The Unseen Read Online Free PDF Page B

next morning expecting the worst, but to her surprise nothing was said about what she'd done, or hadn't done, to Gussie. Nothing at all. Of course they were all in their usual rush to get to work and to school, but that didn't really explain it. The only explanation, Xandra decided, was that Gussie just hadn't gotten around to telling yet. Of course, that didn't mean she wouldn't as soon as she had a good chance. But then again, maybe nothing more would be said about it. Xandra didn't mention the Gussie problem the next morning when Belinda whispered that, yes, she could go home with Xandra after school.
    That afternoon the bus ride was strangely quiet. Two bus rides, actually—downtown as usual and then the transfer. “No. I can't,” Xandra had said when Belinda hadasked if they would be taking the 3:15 bus that went directly to Heritage Avenue. “I have a bunch of stuff to do after class, so I'll probably be too late. Let's take the downtown bus, like always. Okay?”
    Belinda said okay, and later on the bus she didn't ask any questions about the time-consuming things Xandra had supposedly been doing. She didn't, in fact, say much of anything and neither did Xandra. Xandra was busy thinking about things she didn't feel like mentioning, like for instance the real reason she hadn't wanted to take the Heritage Avenue bus, where she would probably have seen other kids she knew. The time passed slowly until the second bus came to a stop and there they were, standing on the Heritage Avenue sidewalk only about three short blocks from the Hobsons' house.
    Glancing around quickly to see if anyone was watching, and then feeling embarrassed about doing it, Xandra said, “So, what you want to see is just the place where I found the feather? Right?”
    “Oh yes.” Belinda's eyes widened. “Can we go there right now? Right away?”
    Xandra nodded. “Sure we can.” She paused, looking around as if trying to make up her mind. “Well, there are a couple of ways to get there from here. We could go right on up Heritage Avenue, or we could take this shortcut. Well, actually it's more of a long-cut, but it's a lot more interesting. It goes down Wildwood for a block or two and then through the edge of the forest. Which way would you like to go?”
    What she didn't mention was that the first way would lead past the homes of several people she knew, and thenright down the Hobsons' driveway, where, at this time of day, someone would be sure to see them. She didn't mention it, but she somehow had an uncomfortable feeling that she might as well have. Belinda's level gaze lasted a moment too long before she said, “You choose. You must know the best way to get there.”
    So that was why they started off down Wildwood, where, after the first house or two, there were mostly vacant lots before the road ended in a graveled path that led into the forest. Into an acre or two of young second-growth trees, where the road dwindled away just before it reached the edge of the deep forest.
    They didn't talk much at first; in fact Belinda tended to hang back, walking a few steps behind Xandra, but as they reached the trees, she caught up and said, “I thought you said the reason you couldn't take me to where you found the bird was because you weren't supposed to go into the forest.”
    Xandra nodded. “That's what I said, but I meant I wasn't supposed to go very far into it, and this way we don't have to. We're just going to go up here along the edge of the trees and then we'll cut back toward the houses. We're almost there now.” And then to change the subject she stopped to point out a dangerous hornets' nest, and a little farther along, the remains of a mockingbird's nest. And that led to telling about the baby mockingbird.
    When she told about rescuing and raising a baby mockingbird that had fallen out of the nest, Belinda's cool disinterest faded away. “We do that sometimes,” she said eagerly. “We rescue baby birds.”
    “We?” Xandra