{"id":213,"date":"2009-08-14T20:01:01","date_gmt":"2009-08-15T00:01:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/?p=213"},"modified":"2009-08-14T20:24:18","modified_gmt":"2009-08-15T00:24:18","slug":"chapter-14-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/?p=213","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 14"},"content":{"rendered":"

Finbar Fenker and Flossie Beemis shrieked and cheered and clung to the ropes of the boxing ring. In one corner, Ari wiped the sweat off Uncle Ellery\u2019s brow and handed him water. In the opposite corner crouched Wilton Daylatch, with eight lanky tarantula legs, all tapping impatiently for the bell to resume the fight, while Granny Frappler, with a whistle in her mouth, refereed from the center of the ring.<\/p>\n

\tRRRrrrring! <\/em>went the bell. Ari smacked the snooze button on his alarm clock and blinked at his room until he was quite sure that there was no tarantula-Daylatch hybrid lurking in the corner. <\/p>\n

\tIt was Sunday, and the scent of cinnamon-raisin bagels wafting up from the deli oven pushed the last remnants of the dream out of his head. Ari got dressed quickly. Luckily Uncle Ellery had baking help on Sundays, and luckily they closed by mid-day, but the Sunday morning rush required all available hands, so Ari hurried downstairs to help at the counter.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cNow Ellery, I\u2019m worried,\u201d said Mrs. Stoutling as she waited for her usual half-dozen onion bagels. \u201cBoxing can be a dangerous sport–and you with your brother\u2019s child to raise…\u201d She shook her finger scoldingly as she reached for her bagel bag.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cNot to worry Mrs. Stoutling,\u201d said Uncle Ellery casually. \u201cI\u2019ve been training.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThere were only a few bagels left in the bin by the time Uncle Ellery locked the front door for the afternoon. He sliced the two remaining sesame seed bagels, slapped on some turkey, tomato and mustard, and handed one to Ari.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThat fight isn\u2019t going to happen anyway,\u201d said Ari before taking a big bite of his sandwich.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cIt\u2019s not a big deal,\u201d replied Uncle Ellery. \u201cDon\u2019t worry about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cI no\u2019 worried abou\u2019 it,\u201d mumbled Ari with his mouth full of bagel, \u201cbecause it\u2019s not going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cIs that your guarantee to me?\u201d said Uncle Ellery with a smile. \u201cWell, here\u2019s mine to you. You\u2019ll never go to Daylatch Academy. We\u2019re going to work this thing out, and stay on our feet.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tAri smiled back. It was okay if Uncle Ellery didn\u2019t believe him. He just needed to believe it himself.<\/p>\n

*****<\/p>\n

\t\u201cKa-pow! Ka-pow!\u201d taunted Finbar Fenker, feigning boxing moves as Ari put his lunch in his locker at school the next day.
\n\t\u201cWho\u2019s gonna make your tasty lunch,\u201d<\/em> chanted Finbar as he did a rap dance in the middle of the hallway, \u201cwhen Hunker throws the one-two punch?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\t\u201cFenker,\u201d said Ari darkly, \u201cshut up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tFinbar did not shut up. Instead he danced some crazier dance steps and pulled a stack of dollar bills out of his pocket. \u201cPlace your bets, I\u2019m earning loads,\u201d<\/em> chanted Finbar, \u201cWhen Ellery Soffit\u2019s head explodes!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\tSomeone grabbed Ari\u2019s elbow and abruptly pulled him down the hallway away from Finbar Fenker.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWalk,\u201d said Arden firmly. \u201cJust walk, and go in the classroom.\u201d She pushed him through the doorway to Mrs. Kirkle\u2019s class.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cAri!\u201d called Flossie Beemis, pausing just long enough to glare at Arden. \u201cOh Ari! What if you become an orphan? Living in an orphanage would be so tragic!\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cDon\u2019t sweat it,\u201d said Ari. \u201cI\u2019m already an orphan.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tFlossie clasped her hands tragically. \u201cBut you\u2019d be an even more orphaned orphan!\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\tFor once, Jimmy Jasper\u2019s off-key humming was a welcome sound as Ari tried to ignore the stares of curious classmates and focus on history.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cClass,\u201d said Mrs. Kirkle, \u201cwho can tell me something about the ancient Greeks?\u201d<\/p>\n

