Free Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson Page B

tried hard not to smile. “And to its puppy dog.”
    â€œAnd to Prince Terrien, its guardian and jester. Amen.”
    â€œAmen.”
    They both managed somehow to keep the giggles buttoned in until they got out of the sacred place.
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    A few days after the encounter with the enemies of Terabithia, they had an encounter of a different sort at school. Leslie came out at recess to tell Jess that shehad started into the girls’ room only to be stopped by the sound of crying from one of the stalls. She lowered her voice. “This sounds crazy,” she said. “But from the feet, I’m sure it’s Janice Avery in there.”
    â€œYou’re kidding.” The picture of Janice Avery crying on the toilet seat was too much for Jess to imagine.
    â€œWell, she’s the only one in school that has Willard Hughes’s name crossed out on her sneakers. Besides, the smoke is so thick in there you need a gas mask.”
    â€œAre you sure she was crying?”
    â€œJess Aarons, I can tell if somebody’s crying or not.”
    Lord, what was the matter with him? Janice Avery had given him nothing but trouble, and now he was feeling responsible for her—like one of the Burkes’ timber wolves or beached whales. “She didn’t even cry when kids teased her ’bout Willard after the note.”
    â€œYeah. I know.”
    He looked at her. “Well,” he said. “What should we do?”
    â€œDo?” she asked. “What do you mean what should we do?”
    How could he explain it to her? “Leslie. If she was an animal predator, we’d be obliged to try to help her.”
    Leslie gave him a funny look.
    â€œWell, you’re the one who’s always telling me I gotta care,” he said.
    â€œBut Janice Avery?”
    â€œIf she’s crying, there gotta be something really wrong.”
    â€œWell, what are you planning to do?”
    He flushed. “I can’t go into no girls’ room.”
    â€œOh, I get it. You’re going to send me into the shark’s jaws. No, thank you, Mr. Aarons.”
    â€œLeslie, I swear—I’d go in there if I could.” He really thought he would, too. “You ain’t scared of her, are you, Leslie?” He didn’t mean it in a daring way, he was just dumbfounded by the idea of Leslie being scared.
    She flashed her eyes at him and tossed her head back in that proud way she had. “OK, I’m going in. But I want you to know, Jess Aarons, I think it’s the dumbest idea you ever had in your life.”
    He crept down the hall after her and hid behind the nearest alcove to the girls’ room door. He oughtat least to be there to catch her when Janice kicked her out.
    There was a quiet minute after the door swung shut behind Leslie. Then he heard Leslie saying something to Janice. Next a string of cuss words which were too loud to be blurred by the closed door. This was followed by some loud sobbing, not Leslie’s, thank the Lord, and some sobbing and talking mixed up and—the bell.
    He couldn’t be caught staring at the door of the girls’ room, but how could he leave? He’d be deserting in the line of fire. The rush of kids into the building settled it. He let himself be caught up in the stream and made his way to the basement steps, his brains still swirling with the sounds of cussing and sobbing.
    Back in the fifth-grade classroom, he kept his eye glued on the door for Leslie. He half expected to see her come through flattened straight out like the coyote on Road Runner. But she came in smiling without so much as a black eye. She waltzed over to Mrs. Myers and whispered her excuse for being late, and Mrs. Myers beamed at her with what was becomingknown as the “Leslie Burke special.”
    How was he supposed to find out what had happened? If he tried to pass a note, the other kids would read it. Leslie sat way up in the front corner nowhere near the