The Owl Keeper Read Online Free PDF

Dr. Phineas Tredegar.
    "Oooh, coming along nicely, thank you! I'm three-quarters finished."
    Einstein gave a low whistle, as if he were truly impressed. Max knew it was an act, but he had to admire Einstein's talent for flattery.
    "It's a lovely picture of a dome, you'll be pleased to know." Mrs. Crumlin glanced at her wristwatch. "Goodness, time for Flamingo Valley!" She bustled across the hall and into the parlor.
    Some days Max would give Einstein a rundown on what he'd learned from Professor LaMothe, but the lessons rarely amounted to much. Although the two boys never officially
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    hung out together, they had formed an easy friendship over the years.
    "Where have you been?" Max wanted to know. "I haven't seen you since last week!"
    "Sorry about that," said Einstein, removing his red and yellow gloves with the fingertips cut off. "I caught the flu and missed a week of school. Now I'm playing catch-up."
    Max took a step back. The last thing he wanted was Einstein's germs. Germs were his worst enemy, the doctor had warned, and a fever could land him in bed for weeks on end.
    "Wasn't too bad," said Einstein with a grin. "I got to eat stewed cusklets in bed and listen to dome jingles all day. That kept my spirits up."
    Max grinned back, though secretly he felt sorry for Einstein. His relatives were gung-ho High Echelon supporters, and Einstein had been exposed to their fanatical hype since infancy. Max sometimes suspected that they'd scrambled Einstein's brains.
    "Guess what, our school's having a jingle contest to name Cavernstone Grey's new dome!" said Einstein excitedly.
    Max stifled a yawn.
    "The dome will be ready in a few weeks! Is that exciting or what? Here, have a look." Einstein snatched one of the books he'd dropped on the floor. Holding it under the flare lamp, he thumbed through the pages, flipping to sketches of domed cities and diagrams on how to build them.
    Einstein's obsessive chatter about dome construction unnerved Max. What was so wonderful about domes anyway? he asked himself. Why didn't their textbooks discuss weightier issues, like
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    how the High Echelon had overthrown the peaceful government of Simone de Kafka in a violent coup? Not one history book dared to explain how the High Echelon's secret weather experiments had caused the Great Destruction of 2066. Instead, everyone was taught that de Kafka's government was responsible for the catastrophe.
    Now it seemed things were going from bad to worse, thought Max: an edict against silver owls, the borders closing overnight and a prison for kids. He'd listened through his parents' bedroom wall and heard them talking about people disappearing and not being seen again. But he was too timid to voice any of these concerns. He knew there was a chance that Einstein might report him.
    "Look, Max, this one's got a fake beach with waterslides and an imitation volcano!" Einstein held up a sketch of a bubble-shaped structure with LEISURE DOME written under it. "This is our future!"
    Not wanting to hurt his friend's feelings, Max managed a weak smile. "Fantastic."
    "I really want to design domes." Einstein closed the book, staring at it with an expression of reverence. "That's my big dream, to be chosen for an engineering apprenticeship. Think of it, Max, we'll have light twenty-four hours a day and perfect temperatures all year round!"
    Max frowned. He didn't want to think about a world without darkness, a world where there was no chance that silver owls and kids like him could survive.
    "Guess I'll have to find an underground bomb shelter to live in," he said, feeling gloomier by the minute.
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    What was going to happen to him when everyone moved to the domes? What would happen to his owl? He could never live in a dome because they relied on solar power to generate artificial light--and that meant sun particles. His parents always sidestepped his questions when he asked about his future, but he could tell they were as worried as he was.
    "I could build a yurt,"