The Dead Boys Read Online Free Page A

squinting into the light.
    His mother groaned. “My first day of work is tomorrow.” She pushed open his door, eliciting a gasp from Teddy as he jumped behind her.
    â€œWhat’s wrong with you?” she asked.
    â€œSomething grabbed my comforter.”
    She pointed to where the gray bedspread was pinched in the jamb. “Something like the door?” She flipped on his light and walked into the room.
    Before he could stop her, she knelt down on the floor and lifted the dust ruffle. “There’s nothing here,” she said.
    As Teddy eased into the room, she held the ruffle up so that he could see. The floor beneath the bed was bare. He turned to the window. The branch that had climbed through it was gone.
    â€œThe window is still open,” Teddy pointed out.
    She closed it and turned the lock.
    â€œShould we check the closet?” he suggested.
    â€œGood night,” she said, motioning him back to bed. She walked out, turning off the light and shutting the door behind her.
    Teddy took a deep breath. He wanted to trust his mother’s instinct that he was overreacting—after the events of the afternoon, he certainly didn’t trust his own. Maybe it was just a bad combination of moving to a new town, having a weird day, and waking up in the middle of the night in an unfamiliar room, he thought. There was nothing there, just like she said.
    But as he crept through the dark to his bed, the tree branch scraped across his window again. Now that his mom was gone, it almost seemed to want back in.
    Teddy took two quick steps, leaped onto the mattress, and dove under the comforter. He pulled his arms and feet inside, a position from which he planned to ignore all further noises.
    Still, it was going to be a long night.

CHAPTER 4
    The next morning, Teddy robotically spooned cereal into his mouth, occasionally missing and spilling it on the table. He hadn’t slept all night. Thankfully, nothing else weird had happened, and when the sun came up, the world seemed normal again.
    Parks do not completely change in a half hour, Teddy thought, and windows do not open themselves.
    He had almost convinced himself that the day before had been a quirky bad dream by the time his mom whirled into the kitchen at eight thirty and handed him an envelope.
    â€œTwo chores for you to do while I’m at work,” she said. “Take this check over to the landlord at 613 Lynwood Court, and try to meet some more kids today. I saw a few outside, you know.” She gave him a purposeful look. “Do not sit in the house and surf the internet all day. Comprendez? ”
    â€œ Si, señora, ” Teddy replied. He pocketed the letter and dumped half a spoonful of Sugar Flakes into his lap.
    His mom gave him a kiss and set a cell phone on the table beside him. “Be good,” she said. “My new work number is programmed into the phone.” She grabbed her purse and headed for the door.
    Teddy looked out the big front window. Some kids were riding skateboards over a homemade wood ramp down the block. But the air above the scorching blacktop was shimmering with heat, distorting their shapes into a grotesque mirage.
    Teddy promptly headed upstairs to the study and settled into the desk chair beneath the air-conditioning duct to surf the internet.
    He clicked through some video game sites, but they reminded him of Albert and made him feel strangely guilty. So he typed in a search for Richland instead and found the local news website.
    There was nothing about a missing chubby kid, which made him feel better. If Albert had run into real trouble, there would have been some mention of it. Teddy still felt queasy about hitting Henry Mulligan in the head with a rock—after just one day in town, he already had to watch his back. The changing park still bothered him too, but he decided to chalk it up to the heat and chaos of the encounter with Henry Mulligan at the river.
    Teddy typed in a search