Crunch (7 page)

LIL KEPT EXPERIMENTING. I KEPT WORKING.
I was wheeling finished bikes out to the front for pickup like nobody’s business. For the first time in days, the spindle where we’d stuck all the quick-fix jobs was clear. I did a victory dance all the way to the house. I poured a cold drink of water and wet my head under the faucet. I made a bunch of come-and-get-it phone calls to customers. Back in the barn, I picked an order from the Parts or Problems spindle. These were usually Vince’s jobs. “And where in the heck is he anyway?” I mumbled. He’d been gone for over an hour. It just didn’t take that long to fetch Angus and Eva.

Suddenly, I was ticked off. I’d bent over
backward to make the bike shop bearable. Mostly by getting him out a lot. I missed my morning rides to Sea Camp. Well, maybe I didn’t miss the slowpoke rides there. But I sure as heck missed the all-out sprints back home.

Vince would
never
forget our twins. But he could easily lose track of time afterward. He was probably soaking up some sun. Playing on the beach with Angus and Eva. Or just freewheeling his way home with them so as to avoid work.

“Vince, you snake,” I said. And then, because timing is everything, I heard a chain slipping a gear. Greatness stood up and Goodness followed. Somebody was coming down the path between the yards.

I stepped out of the barn. It was Vince. No doubt about that. He was pedaling. Strangely. He was holding Eva on his lap, huggy-bear style. He had one arm wrapped around her. He steered the bike with his other hand. Eva bumped from side to side over his knees. As they came along, I could see Angus sitting on the rear rack, backward, his heels propped up on the edge. He held Eva’s feet,
one wedged under each of his arms. His eyes were closed with the effort of holding on.

“Vince!” I yelled. “What are you doing?” I jogged toward them.

“Doing—the best I can,” Vince strained. “Little help?” He let the bike coast into the yard. His fingers looked stiff as he stretched them to squeeze the brake. I met him and caught the handlebars. Vince was out of breath. He stood on tiptoe balancing the bike while Eva cried, almost silently, into his chest.

“Is she hurt?” I asked.

Vince shook his head no. “I’ve got the bike,” he said. “Get Angus down. Please.”

I swept Angus from the back of the bike and let him down to the grass. Then I reached for Eva. She unpeeled slowly from Vince’s chest then hung limp in my arms. “Put her down,” Vince said. “She’s tired. Her grip is all gone.”

I sat in the grass and cradled my little sister between my knees. I carefully unbuckled her helmet. “What happened to you guys? Where are your bikes?” I asked.

Eva cried harder. Vince shook his head at me. Angus looked at me with huge, wide eyes. “Our bikes got stole,” he said.

“Somebody
stole
your bikes? Both of them? You’re kidding.” I looked at Vince. “For real?”

“Gone,” he said. “They left the helmets. That’s it.” He let the bike slide to the ground.

Eva sobbed. “And my arms and legs have knots in them,” she said.

Vince collapsed flat on his back. He rubbed his bicep and elbow, then stretched the arm up over his head. “Me too, Eva,” he said. “I got knots too.”

“Angus? You okay, buddy?” I asked.

“I’m okay, except my butt is asleep.” He squeezed his cheeks and picked a wedgie. “But I helped. I held on to Eva’s feet,” he said.

“Yes, I saw you,” I said. “You were awesome.” I tried to think what Mom and Dad would say to them if they were here. Eva looked up at me.

“Nobody ever stole our bikes before!” she said. She made hiccupping sounds then erupted
again. “I was right down at the beach! I-I didn’t see a robber.”

I looked at Vince. “Where did you leave the bikes this morning?”

“At the side of the pavilion,” he said.

“So just like always?” I said.

“Yeah,” said Vince. “Only things are no longer
just like always
.”

Lil came around to the yard. We gave her the bad news. “Oh! Horrible!” she said. “
Horrible!
Who could be so low as to—”

“Hey, Lil.” I showed her my palm, tried to get her to back off. It just didn’t seem like it was going to help to have the big sister all upset too. Lil knelt down in front of Eva.

“And you had to ride three of you to one bike? The whole way home?” She wiped Eva’s cheeks with her thumbs.

“We’re all in cramps,” Vince said. He pulled one leg behind him to stretch his thigh.

“Vince, you could have called us,” Lil said.

“Yep. My fault.”

“No, I don’t mean it like that.” She reached
and tagged his shoulder apologetically.

“But I forgot the phone. Mattie called the police as soon as we found out the bikes were missing. But it took them forever to show up.”

We could have guessed that part. We knew that most of the force were on bikes or electric carts these days. I knew of only one department wheelie pod. Besides, a pair of stolen junior bikes was hardly a high priority.

Vince went on. “Pop was out on the boat. Mattie still had afternoon campers.”

“And we wanted to come home
now
,” Eva spoke up.

“Sea Camp is
bad
.” Angus shook his head.

