Death at Devil's Bridge Read Free

sixteen, he dropped out.
    The town of Aquinnah was so small, everybody knew everything about everybody else, and since my mom worked at Town Hall, she heard all the news eventually, usually before anyone else. When she heard about Donny quitting school, she gave me a big lecture about how important education is, and said Donny was headed for nothing but trouble.
    I was sure she’d never let me go driving around in the Tomahawk with Donny, even if he’d asked me to, which he hadn’t. I’d have bet the forty dollars in my pocket that Jeff’s mother didn’t know where he was at that moment, but that didn’t stop me from wishing I was in his place.
    â€œYeah,” I said to Donny. “I do have a job. I’m mating for Chick. Just for four days, more if he stays busy.”
    Donny batted his eyelashes and raised his voice to a high falsetto. “Oooh, Mister First Mate, could you please put this bait on my hook for me? It’s so icky .”

    I laughed and said, “Talk about icky, this morning a little girl threw up all over the place.”
    â€œGross,” said Jeff.
    â€œShe actually turned green,” I added.
    â€œLet me guess,” said Donny, smiling widely now. “It was the mate’s job to clean it up.”
    â€œYou got that right,” I said, making a face.
    â€œPoor kid,” Donny said. Then he added, “I mean her, Daggett, not you. Cleaning up barf is good for you. Builds character.”
    â€œGreat,” I said. “I’ll remember that. Hey, did you hear about that mid-engine Porsche in West Basin?” I threw in “mid-engine” to impress Donny, and hoped Jeff wouldn’t blow it and ask me what it meant.
    Donny grinned wickedly. “Some little rich boy’s daddy is going to be plenty tee’d off.”
    â€œOh, wow,” I said. “You mean you know whose car it is?”
    Donny smiled again and said, “No. But it stands to reason it’s some fat cat tourist’s, right? Who else drives a car like that? Not one of us local boys, eh?” He reached down and patted the door of the Tomahawk. “Our cars have class .”
    Jeff reached a hand out and patted the Tomahawk’s other door, almost as if he owned it. “Definitely!” he said.
    I stared at Jeff, amazed at how cool he was acting. I felt like a little weenie, standing in the road, straddling my bike, while he sat shotgun in the Tomahawk as if he belonged there. “You know,” I blurted, “I’m the one who saw it first.”
    â€œNo way!” exclaimed Jeff. “You found the car?”
    â€œReally?” Donny’s eyebrows lifted with interest. “When?”
    Pleased at having their full attention, I tried to sound casual. “First thing this morning. Chick and I were headed out and all of a sudden I saw this car in the water. I couldn’t believe it!”
    â€œYeah, well, believe it, Daggett,” said Donny. He reached out his hand to give me a high five. “And the rich kids who come here thinking they’re better than us—they’d best believe it, too. Right, Manning?” he added, turning to Jeff and high-fiving him, too.
    â€œYou got it!” said Jeff.
    Just then there was a loud beep, and I looked up to see a car coming our way, heading in the same direction as Donny. I scrambled to get out of the road so the car could go by. I caught a glimpse of the driver, a guy with a long gray ponytail. He scowled at me impatiently, then gave Donny a slow nod as he passed.

    Donny gunned the engine. “Catch ya later, Daggett.”
    â€œLater, Ben,” called Jeff as they pulled away.
    â€œRight,” I said, watching them disappear around a curve in the road. “Later.”
    Geez , I thought, I work for one day and Jeff goes and finds a new best friend .

Three
    â€œHi, Ben,” Mom called from the kitchen. “How was your first day of