Author Kimberlee Ann Bastian has stopped by
my blog today with an excerpt for her blog tour. Check it out!
From Chapter 9: The
Alley Cat – After leaving the gang summit, Charlie and Bartholomew take to the
streets once more, where Bartholomew runs into a familiar creature from his
past.
Charlie and Bartholomew
stand on the Emerald Avenue corner outside Harry’s Billiards. They wait quietly
for their chance to cross the busy intersection, both not having said a word
since leaving the second floor pool hall. Charlie’s stomach growls for the
third time as the pains of his long day furiously catch up with him. He thinks
about taking a trip to Grocer Pawlak’s market, but after mulling it over,
Charlie finds the idea not entirely appealing. The store is nearly two miles
south in the opposite direction and he does not have the energy to make the
trip nor the patience to deal with Grocer Pawlak’s prying personality. His
empty stomach will just have to wait until morning.
Bartholomew, meanwhile, takes an interest in a group of
children kitty corner from them. They are huddled in a circle intently fixated
on what is happening in the center. Bartholomew watches a short boy with stubby
legs pace the outer rim of the circle, trying with all his might to catch a
glimpse of the action. The short boy settles behind two taller kids and pushes
up on his toes. Bartholomew cannot help but feel entertained by the whole
scene.
“AHHH!”
From the center of the circle, a collective scream bursts
over the sound of the bustling street. Even a few of the adults walking by
pause to see what is going on. Several of the kids, the short boy included,
break away from the cluster in a fit of fright. The short boy falls onto the
sidewalk as a reddish-brown tabby cat jumps over him and lands on the curb. It
swooshes its tail and pulls a long piece of string tied to four silver cans.
The cat’s fur spikes high on its back. It makes a swiping motion with one of
its front paws. A few of the kids crawl backwards to avoid the cat’s angry
stance, while some of them press up against the brick wall of the building.
“Reow,” hisses the cat, scaring the children. It lifts its
cunning, pink eyes to the street and catches sight of Bartholomew. The cat
turns on a dime and runs as the silver cans clang loudly behind it.
Charlie steps down off the curb, only to see Bartholomew
already beating him to it, except he is running in the wrong direction.
“Buck!” yells Charlie as he stops, standing in the way of
oncoming traffic.
Bartholomew does not bother to answer and leaps over the
short boy onto the kitty corner pavement.
“Buck!” calls Charlie again.
“HONK!”
Charlie jumps back onto the curb to make way for an
approaching freight truck. He sees the driver shaking his fist at him as he
goes by, but pays him no heed, he is more interested in the truck moving out of
his way—or is he? He could simply walk away. Let the kid run. Charlie smiles at
the prospect of leaving the Windy City and imagines all the adventures he might
have, like Huck Finn & Tom Sawyer. But alas, as the truck passes, the dream
dies when Charlie sees Buck rounding the block onto Union Avenue heading south
into the heart of Kalvis’s neighborhood.
Charlie fights the urge to run after him and turns north,
but he does not get far. Remember
Charlie—take care of those smaller than you. Charlie stops and lets out a
huff. The words of his mother could not have come at a more inconvenient
moment. He feels the presence of her hand on his shoulder again, this time
filling him with courage. He cannot let the kid unsuspectingly wander Kalvis’s
streets alone, not after his performance in the billiard hall.
“Damn,” he curses under his breath and starts after him.
Author’s
Links:
