The Bell Bandit Read Free Page A

the whole house, fascinated by the things that Pete described—the inner workings of the house, like it was an animal that lived and breathed. "Yeah," he said. "I know how to take care of a fire. I've been to sleep-away camp."
    "Good," said Pete. "That's your job, then." He turned back to Mrs. Treski. "Do you want me to bring over a couple of space heaters for upstairs? I live just a mile up the road." But Mrs. Treski said no thanks, they'd be fine with the stove.
    "Probably for the best," he said, nodding. "You'd blow a fuse for sure."
    Evan followed Pete out to his truck, even though the snow was coming down harder now. Before climbing in, Pete said, "Are you the man of the family?"
    Evan shrugged. "I guess so." His mom didn't really go for that "man of the family" thing. And even though Evan's dad had been gone for more than two years, Evan still didn't think of himself that way. He tried to help his mom as much as he could, but he was only ten.
    "Okay, then," said Pete. "You'll help me tomorrow. Right?"
    "Sure," said Evan. And all of a sudden, he wasn't so desperate to leave Grandma's house and go back home.

Chapter 3
You Don’t See That Every Day
    The plan had been to go get Grandma in the morning. She was getting discharged from the hospital first thing, which meant she could finally come home. Mrs. Treski decided they would stay through New Year's Day to make sure Grandma was settled. Jessie couldn't wait for Grandma to walk in the door. Maybe then things would go back to normal.
    But the plan had to change, thanks to the storm. Overnight the snow had turned the whole world into a scene from the book that Jessie was reading—
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
—all winter white and silent. The driveway had disappeared under the heavy, fresh snow, and the local news reported that road conditions were "challenging." On top of that, the battery in the car was dead (because Jessie had left one of the interior lights on overnight), and it was going to be a while before the guy from AAA could come out to the house. Apparently, a lot of people were having car trouble because of the weather.
    Jessie spent part of the morning curled up in front of the wood stove reading her book and eating from the box of store-bought powdered doughnuts that Pete had brought with him. Pete and Evan were down in the basement now, checking out the furnace. There was a lot of banging, and every once in a while she heard them laughing. Jessie didn't get it. What was so funny about a broken furnace?
    After that, Jessie climbed the stairs to see what her mother was doing. She found Mrs. Treski in the room with the hole in the floor, going through boxes of papers that had gotten wet after the fire. She was looking for Grandma's homeowner's insurance policy. The woven rug with swirls of maroon and deepest blue was pulled back and folded over on itself, revealing the bare wooden floor beneath it.
    "Ruined," said Mrs. Treski, as she worked her way through the box. "I don't think any of this can be saved." But she kept plucking through the papers.
    Jessie started to wander over to the built-in bookcase that ran along one wall of the room. Grandma had bookcases in every room in the house, each one stuffed to overflowing, but the books in her office were the ones that were most important to her.
    "Jessie, stop," said Mrs. Treski. "I'm not sure I got all the glass off the floor."
    "I'm wearing shoes. I'll be careful," said Jessie, walking delicately across the floor. "Are Grandma's books ruined, too?"
    "Some, probably. I hope not her favorites."
    "They're all her favorites," said Jessie, staring at the bookcase.
    These books were like old friends to Jessie. She'd known them since she was old enough to crawl into her grandmother's lap and sit patiently while Grandma turned the pages. Books on birds, books on meditation, books on string instruments and baseball and antique quilts. Aesop's fables and Greek mythology. She looked quickly for