Free Promise by Judy Young Page A

much, just furniture.”
    â€œWonder why your grandmother didn’t let you move into Cabin Five instead of Cabin Two? You could have used all your dad’s stuff. I’ve got a lot of my dad’s stuff. His desk, his dresser, all his sports stuff, his bat and glove.”
    â€œI only have one thing that belonged to my dad. When I turned nine, Emmett went in Cabin Five and brought out a pair of binoculars. He said he gave them to Dad when Dad turned nine and thought I should have them.”
    â€œDidn’t you go in with Emmett?” Yo-Yo asked.
    â€œNo, I wanted to but Gram made me wait on the porch. She said there was nothing in there but furniture. Theconversation was over and the door was locked again.”
    â€œIf there’s nothing in there, I wonder why she won’t let you go in,” Yo-Yo pondered.
    â€œGram pretty much keeps me away from anything that has to do with my dad. Discussions, letters, even furniture. Maybe she’s afraid I’ll end up like him.” Kaden kicked hard at a rock. It bounced up the road.
    Yo-Yo reached the rock Kaden had kicked and nonchalantly took a turn kicking it. “Did the intercoms belong to your dad?” he asked.
    â€œNo. They’re Gram’s way of keeping her eye on me. Whenever I want to do something and Gram won’t let me, her excuse is she didn’t keep her eye on Dad enough. She doesn’t say that to me, though. She says it to Emmett when she thinks I can’t hear.”
    They walked on, taking turns at kicking the rock. When they reached the muddy patch, the stick was still standing upright where Kaden had left it.
    â€œLook at this,” Yo-Yo said. He started to pull the stick out of the mud.
    â€œLeave it there. It lets me know if anyone has driven up the road,” Kaden said as he inspected the patch. The leaves were uncrushed just as he had left them and no fresh tire tracks were in the mud. There were some raccoon tracks,though. Kaden pointed them out to Yo-Yo.
    â€œHow do you know they’re raccoon prints?” Yo-Yo asked, leaning over to inspect them.
    â€œThey look like little hands,” Kaden said. “And these are rabbit, with two longer marks in front and two shorter marks, one behind the other, in back.”
    â€œEver seen any bear prints?” Yo-Yo asked.
    â€œNo, but Emmett has.”
    Yo-Yo looked all around. “I’d like to see one.”
    â€œMe too,” Kaden said.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN
    SECRETS

    The boys reached the end of the road and stepped over the log barricade. As they walked up the short weedy path, Yo-Yo’s eyes moved upward, following the steel beams of the fire tower until they reached the small room at the top. A crow jumped from a window. Flapping its wings, it zoomed like a torpedo, aiming straight toward them. The breeze from its wings ruffled Yo-Yo’s hair as the glossy black bird sped just inches above his head. Yo-Yo jumped back so fast, he tripped and fell into a sticky briar patch with leafy vines weaving through the thorny branches.
    â€œSo, is that your secret?” he asked, pointing to the crow that landed on Kaden’s head.
    As Kaden leaned over to pull Yo-Yo out of the bushes, the bird jumped down onto his back, its feet grabbing hold of the crisscrossed cord on the backpack. When Kaden straightened back up, the bird hopped onto his shoulder, muttering in his ear.
    â€œOne of them,” Kaden answered Yo-Yo. “Meet Kubla.” Kaden swung the backpack around and pulled out the canteen.
    â€œIs he your pet?” Yo-Yo asked.
    â€œNo, just a good friend. I rescued him when he was a baby. Now hold your hands out. I’ll pour some water in them. I don’t have any soap but water will be better than nothing.”
    â€œWhat for? There’s only a couple of scratches and they’re not really bleeding.”
    â€œWhat wasn’t prickly was poison ivy,” Kaden answered, nodding toward the