The Secret Life of Owen Skye Read Free Page A

“You’re just making it more scary!”
    The house looked like one big black shadow. Andy shone the flashlight on it but they couldn’t see much in the weak light. Owen had been reading a lot in bed at night and had spent his allowance on comics instead of new batteries, so now when the boys really needed a good light they were in trouble. But they had come all that way so they couldn’t back out.
    â€œI just want to have a look at the couch,” Andy said. “If there
is
a ghost, it probably sits on the couch at night.”
    â€œWhy do we have to see?” Leonard said.
    â€œIt could be the Bog Man,” Owen said. He thought probably the Bog Man would like a dry place to sleep every now and again.
    â€œI’ve been thinking about this ghost,” Andy said, and he squatted down and turned off Owen’s flashlight to preserve the batteries.
    â€œWhat?” Leonard asked. They all squatted beside Andy and kept their voices low.
    â€œThere was an old story,” Andy said, “that the Bog Man had a wife.”
    â€œA wife!” Leonard said, too loud, almost laughing.
    Andy and Owen said, “Shhh!”
    â€œWhat would the Bog Man need a
wife
for?” Leonard laughed. “To clean the swamp? Iron his boggy shirts? Fold his moldy socks?”
    â€œIs that what you think a wife is for?” Andy asked quietly, and Leonard stopped laughing.
    â€œThere’s more,” Leonard said, but in a little voice.
    â€œOh, yeah?” said Andy. “What else is a wife for?”
    Leonard thought a long time. “Dishes.”
    â€œWhat about babies?” Andy asked
    â€œYes,” said Leonard.
    â€œYes, what?” Andy’s voice was sharp.
    â€œMen can have babies too,” Leonard blurted.
    â€œNo!”
Andy said, and this time Owen had to “Shhh!” him down too. Then Andy’s voice became friendlier. “That’s just it. You have to have a wife if you want to have a baby. Men can do all those other things without women. We can cook and clean and iron and sew and whatever you like. We can just learn it. But men can’t learn how to have babies. It’s never been done!”
    â€œSo girls are smarter than us?” Leonard asked. It seemed impossible to admit.
    â€œThere
are
things women can’t do,” Andy said strongly. Then it got quiet while he tried to think of them.
    â€œSure there are,” Owen said. “Women can’t fix radiators.” He said that because the car radiator had broken and their father had to take it to a garage where the person who fixed it was a man.
    â€œWomen could learn that,” Leonard said.
    â€œBut they’d have to get their hands dirty,” Andy said, but in a weak voice. Just that week their mother had gotten her hands completely dirty fixing the plumbing under the kitchen sink. She could probably learn how to fix radiators in ten minutes.
    â€œWomen can’t stickhandle,” Andy said then.
    â€œWhat about Sheila?” Owen asked. Sheila was the little girl in figure skates who scored all the goals for the Riverdale Hornets.
    â€œShe’s got a good
shot
,” Andy conceded. “But she’s not a terrific stickhandler.” He didn’t seem so sure though.
    â€œMaybe if we studied hard,” Owen said, “if we spent a lot of time around girls, then we could figure out how to have babies.”
    â€œSpend time around girls!” Andy hooted. “What a stupid idea!”
    â€œWe could ask Mom!” said Leonard, but Andy shook his head. “Women never tell,” he said. “I asked Dad, and he just laughed and said ask your mother. So I asked her but she wouldn’t tell me. It’s a big secret.”
    He stood up then and switched on the Indian Brave flashlight. The beam was weak.
    â€œWhat about the Bog Man’s wife?” Leonard asked. So Andy squatted down again