Free Crunch by Leslie Connor

stolen junior bikes was hardly a high priority.
    Vince went on. “Pop was out on the boat. Mattie still had afternoon campers.”
    “And we wanted to come home now ,” Eva spoke up.
    “Sea Camp is bad .” Angus shook his head.
    “No, no, no!” Lil reached for Angus. “Sea Camp is not bad! Oh, Angus, baby, please don’t say that!” Lil grabbed him up, hugging him hard. “Our Mattie is there! You have a good time with her.”
    “Our bikes got stole,” he said again. He twisted his face up—ugliest look I’d ever seen on my little brother. Lil tucked his head under her chin and rocked him.
    “I didn’t know it’d be so hard to carry two,” Vince said.
    “You did a great job,” Lil said. “Everyone did a great job.”
    We were all quiet for a few minutes. Then Angus said, “Lil?”
    “Yes?”
    “Why do you have blue on you?” He patted her painted hand.
    “Oh!” Lil laughed. “By mistake! I accidentally spray-painted myself.”
    “I like it,” said Eva.
    “Yeah, me too,” said Angus.
    “Thank you,” said Lil.
    “Can I get blue too?”
    “Well… maybe ,” Lil said. “Here’s what I was thinking…” She began to talk about her mural. “I keep thinking about the gas being all gone,” she began, “and it makes me wish we all could fly…just spread our arms like birds and go up.”
    “I wish Mom and Dad could,” said Eva.
    “I wish I could,” said Angus. “Because if I hadwings I wouldn’t take them off. Then they couldn’t get stole.”
    We were still sitting on the grass when Runks and Macey came up on their copsicles.
    “Hello, Marrisses!” Runks called. “So sorry, all! So sorry about the missing mini Marriss bikes. We heard about it from dispatch.”
    “Oh, thanks for stopping,” Lil said.
    Officer Macey hopped off his copsicle. “Couldn’t believe it when I found out it was you guys,” he said. “Hey, look what I brought.” He stooped down and offered two lollipops to our tear-stained twins. “Come on now. Gotta cheer up. Huh?”
    “So, I suppose you’ll let us know if you hear anything or find anything? About the bikes?” Lil said. But she didn’t sound hopeful.
    Runks nodded. “It’ll be difficult,” he admitted. To me, that meant we had little chance of getting them back.
    “I’ll put some extra time on it when I can,” Macey said.
    “Well, that’s nice, but I’m sure you have biggerproblems out there these days,” Lil said.
    For some reason that made me think about the day I’d picked her up on the highway—how she’d said, Weird times, civilian rule. Just how big was that? What would I do if I came upon those two small bikes somewhere? Would I take them back? Would that be stealing from two more little kids, or would I be reclaiming something for my family? For Angus and Eva? Questions without answers.
    “I’d like to see those bikes returned,” Macey said.
    I turned to the twins. “Vince and I will start collecting parts to build two new bikes for you guys.”
    “Absolutely,” said Vince.
    “It’ll take a while. But we’ll do it. I promise,” I said.
    “I wish it could be my real bike,” said Angus. “And I just wish it was time for Mom and Dad to call.”
    Pop and Mattie showed up while the officers were still with us. I was glad to have everyone around, but Lil seemed bothered. “Oh, my gosh.Hey, everybody. Not to worry. We’re all right. Really. We’re even lucky enough to have a carrier these guys can ride in.”
    “I just feel so bad,” Mattie said. “My campers have always left their bikes by the pavilion and they’ve never locked them up. Never!”
    I remembered how Dad had said anything valuable is subject to theft. But stealing junior bikes seemed especially mean somehow.
    “It’s happening everywhere,” Runks said, and he shook his head.
    Pop and Mattie had brought scallops and crabmeat, and they wanted to stay and have dinner together. Lil spoke up again. “Oh, you don’t have to feed us,” she told them.