Promise (6 page)

“That leaves Kaden out. His family doesn't have a TV,” Luke blurted.

“Really?” Yo-Yo asked Kaden.

Kaden slouched down in his seat, wishing he could become invisible behind the backpack on his desk.

“Maybe his dad can steal one for him,” Luke said.

“That's enough, Luke!” Ms. Ales snapped. She turned to Mrs. Strokowski, and in a nicer voice said, “I'm sure Kaden will come up with the answer without a television.”

After first period, Kaden stopped briefly at his locker. When he entered Mr. Herd's science classroom, the new kid was already sitting in the back corner. As much as Kaden hurried after each bell, Yo-Yo beat him to the back corner seat all morning. Kaden ignored the comments the short boy with dark hair and blue eyes constantly whispered to him from behind. At lunch, however, Kaden was surprised to see that his corner spot in the cafeteria remained empty. Yo-Yo was in the middle of the cafeteria, surrounded by Luke, Elana, and several others.

I was wondering how long it would take Luke to recruit the new kid
, Kaden thought. But, after lunch, Yo-Yo was back in the corner in what was becoming Yo-Yo's seat, and Kaden had no option but to sit in front of the new boy.

CHAPTER EIGHT

THE STOWAWAY

At the end of seventh period, Kaden was ready for part two of his “first off, last on” bus plan. When the bell rang, everyone raced to the buses but Kaden took his time. He hung back until everyone boarded. Then he sat alone in the first seat dedicated to middle schoolers, staying away from the back seats where Luke was.

Doris pulled forward to the other doors. Yo-Yo was mixed in with the waiting elementary students. He handed Doris a note. She read it and nodded.

“Elementary kids sit in the front half in the afternoon,” she said to him, closing the door.

“I'm not in elementary, I'm just short,” Yo-Yo said.
“I'm actually a sixth grader.”

“Looks more like a fourth grader,” Luke called out from the back of the bus. “You better keep him up front with the babies, Doris.”

Doris ignored Luke. “Well, go sit in back, then,” she said to Yo-Yo. “You're holding up my schedule.”

Yo-Yo walked down the aisle, looking back and forth at each seat as he went. When he got to Kaden's seat, he stopped, picked up Kaden's backpack, and sat down, putting Kaden's backpack on his own lap.

“I was hoping I stowed away on the right bus,” he said to Kaden. “I know there's only two, but it was a fifty-fifty chance getting the right one. I was afraid it would leave without me, but it wouldn't matter. It's not like I'm riding the bus home. I'm a walker. My house is the red one two doors down from the school.”

“If you're supposed to be a walker, how did you get permission to ride the bus?” Kaden cut in when Yo-Yo paused for a breath.

“I had my mom write a note. She's not ready to go home yet, but the bus will be back to school about the time she is,” Yo-Yo said. “She's a walker, too. It's not much farther walking home than walking to the parking lot, so she's not going to bother driving. But she won't let me go home alone. She says
she needs my help to carry stuff but I know that's just an excuse. She treats me like I'm a baby 'cause I'm small for my age, but I'm working on that. . . .”

Kaden didn't think Yo-Yo would ever stop talking, and obviously, nobody else did either. The whole bus was quiet, listening. Luke finally interrupted him.

“Working on what, getting taller?” he jeered.

“No, I like being compact.” Yo-Yo looked down the aisle to answer. “I've noticed some of those tall guys get left with no muscle.” The entire back of the bus laughed. Luke was the tallest boy in sixth grade and almost as tall as the tallest eighth grader. But he was also one of the skinniest. His arms looked like they had no muscle at all. Just skin and bones.

Kaden was surprised Yo-Yo spoke up to Luke like that.
This Yo-Yo kid must not have been recruited after all
, he thought.

Doris pulled up in front of Luke's house. When Luke walked up the aisle, he grabbed Kaden's backpack from Yo-Yo's lap. Kaden heard the shoulder strap rip as Luke slid it down the aisle like a bowling ball. It crashed into the front of the bus next to Doris.

“This is your first and only warning, Luke Woodhead,” Doris said. “Any more behavior like that, and you'll be kicked off my bus. You shouldn't even be a bus rider.
You live close enough to walk.”

“You know my dad won't stand for that,” Luke said.

“Just because your dad's on the school board doesn't mean I'm going to allow misbehavior on my bus and I'm sure the rest of the school board would back me.”

Yo-Yo went to the front of the bus after Luke got off.

“Sorry,” Yo-Yo apologized to Doris, picking up Kaden's backpack. “It was my fault. I egged him on.”

“No, Luke's behavior is Luke's choice,” Doris told Yo-Yo. “But it is your fault you're holding up my schedule again. My bus doesn't move while students are standing.” She sounded gruff but gave Yo-Yo a big smile.

Yo-Yo trotted down the aisle with Kaden's backpack banging into his knees and handed it to him.

“Sorry, the strap ripped when he grabbed it,” he said.

“That's okay, it's been fixed a gazillion times. But you'd better watch out. Luke's not someone you should mess around with.”

“Not at all worried,” Yo-Yo said. “I'm a Navy brat and I've been to a bunch of schools. There's always a Luke around. I had him figured out by lunchtime. Like I said, I had a fifty-fifty chance of getting on Luke's bus. I always like to let bullies know right away that I'm not afraid of them, even though I usually am. You've probably noticed, I'm not exactly
the biggest kid around. But buses are great places. Lots of witnesses.”

“Does your mom know you wanted to ride the bus just to make your stand with Luke?”

