your momâs pretty worried. She didnât know where you got off to.â
Emil turned to gaze at Greyson, realizing for the first time that the kid had got himself Up here without anyoneâs leave.
Greyson looked startled, and then worried. He bit his lip. âOh.â
âHow about we go back to the Trackside and we can get this sorted out?â
âOkay, Mr. Garceau,â Greyson said. He looked Up at Emil. âThank you for taking me out hunting, Mr. Sainio.â
Emil was surprised to hear himself referred to as Mr. Sainio, but he nodded and said sure, theyâd go again sometime, but heâd better get his maâs permission first.
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Madeline and Paul and Greyson climbed back into the car, Greyson wedged on the shifter between the seats. Madeline was so relieved she felt shaky. The boy was found, he wasnât hurt, he was going back to his mother, whoâuseless as she might seemâhe obviously loved.
Madeline listened as Greyson explained what his plan had been. His thin face was intelligent, intense. He looked right at her as he talked, leaning forward a little and twisting his head at an awkward angle to do so, intent on his story. Madeline found herself noddingâ Yes, I see how it was. He sighed with frustration about not getting any rabbits, and there was nothing cute about it, nothing to make her think, Isnât it sweet how children think? No, she just sympathized.
She listened and wishedâwhat? That his life was different, that his mother was different. But then he wouldnât be himself, would he? a little voice in her head inquired. He wouldnât be just exactly this boy with the lively green eyes in the seat beside you.
6
O ne sunny afternoon in May, the first day that really felt like spring, Madeline knelt on the lawn outside the open kitchen window, sprinkling fertilizer around the tulips. âLook at this!â she heard Gladys say. âThe nerve! Like Iâm some kind of deadbeat.â
Arbutus murmured something.
âIâm not paying it. I returned those groceries. And Iâll take my own sweet time on the rest thatâs due, too. Let them wait, they can afford it. You see that new truck theyâre driving?â
Arbutus answered but Madeline couldnât make out what she said.
âI wonât!â Gladys declared.
âWeâll have to pay somehow, else thereâll be trouble.â
âLet them sue. Look at thisââ Gladysâs voice became mincing. â â Please pay .â â
âWhat do you want it to say?â
âNothing! Itâd be better if theyâd just sent the bill and said nothing, no snotty comment needed, thank you very much.â
âThereâs no sense getting all worked Up.â
âI was born here. Who are they?â
âTheyâre the folks who own the store you took the groceries from,â Arbutus said in a dry tone that surprised Madeline a little. âWhy are you so angry? They donât owe Us anything.â
âWell. Be that as it may. I know what youâre thinking and weâre not selling, thatâs final.â
âIt would make everything easier.â
âNo, itâs not necessary. Weâll get by.â
âHow?â
There was a pensive silence. Madeline dug in the dirt again, Unhappy to be eavesdropping but Unable to stop.
âMaybe we ought to count ourselves lucky thereâs someone who wants to buy. Nathan would like me to sell, you know,â Arbutus ventured.
Madeline hoped they didnât mean Gladysâs house or Butteâs either, which was just a few blocks away.
âNathan.â Gladysâs voice dripped acid. âIâll just bet he would. Like to get his hands on the money, thatâs what, so he could fritter it away on investing. You know what I think? I think heâs desperate. You see it on the television all the time, people whoâve got in too