Free Amos Gets Famous by Gary Paulsen Page A

figured out how to cross it. Amos had tried a hundred times and still hadn’t figured it out.
    “You know what to do, right?” Dunc asked.
    “Right. Hang on, close my eyes, and pray.”
    “No. Gun it as fast as you can until you get to the big oak tree, then veer to the right to avoid the root. Swing back to the left, or you’ll hit the rocks in the stream. Got it?”
    “Got it—”
    Dunc started down.
    “—I think.” Amos followed him.
Just do what Dunc does
, he said to himself.
    Dunc hunched forward. So did Amos. Dunc swerved right when he reached the oak tree. Sodid Amos. Dunc ducked under a low branch of a maple tree.
    Amos didn’t.
    He ducked too soon. When he straightened up again he hadn’t cleared the branch.
    It wasn’t a pretty sight.
    His arms flew up for protection. He managed to get by the branch with only a few leaves and twigs hitting his face. But since his hands were off the handlebars, when he was supposed to turn left, he couldn’t. His front tire hit a rock, and the bike flew up in the air.
    When Dunc reached the top on the other side he looked back. Amos’s bike was coming up the hill by itself.
    Amos was kissing a tree.
    “Quit fooling around, Amos.”
    Amos peeled his face off. The imprint of the bark was driven into his cheeks.
    “Are you all right?”
    Amos nodded. “I’m getting better.” He pulled a maple leaf out of his left nostril.
    “What do you mean?”
    “I didn’t almost kill myself until
after
the oak tree. That’s the best I’ve ever done. Next time, I won’t almost kill myself until after the stream.”He grabbed his bike as it rolled back toward him and ran up the hill.
    “Let’s get going,” he said. “Melissa might be there right now.”

.2
    “I’m bored, Dunc.” Amos folded up the newspaper and set it on the table.
    “This was your idea.” Dunc studied his book.
    “I know, but it’s almost five o’clock.” He sighed. “I don’t think she’s going to show. Let’s go.”
    “Not now. I’m interested in this.”
    “I don’t have anything to do.”
    “Finish the newspaper.”
    “I already read all the important parts.”
    Dunc looked up. “Like what?”
    “The funnies and the sports page.”
    “Those are the important parts?”
    “Sure. In the Foofy the Dog strip, Foofy tried to get the dog food out of the cupboard, and—”
    “Why don’t you read the front page? Find out what’s happening in the world.”
    “I already know—nothing. Melissa didn’t show up.”
    “I’m not leaving until I finish this chapter. Here—read the newspaper article about the burglary ring.”
    “All right.” Amos picked the paper back up. “Here’s that clue I told you about. It’s an ad in the Personals column with yesterday’s date and the numbers fifteen, four, and twenty, the letter P, the word
ring
, and the name
Mr. Zipzoo
on it. The police think it might be a clue—that’s what it said in the article anyway.”
    “It doesn’t make much sense, does it?” Dunc looked up.
    “What about Mr. Zipzoo?”
    “Maybe he’s the ringleader.”
    “Must be.”
    Dunc concentrated on his book again.
    “What are you reading?” Amos asked.
    “It’s a book about parasitic nematodes.”
    “Parasitic nema-what?”
    “Todes. Nematodes. Roundworms.”
    Amos wrinkled up his face. “That’s gross. Why would you want to read a book like that?”
    “It’s fascinating. Most of them are microscopic, but the Guinea roundworm can grow to over three feet long. Look, here’s a picture of it.”
    “I don’t want to see it.”
    “Come on, Amos—it’s cool.” He flipped the book across the table. As he did, a slip of paper fell out of it and fluttered to the floor.
    “What’s that?” Amos asked.
    “It’s the roundworm,” Dunc said, pointing to the picture. “You can actually see it wriggling under this guy’s skin.”
    “Not the picture,” Amos said. “The paper. A piece of paper fell out of the book.”
    Dunc reached down and picked it