Chasing Red (Chasing Red 1)

I would have stayed home and played the new Crash Bandicoot game on my PlayStation, but Dad had promised he would buy me that new bike we saw on TV the other day if I tagged along.

A real mountain bike, not the girlie bike my mom got for me. Ben teased me all the time when we went biking, and now I refused to ride it. It was green too. Why couldn’t it be black or red?

“Caleb!”

I turned and saw my dad standing beside a fat, old guy who was drinking beer. The guy looked like Santa Claus, with a cloudy white beard and a potbelly. I was waiting for him to spit out a booming laugh and shout Ho, ho, ho! But he just stood there smiling at me.

“Why don’t you walk around and find someone to play with?” my dad said. “But don’t go too far.”

I jumped off the bench, slightly offended. He wanted me to look for a playmate in this old town where only old people lived? There was no way kids lived here. The houses were old and scary looking, with peeling paint and weird rocking chairs on the porches. I didn’t see a McDonald’s anywhere.

I walked along the trail behind the garage. I was just going to walk straight so I wouldn’t get lost. Besides, the sun was up. In the movies, bad things only happened at night.

I picked up a broken branch from the wet ground and wished I had a dog to play with. My ears perked up when I heard running water. I followed the sound and cried out in happiness when I saw a long, wooden bridge at the end of the trail. I ran to it, my footsteps making a hollow thumping sound on the wood planks. I stopped to stare at the water rushing under the bridge.

“Cool!” I yelled. I crouched and saw a bunch of fish gathered behind some rocks, protecting them from the current.

I jumped and nearly fell in the river when I heard a small voice. “You’re going to fall just like that stupid boy.”

I looked up and didn’t see anyone.

“He didn’t even know how to swim,” she added, as she leaned back and looked at me from behind one of the thick wooden posts. That explained why I didn’t see her right away.

First thing I thought was that her eyes were like a cat’s. I’d never seen eyes like that before.

“Who are you?” she asked, tilting her head to the side. Her long, black hair fell across her shoulder.

“Caleb. Who are you?”

Her mouth broke into a grin, showing a gap between her front teeth. She must have lost a tooth recently. “I’m Batgirl today.”

I noticed she was wearing a Batgirl costume but didn’t have the headgear for it.

“Batgirl?”

“Yep. She smacks and kicks and always, always wins against the bad guys. I want to be like her!”

She was weird.

Her face scrunched up. “I’m hungry. Do you have any food?”

I suddenly remembered the sandwich in my pocket that my dad had made for me that morning. I walked toward her, glad to have found someone to play with.

“Here.” I sat beside her, offering her the sandwich. “It’s peanut butter.”

She didn’t take it but eyed it suspiciously instead, scratching her chin. “Oh.”

“You don’t like peanut butter?”

She shook her head. “Nuh-uh. I never had it before. The bad guy in my house hates it, so we don’t have it.”

The bad guy? “Well, I’m allergic to it.”

Her cat eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Why do you have it in your pocket, then? Is there poison in it?”

I stared. Her eyes were really pretty. I blinked when she waved both her hands in front of my face, trying to get my attention.

My cheeks felt hot. I shrugged. “My dad forgets I’m allergic to it.”