On the Road to Mr. Mineo's

by Barbara O'Connor

  Stella and Gerald watched with wide eyes and gaping mouths.

  When Mutt was through kicking and clenching and throwing and yanking and stomping, he picked his baseball cap up, dusted it off, and looked coolly at Stella. “I did see that pigeon,” he said. “He landed on top of my head yesterday at the lake. I put him under my shirt and took him home. I made a nest for him in a cardboard box and kept him in Emmaline’s garage all night. This morning, I went to check on him and he got out of the box and Emmaline’s cats tried to catch him. Then a stray dog showed up and chased the cats away, but all my crazy cousins made a commotion and scared the dog and the pigeon away.”

  Then Mutt put his baseball cap back on and continued up the road, leaving Stella and Gerald standing in silence.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE

  When Levi’s Plan Didn’t Work

  Levi and C.J. and Jiggs stood slump-shouldered on the sidewalk in front of Luther’s Chinese Takeout, watching the one-legged pigeon swoop through the summer sky toward the outskirts of town.

  Levi’s plan hadn’t worked.

  They had made a trail of crumbs on the sidewalk and hidden in the alley and jumped out to grab the pigeon. But C.J. had tripped and fallen, Jiggs had made too much noise, and Levi hadn’t been quick enough.

  After they argued for a minute or two about whose fault it was, they ran home to get their bikes. Then they raced up Main Street, past the bank and the post office, toward the fields and farms outside of town, looking for the pigeon.

  While Levi and C.J. and Jiggs raced out of town, Mutt Raynard stomped angrily up the middle of the road toward town. He kicked rocks and mumbled under his breath about being sick and tired of everyone calling him a liar.

  Suddenly, he caught sight of the pigeon flying in the opposite direction toward the lake. So he quit all of his kicking and mumbling, turned around, and raced back down the road after him.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR

  Stella Doesn’t Like What She Hears

  On the road to Mr. Mineo’s, Stella and Gerald pedaled their bikes toward the bait shop. Stella searched the treetops, and Gerald huffed and puffed and hollered, “Wait up!”

  When she rounded a curve and saw a blue-and-white station wagon, a pickup truck, and a white delivery van on the side of the road ahead, she slowed down.

  Luther and Edsel sat in the weeds at the edge of the woods, yawning and looking sleepy-eyed.

  Mr. Mineo leaned over the engine of the van and twisted wrenches and jiggled wires. His fat dog, Ernie, scratched at fleas and snapped at flies.

  Amos Roper sat behind the wheel of the van and turned the key. The engine whirred and clanked and rattled.

  Ethel Roper stood beside the station wagon and searched up and down the road, looking worried.

  Stella jumped off her bike. “Have y’all seen a pigeon?”

  Mr. Mineo straightened up so fast he hit his head on the hood of the van.

  Bang.

  Gerald stopped his bike beside Stella, panting. His freckled arms were pink with sunburn.

  Mr. Mineo adjusted his straw hat and wiped his greasy hands on his trousers. “I’m looking for a pigeon, too,” he said.

  “So are me and Amos.” Ethel glanced into the treetops. “And a dog,” she added. “A little brown dog.”

  Stella felt a tiny knot in her stomach. “The pigeon I’m looking for only has one leg,” she said.

  “That’s Sherman!” Mr. Mineo nudged his dog scratching and snapping beside him. “How about that, Ernie?” He turned back to Stella. “Sherman is one of my homing pigeons.”

  Sherman?

  Stella’s heart sank. “His name is Harvey,” she said in a soft, pitiful voice. “Right, Gerald?” The tiny knot in her stomach was growing into a very large knot.

  Gerald wiped sweat off the back of his neck and mumbled, “I guess.”

  Stella clutched her stomach and looked down at the ground. She almost always knew what to do, but now she didn’t.

  She wanted to stomp her feet and cry like a baby.

  She wanted to punch Gerald.

  She wanted to tell Mr. Mineo he was wrong. That pigeon was not Sherman. That pigeon was Harvey, and he belonged to her.

