Tight Rein Read Free Page A

thrown the remaining rolls of toilet paper through the trees, until streamers hung from all the branches and wafted in the breeze. When they were finished, the front of the Lake house looked decidedly festive.
    Then they got a ladder from Stevie’s father’s shed and propped it against the back of the house. Now Stevie was climbing the ladder as quietly as a cat to spy on her brother. She knew he was up to something.
    “What if Chad and Mark are in the basement?” Carole whispered. She felt something pricking the backs of her legs. A rosebush, maybe? She knew she was standing on some sort of plant. The smell of crushed petunias hung heavy in the air.
    “What if they’re making popcorn?” Lisa whispered. She shook with silent laughter. The ladder trembled.
    “Shhh!” Stevie hissed. “I can see them! They’re in there.” Lisa and Carole could hear her take a final step up the ladder. “They’re giggling,” Stevie murmured. “I don’t like it … they’ve got Super Glue.…” SuddenlyStevie’s screech tore through the silent night air.
“They’ve got my riding boots again!”
    Carole and Lisa jumped and nearly dropped the ladder.
“Shhh!”
they said in unison.
    Through the window Stevie could see that Chad had spotted her and was laughing. His clammy, troll-like hands were on her beloved new boots. She hammered her fist against the window frame. “Those are mine!” she bellowed. “Mine! Put those down! I’ll get you for this, Chad Lake! You won’t get away with it this time!”
    Inside the house, Chad and Mark guffawed and pointed at Stevie. Stevie tried to open the window, but it was locked from the inside.
    “Stevie!” Lisa cried. “Your parents will hear!” Mr. and Mrs. Lake had been watching TV in the living room—the girls had peeked in before starting to TP the lawn. Mr. Lake liked to have the TV loud, but it wouldn’t be loud enough to drown out Stevie’s bellowing.
    “Get down from there!” Carole urged.
    “You cretinous, lard-bellied fool!” Stevie shouted. “You miserable, slack-jawed, booger-brained moron.!” She pounded the window frame in helpless fury. Inside, Chad and Mark dangled her boots inches from the glass, laughing hysterically.
    “C’mon, Stevie! We’ve got to run for it!”
    “Boggy-bottomed, zit-faced toad!”
    “Stevie!”
    Carole and Lisa could see lights coming on inside the house. They were running out of time, but they couldn’t leave Stevie on the unsteady ladder.
    “Stevie!” Lisa called again.
    Stevie finally recognized the peril of their situation. She scurried down the ladder and jumped the last few feet. She stumbled, landing in her mother’s small vegetable garden. Ripe tomatoes exploded under her feet. An eggplant squished against her chest. “I’m caught,” she said, thrashing among the bean vines and tomato stakes.
    “I’ll take the ladder—you get Stevie!” Lisa said to Carole. She pulled the ladder down and swung it around. The front end caught on the umbrella table by the swimming pool. Desperately Lisa tried to yank it free.
    Carole was on her hands and knees pulling Stevie loose from the garden. When she saw Lisa struggling, she got up and jerked the ladder free. It shot out of her grasp and tore through the mesh on the back screen door.
    “Oh, no!”
    The porch lights went on. The pool lights went on. The girls dashed around in panic. Carole, fighting to free the ladder from the screen door, lost her footing and fell into the pool. The ladder fell in after her. Lisa screamed.Stevie, still trailing bean vines, tripped over a lawn chair and skidded into the last remaining flower bed.
    Above them, they heard wood screech as Chad opened his window. He stuck his head out and blew a raspberry at the girls.
    “Stevie! What do you think you’re doing!” Mr. and Mrs. Lake rushed out the back door, but Stevie didn’t hear them. Sprawled in a bed of crushed pansies, she glared with dark fury at her brother.
    “I’m going to kill