The Story Shell: A Tale of Friendship Bog Read Online Free Page B

wind. Something must be broken inside. It doesn’t work anymore.”
    She whirled away from him and started off again. “I’ll show you.”
    Pibbin hopped as fast as he could. She had some odd ideas, but maybe he’d better take a look at it. Maybe it was the wrong shell.
    The path followed the curving shore of the bog to where a maple tree leaned over the water. It looked as if it would have room for a hundred squirrels.
    Zip stopped to gaze up at the tree.
    “Isn’t it beautiful? I just love the view. And the waterfront is most enjoyable.”
     

     
    Pibbin looked at the logs and stumps and lily pads. It would be a fine place to explore.
    Zip was already climbing the tree, and her claws made scratching sounds on the bark.
    “Come on up,” she said. “The shell’s right here on my porch.”
    He soon reached the sturdy platform outside her door. A pot of white flowers stood there, and nothing else.
    “Oh, no! No! NO!” Zip spun around in a full circle. “Where did it go?”
    She leaned through the door and called in a sharp little voice. “Alix! Beeba! Cran! Duffy! Come here.”
    Scamper. Scurry. Swish.
    Four young squirrels dropped onto the porch and lined up.
    Zip stood in front of them, looking annoyed. “I left a shell on the porch,” she said. “What happened to it?”
    Silence.
    “Alix! Speak up.”
    The tallest squirrel said, “It fell.”
    “Where?”
    “Into the bog.”
    Pibbin looked down at the water. The shell wouldn’t float, not for long.
    His hopes sank into the mud at the bottom of the bog.
    Zip’s eyes sparked fire. “And why did it fall?”
    The squirrel with a bow on her tail stepped forward. “Duffy. He was playing one of his crazy games.”
    “Duffy, what happened?” 
    He was the smallest, and his tail drooped. “It just sort of slipped out of my paws.”
    Zip’s tail flicked back and forth in a red blur. “You should never have taken it, Duffy. How many times do I have to tell you—think before you do things! You will scrub the back porch and miss your reading time today.”
    Her voice rose higher. “And Beeba, you should have let Duffy tell me for himself. No reading time for you, either. Go tidy up your room.”
    The four squirrels scrambled away, and Zip turned to Pibbin.
    He wanted to say,
You shouldn’t have taken it, Zip. No reading time for you, either.
But he kept his mouth shut.
    He had to think of something. A plan.
    Zip said how sorry she was, and she took a long time saying it.
    By the time she finished, he was thinking about rope.
    No, rope would be too heavy. String.
    “I need some string,” he said. “A lot of it.”
    Carpenter would have string,” she said. “He lives near us, at Carpenter Point.”
    Pibbin knew very well where Carpenter lived.
    He had tried to stay away from Carpenter Point ever since the Hammer Incident. That’s when he’d dropped Carpenter’s best hammer into the deepest part of the bog.
    No one had ever found it. And Carpenter had never forgotten.
    He would get Zip to ask for the string.
    “And I need a pulley,” he said.
    “What’s that?”
    “It’s for pulling things up.”
    “It sounds like the kind of thing Carpenter would have, too.”
    “Could you run over and ask him?”
    Zip began to nod, but a thin wail came from inside her house. “Oh, Emma! I almost forgot.”
    She sighed. “I need to help her. I hope you don’t mind? I’ll get your string later.”
    Pibbin glanced at the sun. Already, it was low in the sky.
    How late would later be? Too late?
    He’d have to go find Carpenter himself.

 

     

Chapter 9
Pulley Question
     
    Carpenter did not look pleased to see him. “You again, kiddo? I don’t have anything else for you to lose.”
    He turned away to finish smoothing a stick.
    Pibbin made his voice strong and grown-up. “I’m really sorry about your hammer. Could we please borrow some string and a pulley?”
    “Probably not. What for?”
    “Gaffer’s shell. It’s in the bog.”
    Carpenter