“No, no, no!” Lil reached for Angus. “Sea Camp is
not
bad! Oh, Angus, baby, please don’t say that!” Lil grabbed him up, hugging him hard. “Our Mattie is there! You have a good time with her.”

“Our bikes got stole,” he said again. He twisted his face up—ugliest look I’d ever seen on my little brother. Lil tucked his head under her chin and rocked him.

“I didn’t know it’d be so hard to carry two,” Vince said.

“You did a great job,” Lil said. “Everyone did a great job.”

We were all quiet for a few minutes. Then Angus said, “Lil?”

“Yes?”

“Why do you have blue on you?” He patted her painted hand.

“Oh!” Lil laughed. “By mistake! I accidentally spray-painted myself.”

“I like it,” said Eva.

“Yeah, me too,” said Angus.

“Thank you,” said Lil.

“Can I get blue too?”

“Well…
maybe
,” Lil said. “Here’s what I was thinking…” She began to talk about her mural. “I keep thinking about the gas being all gone,” she began, “and it makes me wish we all could fly…just spread our arms like birds and go up.”

“I wish Mom and Dad could,” said Eva.

“I wish I could,” said Angus. “Because if I had
wings I wouldn’t take them off. Then they couldn’t get stole.”

We were still sitting on the grass when Runks and Macey came up on their copsicles.

“Hello, Marrisses!” Runks called. “So sorry, all! So sorry about the missing mini Marriss bikes. We heard about it from dispatch.”

“Oh, thanks for stopping,” Lil said.

Officer Macey hopped off his copsicle. “Couldn’t believe it when I found out it was you guys,” he said. “Hey, look what I brought.” He stooped down and offered two lollipops to our tear-stained twins. “Come on now. Gotta cheer up. Huh?”

“So, I suppose you’ll let us know if you hear anything or find anything? About the bikes?” Lil said. But she didn’t sound hopeful.

Runks nodded. “It’ll be difficult,” he admitted. To me, that meant we had little chance of getting them back.

“I’ll put some extra time on it when I can,” Macey said.

“Well, that’s nice, but I’m sure you have bigger
problems out there these days,” Lil said.

For some reason that made me think about the day I’d picked her up on the highway—how she’d said,
Weird times, civilian rule.
Just how big was that? What would I do if I came upon those two small bikes somewhere? Would I take them back? Would that be stealing from two more little kids, or would I be reclaiming something for my family? For Angus and Eva? Questions without answers.

“I’d like to see those bikes returned,” Macey said.

I turned to the twins. “Vince and I will start collecting parts to build two new bikes for you guys.”

“Absolutely,” said Vince.

“It’ll take a while. But we’ll do it. I promise,” I said.

“I wish it could be my real bike,” said Angus. “And I just wish it was time for Mom and Dad to call.”

Pop and Mattie showed up while the officers were still with us. I was glad to have everyone around, but Lil seemed bothered. “Oh, my gosh.
Hey, everybody. Not to worry. We’re all right. Really. We’re even lucky enough to have a carrier these guys can ride in.”

“I just feel so bad,” Mattie said. “My campers have always left their bikes by the pavilion and they’ve never locked them up. Never!”

I remembered how Dad had said anything valuable is subject to theft. But stealing junior bikes seemed especially mean somehow.

“It’s happening everywhere,” Runks said, and he shook his head.

Pop and Mattie had brought scallops and crabmeat, and they wanted to stay and have dinner together. Lil spoke up again. “Oh, you don’t have to feed us,” she told them. “We’re fine, fine, fine!”

“Are you sure?” said Pop. “Because you’re looking a bit blue.” He grinned and grabbed her painted hand and shook it. He leaned toward her and begged, “Please don’t make me bike that seafood back home.” Lil finally gave up a small grin, and I knew they’d be staying.

Before he left, Macey repeated that he’d keep looking into the case of the twin’s bikes himself. It
was nice to think that it mattered to him.

Dinner was a little quiet right up until I suddenly caught sight of Mr. Spivey coming around the fence. He was leading Gloria Cloud through the gate and into our paddock.

“What?” I gasped. I whispered to Lil. “Did you loan Gloria Cloud to the Spive today?”

“No. Why?”

I pointed. “He must have helped himself,” I said.

“To your sheep? Aw! The nerve!” Pop banged his hand on the table. “I say,
the nerve
!”

“But wait!” said Lil. “He’s making a little history here.”

“What? Overcoming his dread of droppings?” Vince said.

“No. He’s bringing her
back
! Without bothering us,” Lil said. “I’m telling you, this is
history
!”

“I don’t know,” said Pop. “He took her in the first place. Could be time for that geezer-to-geezer chat.”

Lil rolled her eyes. “Pop, don’t worry. We’re
so
used to him.”

