Meet the Gecko Read Online Free PDF Page B

Mom whispered across me to Dad, “I alwaysthought it was some kind of robot. Or computer animation.”
    Dad nodded. “They tell me that most of it is computer-generated. They have a toy gecko and a remote-controlled gecko, but they use a live one sometimes, too.” He laughed. “They sure couldn't have gotten the remote-controlled one to jump on his head!”
    “They must've gotten lucky with that.”
    Dad nodded. “Oh, very!”
    A remote-controlled gecko? Computer-animated? So what if the gecko Chase had wasn't orange. It was still Sticky! I'd just seen him in action! What more proof did people need?
    Sticky was real!
    I tried to tune my parents out and watched the people who were scurrying around to set up the next scene. Damien Black would be coming down the rest of the stairs. The Gecko would click in the wall-walker ingot at the last minute.
    He'd climb up the wall!
    He'd…
    “How do they make it look like he's climbing walls?” Mom asked Dad.
    “Shhhh!” I told her. “He'll have the wall-walker ingot in!”
    Mom looked at Dad.
    Dad looked at Mom.
    They both raised their eyebrows.
    “Picture's up!” the director called. Then he said, “Quiet on the set. …And… action!”
    Boom! Crash! Clank!
    Everyone froze.
    I looked around. Was this sound effects?
    Thump!
    The saloon doors burst open, then closed, then burst open again. But no one came through!
    “Let go!” a voice inside the saloon cried. “I just wanna meet The Gecko!”
    I couldn't believe my ears. I whispered, “Thatsounds like—” but before I could say his name, Bubba Bixby crashed through the door.
    “CUT!” the director shouted. “Who's that clown? Get him
out
of here!”
    Bubba tried to touch Chase, but before he could, men in black T-shirts were all over him. And as they hauled Bubba away, Bubba reached for The Gecko, saying, “Hey, I just want to shake your hand! I just wanna…” The men muscled Bubba along as he shouted over his shoulder, “Man, I'm your number one fan!”
    Everyone was scowling.
    The director looked mad!
    Bubba's head swept around as he turned to face forward, but then, like in slow motion, his head turned back.
    And his eyes stopped.
    And locked!
    Right on me.

CHAPTER 10
Hot off the Press!
    “Wow,” my mom whispered. “That boy's gotten big.”
    “Oh, yeah,” I choked out, thinking about how Bubba'd find some way to pound me at school the next day.
    “How'd he get in here?” Dad said.
    “He's Bubba, Dad. He has ways.”
    Everyone was just starting to settle down when Chase said, “Has anyone seen Sticky?” He was patting himself all over, looking around.
    After a minute of Sticky not showing up, some woman announced, “We've got a gecko on the loose. Come on, people, let's find it.”
    Everyone looked around.
    On the floor.
    All around the furniture.
    I looked up. Geckos love to climb. They can hang upside down, no problem!
    Geckos are way, way cool.
    And seeing how this gecko was Sticky, well, he could be anywhere! “They should check the cash register!” I whispered to Dad. “Or the safe!” I grinned and asked him, “You still got your watch?”
    Sticky is such a kleptomaniac!
    Dad laughed and put his arm on my shoulder. “You are just kidding, right?”
    I shrugged and smiled, but part of me really wanted to check the cash register.
    Just in case.
    Someone probably should have, too, because Sticky didn't show up. Finally the director called, “Get the gecko wrangler! Everyone else, lunch, half hour! We've got miles to go before we sleep.”
    Most people filed into the tan green room. Some people ran upstairs. I was dying to go over and thank The Gecko for inviting me to watch, but I didn't have to.
    He came over to me!
    “Hey, Nolan,” he said. “Glad you could make it.”
    “Thanks for inviting me!” I told him.
    He turned to Mom and Dad. “Cool kid you got here.”
    Mom was smiling big. She put out her hand and said, “I'm Eve Byrd, Nolan's mother.”
    He nodded. “And I'm Chase