Free Super Amos by Gary Paulsen Page B

it.”
    “Leaving so soon?” A deep voice boomed from the upstairs landing.
    Amos turned to see a tall man with a streak of white running through his dark hair, standing in the shadows at the top of the stairs. “I am Professor Brainard. You boys asked to see me?”
    Dunc moved closer to the staircase. When he did, the man stepped farther back into the shadows. Dunc held out the envelope. “My dad works for the real-estate company you called yesterday. He asked me to bring these papers by.”
    “How kind of you. You may put them on the table as you leave.” The man stared intoDunc’s eyes for a few moments and then turned on his heel and moved down the hall. The black, satin-lined cape he was wearing twirled around him as he disappeared into the darkness.
    Dunc stood motionless.
    “I think that means he wants us to go now,” Amos said. He walked across the room and pulled on Dunc’s sleeve.
    Dunc still didn’t move. He stared at the spot where the man had been standing.
    “Are you okay?” Amos snapped his fingers in front of Dunc’s face. “Hey. Wake up.”
    Dunc stumbled backward a few steps. “Wha— What happened?”
    “Nothing. The professor told you to leave the papers on the table and get out. Then you went all weird on me.”
    Dunc shook his head. “The strangest feeling came over me just now.”
    Amos pushed him toward the door. “We’re getting out of here while we still can.” He grabbed the envelope from Dunc’s hand and tossed it onto the hall table.
    A life-sized painting of a man hung justabove the table. Amos looked up at the man’s face. One side was normal but the other side was blue and twisted. Strange piercing eyes glared down at him.
    Amos ran for the door.

• 3
    A raindrop hit Amos on the nose. Overhead, thunderclouds were gathering and the wind whipped around him.
    Dunc pedaled up beside Amos. “We’ll never make it back before the storm hits. Let’s take cover in the old junkyard at the end of the road.”
    Amos nodded and followed Dunc down the dirt road to a high chain-link fence that surrounded mountains of old cars and other rusty junk.
    Dunc stopped in front of the gate. It had a chain fixed securely around it. “Wouldn’t you know it?” He looked around. There wereno other buildings in sight and the raindrops were falling faster. “I guess we’ll just have to climb over.”
    Thunder echoed nearby. The boys dropped their bikes and started climbing.
    Dunc cleared the barbed wire at the top and easily dropped to the other side. Amos wasn’t as lucky. Just as he was poised to jump, the left leg of his pants snagged on the wire. He went down headfirst and then swung back, mashing his face into the fence.
    The rain started pouring down. Dunc looked longingly at the shelter under one of the abandoned cars. Then he quickly climbed back up the fence and released Amos’s pants leg. Amos fell on his face in a mud puddle.
    “Thanks a lot.” He sat up and glared at Dunc. “You could have at least given me some warning before you let go.” Suddenly Amos’s eyes widened. He pointed behind Dunc and tried to scream. The sound got stuck in his throat and came out a squeak.
    A mammoth dog the size of a horse was sweeping down on them, snarling and drippingwhite slobber. Dunc and Amos backed up against the fence. Every time they tried to move, the dog charged and snapped at them.
    “Looks like another one of your great ideas bites the dust,” Amos said. He pressed as close to the fence as he could. The dog growled and stepped closer, showing sharp white teeth. “I don’t suppose you have some brilliant plan to get us out of this?”
    Dunc eyed the dog. “Actually I was thinking that one of us could act as a decoy while the other one went for help.”
    “Let me guess who you had in mind for the decoy.”
    “Down, boy! Sit!” called a harsh voice. The dog dropped like an obedient puppy. A figure emerged through the sheets of rain, carrying a flashlight. Water dripped off