Chapter 17
Braedon wakes to his cell phone playing the Cranberries’ “When You’re Gone.” It’s Emily’s favorite song, so he made it her ringtone. It’s a FaceTime voice call, so he doesn’t have to flick on the light. He tests his voice, hoping it doesn’t sound like he just woke up, then takes the call.
“Hi, Emily. Aren’t you in Scotland?”
“Yeah,” says Emily. “Up early. What time is it there?”
Braedon looks at the clock on his phone. “Just after midnight.”
“Oh, no. Sorry. I get the earlier/later thing mixed up all the time. I thought it was afternoon there. You should go back to sleep.”
“I wasn’t sleeping,” lies Braedon, adjusting his pillow against his headboard so he can sit up. “Dad just had to go see my grandpa about something.”
“What?” says Emily.
“Don’t know. Probably something with my uncle Teddy. He still hasn’t come home.”
“I’m sorry. Is your grandad freaking out?”
“Not too bad. At least in front of me. But I can tell he’s worried.”
“Yeah,” says Emily. “He must be. I wonder if what happened to your uncle will ever be on one of those true crime podcasts. It sounds like a good story. I mean, it’s not good what happened, but it’s the kind of story they would do.”
“Yeah,” says Braedon. “Maybe. Hey, how’s Scotland?”
“Windy,” says Emily. “And kind of cold for summer. And kind of like Ireland except we have to use different money here. We’re in St. Andrews.
There’s loads of golfers everywhere. Like St. Andrews was the patron saint of golfing.
My da wants to get on some famous golf course, but my ma said no way.
She didn’t go on a family vacation so he could take off and play all day by himself.
They got in a big row about it and then my da went to have a pint by himself.
My ma was going to switch flats while he was gone and not tell him where we went.
You know, to teach him a lesson. But instead we had a late dinner and didn’t tell him where we went for that.
I heard him come back to the flat at around four in the morning.
My ma’s in sleeping with my sister, so I don’t know what’s going to happen when everyone wakes up. ”
“Sounds like no one’s getting any sleep,” says Braedon. “Right after Dad left, I got a bunch of texts from my friend, Daniel. He’s got himself in a mess with some older boys.”
“What kind of mess?”
“They gave him a real nice mountain bike.”
“For free?” says Emily.
“Yeah,” says Braedon. “Well, kind of. Because they expect something in return. Like a favor. But they didn’t say what when they gave it to him. Then they saw him tonight watching a Little League game.”
“What’s that?”
“Baseball.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah,” says Braedon. “And they told Daniel they want their favor now. Which is to nick a bunch of frozen pizzas from a truck when it’s making a delivery to Value Foods.”
“What’s that?” says Emily.
“A supermarket.”
“Oh. Makes sense.”
“Yeah. And there’s a bluff right behind the supermarket so he can throw the pizzas in a backpack and ride up a trail so he won’t get caught.”
“Is that why the boys gave Daniel the bike?”
“I guess. Except turns out they stole the bike and painted it a different color so people wouldn’t know. But Dad figured it out. Daniel’s going to turn it in to the police but the police aren’t going to tell anyone it was him who did it so he doesn’t get in trouble with those boys.”
“Is Daniel going to do it? Is he going to nick the pizzas for them?” says Emily.
“He doesn’t know. He’s scared. He wants to just give the bike back and tell them he’s not nicking anything, but he can’t give it back because it has to be returned to its owner. Daniel sounds really worried, which he never is. So it’s weird.”
“What if,” says Emily, “Daniel gave the bike back to the boys, then a couple days later, the police arrested them for having the stolen bike? Then Daniel wouldn’t get in trouble with anyone, and the owner of the bike would get it back, and maybe the boys would go to jail or something, and not bother Daniel anymore. ”
“Whoa, Emily! That’s a really good idea. I’ll tell Dad in the morning. See what he says.”
Braedon can practically hear Emily smiling on the other end of the phone. Neither says anything for a few seconds, then Emily says, “When are you coming to Galway to visit?”
“Don’t know,” says Braedon. “I want to come this summer but Dad says he has to get ready for his new coaching job. And with Teddy disappearing … Maybe Christmas.” He hesitates, then adds, “I sure hope so. It’d be fun to see you.”
“It would be fun,” says Emily. “I wonder who’s taller now.”
“We’ll have to measure,” says Braedon. “Wait. Hold on. I hear someone coming through the front door.” Braedon puts the phone down to dedicate both ears to listening. He recognizes his father’s familiar gait, then picks up the phone. “It’s Dad. Maybe he knows something about Teddy.”
“Let me know, okay?”
“Sure.”
“Hey,” says Emily, “before you get off the phone. Think maybe you’ll bring some euros?”
“Definitely,” says Braedon.
“How much, do you think?”
“I don’t know. I have about a hundred and fifty now. Maybe I’ll have more by the time I visit.”
“Whoa. How’d you get so much?”
“When we moved to America, we found a bunch of euros unpacking. Like a mess were in pockets in Dad’s clothes. He said I could keep them for when we visited.”
“I have fifty-seven euros. Want to take a train ride to Dublin and walk around there and eat lunch and maybe go to a play or something?”
Braedon thinks that going to Dublin with Emily—just the two of them without any adults—sounds like the most amazing adventure ever. “Whoa, Emily. You’re full of good ideas. I definitely want to if Dad lets me. Oh! He’s coming. I’ll get back to you tomorrow. I mean today, your time.”
“Okay, bye.”
“Bye.”