Boomtown Read Online Free Page A

dozen!”
    I tried to be polite. “That’s . . . um . . . a lot of mouths to feed.”
    â€œWe manage. I got my farm—and with all the extra hands, we get quite a lot of work done.”
    â€œYou have a farm? Just down the street?”
    â€œNah. That’s just the house. The farm is out on Hopontop Highway, south of here.”
    â€œOh, I see. So what do you grow out there on your farm?”
    â€œAll sorts of things. Radishes, potatoes, apples, corn, beets, the usual stuff. And I got a petting zoo. That helps.”
    â€œPetting zoo?”
    â€œSure, people stop by and pay a little to pet the animals. Got me a cobra, a yak, a coupla’ skunks and a porcupine (I wouldn’t pet those if I were you), two buffalo, a gorilla, three ostriches, and an alligator. Just got me that one. Shipped it in from Florida.”
    â€œAn alligator? In a petting zoo?”
    â€œWell, he’s not really for petting . I got him because of the rats. I got a huge rat problem in my barns.”
    â€œWhy didn’t you get a cat?”
    â€œA cat! The alligator would eat a cat if it ever had the chance!”
    â€œI meant why didn’t you get a cat instead of an alligator.”
    â€œOh, that would be boring. Everybody’s got a cat. Cats is everywhere. But I’m the only one who’s got an alligator .”
    Matthieu LaPierre wasn’t the only one who surprised me that afternoon. Han-wu and Fie-tann stopped by at the house after the fire was under control to make sure I was okay.
    â€œI don’t know what to say,” I told them. “I am so sorry. Jonny and Sarah should not have gone near that control panel. I don’t know what they were thinking. And now your lab is burned to the ground. I’ll try to pay for it somehow—if you’ll give me a chance.”
    â€œ Pay for it?” chuckled Fie-tann. “Why would we make you pay for it? It wasn’t your fault. The ropes broke. The rocket was too powerful. It would have happened with or without you. All in a day’s work, that’s what I say. Don’t worry about it.”
    â€œBut what about the damage? I feel responsible.”
    â€œNonsense,” replied Han-wu. “If I had been the one to flip the switch, then I would have been the one responsible. That’s really the only thing I’m upset about. Now I won’t get to brag about it to my friends.”
    â€œYou’re glad this happened?”
    â€œWell, no, because now we have to rebuild the research lab. But we sure do love a good show here in Boomtown! This was one of the best ever! We’ll be talking about it for years, thanks to you.”
    It wasn’t any use. No matter how hard I tried to apologize, they just wouldn’t accept it. They were too excited about the spectacular fireworks show—and they were especially pleased about how powerfully the rocket had performed—never mind that it destroyed part of their factory. Fie-tann said, “We’ll just have to cut back on some of the rocket propellant and get some thicker rope. Then we’ll fire it up again!”
    After greeting several more neighbors, we finally were able to get to the front porch. I wasn’t looking forward to the daunting task of moving all our furniture into the rooms and up the stairs—and my back was killing me after being tackled by Lars. There were all those boxes and chairs and tables and books to lug across the lawn—a lot of work for Lars and me. After the disaster at the fireworks factory, I wasn’t looking forward to all the stress—but I needn’t have worried. We were surrounded by an army of volunteers, all of them insisting on helping the new minister and his family of firebugs move in.
    It was perfect by the way—the rental house, I mean. With the help of the church secretary, we’d found a cozy three-bedroom house that was walking distance from the church. It had a large