  But before she could do anything, Mutt Raynard came trotting up the road toward them.

  Not far behind him, Levi and C.J. and Jiggs raced full steam ahead on their bikes hollering at each other about which one of them had messed up Levi’s plan.

  Then right in the middle of all that trotting and racing and hollering, the one-legged pigeon appeared overhead. He circled the deserted peach orchard a few times and then swooped down and landed on the telephone wires along the side of the road.

  And the little brown dog darted out of the orchard, barking up a storm.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE

  Everyone Watches Sherman

  Mr. Mineo’s heavy heart lifted when he saw his one-legged pigeon with the shiny green neck and two black stripes on his wings.

  He whistled to the bird.

  Sherman cocked his head and cooed.

  The little brown dog stopped barking.

  Mr. Mineo whistled again and held his finger up. Sherman blinked down at him with his round orange eyes, but he stayed put.

  “Dern fool bird,” Mr. Mineo mumbled. He shuffled over to his pickup truck and got the can of birdseed. He rattled the can while everyone watched.

  Stella and Gerald.

  Amos and Ethel Roper.

  Luther and Edsel.

  Mutt Raynard.

  Levi and C.J. and Jiggs.

  Ernie and the little brown dog.

  But Sherman would not come down.

  “I’m so aggravated,” Mr. Mineo muttered. He rattled the can again.

  But Sherman would not come down.

  Mr. Mineo scratched his chin. Then he snapped his fingers. “I have an idea!”

  Everyone looked at Mr. Mineo, waiting to hear his idea.

  “I’ll go home and get Amy. Sherman will listen to her.”

  Then he explained to everyone about Amy and that temper of hers and how she was liable to be mad as all get-out but could make Sherman go back home where he belonged.

  So he called for Ernie, and the two of them took off in the pickup truck toward the rusty trailer beside the lake.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX

  Little Brown Dog

  Ethel Roper reached into the pocket of her skirt and took out a limp slice of orange cheese wrapped in a paper towel. She held it out toward the little brown dog.

  The dog looked from the pigeon to the cheese.

  From the cheese to the pigeon.

  From the pigeon to the cheese.

  Ethel handed the cheese to Stella. “You give it to him,” she said.

  Stella took the cheese from Ethel and held it out in the palm of her hand.

  The dog took one more glance at the pigeon and then trotted over to Stella. He ate the cheese in one big gulp and licked Stella’s hand.

  He licked and licked and licked.

  Then he sat in front of her, wagging his tail.

  Stella grinned at Ethel. “He likes me.”

  Ethel smiled at Stella and nodded.

  As the minutes ticked by, Stella stopped worrying so much about the one-legged pigeon hopping up and down the telephone wires above her. She sat on the side of the road and hugged the little brown dog.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN

  Waiting

  While everyone waited for Mr. Mineo to return with Amy, Sherman fluttered from the telephone wires to the trees. From the trees to the top of a rotting fence post beside the orchard. From the fence post back to the telephone wires.

  Stella sat beside the little brown dog, stroking his fur and scratching behind his ears. The knot in her stomach was getting smaller and smaller.

  Ethel Roper smiled at them and wished she had another piece of cheese.

  Amos Roper fiddled with the engine of the delivery van while Luther and Edsel dozed in the grass beside the road. />
  Levi and C.J. and Jiggs hurled rocks into the woods, sending loud thwacks echoing through the trees.

  Gerald watched them, wishing he could hurl rocks, too, and hoping those scabby-kneed boys wouldn’t call him Wormy.

  Mutt Raynard thought about going home, but he knew his dirty-faced cousins would be there, hopping and flapping and calling him a liar. So he hurled a few rocks into the woods and wished Sherman would fly down and land on his head.

  But Sherman didn’t move.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT

  Mr. Mineo’s Spirits Are Lifted

  “Okay, now listen, Amy,” Mr. Mineo said to the pigeon in the wicker basket on the seat beside him. “I know you’re fire-spittin’ mad at that dern fool Sherman.” He patted the top of the basket. “And lord knows you’ve got every right to be.”

