Philip and the Fortune Teller (9781619501317) Read Online Free PDF Page A

the
wave. They looked back and saw the old lady still rocking. They
glanced nervously at one another and headed off to see the
circus.
     
     

Chapter Six
     
    The boys enjoyed the circus, especially the
motorcycles that roared around inside a giant ball, just missing
each other as they zipped in and out and up and down in wild
circles. When, at the end of the show, the man flew out of the
cannon and sailed across the whole circus tent into a big net,
Philip and Emery scooted. They knew they needed to beat the crowd
leaving the tent. They had only twenty-four minutes before they had
to meet Philip’s father.
    “Make sure we don’t run into your father as
we leave,” Emery said, trying to keep up. An elephant walked in
front of them, and the boys paused outside the tent of the gypsy.
They watched a woman step outside, pause, and pat the front of her
dress. She spun in a circle, looking around on the ground. The
elephant passed, and the boys hurried on to Van Kirk Street.
    “Oh, no,” Philip said. “Look, she’s on her
porch.”
    “Yeah, but it’s dark. We can get the box
without her seeing. Go ahead.”
    Philip turned to his friend.
    “ We can get it. I should go
ahead?”
    “Yeah. You know where you put the box, not
me.”
    Philip looked for a way to argue, but Emery
had him again.
    Emery went on, “I’ll keep an eye on the old
lady.”
    “If she comes, you say, ‘Here comes the
witch.’ Okay?” Philip got down on his knees.
    “Right. Here comes the witch.”
    Philip leaped up.
    “What are you doing?” Emery asked. “Get back
down there.”
    “You said, ‘Here comes the witch.’ Is she
coming?”
    “No, I was just practicing. She’s still
rocking.”
    “Well, why did you say, ‘Here comes the
witch’ then?”
    “Will you get the box, for Pete’s sake?”
    “Don’t say anything unless she’s really
coming.”
    “I won’t. Go.”
    Philip got back onto his knees and crawled
forward. He took out his little flashlight and shot its beam into
the bushes. He found the box and pulled it out.
    “Philip, she stood up,” Emery whispered.
    Philip got to his feet, and together they
peeked around the garage.
    “She’s lifting her arm,” Philip said with a
shaky voice. “She can feel we have the box! She knows! She knows!
She’s gonna put us down the sewer!”
    “Listen!”
    In the distance, the boys heard a siren.
    “You think she can call the police by lifting
her arm?” Emery asked softly.
    “I don’t know. I don’t know.”
    Headlights and sirens turned onto Van Kirk
Street. The boys stood frozen in fear as two police cars raced
by.
    “They missed us,” Emery said. “Maybe the old
lady’s arm is crooked and her aim is off. Run before they come
back.”
    Philip hurried away, Emery at his
shoulder.
    Two blocks later they slowed, and Emery
asked, “Where’ll we put the box this time? In Mrs. Logan’s
bushes?”
    “We don’t have time. We better find a place
around here where it’s dark. Near the circus there’ll be lots of
lights and lots of people. How about there?”
    Philip indicated a corner store, closed at
the moment, but which had an unlit outdoor staircase along the side
wall. He walked to the staircase and put the box under the first
step. Then he pulled two trashcans under the staircase to block the
view of anyone going by.
    “I guess it’s okay there,” said Emery. “But
we better come by first thing in the morning when the store opens
and get it.”
    “Come get me as early as you can.”
    “I will, but the circus doesn’t open until
noon.”
    “We’ll get the box and take it with us. At
noon we’ll go and give it to the gypsy.”
    “Okay. Let’s go meet your father. How much
time we got?”
    Philip checked his watch. “Seven
minutes.”
    The boys ran back toward the circus
grounds.
     
~ * ~
    The next morning, Philip and Emery found the
box exactly where they’d left it, and Philip put the box inside a
plastic bag he’d thought to bring along.
    “People