Free Promise by Judy Young Page B

vine-covered bushes. “If you wash it off real quick, you might not get any of it.”
    â€œGreat,” Yo-Yo said sarcastically. He grabbed the canteen and sloshed its entire contents over his arms and legs.
    Kaden walked to the other side of the fire tower, disappeared into the dense foliage, and came out holding the coil of rope and rock.
    â€œThat’s cool, a rock with a hole all the way through it,” Yo-Yo said.
    â€œIt’s a friendship rock. Emmett gave it to me.”
    â€œWhere I used to live, friendship rocks had a different color line all the way around it, like a ribbon on a gift. What’s the rope for?”
    As if to answer his question, Kubla pushed off Kaden’s shoulder and flew to the top of the tower, cawing the entire way. Yo-Yo looked at the tower and back to Kaden. “You don’t mean . . .”
    â€œYep. That’s another one of my secrets.” Kubla cawed down to them. “He’s telling me to hurry up.”
    â€œBut how—” Yo-Yo started.
    â€œIt’s easy. Watch.”
    Kaden launched the rock over the beam, climbed the rope to the landing, and yelled down, “Your turn.”
    Yo-Yo tried, but once he was a few feet off the ground, his efforts just made the rope swing. He dropped back down.
    â€œI don’t think I can!” he yelled up.
    Kaden came back down the rope. “It took me a while to learn, too,” he said. “Emmett had to hold the rope at first.”
    Kaden pulled the rope taut and stood on it. “Try again. It will be easier if it can’t swing.”
    It took a while but Yo-Yo finally made it to the crossbeam. Kaden talked him through how to get on the landing and then climbed up again. He removed the rope from the crossbeamand coiled it over his shoulder.
    â€œWhy are you untying it? We’re not going to jump down, are we?”
    â€œNo, but I don’t want anyone to know we’re up here.”
    â€œWho would come here?”
    â€œHikers,” Kaden said, but as he started up the stairs he added under his breath, “and maybe my dad.”
    When they had climbed through the trapdoor, Yo-Yo went from one side to the next, looking out in all directions. “This is so awesome!” he said. “You can see forever up here.”
    Kaden thought about the first time he climbed up the tower. Emmett had brought a ladder and Kaden followed him, circling upward from landing to stairs, landing to stairs. When they reached the top, Kaden scrambled through the trapdoor and did exactly what Yo-Yo was doing.
    As Yo-Yo peered out the windows, Kubla made soft chortling sounds, his black feet grasping one of the metal window frames. Kaden hung the rope on the peg and let the rock drop noisily to the floor. The bird half flew, half jumped to land on the rock. He stood there for a while, gurgling and muttering, then jumped to the floor. With both feet together, Kubla hopped halfway across the floor and picked up something with his beak. Then he strutted back, one foot in front of the other like a proud general. Opening his wings, hemade a flying leap back to the window frame, where Kaden stood beside Yo-Yo. A matchstick was in the bird’s beak.
    â€œWatch this,” Kaden said to Yo-Yo. He took the matchstick from Kubla and dropped it out the window. Kubla dove after it.
    It was Kubla’s favorite game, retrieving matchsticks. The bird’s aviator stunts, barrel rolls, loops, and torpedolike plummets always fascinated Kaden. The bird tightly turned out of a dive and unbelievably came up with the matchstick grasped in his shiny black beak. Unless distracted, Kubla rarely missed his retrieve.
    â€œThat’s so wicked!” Yo-Yo said. Kubla returned, landed on Kaden’s head, and leaning over, held the matchstick in front of Kaden’s eyes.
    Kaden dropped the matchstick for Kubla again and sat down, leaning against the wall. He opened the backpack and took out two