  Ernie sniffed at the basket and Amy fluttered a little.

  “You know how stubborn he is,” Mr. Mineo continued.

  Amy cooed. The truck bounced along the driveway from the trailer to the road.

  “If he’s gonna listen to anyone, it’s you. Right, Ernie?” Mr. Mineo nodded at his fat dog sitting on the other side of the basket.

  As they turned onto the road and passed the bait shop, Mr. Mineo urged Amy to watch her temper and just persuade Sherman to follow her back to the weathered blue shed behind the trailer.

  Amy blinked up at him through the holes in the basket.

  As they drove along, the warm summer air swirled around inside the pickup truck, blowing Ernie’s ears back and lifting Mr. Mineo’s spirits.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE

  Amy to the Rescue

  With each wag of the brown dog’s tail, the knot in Stella’s stomach had grown smaller and smaller until it had disappeared completely.

  When Mr. Mineo returned, Stella joined the others as they gathered around. The little brown dog trotted along behind her.

  Mr. Mineo got out of the truck, carrying a small wicker basket with a cooing pigeon inside. He set the basket on the ground and opened the lid. A white pigeon with black speckles soared into the air.

  The kids let out a whoop.

  Luther and Edsel slapped their knees and hollered, “Go get him, Amy!” and “Thatta girl, Amy!”

  Amos Roper leaned against the delivery van, looking grumpy, while Ethel smiled up at the speckled pigeon circling the sky above them.

  The little brown dog let out one bark and sat in the road next to Stella, wagging his tail and watching the pigeons.

  Mr. Mineo waved his straw hat in the air. “Come on, you dern fool bird.”

  Amy circled and circled while Sherman stayed on the telephone wire, head bobbing and feathers ruffling.

  Everyone waited.

  Sherman hopped up and down the wire a few times.

  Amy circled and circled.

  Everyone waited and waited.

  Suddenly, Sherman soared into the sky, circling above them with Amy.

  The air was filled with whoops and hollers and claps and barks.

  Then the two pigeons took off, side by side, toward the lake.

  CHAPTER SIXTY

  On the Road to Mr. Mineo’s

  “Come on!” Mr. Mineo hollered as he scrambled into his truck.

  Luther and Edsel climbed in the front with Ernie squeezed between them, while Mutt jumped into the back.

  Amos and Ethel hurried to their blue-and-white station wagon. Ethel opened the back door and the little brown dog jumped right in.

  Stella and the others hopped on their bikes.

  Then they all took off down the road to Mr. Mineo’s.

  CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE

  The Weathered Blue Shed

  When he got to the bait shop, Mr. Mineo turned down the driveway that led to his rusty trailer by the lake. The Ropers’ blue-and-white station wagon pulled in after him. Not far behind the Ropers, Stella and the others raced up on their bikes.

  Mr. Mineo hurried down the path to the weathered blue shed, motioning for the others to follow. He stepped inside and pointed at the pigeons, calling their names, one by one:

  Edna

  Frankie

  Martha

  Samson

  Leslie

  Taylor

  Joe

  Christopher

  and Martin

  But not Amy and Sherman.

  Mr. Mineo’s whiskery face drooped as he stepped out of the shed, shaking his head and telling the others that Amy and Sherman were not there.

  A deep, heavy silence fell over them all.

  But then …

  … the little brown dog raced down to the lake, barking up a storm.

  The others hurried after him.

  When they got to the water’s edge, Mr. Mineo pointed at the sky.

  Amy and Sherman were soaring over the lake, swooping and gliding with the late-afternoon sun sparkling across the still surface of the water. Then Sherman began to fly lower …

  … and lower …

  … and lower …

  … until he fluttered down and landed right on top of Mutt Raynard’s head.

  At first, Mutt’s mouth dropped open in surprise. Then he beamed at everyone while Amy circled above them. But suddenly, the little brown dog let out one sharp bark and Sherman soared back into the sky.

  Mr. Mineo waved his straw hat, and the others waved their arms and whistled and called to the pigeons. They all watched as Amy and Sherman flew closer and closer, then skimmed the tops of the trees beside the lake and finally landed on the roof of the weathered blue shed.