“Yep. Used to him like a tack stuck in your toe,” Pop said. “Egg thief. Berry snatcher.” The twins giggled, and Pop got louder. “
Zu
-cchini robber.
Sheep bandit!
”

“Shh! Pop!” Mattie gave him an elbow and quite a look. “The Marrisses have an understanding with their neighbor. All is well.”

“I’ll tell you what is well. Their neighbor is
well fed
, and his
lawn
is well trimmed, all thanks to the Marrisses.”

Lil rose from the picnic table. “Well, Pop, we’re well fed tonight because of you. Thank you for the scallops and the crab, too.”

“Pop always brings a little bit of
crab
,” Mattie said. Pop could not help laughing at that.

That night, while Angus and Eva soaped dishes at the sink, I swept the floors. Lil had sent the dogs upstairs to “beg from above,” which meant they hung out on the balcony just above the kitchen table with their noses between the rails. Vince made a game of jumping up and trying to set dog treats under their noses. The danger was overfeeding. Old Goodness was a bit of a puker. But at
least Vince’s athletics made us laugh and cheer a few times. Then Lil took the call from Mom and Dad.

“It hasn’t been the best day,” I heard her say. “But we’re all right.”

Apparently the first thing Mom and Dad did was ask Lil to please say those two sentences in the
reverse
order in the future. She’d given them both minor heart attacks.

“I’m going to let Angus tell you,” she said. She let him dry his hands then gave him the phone. Eva closed in to listen with him. We could have delivered the next lines in unison.

“Mom. Dad. Our bikes got stole.”

I didn’t hear exactly what Mom and Dad said, but the rhythm of their voices seemed consoling. The twins kept nodding as they held the receiver between them. Then Eva suddenly said, “We are going back to Sea Camp tomorrow. Because we want to
make history
.”

I looked at Lil. She scrunched up her face. Vince had an ear on the conversation too.

“Like Mr. Spivey,” Eva went on. “He made
history today. He stole Gloria Cloud. But then he brought her back when he was done with her. So the robber guys could put our bikes back at the pavilion. When they’re done with them.”

Lil, Vince, and I had a collective heart dive.

While Lil helped Angus and Eva get ready for bed, she explained to them that it was not likely that the bikes would be returned to Sea Camp.

“That’s what Mom said too,” Eva said. “But I’m making a wish.”

Later on, when our twins had fallen asleep, Lil asked, “Do you guys have any little bike frames in the shop?”

“Sixteen inchers? Not a one.” I shook my head and let out a sigh.

“PSST! DEWEY. I NEED YOU TO GET UP.” LIL SHOOK
my arm. I sat up in the attic bedroom and looked over at Vince. Unconscious.

“D-did I oversleep? Do I have customers?” I squinted at the clock.

“No, but heads-up. Change of plan.” She looked stern.

Lil…taking charge. Of something. Now if only I could wake up…

“I need you guys to meet me at Shoreland’s Market right after you drop off Angus and Eva. I’ve been watching the news. Trucks still aren’t moving. I did a cupboard check. I don’t like it. We need to get there this morning.”

I whispered. “Are you kidding? Lil, I
have
to
get into the shop. Vince does the camp drop now. Take him.” I jabbed a thumb toward my sleeping brother.

“Yeah, right. Vince in the grocery store?” Lil whispered.

She was right. Vince was a notoriously terrible shopper. He tried to follow the list, but he’d get off track and start picking up whatever. Then he’d come home embarrassed and bewildered by what was in the grocery sacks. And what wasn’t.

“I’m going to have Vince babysit the bikes while you and I shop,” Lil said. “Last thing we need is another theft. You and Vince put the carrier on the tandem. Haul Angus and Eva to camp. Meet me, and then we’ll fill it with groceries for the way home. I’ve got the panniers and we’ll all bring backpacks,” Lil said. “Oh, and you have money, right?”

Ah. Now she would understand about all those bikes in the shop. I reached below my bed and dragged out one of my work boots. I pulled a roll of bills out of it and thunked it into her hand.

“Cripes! Dewey!” she squawked. That made
Vince sit up. “Ever heard of making a deposit? How much is here?” She sniffed the wad. Must have been the smell of peppermint. Not essence of work boot.

“A lot,” I said. “B-but it’s just because I held on to a bunch for the trip to Bocci. And Robert Deal paid cash for his bike.”

“Negligent.” Vince yawned and fell back on his pillow.

Lil wasn’t amused. “Unreal, Dewey. Staying on top of the banking is part of taking care of the Bike Barn. Dad would worry if he knew!”

I felt my face flush. “Yeah, well, who was supposed to stay on top of the groceries?” I felt bad as soon as I said it and worse when I saw Lil’s face pink up too.

She flipped through the bills instead of looking at me. “Well, I guess we’ve both been crunched, then,” she said. “We’ll have to do better. Meet me at Shoreland’s.” She gave my bed a hard bounce as she got up.

I yawned and said, “It’s a plan.”