Summer Sanctuary Read Free Page B

house because Johnny was still too young for crunchy. And by the time he was old enough, the new baby would be too young.
    We ate in silence. I looked around, trying not to gawk at her while she ate. The wind gently swayed the tree limbs overhead. Little rays of sunshine slipped through the stirring leaves, sparkling on Dinah’s face and hair. A robin hopping around at a safe distance behind us stopped and cocked its head at me. It quickly lost interest and flew away. I didn’t care about the robin, but I didn’t want Dinah to fly away again like yesterday.
    Dinah broke the silence. “Why are you being so nice to me?” she asked. She was combing her fingers through the grass and propellers, watching intently as the blades bounced right back up, twirling the propellers in the air.
    I didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t very well tell her that I watched her dig my sandwich out of the trash yesterday, and I was just dying of curiosity.
    â€œYou just seem different—more interesting than most of the people I see around here.” I leaned back on my elbows and stretched my feet out in front of me. “Why did you agree to have lunch with me?”
    â€œI was hungry,” she said simply, rising to her feet and wiping her hands on the back of her jean shorts. She walked around the maple tree, hugging it with one arm as she walked. Then she turned around and walked the other way, hugging the tree with her other arm. She stopped right in front of me. I had to look straight up to see her face. “You seem different, too,” she admitted. “In a good way.” She sat down and relaxed a little, leaning back against the tree.
    â€œCan you keep a secret?” she asked.
    I hesitated. How many times had my parents talked to me about good secrets and bad secrets? Could I promise to keep a secret without knowing what kind of a secret it was? “I can keep a secret that needs to be kept.”
    â€œI mean it, Matthew.” She sat forward, hugging her knees. “If I tell you something, you have to promise not to tell anyone.” Just the way she said it I could tell it was a really serious secret.
    â€œI promise,” I said, knowing that I would keep Dinah’s secret no matter what and hoping I wouldn’t regret it.

Four
    â€œL ET’S WALK ,” D INAH said, and she was on her feet instantly. We picked up our backpacks and headed into the small woods. “I really didn’t have any place to go yesterday,” she confessed. “And I really don’t have any place to go today. The truth is, I don’t have any place to go for the next 20 days.”
    â€œWhat do you mean?” I asked.
    â€œI mean I spent the last few nights in the playhouse at the park by the Y. Before that I spent a night in a barn out in the country. Only one, though.” She paused, and I waited. “You wouldn’t believe how loud cows can fart!” She put her lips to her arm and blew as hard as she could. I burst out laughing; then I tried it, too. “That’s it!” Dinah screeched. “You sound exactly like a farting cow!” I couldn’t wait to show Kyle my new talent. He probably spent all summer listening to cows fart.
    â€œSo where are your parents?” I asked between farts.
    â€œI don’t have a dad,” she said blowing the biggest fart yet. “And my mom won’t be back until July 9.” She turned to look at me. I saw tears hiding behind her blue eyes. She tossed her head back and picked up the pace. I hustled to stay beside her.
    â€œIsn’t there anybody you can stay with?” Surely every kid had
somebody
who would take him in. “What about grandparents?”
    â€œNope. My mom grew up in about a dozen foster homes up in Michigan. No grandparents, aunts or uncles that I know of.” We came to a small creek. At first I thought Dinah was going to wade right through it, but she turned abruptly to