The Fox Hunt Read Online Free PDF

it in to the same teacher with Alex’s name on it—for extra credit?”
    “And remember the time Stevie accidentally dropped a piece of bubble gum on Chad’s pillow when she was listening to his tape deck, and he got so angry that he stuck a wad of bubble gum on her pillow, and Mrs. Lake had to cut Stevie’s hair off so she could get to school without the pillow attached?”
    “Yes, I remember that one, too.”
    “None of this is making me feel any better,” Carole said. “This is a family of vindictive practical jokers.”
    “I know,” Lisa said. “But what can we do about it?”
    Thump!
    Nothing was going right.
    S TEVIE GOT A sinking feeling right before lunchtime. It came from her vivid recollection of the nice brown lunch bag she’d seen on the kitchen counter that morning as she’d flown by it on the way out to school.
    She slunk into the cafeteria and sat glumly at her usual place. She stared at the empty table in front of her. She tried to imagine what a nice bologna-and-cheese sandwich would taste like—if she had one. Shethought about the nice Cranapple juice she was sure her mother had put into the lunch bag—at home. She closed her eyes and dreamed about the sweet red grapes—that were just getting warm and soft on the kitchen counter. This was no fun at all.
    “What happened? Where’s your lunch?”
    Stevie looked up. It was Alex. She shrugged. “I left it at home,” she said.
    “Oh, that’s too bad,” Alex said. “Let’s see what your brothers can do for you.” He disappeared.
    Here it comes, she told herself. She decided that this was when they would get even. One of them would get something really disgusting—maybe even from the biology lab—and would pretend it was delicious. Another might even find a half-eaten dessert from the garbage. And to drink? She didn’t even want to think about it.
    “Oh, hi, Stevie!” a familiar and unwelcome voice said sweetly. It was Veronica diAngelo. Just what she needed on an empty stomach. Veronica pulled out a chair and sat down next to Stevie. This wasn’t like Veronica. She usually steered very far from Stevie, and that was usually just fine with Stevie. Now her brothers were being nice, and Veronica was being friendly. Her whole world was turning upside down.
    “Hello, Veronica,” Stevie returned.
    “Can I ask a question?” Veronica said.
    “You just did—and that’s your limit,” Stevie said.She knew that sounded really rude, but Veronica was really rude, and Stevie wasn’t in the mood for her.
    Veronica laughed sweetly, the tinkling sound of her giggles filling the air. Stevie couldn’t believe it.
    “You’re so funny!” Veronica said.
    Stevie simply stared at her.
    “What I wanted to ask you was what happened between you and your brothers? I mean you guys are fighting all the time, but what did they do to you that was so bad you decided to put up those signs in the girls’ room?”
    “It’s a family matter, Veronica,” Stevie said. There was no way she was going to tell Veronica about the teasing she and Phil had gotten from her brothers.
    Veronica was about to speak, and Stevie knew what she was going to say: How could anything that resulted in public signs in the girls’ room be considered a private matter? Instead of listening, Stevie turned her back to Veronica.
    Another classmate and a Pine Hollow rider, Lorraine Olson, sat down next to her.
    “What’s up between you and your brothers?” Lorraine asked.
    Stevie was only too happy to explain it to her—a particularly nice snub for Veronica, who was still sitting right there, to hear Stevie tell the whole story to somebody else when she’d been unwilling to share anyof it with Veronica. Maybe this lunch period wasn’t going to be so bad after all.
    She’d just gotten to the part about their making fun of a mock hunt when Alex arrived.
    “Here you go, Stevie,” he said, offering her a lunch bag.
    “Thanks,” she said, accepting it because she was curious