Escape from Baxters' Barn

by Rebecca Bond

  But the insurance company did not rule it an accident. Not when the investigators discovered a suspicious gasoline can—the one that Pull had kicked into the tall grass off to the side of the barn. Further investigation led to the conclusion of “suspected arson.” Which meant Dewey didn’t get a cent.

  So what did Dewey do? He rented out the house to the recently married Rosie Carmine and her husband. They loved the lay of the land here, the sloping fields, the trees, and they hoped to buy the place one day.

  And Dewey left. He packed a few bags, drained his bank account, and took his Baby Blue on a tour of the South. He might be nearing forty years old, but he still had a lot to find out about himself. Maybe he’d look for Grady. Maybe he wouldn’t. What he’d do next was anyone’s bet.

  Life at the Bell farm was more certain. The Bells and the farm animals fell into a happy daily routine. They watched the land collect layer upon layer of snow until spring arrived on the farm.

  And there, in the late evenings and into the night, an owl flies low over the old horse pastures and fields. Like the owl constellation she was named after, you might not always see her outline in the darkening sky, but you can trust that she is up there among the stars, keeping careful watch.

  Acknowledgments

  I have had the idea in my head for a while now that writing a children’s novel would be something I would like to try. I have always loved middle grade novels—these are the first books I read that made a big impression on me—and I have always loved putting together words and worlds.

  But the idea of writing a novel and actually doing it are far apart, and I wasn’t sure how to fill in that gap. How would I begin? Where was I going? Would I recognize the right turns? Like a snail in a maze I set off.

  Despite all the solitary time I spent on this endeavor, it was only with the guidance of my family, friends, and publishing team that I made it where I was going.

  I want to thank my mother, Gretchen Bond, not only for being one of my first readers, but for reading to me throughout my childhood and even beyond. I am quite sure I owe my love of books to her. Thank you to my sister, Jessica Bond, for reading this piecemeal, and whose avid correspondence on the project made it even more fun to work on. Thank you to my family in all but blood: Reeve Lindbergh, Lizzy Lindenberg, Susannah Brown, and Connie Hoffman for their careful perusal of various drafts and their valuable advice along the way. I took a lot of these suggestions, sometimes folding them into the story as if they had been mine all along.

  I also want to thank a lovely cast of young readers: Walker Harris, Claire Walko, Malia Chung, Thea Chung, and Melanie Williams for reading a nearly finished book and giving me hope that this story might actually appeal to my intended audience. Their ideas and enthusiasm helped me more than I can say.

  And of course this book would never have happened without a barn-load of help from the good people of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Thank you to Jenny Williams and Amy Cherrix for reading with gusto, to Karen Walsh and Kate Greene for advocating for this book, to Mary Magrisso for shepherding it along, and to Megan Gendell and Alison Miller for combing the pages for errors. Thank you to Rachel Newborn for the very fine design, to Chloe Foster for finessing the layouts, and to Diane Varone in Production for seeing that this came off the presses looking like a real book.

  Finally, I want to thank Ann Rider for being the thoughtful and kind editor I so needed: one who encouraged this project from the beginning, who wisely and gently pushed me to explore ways to make it better, and who reminded me constantly that above all I had to listen to and trust my instincts. Thank you, Ann.

  About the Author

  REBECCA BOND is that rare person who can both write and draw, as this debut novel reveals. When she is not having fun painting and writing, she is busy fixing up her old house in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston and spending time with her two young children. She is the author-illustrator of several children’s books, and the illustrator of one chapter book.