Free Philip and the Superstition Kid (9781452430423) by John Paulits

stared at the open
window.
    “ Well?” said Philip.
“He’s your cousin.”
    Emery growled to himself and started out the
window.
    Philip watched him walk along the tiny roof
with his arms stretched out like a tightrope walker. Emery made one
little bobble and Philip’s heart jumped, but he made it to the tree
and sat on a long branch to get his breath.
    “ Now you,” Emery
called.
    Philip stepped out onto the roof, feeling
like he was stepping onto the wing of an airplane hurtling across
the sky. He took careful step after careful step and finally slid
next to Emery on the big branch, sighing with relief.
    The boys looked at each
other with only one thought in mind— Stupid
Leon .
    “ He better be in those
bushes,” Emery muttered as he slid across the branch to the trunk
of the tree where he could get close to the ground using other
branches like a ladder.
    When Philip dropped to the ground next to
Emery, he smiled. “That wasn’t so bad.”
    “ Never mind that,” said
Emery grimly. “Let’s go and find Leon.”
    The boys hurried down the street. The sun
was still shining, and they waited carefully until they were sure
no one would see them enter the bushes.
    Emery led the way. “Leon, you in there?
Leon. It’s me and Philip.”
    Leon was there, sitting glumly, his knees
drawn up and his head resting on them.
    “ Leon,” Emery barked.
“What are you doing here? Now you’ve got us all in trouble. We’re
supposed to be in the house. If that vampire girl finds out we’re
missing, she’s gonna call my mother.”
    Leon lifted his head sadly. “You heard,
too?” he asked.
    “ Heard what?” Philip
asked.
    “ About that girl. She’s
scary. I heard your mother say how old she is,” Leon explained in a
gloomy voice. “She’s thirteen. Oh, something bad’s gonna happen because of
her.”
    Emery exploded. “Leon, you dope, you’re
making it happen. We gotta get back inside the house. Your
trippydippyphobium’s gonna get us all smooshed.”
    Leon turned to Emery and
said sadly, “It’s not trippydippyphobium. And we’ve all got it now.”
    Philip and Emery exchanged uncomfortable
looks.
    Philip said,
“That ’s why we
gotta get back in the house, Leon. It’s the only way we’ll get
protection.” Suddenly, Philip’s face went blank.
    Emery stared at his friend and cried, “What,
Philip? What?”
    “ Emery, we could hang and
jump down from the tree but we can’t jump up. It’s too high. How
are we going to get back inside the house?”
    Slowly, the two boys turned and looked at
Leon.
    “ Triskaidekaphobia,” he
whispered and lowered his head onto his knees.
     
     

Chapter Fourteen
     
    “ She’s watching TV still,”
Philip whispered as he peered through the screened window into the
living room. Emery and Leon sat below the windowsill, leaning back
against the house. Philip lowered himself and sat with the other
boys.
    “ Leon, if vampire girl
calls my mother and I get punished for this . . . it’s summer, you
know. I don’t want to be grounded for a week of summer
vacation.”
    “ I know. I know,” Leon
nodded. “Nothing good ever happens to me. I’m always in trouble
anyway; let me get in more trouble. I don’t care.”
    “ What are you talking
about?” Philip asked.
    “ You guys go to the back
door . . . ” Leon began.
    “ Yeah! The back door. How
stupid. Let’s sneak in the back door,” Emery cried.
    The boys scuttled around to the kitchen door
and turned the knob. Locked!
    “ I knew it would be,” said
Leon. “Triskai . . . ”
    “ Never mind trissytrissy,”
said Philip. “You were saying something.”
    “ Yeah, what, Leon?” Emery
demanded.
    “ It’s not trissytrissy,”
Leon mumbled resentfully. “Stay here. I’ll go get in trouble. I
don’t care.”
    Emery rolled his eyes. “You said that
already, Leon. What?”
    “ I’ll knock on the front
door and go in. I’ll say I’m going upstairs to be with you guys.
But I’ll really come into the