Free The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis by Barbara O'Connor

out from under his shaggy hair in that solemn way of his. Then he slapped Popeye on the back and said, “Good luck.”
    Popeye walked over to Velma, his heart pounding, his face already feeling flushed with guilt.
    â€œUm, Velma?” he said, keeping his voice low so Calvin and them couldn’t hear.
    Velma kept her eyes on Dooley and Shifty, who were struggling to get the jack up under the motor home.
    â€œBoo’s back in the woods and me and Elvis are gonna go get him,” Popeye said.
    Velma’s mouth was set in a thin, hard line.
    â€œOkay?” Popeye stared down at his feet, the guilt stinging his face like fire ants.
    Silence.
    Popeye glanced up.
    Velma was looking at him, her eyes narrowed into slits, her lips squeezed tight.
    Popeye tried to make himself look like plain ole Popeye on the outside, but on the inside, he was feeling nothing but devious.
devious:
adjective
; showing a skillful use of underhanded tactics to achieve goals
    underhanded:
adjective
; done in a dishonest way
    â€œWhat’s Boo doing back in the woods?” Velma said.
    â€œI don’t know.”
    That was not a lie.
    â€œHow do you know he’s in the woods?” she said.
    â€œ ‘Cause I saw him go in there.”
    That was not a lie.
    â€œWhy don’t you just call him?”
    â€œWell, um, he might not hear me.”
    That was not a lie.
    Was it?
    Velma flapped her arm out toward the woods. “All right,” she said. “Go on. But you better get on back here as soon as you find him and don’t be going too far. You hear me?”
    â€œYes, ma’am.”
    Well, he
did
hear her.
    That was not a lie.
    So Popeye turned and walked slowly back towardElvis, trying to look bored so Prissy and Calvin and them wouldn’t notice.
    Tra la la.
    He made a sly little thumbs-up sign to Elvis and glanced over his shoulder. Prissy was doing cartwheels in the weeds. Walter and Willis were putting boards across the ditch. Calvin was wrestling with Shorty in the dirt.
    Popeye and Elvis walked up the road, almost tiptoeing. But as soon as they got around the curve and out of sight of the motor home, they took off running to Popeye’s house, around back, and through the field to the woods.

    Boo’s tail swished back and forth in the dry leaves as Popeye untied the leash. “See?” he said. “I
told
you I wasn’t going to be gone long.” He took a piece of beef jerky from his pocket and held it out for Boo, who gobbled it up and swallowed it whole.
    Popeye wiped his slobbery hand on his shorts. “Okay,” he said to Elvis. “Let’s go.”
    The two boys made their way along the creek with Boo trotting behind them. When they got to theIndian pipes, they turned up the path to Starletta’s.
    Starletta’s backyard was quiet. The chickens pecked at the dirt out by the garden.
    â€œMaybe she’s around front,” Elvis said.
    They ran around the side of the house.
    The front yard was quiet. Yoo-hoo boats floated in the muddy water of the plastic swimming pool. The hose lay in a puddle beside it.
    â€œLet’s go knock on the back door,” Elvis said.
    Popeye’s stomach did a little flip. “Her mom’s liable to be in there,” he said.
    â€œSo what?”
    There it was again. That
So what?
that Elvis was so good at and Popeye was so bad at.
    Popeye followed Elvis to the backyard and let out a sigh of relief when he saw Starletta hopping down the porch steps, wings aflapping.
    Elvis didn’t waste a minute. “Today’s Wednesday,” he said. “Show us the dead dogs.”
    Starletta looked him square in the eye and said, “No.”

23
cajole:
verb
; to persuade someone to do something by sustained coaxing or flattery
    Popeye was not as good at cajoling as he was at conniving.
    But Elvis elbowed him and whispered, “You ask her. She likes you better than me.”
    So Popeye was going to try