The Middle of Somewhere
Page 17
Paul looked over and grinned. We circled the field, wagging our wings, and there was a tiny Pop, waving, while a tiny Gee spun himself in circles with his arms spread wide. Beyond the airfield, big round bales of hay in the fields looked like buttons, and the lights of Hays blazed like a Christmas pageant. We buzzed the highway, looped around the courthouse, and headed for the fairgrounds as the last glow of sunset faded from the sky.
I was staring at the festival of neon and the bright bangle of the Ferris wheel when Paul pointed off to my right. A silvery streak gleamed against the dark, then exploded in a shower of green and blue. Paul shouted something, and I just nodded, smiling so hard my cheeks hurt—let's go!
This is what I came for, I thought. This is what I'm taking back with me, and it's something I couldn't have expected or planned. Who'd have thought I could experience this, out in the middle of—
But wait a minute. There is no nowhere. Every place you are is the middle of somewhere.
Swooping in a glorious curve that tilted us to the right, Paul steadied the wings just as another canister exploded. And we flew straight for its golden, blooming, billowing heart.
THIS IS A BORZOI BOOK PUBLISHED BY ALFRED A. KNOPF
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the
product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual
persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Text copyright © 2007 by J. B. Cheaney
Map copyright © 2007 by Susan Hunt Yule
Photo p. 84 copyright © Dave Nance
Photo p. 132 copyright © Keith Stokes
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Random House
Children's Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
KNOPF, BORZOI BOOKS, and the colophon are registered trademarks of
Random House, Inc.
www.randomhouse.com/kids
Educators and librarians, for a variety of teaching tools, visit us at
www.randomhouse.com/teachers
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Cheaney, J. B.
The middle of somewhere / J. B. Cheaney. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
SUMMARY: Twelve-year-old Ronnie loves organization, especially because
her brother has attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, but traveling with their
grandfather who is investigating wind power in Kansas brings some pleasant,
if chaotic, surprises.
eISBN: 978-0-307-48822-0
[1. Automobile travel—Fiction. 2. Brothers and sisters—Fiction.
3. Grandfathers—Fiction. 4. Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder—Fiction.
5. Kansas—Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.C3985Mid 2007
[Fic]—dc22
2006029202
v3.0