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Authors: Jerry B. Jenkins,Chris Fabry

Tags: #JUVENILE FICTION / Religious / Christian

Missing Pieces (7 page)

BOOK: Missing Pieces
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Chapter 24

The next morning I jumped in the shower,
then dressed and went downstairs. Pippin and Frodo scratched at the back door, and I let them outside and grabbed the paper. I love looking at the Sunday paper for the comics (the first section I read) and to see what’s coming out on DVD.

In the middle of the Metro section I found a picture of a smashed mailbox with a sad woman from Red Rock next to it.

Vandalism Causes Heartache

A wave of mailbox vandalism has hit the Red Rock area hard in the last week. Another round of smashed boxes was reported last night.

The local postmaster, Arlin Hempkin, said area residents have reported numerous problems in the past few days, with many mailboxes damaged or destroyed.

“My husband and I moved here from Denver to get away from this type of thing,” said one resident who wished not to be identified. “People should have more control over their kids.”

The article went on to give tips on what to do and not do when repairing a mailbox, but I could only think of one question.

Where had Randy been last night?

Chapter 25

After church I got an idea
about Mrs. Garcia. If she had lived in Pueblo, maybe there was a story in that local newspaper about the fire. On the Internet I found that the Pueblo paper wasn’t available online. I racked my brain, then turned to the best source of information I could think of—the local library.

I called and asked for the reference department. A lady answered, and I said I was looking for information about a fire in Pueblo that had happened in the last few years. I gave her the date and Mrs. Garcia’s name. I said she could just send it via e-mail if she found anything.

Suddenly I felt a little hope that I’d find out the truth about Mrs. Garcia.

Chapter 26

Ashley rode ahead of me
to school the next day, and as we pulled up to Mrs. Watson’s barn I noticed something strange in her front yard. She has one of those cheap plastic mailboxes with the little flag that never goes up right. The mailbox was gone, and black stuff ran down the metal pole. A black wire covered with plastic lay at the bottom.

“Looks like a sparkler,” I said.

Mrs. Watson came out in her robe, and I showed her the mailbox. “That must have been what Peanuts was barking at last night,” she said. “He was going crazy around midnight. Guess those hooligans have been at it again. This used to be such a nice little town. You could leave your doors unlocked. Now I have to keep my pistol loaded.”

“You really have a gun?” Ashley said.

“Second Amendment, my dear.”

We’d studied the right to bear arms in school. Half the class thought everybody should have guns, and the other half thought nobody should have them. “Guns don’t kill people,” somebody said. “People kill people.”

I pictured Mrs. Watson and a group from the sewing circle at church organizing a militia of gray-haired ladies. Maybe there would be fewer smashed mailboxes.

“Bryce, could you and your dad help me put up a new mailbox?”

“Sure.”

At school Randy’s little brother, Derek, was near the flagpole with a bunch of his friends.

“How’s your brother?” I said.

“Okay, I guess.”

“What happened to him Saturday night? He said it was kind of an emergency.”

Derek shrugged. “He went out with a bunch of his friends from the softball team, I think.”

Chapter 27

I raced home to look at my e-mail,
but Leigh was on the computer. “Wait your turn,” she said.

After I put my stuff away she was still there, listening to music as she read. I wanted to see if the library had found anything. All I had to do was copy it to a disk and take it to the computer downstairs.

Leigh moved like a glacier, and Mom was no help. “She’ll be done in a minute,” she whispered. I had heard the saying “walking on eggshells,” but this was the first time I knew what it meant.

When she finally clicked off the music and swished out of the room, I found I had three new messages. One from Marion Quidley said she thought all the bashed mailboxes were
space aliens trying to tell us something!
Another was from my friend Hayley and didn’t have much to do with anything at all.

And there was one from the Pueblo Public Library.
Attached please find a copy of the article I discovered in a local paper from seven years ago.

Apartment Fire Claims One

An infant was killed in an apartment fire late last night on South Pueblo Boulevard. Officials say the blaze began in the infant’s bedroom and was contained there.

Six-month-old Danielle Garcia was in the care of a babysitter at the time of the fire. Officials did not release the babysitter’s name. Danielle’s mother, Renee Garcia, was working at the time. Upon hearing the news she collapsed and was rushed to the hospital.

Neighbors described Ms. Garcia as a devoted mother. “She was just trying to earn a living and bring up her child,” one said. “This tears my heart out.”

Officials say the cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Chapter 28

Sam and I went to Mrs. Watson’s house
later that day to put up a new mailbox.

“Think the same people did this?” I said. “The mailboxes up the street look like they were blown up with cherry bombs and sparklers, but none of them was smashed.”

Sam nodded. “Could be the same people using different methods. Fireworks is a little higher class—don’t you think?”

I thought about Randy and his softball buddies. “What could happen to these people if they get caught?”

“A big fine and something like three years in prison for each offense.”

That took my breath away. “They must have hit 20 mailboxes on our road alone,” I said.

Sam cocked his head at me. “You know something about this?”

I shook my head. “Ashley and I are just trying to figure it out.”

Sam scrunched his mouth and bit his cheek. “I’ve ordered a surveillance camera for the house. You could use it, but don’t take any chances. These guys find out you’re after them, who knows what they might do.”

BOOK: Missing Pieces
13.79Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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