AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Mason shrugged. “Yeah, well, he also picks his nose, so it’s not all sunshine and rainbows.”
Evelyn tightened her fist again, but Mason got out of the way before she could throw the punch.
Riley knew what autism was but had never heard of Asperger’s. She didn’t think Evelyn was making all that up, though.
Robby didn’t seem to care they were talking about him. He was at the gate in the chain-link fence, studying the padlock, oblivious. He looked at both the front and back, then unzipped a pocket on his backpack and took out a faded black leather case. He set it on the ground, unzipped it, and spread out the contents. Riley stepped up to get a better look—some kind of tool set—long, thin pieces of metal that looked like something a dentist would use to scrape your teeth. He carefully selected two of them and slipped them into the keyhole on the lock. Robby closed his eyes, wiggled the pieces of metal around, then gave one a yank. The lock popped open.
Riley’s chest tightened. “I don’t think you should have done that.”
Robby carefully replaced the tools in the leather case, sealed it back up, and put it back in his bag. Then he removed the lock, hung it from the fence, and opened the gate.
“That’s breaking and entering,” Riley pointed out. “We could get in a lot of trouble.”
Evelyn stepped through the gate and started up the sidewalk to the water tower. “It’s public property. If my parents actually paid their taxes, it would mean we owned part of it. I’m guessing your mom pays her taxes, so that makes it okay by proxy. Besides, to get in trouble, we’d have to get caught, and your mom’s boyfriend has his hands full today.”
Mason held out his bat. “If you don’t want to go in, you can stay out here and be lookout. Cry out real loud if you see someone. I bet you excel at crying.”
Riley looked back the way they’d come. The school was deserted, the field, too. They hadn’t run into anyone since they’d left Main Street. The wind wasn’t even blowing, it was so quiet.
Evelyn grabbed Mason by the hair and pulled him through the fence. “Get in here where nobody can see you, close the gate, and stop worrying about stupid shit.” She looked back at Riley. “You gonna make me hurt you? Either way, you’re coming in. I learned a long time ago if you’re gonna break the rules,everyone has to break the rules. That’s the easiest way to keep anyone from talking. I haven’t decided if I can trust you yet.”
Scared or not, Riley wasn’t about to let this girl push her around. Mason, either. She shoved past both of them, spotted Robby over by the pump station, and made her way over. He was crouching next to a rusty water spigot built into the side of the small building. He’d removed another padlock and opened a metal lockbox fastened to the wall. Inside, there were plastic collection containers about the size of a pill bottle, test strips, and several small bottles of chemicals lined up neatly on shelves abovethose. Robby was busy reading the labels. “Mr. Buxton’s supposed to test the water at least once every day, but I’ve never seen him come out here. I’d be surprised if anyone does it on any kind of schedule.”
Evelyn came up behind them. “Our dad says Buxton’s a drunk, and he should know, ’cause he’s one, too. He knows the secret handshake.”
“Mr. Buxton?” Riley frowned for a second. “Oh, you mean Buck.”
“No luck, Buck,” Mason said in a singsong voice. “Down on his luck and useless as—”
Evelyn smacked his shoulder.
“How ’bout you stop hitting me?”
“You’re blocking the light,” Robby told them both. He’d filled one of the clear collection bottles and was holding it up toward the sun with one hand. In the other, he had a test strip.
Evelyn dropped down next to him and peered at the bottle. “Do you see anything in there?”
Robby gave Riley a quick look but turned away when their eyes met. “Nothing like she described, no. Iron and alkalinity are a little higher than normal, but not enough to be dangerous.”
“So, no little monsters swimming around?” Mason asked.
“Nothing visible with the naked eye, no.”
“What I saw would barely fit in that bottle.” Riley held up her hand. “It was about the size of my thumb.”
“This is stupid,” Mason said. “If we had little sea monsters floating around in our water, don’t you think someone else would have noticed them? Someone who’s maybe been out of diapers for a year or two?”
This time, it was Riley who hit him. She curled a fist and punched him hard in the thigh.
Mason hopped back a step. “Okay, everyone stop hitting me!”
“Then stop being an asshat.” Evelyn looked back at herbrother. “Is it possible there’s something in there and you just can’t see it?”
“Sure. Remember the pond water from Ms. Teshner’s class? Didn’t see nothing in that until we got it under a microscope and it was full of arthropods, copepods, water fleas, and ostracods …”
“Fleas in the water?” Riley felt like she might throw up.
Mason stood and looked across the field at the middle school. “Teshner’s classroom is on the first floor, right?” He swung the bat. “We get in and find a microscope, how much time do you need?”
