Freestyle with Avery (8 page)

Now Jason was the one who was startled. “Hey! Ferret-catcher girl.”

“Right! Ferret catcher girl! That’s me. Otherwise known as Avery. And you’re Jason.” He shook my hand quickly and looked at the ground. Oops … Kazie mentioned that he was shy. He was probably wondering why some random girl was chasing him down the street. “That ferret escape was the only funny thing that’s happened all night,” I explained.

To my relief, Jason laughed. “Really? I guess taking Radley in there was not my smartest idea ever. Usually he stays inside my shirt—no problem. He was going crazy tonight, though.”

“He probably smelled all the delicious goodies in there! FYI, ferrets love sweet stuff, but a lot of sugary snacks are really bad for them.”

“Wow,” said Jason. “How do you know so much about ferrets?”

I shrugged. “I’m sort of a whiz when it comes to animal trivia. How long have you had this guy?”

“Just got him. I’ve had tons of pets, but this is my first ferret. I’m still getting used to Radley.”

I reached out and patted Radley’s wiggly little nose with my finger.

“Hey!” Jason said. “You wanna hold him?”

“Sure!”

Jason carefully handed me the ferret and I cuddled him in both hands. Then I unzipped my jacket and tucked him inside in case he was cold. I giggled when he squirmed around in there. Finally Radley curled into a ball and stayed still.

The streets of Telluride were so calm at night. Way different than with the daytime traffic. It wasn’t scary-quiet, though. Just peaceful.

“So how come you call him Radley?” I asked finally. “It’s a cool name.”

“Short for Boo Radley. He’s a character from the book
To Kill a Mockingbird
. That’s my favorite book. You ever read it?”

I nodded. “Yeah, we read it earlier this year. Everyone in the seventh grade at my school has to. What grade are you in?”

“Eighth,” he answered. “So I take it you aren’t from around here?”

“Nope. Boston. My dad lives in Telluride though, so I’m visiting for the week.”

“Boston? Whoa … that’s so far. I’ve never been further east than Nebraska.”

“Nebraska? What’s in Nebraska?” I asked.

Jason smiled. “Not much, actually. My parents used to live there … in Omaha. Then I moved to Durango, Colorado, with my grandparents. And then I moved here about … hmm … I guess two months ago now.”

“Do you like Telluride?”

Jason shrugged. “I dunno. It’s okay, I guess. My foster family is nice, though.”

Foster family
? I wondered what that was all about. Jason was the second kid I’d met in two days who had a different kind of family than mine. I wanted to ask him more about it—where his real parents were, why he’d moved around so much—but I didn’t know if those were the type of questions you asked a new friend. And I didn’t like it when people asked me too many nosy questions.

“Do you—” We both started talking at the same time, then we burst out laughing.

“You go,” I said.

“Do you like the Red Sox?” Jason asked. “They’re my favorite team. My grandpa’s originally from Boston, and I mean, you’re from Boston, right? So I figured—”

“
Like
the Red Sox?” I interrupted. “DO I LIKE THE RED SOX?”

“Umm …”

“I LOVE THEM!” I cried. “Seriously! I am a Red Sox superfan. I follow every game. I’m
obsessed
.” Jason stared at me with huge eyes, but I couldn’t stop. Once I heard the words “Red Sox” there was no turning back. “One time, I
even got to meet Robbie Flores … Rookie of the Year. He’s probably, like, THE COOLEST player of all time.”

“You met Robbie Flores?” Jason was definitely impressed—I could tell. We walked down Main Street, and I told Jason all about Marty running away and how Robbie Flores found him and thought he was good luck. I knew I was getting farther and farther from my house but I didn’t really mind. It was so exciting to talk to someone from so far away who loved animals and the Red Sox, just like me. “And so the BSG—that’s what me and my friends call ourselves—we got to go Fenway and meet Flores! It was sooo cool!”

“Wow,” Jason said. “Did you get Marty back?”

I nodded. “Sure did. He’s here with me right now. Well, back at my dad’s house. If you like animals, you’ll loooove Marty. Sometimes I feel like he’s really a person trapped in the body of a dog. I know, I know, it sounds really weird … but when you meet him you’ll understand.” I shivered and rubbed my hand over my jacket to make sure Radley was warm enough in there.

“No, I know what you mean,” said Jason. “That’s how it is with Ollie.”

“Who’s Ollie?”

