Sammy Keyes and the Wild Things Read Online Free PDF Page B

like the end of the world now, but it’s going to be okay.”
    Vargus just stood there, holding his breath.
    We waited.
    And waited.
    His face turned redder.
    And redder.
    His eyes started bulging.
    â€œWhat is he doing?” Bella whispered.
    â€œI don’t know,” I whispered back.
    Finally Robin told him, “It’s okay to let it out, Vargus.”
    A great burst of air shot out of him, straight into Robin’s face, then he panted like crazy, looked at his jeep, and wailed, “I’m not gonna graduate, I wrecked my jeep . . . my dad is gonna kill me!”
    Robin took a deep breath herself, and after she watched him sob for a few minutes, she headed for the jeep, saying, “I’m going to see if it’ll drive or if we have to get you a tow.”
    â€œHey!” he said, charging for the driver’s door. “I’ll do it!”
    She stuck her arm between him and the door. “I really don’t think you’re in any condition to drive, Vargus.”
    â€œI’m
fine,
” he said, edging her aside.
    Robin shrugged and backed off, and we all watched from a safe distance as Vargus revved up the jeep and maneuvered it away from the mountain until it was facing downhill.
    â€œHe’s so lucky it was the back end that crunched and not the front end,” Cricket said.
    â€œHe’s lucky he didn’t go off the cliff!” Robin muttered. “Hey!” Vargus shouted, hanging out his window. “Move your van, would you?!”
    So we all piled into the van and Robin backed up until there was enough room for Vargus to get his jeep past her easily. She watched him in the mirror until he’d disappeared in a cloud of dust, then shook her head and said, “Well, that was exciting,” and headed up the mountain.
    It was only another five or ten minutes before Robin pulled off the road, parking alongside a handful of other cars. “Here we are,” she said, tossing us a grin. “And in one piece!”
    I slid open the van door and nodded at the other cars. “Do a lot of people hike up to the Lookout?”
    â€œSometimes,” Bella said, climbing out after Cricket. “But mostly people park here because it’s the trailhead for a bunch of other hikes.”
    â€œYeah,” Gabby said. Then she pointed around, saying, “There’s an awesome loop that takes you from here along Sky Ridge, down to Rocky Ravine, through Hoghead Valley, beneath Chumash Caves, and around that way to Deer Creek, Devil’s Horn, Coldwater Pass, and the Bluffs. Then you can either cut off to go to the Lookout or loop around back to here.”
    â€œTakes about a week,” Cricket said.
    Bella opened the van’s back doors and pulled out her backpack. “I wouldn’t want to do it in the summer, though.”
    Gabby nodded, strapping on her pack. “Too many ticks.”
    â€œAnd rattlesnakes.”
    â€œAnd scorpions.”
    My eyes bugged. “Scorpions?” I turned to Cricket. “Rattlesnakes at least give you a little warning. But scorpions? And ticks? You didn’t say anything about scorpions and ticks!”
    Cricket threw Gabby and Bella a withering look, then said, “Don’t listen to them. I’ve only ever seen one scorpion, and that was way off in Hoghead Valley.”
    â€œOne is plenty!”
    Boy, was I sounding like a sissy. So what if I saw a scorpion? Like I couldn’t just squash it with my tank-toed boot?
    But . . . what if one got inside our tent and jabbed me in the middle of the night?
    Or snuck up behind me as I was, you know, relieving myself in the wilderness?
    Cricket unloaded my backpack, saying, “Don’t freak out, Sammy. They’re just bugs.”
    Yeah. Bugs that’ll kill you. Or give you Lyme disease. Or suck your veins dry of blood. Or . . .
    â€œTake your backpack!” Cricket said, and she sounded kinda irritated ’cause I was just