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Show Peppermint Monday how to ride on this old bike too. He had even broke his arm on it once. He had ran into a car. Luckily, the car had been going slow, and had almost stopped because the driver saw Jason coming. Jason didn't see the ear. He was riding with no hands and showing off. The bike's fender was still bent from the accident. Pa told Jason to expect worse today. Pa never gave us any credit though. We could make it long before the Carson's or Billy. I wasn't even counting Renae. That went without saying. Jason started off with Mark right behind him. Of course the bigger boys had to act tough, so they took off and zipped past Jason. Andrea and I were in no hurry, at least not now. There would be time for speeding up later, when the boys were getting tired. For now I was content to just get going. Renae was huffing along behind us. Her bike's paint glinted in the rays of the timid sun. I wasn't sure what color my bike had originally started out. I doubted it had ever shone as pretty as Renae's tliough. Dust pushed down my throat and stuck to my face. I was glad I had brought pa's canteen, even if I couldn't use it yet. The trail was steep and narrow. It widened out about a mile up. I could get a drink then. Andrea had started out by giving me a bunch of nervous looks. Now she had a reason to be nervous. She couldn't take the time to look over at me. She had to concentrate on what she was doing. She had to struggle to even keep pedaling. The boys must have had the same idea I had, because they were all resting at the wide spot. Billy had opened a can of beer. I think he was trying to impress everyone, since he wasn't old enough. I wasn't impressed and I didn't want any of his beer. My water was perfect. It was cold and clean. It hadn't had Billy's mouth on it either. |
