I Owe You One Read Free Page A

anything.”
    I let out the breath I didn’t realize I was holding. The rest of the lecture was sure to come now. And our punishment.
    â€œYou should both know better.” She shook her head as she looked at us. What would it be? Mucking out the stables for a month? Checking and repairing all the fences around their sixty-acre property?
    Nope. It was none of those things. In fact she didn’t mention any punishment at all. The grossest chore in the world would have been easier to take than the words she said. “Wes, if your father could see you now, he would be sorely disappointed in you.”

Chapter 3
    From behind, I’m sure we looked like two bowlegged cowboys as we walked our bikes back out of the field, trying not to let our clammy, stinky jeans touch us more than necessary. We had apologized over and over to the Delanys before we left, but they just glared at us.
    â€œMan, I’m going to be grounded for the entire summer for this one,” I said.
    â€œWe can go to my house first and use the hose to wash the mud off,” Zach said. “Then we just have to find some place to hide out until our clothes dry.”
    â€œThat’ll never work. My mom has this spidey sense when something bad happens. It’s like she can smell trouble. It’s spooky. And this mud’s not going to come off with a hose. As soon as the Delanys call my mom, I’ll be grounded for the rest of the school year. Probably the whole summer too.”
    â€œI don’t think the Delanys will call.”
    â€œWhy not?”
    â€œâ€™Cause they’re probably leaving for that big race weekend out in Humber tonight. They’ll be too busy getting ready.”
    â€œI don’t know,” I said slowly. I wanted to believe that we could be that lucky, but it seemed too good to be true.
    â€œAnd it’s not like they’re gonna get all superior after some of the stuff their kids pulled. Wasn’t your dad one of the ones who helped pull their car out when Brian Delany rolled it into Waseeka Lake?”
    â€œYeah, but…”
    â€œAll we gotta do is get clean, and our moms won’t suspect a thing.”
    â€œWell,” I said, hoping beyond hope that Zach was right, “there is one person who might help us.”
    â€œWho?”
    I don’t know why I thought of Mrs. Minton. Maybe because she seemed so understanding the last time I was in a mess.
    We took the back way to Mrs. Minton’s so as not to have to go past my house.
    We were just about there when we heard a loud bang. I almost lost my grip on my bike as the ground shook.
    We looked at each other.
    â€œDaryl,” we both said at the same time.
    â€œI don’t know why he didn’t just join the army when he turned eighteen. Then he could have spent the last five years blowing things up as a job instead of doing it as a hobby,” I said.
    â€œMaybe he thinks groundhogs are the enemy? You know, sneaking around in underground tunnels.”
    â€œI think he just likes blowing things up,” I said. There was a rumor around town that Daryl was a few bricks short of a load. But Mom said every small town had its oddball, and I guessed Daryl was ours. Besides, he never hurt anyone. Even the groundhogs seemed pretty safe. They’d pop their heads up, and by the time he set the charges and hit the button, they’d be miles away watching from another hole. I swore they thought it was a sport and even enjoyed it.
    We rounded the corner onto Fraserwood Street, left our bikes by the gate and walked up to Mrs. Minton’s door.
    I was trying to think up a good explanation for how my clothes got all muddy again when she opened the door. Her bright blue eyes looked us up and down.
    â€œYou two smell like a stagnant pond. What was it this time, Wesley? Mud boarding? Dumpster diving? Swamp surfing?”
    For a second my mind wandered, thinking how cool mud boarding sounded. Then I pictured my