will work out somehow. We’re staying right here in the cottage, the way we planned. If anyone wants to buy it, they’ll have to buy us, too.”
    â€œCan they do that?” He sounded really alarmed.
    I laughed. We all laughed. After a minute, Josh did, too. It was like laughing was something we needed right then. Josh handed me the clamshell. “I’m going to start a collection of lake treasures right away, so I’ll always have them,” he said. “This shell is my first. Do you want me to find one for you, too? There are lots.”
    I held the shell so tight its sharp edge dug into my palm. I felt like throwing the dumb thing into the water. I didn’t want a treasure collection. I wanted the cottage. But when I looked at Josh’s face, I could tell he really wanted to make me feel better. “That’s a great idea,” I told him. He can be a good kid sometimes.
    He jumped down into the water and started wading around, bending over every so often to run his hands along the mucky bottom. I sat down in his place, and Vicki scooted over to make a little more room for me. “I’m sorry, Kyle,” she said. For once, she didn’t have a book open. She’d taken off her glasses, too. Without them she looked a little like Mom. “I really am,” she went on. “We all knowhow much you like it here.” Andrea had been quiet, just looking at me. Now she said, “You don’t look as bad as I thought you would. More mad than sad.”
    â€œYou’re damn—” I noticed Josh look over at me and corrected myself. “Darn right I’m mad. It was going to be so good, coming up here—now it’s like someone gives you this great birthday present and then takes it away two seconds later. Why did she even bother bringing us up here? Just so she could sell it?”
    â€œMaybe she wanted us to have this one last time. We are here, Kyle. And maybe it won’t happen—maybe no one will want to buy it. Don’t let this spoil the time we have.”
    â€œIt’s already spoiled.” But as usual, Andrea had made me feel kind of better. Ever since we were little kids, she’s always known how to do that.
    As we all sat together on the pier, I stared out at the island. One thing was for sure—this summer I was going to get on that island, explore it properly. I wondered how much time we had.
    â€œSomeone’s coming to look at the cottage tomorrow,” Vicki said, as if in answer to my thoughts. “The Realtor called Mom at the Morleys’.” We didn’t have a telephone at the cottage, but the Morleys, in the cottage next door, did. They’d always taken any calls for us and let us use theirphone if we had to call out. In return we let them use our pier any time they wanted. They were nice people, but they were pretty old. Mr. Morley