Hoot: Part 5

By CARL HIAASEN

Dana was a well-known idiot, on top of which he outweighed Roy by at least fifty pounds. Fighting back would have been a complete waste of energy.

'Had enough yet? We can't hear you, Tex.' Dana's breath smelled like stale cigarettes. Smoking and beating up smaller kids were his two main hobbies.

'Yeah, OK,' Roy said impatiently. 'I've had enough.'

As soon as he was freed, Roy lowered the window and stuck out his head. he strange boy was gone.

Who was he? What was he running from?

Roy wondered if any of the other kids on the bus had seen what he'd seen. For a moment he wondered if he'd really seen it himself.

That same morning, a police officer named David Delinko was sent to the future site of another Mother Paula's All-American Pancake House. It was a vacant lot at the corner of East Oriole and Woodbury, on the eastern edge of town.

Publisher: Macmillan

Price: $16.95

Age group: 8-12 yrs


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