Finders Keepers (19 page)
Authors: Shelley Tougas
Even if we kept our cabin, I'd never see Grumpa grumping on his front porch or fishing on the dock or napping in his recliner. No, it wouldn't be the same.
I watched Amelia as she straightened her
Eatsa Some Pizza
t-shirt and pulled her hair into a rubber band. She wasn't the same sister as two years ago, but she could still wrangle snakes. And now she could drive and stay up late and work at the best restaurant in the world.
I looked at Alex, who was picking at the scab on his knee. Next summer Alex My Friend might be Alex The Videogame Player or Alex The Best Friend Of Quincy. Or maybe he'd still be Buck Punch. But what if I wasn't Chase Truegood? I wasn't scared of anything except sharks and snakes, but I was afraid of everything being different. Everything was already different.
Finally, Mom and Dad came back to the picnic table. Mom said, “The reward money doesn't solve all our problems, but it goes a long way. We need to hear from Amelia. This involves her.”
Amelia rumpled my hair. “Twenty-five thousand dollars would buy a lifetime supply of lip gloss.”
I laughed and it felt good. Amelia's sense of humor was only ninety-nine percent gone. She could still be funny.
“We should use it for our family,” Amelia said. “I didn't do anything special.”
“You saved my life!” I punched her arm.
“Don't make me regret it.”
“It's settled then,” Mom said. “We're taking down the for-sale sign. We're staying.”
“I'm glad to hear it,” Neil said.
I hugged her hard. In my mind I hugged Grumpa next. Then I hugged Dad and Amelia and even Neil. I gave Alex a little punch in the arm.
Alex looked at his dad. “Is it okay if we go do something?”
“Sure. Go do something.”
As Alex and I walked toward the shed, Mom called out, “Do not throw mud at Shawn Weller's sign!”
I put my hands on my hips and yelled back. “Jeez, Mom! We know! Of course we're not going to throw mud at the sign.”
Alex adjusted Grumpa's fishing hat. “So what do you want to do?”
“Bummer,” I said. “I really wanted to throw mud balls at that sign.”
He sighed. “Me, too.”
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Shelley Tougas
is an award-winning writer of nonfiction for children, including
Little Rock Girl 1957
, and the author of
The Graham Cracker Plot
, her debut novel. She lives in Hudson, Wisconsin. You can sign up for email updates
here
.
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CONTENTS
Chase Truegood and the New Old Amelia
Finders Keepers and Losers Weepers
The Canoe (Again) and Game Night
The New Realtor Thief and Yonder Gold
An Apology and Another Apology
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Text copyright © 2015 by Shelley Tougas
Published by Roaring Brook Press
Roaring Brook Press is a division of Holtzbrinck Publishing Holdings Limited Partnership
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10010
All rights reserved
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The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
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Tougas, Shelley.
    Finders keepers / Shelley Tougas. â First edition.
          pages cm
    Summary: In Wisconsin, ten-year-old Christa and eleven-year-old Alex team up to search for the lost treasure of Al Capone near where Alex has just moved into his grandfather's house and Christa is spending what may be her family's last summer in their cabin.
    ISBN 978-1-59643-990-0 (hardback) â ISBN 978-1-59643-991-7 (e-book)
    [1.  Buried treasureâFiction.  2.  Adventure and adventuresâFiction.  3.  FriendshipâFiction.  4.  Family lifeâWisconsinâFiction.  5.  WisconsinâFiction.]  I.  Title.
    PZ7.T647155Fin 2015
    [Fic]âdc23
2015005138
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eISBN 9781596439917
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First hardcover edition, 2015
eBook edition, September 2015