The Last Stand of Daronwy Read Free Page B

school.”
    â€œJeremy!” his mom said, then shook her head.
    â€œWhat? It’s stupid, Mom. It’s boring, and you don’t learn anything and they never let you go outside.”
    Grandma laughed. “Oh cher petit bébé. Mon cher , one day you will want to go back. You will see. Enjoy it now.”
    Jeremy rolled his eyes. Knight Rider was back on. “Thanks for the dirty rice, Grandma.”
    â€œYou are so welcome.” She turned to his mom, patting the baby blanket she was crocheting. “You sure you can take this to Mrs. Babineaux? It’s no trouble?”
    His mom raised her voice, drowning out the television. “Is your hearing aid on? I already told you I would take it over there on Wednesday before work.”
    When Knight Rider finished, Jeremy’s dad herded them into the Oldsmobile. Rosalyn fell asleep; Jeremy stared out the window. As they left Port Arthur, he could see the tall stacks of the Gulf and Texaco refineries across the flat marshlands. They drove down the highway to the river and the bridge, and motored up its steep side. Jeremy stared into the east. There were no lights out there. Miles of trackless marshlands spread beneath the moonlight, free from walls and fences and schools. Adventure called to him, begged him to come and find it, to slip this world’s chains.
    They came down into the darkening roads of Bridge City. It was nine o’clock and all the lights were off. Forgotten snowmen waved from black shop windows, looking more like harbingers of Halloween than Christmas. In his room, he retrieved the book bag from the depths of his closet. He put his Trapper Keeper into it and the latest book he’d borrowed from Mira’s dad: The Hobbit . He crumpled next to his bed, knees drawn up, head in his hands. Why didn’t he follow that thing in Twin Hills today? If he had—if only he had—he’d be worlds away by now.

Chapter Two
    A cold dawn’s light collected on the puddles that drained into the gutter, melting Jeremy’s hopes for a snow day. In the marshy gulf coast of Texas, freezing temperatures were so rare that it didn’t take much ice to close school, and while he had fervently prayed for ice or snow, the dusting of frost on the roofs of the houses wasn’t going to close anything. He pulled his blue jean jacket tighter around his body and shuffled his feet to join the knot of bundled shapes waiting for the bus. Rosalyn bounded across the street beside him, squealing some delightful inanity to Mira’s younger sister. Jeremy sighed.
    Loren McAlister balanced on an island of broken curb, rocking it back and forth to squirt a plume of brown, muddy water toward his little brother, Simon.
    â€œStand still, Sy!”
    Sy laughed, edging close enough to be in range, then leaping back as Loren shifted his weight and the water shot from beneath the concrete. Mira and her older sister, Kelly, left the house together. When he saw Kelly cross the street, Loren stopped playing and tried to attract her attention. Jeremy ignored him the way he ignored the yammering of Rosalyn with Mira’s little sister.
    â€œHi, Mira,” Jeremy said, his breath smoking.
    â€œLook at the frost everywhere.” She extended her arms to the white world, slowly turning.
    â€œYeah.”
    â€œDo you think it will snow?”
    Jeremy shrugged. “I hope so.”
    Mira motioned with a fluorescent pink mitten. “Here comes the bus!”
    Jeremy turned away. He stared across the empty lot where Loren organized football games to where the trees of Twin Hills began. Wind moaned through the highest branches and shadows moved beneath the boughs; he could go to them. He could—
    Something shook his arm. Mira’s sharp brown eyes stared at him.
    â€œCome on, let’s go,” she said.
    He followed her onto the waiting bus. Jeremy glanced through the rows to find Travis and Daniel. Travis sat near the back of the