Jason smiled. He kind of reminded me of Nick Montoya. Something about the way he just did his own thing without caring too much about what other people thought. “Ollie’s …” Jason started to explain. “Hey! You want to meet him? We’re almost at my house. It’s right on Townsend—the yellow one on the corner. And I don’t know about you … but I’m freezing!” He pulled his winter
hat over his ears and blew on his hands. “My foster mom makes the best hot chocolate.”

I’d left my unfinished smoothie back at The Sweet Life, and something sweet like hot chocolate did sound tempting. “Totally!” I agreed. Then I remembered. “What about my dad? I don’t have a cell phone with me to tell him where I am.”

“You can use the phone at my house. And someone can give you a ride home for sure.”

“Deal,” I said. “Then tomorrow you can meet Marty!”

Jason smiled. We were right under a street lamp and with the light shining on his face, I noticed something. His eyes were really, really blue. Not regular blue like Maeve’s eyes, but light. Like the sky almost. In the dark they practically glowed.

“You know …” I started to say as we walked up Townsend Street.

“Yeah?”

I was about to tell him that he had the coolest eyes but then I realized how girly and weird that sounded. So I blurted out the first thing that popped into my head. “Blue’s my favorite color.”
Good one, Avery
, I thought.

“Okay,” Jason said. “Um, mine too …”

I bit my bottom lip and tried to think of something else to say. “Last one to your house is a rotten eggplant! I mean, egg. I mean … oh, whatever. Race you!”

“Huh?” Jason was so confused by the whole race thing that I had a major head start. I could have won no prob, but I slowed down a little. I had to be careful to hold Radley securely against my chest, and I wanted Jason to know that
Avery Madden was no cheater. Then just before we got to his fence,
he passed me
. No way! I picked up my speed again and caught up with him at the very last second. We were both laughing as we slapped his front door at exactly the same time.

“Hey, everybody,” Jason called as we opened the door. Radley poked his head out of my jacket the minute we stepped inside. “I’m back!” His house was cozy on the inside. It was full of little snowmen decorations and some kids’ pictures on the wall. There was only one of Jason though—a school picture. It must have been new.

Jason saw me checking out the photos. “They’ve had other kids stay here before, but right now it’s only me and Frankie. Frankie’s been here since he was four.”

We heard footsteps getting closer and a door swung open. “Hey! I know you,” said a cheerful voice. It was Bonnie from Fat Alley! She looked just as nice as always, except this time she was wearing jeans and a green fleece pullover instead of her Fat Alley uniform.

“Wow, Bonnie’s your foster mom?” I turned to Jason and back to Bonnie. “Hi! I like your house.”

“Thanks, Avery. Come on in. Make yourself at home. Can I get you some hot chocolate, extra marshmallows, hold the whipped cream? How about you, Jason?”

“Sure, Bonnie. Thanks!” I said. I took off my ear warmer, tucked it safely into my coat pocket, and settled into a comfy chair by the fireplace.

Bonnie pushed the door into the kitchen to go get the hot chocolate, but as she did, a little kid suddenly raced under her arm and into the room. He flew straight past
Bonnie and grabbed Jason around the legs so tightly that Jason almost fell over. Bonnie laughed and continued into the kitchen.

The kid wouldn’t let go of Jason’s legs. “Hi, Jason! Hi, Jason! Where’s Radley? Can I hold him? Can I?”

“Hey there, buddy,” Jason said. “Avery, this is my foster brother, Frankie. Frankie, this is Avery.”

I recognized Frankie from the pictures on the walls. He was the one with crazy brown hair that stuck out in messy spikes all over the place and lots of freckles.

“Hi, Frankie. How old are you?” I asked, bending over.

Frankie held up two hands—five fingers on one hand and one on the other. “
Six
,” he announced proudly. I wanted to laugh at how puffed up Frankie was getting for just being six.

Jason looked at me. “Frankie just had a birthday. Tell Avery what you got,” Jason suggested.

Frankie shook his head. “No, I don’t wanna.” Frankie’s eyes never left the wiggling bundle of ferret in my jacket. “Jason, can I hold Radley now?” he pleaded.

Jason nodded. “Sure. Just be careful.”

I lifted Radley out of my coat and passed him to Jason. Radley’s bright eyes looked around and settled on the sight of two six-year-old hands coming closer. Frankie grasped Radley for only a second before the ferret slithered out of his hands and scampered under the couch.

“Ohh …” Frankie sighed. “I’m sorry.”

“That’s okay, buddy,” Jason assured him. “Radley’s right here.” He reached under the couch and scooped up
the ferret. “But guess who Avery and I are about to go visit?”

