Free Ola Shakes It Up by Joanne Hyppolite Page A

looked like he was smiling. He stuck out his tongue and panted. I patted his head, but I couldn't feel his soft fur through my thick mittens.
    I picked up one end of the jump rope and turned toward the huge maple tree that stood next to the tall brown fence. I had to hang the clothesline high enough so that the neighbors would see it, which wasn't going to be easy since the fence was way taller than me.
    I started to climb up the tree slowly, thinking about what a good thing it was that I was the best jungle gym climber to come out of Roxbury. I had never really climbed a tree before, but it couldn't be much different. In the dark, it was hard finding spaces big enough to put my foot on, but I managed to feel around until I did. Below me I could hear Grady making soft whimpers. He was probably scared that I was going to fall down and break my neck, but he didn't know that, being the best jungle gym climber, I knew exactly how to fall so that I wouldn't get hurt.
    Grady let out a yelp, and I looked down. He really was worried about me.
    “I'm okay, Grady,” I whispered loudly He was going to wake somebody up and blow my whole plan.
    As soon as I'd climbed high enough so I could see over the fence, I looked around for a big branch to tie one end of the jump rope to. I was surprised to see that there were some icicles on some of the branches. It was colder than I thought. Finally I found a big branch, and I swung one end of the jump rope around and knotted it. Now all I had to do was tie the other end to the fence a little ways over.
    Grady growled.
    Uh-oh.
    I looked down, hoping it wasn't Mama or Dad.
    “Well, hello there, young lady.”
    I froze, hugging the tree. The voice came out of nowhere.
    “Now, now, don't take fright and crack your head fallin' outta that tree.”
    Slowly I turned my head. There was an old man looking up at me from the corner of the neighbor's yard. He had long straight white hair that reached his shoulders, and a baseball hat on his head. It was so dark I couldn't see the rest of his face.
    “Haven't had us a tree-climbing accident since last summer. Believe it was young Rosemary fell outta that tree in the town center.” The old man kept talking and looking up at me. “Cracked her head good enough for four stitches. Rosemary Atkinson. Family's been around here since the Civil War.”
    Great. Another person with a history lesson about Wal-cott. I looked carefully at the old man and saw that he waswearing nothing but his bathrobe, pajamas and bedroom slippers. He was gonna freeze.
    “Mister, what are you doing out here?” I asked curiously. He was the first person I'd met in this neighborhood besides Otis.
    “Nightwatching.” The old man shook his head. “Always nightwatch this time of year.”
    “What are you watching?” I asked. Was he senile? Mr. Roland from our old neighborhood is senile. He still thinks he's a general in the army during World War II. He calls all of the neighborhood kids “private” and is always ordering everyone off the street because of incoming bombs.
    But the old man looked at me like I was the one that was crazy. “I'm watching the night. Believe I said that already.”
    “You're our neighbor?” I asked. This neighborhood was getting weirder by the second. First Mrs. Spunklemeyer and Otis. Now this old man. They should rename this place W ALCOTT C ORNERS : W HERE THE S TRANGE AND THE S ENILE R ESIDE .
    “Moses Elijah.” The old man bobbed his head. “And you would be … ?”
    “Just Ola.”
    The old man stepped back a couple of feet and whistled. “Lotta ice on that tree, Just Ola.”
    “No —it's just Ola. Not Just Ola.”
    “Believe that's what I said.” The old man was looking at me like I was crazy again. “Mind if I ask you what you're doing climbing trees before sunlight?”
    “I'm hanging a clothesline.” I didn't bother to make upanything or explain why. Even if Mr. Elijah did tell someone about the clothesline, that was exactly what I