  Everyone raced back up to the shed just in time to see Amy give Sherman one sharp peck on the head before they both hopped through the bars of the window and disappeared inside.

  CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO

  Everyone Tells Their Stories

  Everyone cheered when Amy and Sherman hopped into the shed.

  Then they sat on the rickety porch of Mr. Mineo’s trailer and told their stories.

  Mr. Mineo told the others about his brother, Carl, who had gone to live in a nursing home and had given him the pigeons. The pigeons lived in the shed behind his trailer and twice a day they flew out across the lake and then came back. Except for Sherman, who had been missing for eight days and had worried him half to death.

  Ethel Roper told them how the pigeon had been flying into their barn at night and the little brown dog chased after him and barked half the night, making Amos grumpy.

  Mutt Raynard told them how the pigeon had landed on his head when he was fishing and how no one believed him. He explained how he had wanted to catch the pigeon to prove he had been telling the truth. But when he finally caught him, Emmaline’s cats had chased him around the garage and the dog had chased the cats and his wild cousins had scared them both away.

  Levi told them how the pigeon had swooped into the carport when he and C.J. and Jiggs were flipping bottle caps into the middle of an old tire. Then he had tried to catch the pigeon before Stella did because she didn’t know diddly-squat about pigeons.

  Luther and Edsel scratched their heads and yawned.

  Gerald just sat there looking worried.

  With the little brown dog snuggled next to her, Stella told the others how the pigeon had landed on the garage roof and she and Gerald had drawn a pigeon town with colored chalk. She told them she had named him Harvey and she had wanted to keep him because she wanted a pet.

  After everyone told their stories, Mr. Mineo invited them to go up to the bait shop for a soda.

  And so they did.

  CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE

  Where the Story Ends

  As night settled over Meadville, the crickets chirped and eighteen-wheelers rumbled out on Highway 14. Streetlights cast a soft amber glow on the sidewalks of Main Street. The pecan trees that lined the street rustled softly in the gentle summer breeze, like a whisper.

  The sound of snoring drifted out of the window of the tiny room over Luther’s Chinese Takeout. Fishing gear rested against the wall by the door
, ready for another day out at the lake with Edsel as soon as the delivery van was fixed.

  Over on Waxhaw Lane, in the big white house with the blue-striped awnings, Gerald Baxter smiled in his sleep as he dreamed about giving Levi the Knuckle of Death.

  Across the street, Stella sat by the window of her bedroom in the green house with muddy shoes on the porch and whispered into the night:

  Harvey

  Harvey

  Harvey

  Earlier that evening, she had begged and begged her parents to let her keep the little brown dog. When Ethel Roper told them what a good dog he was and how he needed a home, they had finally said yes.

  Stella named him Harvey, and now he was fast asleep in the doghouse in the front yard.

  On the outskirts of town, Ethel Roper sat on the side of the bed and gazed out at the moonlit yard, thinking about how nice it was that the dog had found a little girl to love him. Behind her, Amos slept peacefully under the crisp white sheet.

  Just beyond the Ropers’ small brick house, in one of the ramshackle houses at the end of the long dirt driveway, Mutt Raynard lay in his bed and grinned up at the cracked plaster ceiling. He had been telling the truth about the one-legged pigeon, and tomorrow he would take his wild cousins to see for themselves.

  Out in the rusty trailer by the lake, Mr. Mineo snored softly in his old plaid lounge chair. His fat dog, Ernie, was curled up on the rug at his feet, dreaming about pork rinds.

  And behind the trailer in the weathered blue shed, Sherman nestled on a perch beside Amy, cooing softly, while a full Carolina moon shone down on the road to Mr. Mineo’s.

  Also by Barbara O’Connor

  Beethoven in Paradise

  Me and Rupert Goody

  Moonpie and Ivy

  Fame and Glory in Freedom, Georgia

  Taking Care of Moses

  How to Steal a Dog

  Greetings from Nowhere

  The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis

  The Fantastic Secret of Owen Jester