Frankie’s eyes lit up. “Ollie!”

Jason smiled. “Yup.”

Frankie jumped up and down and tugged on Jason’s coat. “Jason, can I come? Can I be your assistant? I know how to. Pleeease?”

At the sound of footsteps, Jason put a finger up to his lips and said, “Shhh!” But Frankie wasn’t paying attention.

He went running out of the room the moment Bonnie returned holding a tray with three mugs. “We run a zoo here, Avery, in case you hadn’t noticed.” She laughed as a little person in a winter coat whizzed back through the door and into the hallway. “Now just where does Frankie think he’s going?”

Without missing a beat, Jason explained, “I’m going to go show Avery my birdhouses.” Birdhouses, huh? Was that a lie or a clue or both?

Bonnie nodded. “Well, that’s fine. But would you grab Frankie on your way? It’s too late and too chilly for him to be out playing … I don’t want him to catch a cold.”

“Yo, Frankie!” Jason called. We heard the sound of little footsteps retreating. “Not tonight, buddy. You can be my assistant tomorrow,” he promised, handing Frankie a fireball from his pocket. A fireball candy obviously wasn’t a good enough substitute for Ollie. Frankie put his hands on his hips and frowned. “And remember,” Jason whispered, “this is top secret! Let’s spit on it.”

Frankie thoughtfully removed the fireball from his
mouth and squeezed it in one fist while he neatly spit into the other. Then he turned and glowered at me. “Thanks a lot,” he muttered and took off running through the house.

Jason handed Radley off to Bonnie. I got my coat and followed Jason out, but first asked Bonnie, “Can you save my hot chocolate for me for when we get back? Please?”

She smiled. “Of course, honey.”

Then I had to run to keep up with Jason. He was like Radley … always slipping away. I couldn’t wait to see who (or what) Ollie was. Maybe a boa constrictor. I used to want my own boa, but Mom practically had a heart attack when I mentioned the idea. Only Walter-sized snakes were allowed.

“Frankie doesn’t have a lot of patience,” Jason explained as we walked across the yard. “Bonnie said it’s hard for him to trust new people.”

I wondered what Frankie’s story was, but again, I wasn’t sure if that was too nosy of a question. “How’d you get him to trust you?” I asked instead.

Jason paused and thought about this as we trampled through the trees. “I dunno. I’ve always been good with wounded animals and stuff. Frankie sort of reminds me of one. Does that sound weird?”

I shook my head. “It makes sense to me.” I did know what he meant. Kids who needed extra love and attention made me think of wounded animals too … scared and a little suspicious at the same time.

I followed Jason down a snowy path behind the house to a small, rundown shed. It was leaning slightly to one side, probably from the winds and the weight of all the
snow on the roof. Jason unlocked the door and opened it with a
creeeak
.

Inside it was dark and smelled like rotting wood. Cobwebs stretched over the beams and tools hung on the walls. As my eyes got used to the dim light, I looked around for a cage and listened as hard as I could for some kind of animal sound. Nothing. Where was he keeping this thing? Then, from behind a cabinet, I saw something move … or flutter!

“Wow …” I breathed. “Is that what I think it is?”

Jason pulled a cord hanging from the ceiling and switched on a single light bulb. “Avery, meet Ollie,” he said and walked over to a huge brown bird perched in the corner of the shed. “Ollie’s a genuine, wild, red-tailed hawk.” He began to walk slowly toward Ollie. “I found him on the ground in the woods. He’s not fully grown yet. See, you can tell by how his irises are still kind of yellow. But he’s definitely not a baby, either … I think he must have been injured by some other animal. Nothing was broken, but he didn’t seem like he could fly on his own.”

I blinked, still in shock. I’d never seen a wild bird so close-up before. “Poor little guy. It’s a really good thing you found him, Jason. He never would have survived out there alone.”

Jason nodded. “I know.”

“But Jason …” I took a deep breath. “I thought people weren’t allowed to keep wild creatures. In fact, I’m pretty sure it’s illegal. Don’t you need to contact a shelter or some kind of animal rescue group?”

Jason shook his head. “See, my grandpa was a falconer,
and he also ran a licensed hawk sanctuary in Durango. I’ve helped Gramps raise at least ten hawks … even ones that had broken wings. Seriously, I know
everything
about these guys. With babies, it’s really dangerous for humans to be around them a lot, because the hawks get confused and start to think they’re people instead of birds! But Ollie’s old enough to know the difference. When he’s ready, I’m going to release him to the wild. But for now, I have to keep him a secret.”