Free Book One of the Travelers by D.J. MacHale Page A

face.
    â€œNothing!” Jed said. “I never even saw him.”
    The detective looked Jed up and down. “Bringhim in, boys. We’ll ask him more questions at the precinct.”
    â€œDon’t worry, Jed,” Gunny shouted as the cops roughly hauled Jed away. “I’ll get you out of this!”
    He just had to figure out how.

T HREE
    G unny stepped out into the street, now packed with people.
    â€œWhy are you taking Jed?” someone in the crowd hollered.
    â€œWhere’s Marvin?”
    The cops ignored the crowd and shoved Jed into the back of the police wagon. Men and women were forced to disperse as the wagon eased through the crowd.
    â€œWhat’s going on?” someone shouted. All eyes turned to Gunny.
    Gunny cleared his throat. “As you can all see, someone destroyed Marvin Halliday’s club,” he announced. He took a deep breath. “Jeffrey Wright has been shot. That’s what Jed has been arrested for.”
    â€œNo!” a man hollered.
    â€œThey think Jed did it? He loved Jeffrey like he was his own brother!” a woman near Gunny declared.
    The man Gunny had spoken to at the construction site earlier pushed forward. “You know who did this!Chubby Malloy! He doesn’t want anything to compete with his Paradise.”
    Another clear voice rang out. “I heard Chubby threaten Marvin!”
    The crowd parted and Gunny saw that Ambrose Jackson was the speaker. He stepped forward, his slick suit contrasting with the shabbier clothes of the neighborhood folk.
    â€œI heard Chubby swear that no new club would open up in Harlem while he was around,” Ambrose said.
    The mutters and murmurs turned into a rumble, then a roar. “Let’s go get Chubby!”
    This was quickly turning into a mob scene. And mobs were always dangerous.
    Gunny had to stop this. He knew it was possible that all this had happened on Chubby’s orders. But violence wasn’t the solution.
    â€œStop!” he shouted. Even at the top of his lungs, no one could hear him.
    Glancing around, he grabbed a garbage can. Luckily, it was empty. He flipped it over and clambered on top of it. “Stop! Now!” he hollered.
    He knew he looked like a crazy person, shouting and flailing his arms from the top of a garbage can, but he didn’t care. If it helped stop this tide of fury, then so be it.
    â€œStop! I mean it!”
    The shouts and rumbles died down and the men and women stared at Gunny.
    â€œWe can’t meet violence with violence,” Gunny declared. “We may believe Chubby was behind this, but we don’t know for sure. We’re acting just like those copswho took Jed away. We have nothing but what they call ‘circumstantial evidence.’ Besides,” he added, pausing so he could meet the eyes of as many people as he could, “I know for a fact that Chubby has been good to a lot of you. He employs folks right here in this crowd, and he’s Jed’s boss.”
    He let those words sink in. Several people gazed shamefacedly down at the ground, others shoved their hands in their pockets and shifted their weight from side to side or whispered to one another.
    â€œOur first thoughts have to go out to Mrs. Wright and her children,” Gunny told them. “She’s going to need us, and we can’t help her and her family if we’re all locked up for rioting.”
    That settled them down once and for all. Gunny spotted in the crowd a plump, older woman everyone called “Cousin Mary.” “Cousin Mary. Can you and a few of the women go to Mrs. Wright? She shouldn’t be alone when she gets the news.”
    â€œOf course, Gunny,” Cousin Mary said.
    The crowd dispersed and Gunny climbed back down from the garbage can. He mopped his brow with shaking hands. He had no idea he’d been so nervous.
    At least I can tell Jed he has the full support of the neighborhood , Gunny thought as he headed for