Stepping Stones Read Online Free PDF Page B

progress and we used the beam that Georgie had brought to lever them out.  By late afternoon we were down five feet all the way around , and the base of the rock was finally beginning to cut back in.  Ten feet of solid granite lay uncovered.  From the looks of it, four more still remained in the dirt.
    “What the hell you dog turds doin’?”
    Squinting up, I saw Jake McClintock , the younger of the McClintock boys, gawking over the edge of the trench.  He had his back to the sun, blocking it with his huge bulk.  He leaned over the trench a bit more, knocking dirt on Georgie.  “Sorry about that, swifty,” he laughed, his tone saying otherwise.
    “What’s it look like we’re doing, Jake?” I asked .  “And his name isn’t swifty.”  Jake and his brother were always teasing Georgie about being slow.  I didn’t like Jake much.  Fact is, I didn’t like any of the McClintocks.
    “Oh, excuse me,” said Jake with a nasty grin.  “And since you ask, it looks to me like you two retards are tryin’ to dig up that boulder.
    Pa wove his way up behind Jake.  “Mind your own business,” he ordered.  In the backlight I could see spittle spraying from Pa’s lips.  I smiled as I saw some of it land on Jake.
    “My old man already thinks you Neumans are loco,” Jake hooted, ignoring Pa’s warning.  “Wait’ll he hears about this!”
    “Get off my land,” Pa hissed, stumbling as he bent for a stone to send Jake packing.
    Jake turned and sauntered off, keeping an eye on Pa’s throwing arm as he left, his laughter mocking us as he disappeared into the woods.
    “Snot-nosed McClintock whelp,” Pa called after him, his face flushed with anger.
    By then the sun was low in the sky, and cool gusts from the high plateau were spilling down the valley.  I sighed , realizing from Pa’s flinty scowl that we would probably be there all night.
    “Bring that beam over here,” Pa commanded, dropping into the trench.  “ Time to get this sonofabitch out.”
    Although Georgie and I’d had a tough time levering out some of the smaller rocks we’d encountered, we went ahead and did what Pa ordered , clearing away the loose diggings and getting the beam positioned as best we could.  Despite our efforts, anybody co uld see it was set up wrong.  We couldn’t get a fulcrum low enough, and the beam was too short to be a proper lever.  It was like trying to move a house with a broom handle.  Nonetheless, we tried.  It was easier than arguing with Pa.
    At one point , while Pa and I wrestled with the beam , Georgie went around to cut more dirt f rom the backside of the boulder .  Unexpectedly, the boulder shifted.  Georgie had undermined the rock enough to let it lurch forward, right on top of him.
    “Georgie!” I screamed.  Pa and I rushed to the other side.  Georgie was trapped under the boulder.  But it wasn’t on him.  A space showed between him and the stone.
    Suddenly I realized what had happened.  At the last instant Georgie must have put on his “skin,” and it had saved him.  “Hang on, Georgie,” I yelled.  “We’ll get you out.”
    “I’m okay, Seth.  I think I can move it.”
    “What?”
    “I can move it,” he repeated.  “Watch me, Seth.”
    Speechless, Pa and I watched as Georgie shoved the boulder to the other side of the pit.  But he didn’t exactly shove it.  It just . . . moved.
    Georgie climbed from the hole.  “I did it,” he said, grinning like a kid.  “Did you see me?”
    “We saw you,” I said, staring in amazement.
    Pa remained silent, lost in thought.  Then he asked, “Can you move it out of the pit?”
    Georgie frowned.  “I don’t know, Pa.  I promised Mama I wouldn’t make anything move.  I shouldn’t have done it.”
    “The boulder was on top of you,” I pointed out.  “You had to.”
    “Yeah, but—”
    “Listen, Georgie,” Pa interrupted.  “I’m your father , and I’m te lling you it’s all right.  You’v e already done it o