The Scavengers
Page 22
Believe it or not, it was the Fat Man who helped me decide to return to Skullduggery Ridge.
It happened when Dad was giving his speech there right at the end, and the Fat Man grabbed Porky Pig like he was going to smash the glass, then didn’t. In that moment I realized it wasn’t the glass the Fat Man was protecting, it was that pig. For some reason he couldn’t explain, the Fat Man liked things from the past. Things that weren’t all based on fancy science and mystery. Things that gave him feelings that money and power couldn’t. And somewhere deep inside me I realized I felt the same way about Toad and Arlinda and Hoot Holler and Skullduggery Ridge. More than safety, more than health, more than long life, I wanted a full life. A free life. And if that meant tearing apart old cars and carrying a ToothClub and doing battle with solar bears and getting knocked around by GreyDevils now and then, well, I guess I think it’s worth it. “I’d rather suit my foot / Than save my boot,” wrote Emily Dickinson, and I think that’s what I’m trying to say.
I look at the book of poems on my lap, and the decrepit old station wagon beneath me and the countryside spread out before me.
This.
This is Ford Falcon’s perfect world.
“Cock-a-doodle . . . aaack-kack-kack-kack!”
Did I say perfect?
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
MOM, FOR TEACHING ME TO READ AND FILLING MY WORLD WITH books. Dad, for raising us in a quiet country nonetheless resonant with stories and storytellers. The Chetek Library, where I went for stories when I was young. Tom and Arlene, for the real-world example. Brad and Donna, for the topography. Christopher Moore, for that note. Alison Callahan, from way back. Alissa, for managing. Tara, for patience and encouragement beyond reason. Chris H, Lisa B, Dan K, Blakeley, Matt B, Dave E, and Karen R, for grown-up help. JDV and Kyle, for spinning the compass. Dan, Lisa, Katie, and all CB staff. Colorado family, you are always a part of our story.
That little banty rooster who never could quite crow.
Above all, for enduring the rough-draft me in every way, every day: My wife and daughters.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
MICHAEL PERRY is a humorist and author of the adult bestselling memoirs Population: 485, Truck: A Love Story, Coop, and Visiting Tom. This is his first novel for children. Michael lives in rural Wisconsin with his wife and two daughters. You can visit him online and read his blog at www.sneezingcow.com.
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CREDITS
Cover art © 2014 by Eric Deschamps
Cover design by Alison Klapthor
COPYRIGHT
The Scavengers
Copyright © 2014 by Michael Perry
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
www.harpercollinschildrens.com
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Perry, Michael, date
The scavengers / Michael Perry.
pages cm
Summary: With a neighbor’s help, twelve-year-old Ford Falcon learns to survive in the harsh world outside the Bubble Cities by scavenging for items to use or trade—skills she needs when her parents unexpectedly go missing.
ISBN 978-0-06-202616-3 (hardback)
EPUB Edition JULY 2014 ISBN 9780062239099
[1. Survival—Fiction. 2. Family life—Fiction. 3. Ragpickers—Fiction. 4. Missing persons—Fiction. 5. Science fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.P43538Sc 2014
2014001878
[Fic]—dc23
CIP
AC
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14 15 16 17 18 CG/RRDH 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
FIRST EDITION
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