“Heck no,” Yo-Yo said. “She wouldn't let me out of her sight if she thought I was going up against someone like him. I told her I wanted to ride around to see where all my new friends live. Which really isn't a lie.”

Yo-Yo was looking out the window. The bus had let the last town kid off and was now halfway up the mountain.

“Everyone said you live a long way out of town. I can't believe this is in the same district. So all the rumors are true, aren't they.”

Kaden tensed up when he heard the word “rumors.” The word always led to his father and he wasn't willing to talk about that.

“Mostly,” he said, but quickly changed the subject. “Where'd you live before you came here?” Kaden figured he could avoid the topic of his father if he could keep Yo-Yo talking. That obviously wasn't difficult. The kid never shut up.

“I've lived in fourteen different states, that's more than one per year, but ever since kindergarten, we managed to stay in the same place for a whole school year so Mom can teach. Promise is the seventh school I've been to.
The last place I lived . . .”

Yo-Yo kept talking but Kaden had stopped listening. They were driving past the dirt road leading to the fire tower. Kaden glanced up it. A white pickup truck was moving toward the main road. Kaden scrambled over Yo-Yo and ran to the back of the bus. He reached the back windows just in time to see the white truck turn onto the main road. But it didn't turn toward the cabins. The truck turned left.

Angrily, Kaden slammed his hand down on the back of the seat.

“What's the matter?” Yo-Yo said. He was sitting on his knees, looking over the back of the seat at Kaden. Kaden said nothing. The bus pulled into the circle drive.

“So the rumors are true!” Yo-Yo exclaimed. “You do live in cabins, don't you? This is really awesome! Living way up here in the woods. How sweet is this? Can I get off with you? I'll call my mom and have her pick me up. She won't care. I can't believe this. I've never had a friend who lived in the wilderness before!”

Yo-Yo was already heading down the aisle, talking excitedly all the way. But when Kaden saw his dad's truck turn toward town, it brought back all the anger from the previous Friday, and Yo-Yo's incessant gibbering just added fuel to the fire. Kaden grabbed his backpack by the broken
strap and pushed past Yo-Yo.

“Would you shut up,” Kaden said angrily. “You're not getting off the bus with me. I don't need a friend.”

Yo-Yo was surprised at the sudden outburst. “I just thought—” he started, but Kaden interrupted him.

“Just. Shut. Up.”

“Kaden!” Doris said as she pulled the lever to open the door. “What's wrong with you?”

“You too, Doris. Both of you. Just shut up and leave me alone!” Kaden yelled, and stomped from the bus.

Kaden stormed past Gram's and flung open his cabin door. Instantly, Gram's voice came over the intercom.

“What was all that yelling about?” Gram said.

“Nothing. I'm going for a walk,” Kaden said, tossing his backpack on his bed.

“Not until you're ready to speak nicely to me, you're not,” Gram said back. Kaden ignored her, and letting the screen door slam, walked away from the cabins.

CHAPTER NINE

SURPRISES

By the time Kaden reached the muddy spot in the road, he had calmed down. He knew he wasn't angry with the new kid. Yo-Yo had even called him a friend. He wasn't angry with Doris either. Or with Gram. He was angry with his father. His father, who wasn't ready to see him yet. His father, who was certain to have seen the bus go by and would have known Kaden would be coming home from school. His father, who had chosen to turn left, not right.

The stick was no longer standing upright in the middle of the muddy patch. One boot print was in the mud and the stick now lay near the edge of the road. Kaden put the stick back in the middle of the muddy patch. He started to walk
on but came back. He found a small branch with several dead leaves still on it and laid it in the muddy patch.
If Dad comes up here again
, Kaden thought,
he'll have the stick all figured out. He may put it back next time to make it look like nobody's driven up the road
. But Kaden knew his father wouldn't pay any attention to the leaves. He'd drive right over them, crushing them in the mud.

Feeling satisfied, Kaden walked on to the tower. Kubla greeted him, cawing from the landing as Kaden took the rope from its hiding place in the bushes.

Kaden swung the rock back and forth, back and forth, letting out a little more rope with each swing. On the third swing, he let go. The rock, with its rope tail, went up, over the crossbeam and then back down, thudding on the ground. This time, he threaded the rock through a loop tied at the opposite end of the rope, then dropped the rock to the ground again. He pulled on the rope hand over hand until it tightened around the beam.

Tightly grasping the rope above his head, Kaden lifted his feet and twisted them around the rope. When he straightened his legs, he was dangling a foot above the ground. One hand at a time, he reached above his head and pulled himself a little higher. Twisting and straightening and pulling, he repeated this procedure over and over, looking
like an inchworm creeping up the rope.

It wasn't until he balanced on his stomach over the metal beam twenty feet above the ground that Kaden saw a large plastic bag on the landing. It was stuffed with something big and bulky and tied shut with a twisty. Kubla stood on the bag. Wondering what was in it and who left it there, Kaden flung a leg over the beam and carefully scooted backward until he reached the landing. Kubla jumped to his shoulder. Kaden unwound the twisty, and together, the boy and the bird looked inside.

Kaden couldn't believe his eyes. Inside was a brand-new backpack. It still had tags on it. It wasn't an ordinary school backpack. It was a daypack a hunter might use, with a woodland camo pattern that would blend in perfectly with the fallen branches and leaf litter of the woods. It had all sorts of pockets, webbed straps, and tie-downs. On the side was a mesh pocket with a plastic canteen. Kaden opened each zipper compartment and looked inside. Empty. No notes. No cards. Not even a receipt.