\tJimmy Jasper\u2019s hand shot up. \u201cGreece is where the Olympics started,\u201d he called out. \u201cAnd they even had boxing in the early days!\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cTrue,\u201d replied Mrs. Kirkle. \u201cBut we\u2019re not going to talk about boxing today.\u201d She cast a sympathetic glance at Ari, which he found almost more painful than Finbar\u2019s taunts. \u201cAnyone else?\u201d<\/p>\n

\tMath was no easier than history even though Mrs. Kirkle stopped Finbar from reading his word problem that started out \u201cIf it takes three punches to break your nose, and five punches to rupture your spleen…\u201d<\/p>\n

\tBut Mrs. Kirkle was nowhere to be seen at recess as Finbar Fenker collected dollars from students placing bets on the boxing match, and he stayed annoyingly close to Ari as he added verses to his rap song. \u201cAnother dollar says that Dudge, pounds Soffit to a greasy smudge,\u201d <\/em>rapped Finbar.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cDon\u2019t listen,\u201d insisted Arden. \u201cLet\u2019s brainstorm about who Blackeye could be.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cI\u2019m trying not to,\u201d Ari assured her. \u201cBlackeye…Blackeye…\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cTwo black eyes and a bloody snout when Hunker punches Soffit out!\u201d <\/em>sang Finbar, right behind Ari.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cFENKER!\u201d shouted Ari. He spun around, fist clenched and ready to swing.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cNo!\u201d yelled Arden, grabbing his arm. \u201cDon\u2019t do it!\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWhat\u2019s going on here?\u201d bellowed Mr. Spambly the other fifth grade teacher. \u201cLet\u2019s try to cool it off boys! Mr. Soffit, maybe a little talk with the counselor will settle you down.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tArden shrugged and made a face that was probably supposed to mean \u201ccalm down,\u201d as Ari followed Mr. Spambly into the counselor\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

\tMiss Flowers the counselor had a brief and kindly talk with Ari before excusing him to go back to class. So he was feeling slightly better as he left her office, but as he entered the main reception area his blood froze.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cYoung Mr. Soffit,\u201d said Wilton Daylatch with oily smoothness, as he reached for a file folder the secretary was handing him. \u201cI was just collecting the records for a student who\u2019ll be transferring from here to my school.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tAri thought instantly of Marky Booker, the fourth grader who\u2019d set off three bottle rockets at last week\u2019s assembly. But he said nothing in reply, and continued into the hallway with the uncomfortable feeling that Daylatch was right behind him.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cA little trouble on the playground?\u201d asked Daylatch.<\/p>\n

\tIt sounded like a taunt to Ari.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you hit him sooner?\u201d asked Daylatch.<\/p>\n

\tAri looked at Daylatch, but still said nothing.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWe could train you,\u201d continued Daylatch. \u201cAt my school. The Fight Club has grown quite a bit since your Uncle\u2019s day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cI\u2019m not going to your school,\u201d said Ari. He turned toward his classroom.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cI see,\u201d said Daylatch coolly. \u201cYou\u2019ll never find it alone, you know.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tEvery instinct in Ari\u2019s body told him to ignore Daylatch, but in spite of himself he stopped. \u201cFind what?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cDewey\u2019s compass,\u201d replied Daylatch. \u201cIt\u2019s well known that he set up some kind of crazy treasure hunt before he died, but it\u2019s also well known that he belonged in a looney bin. You\u2019ll never find it. The trail\u2019s too cold.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cI\u2019m supposed to be in class,\u201d said Ari.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cBut perhaps if we compare notes,\u201d said Daylatch.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cNo way,\u201d said Ari. He nearly ran into the classroom. A reprimand from Mrs. Kirkle for slamming the door was better than another word from Daylatch.<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Finbar Fenker and Flossie Beemis shrieked and cheered and clung to the ropes of the boxing ring. In one corner, Ari wiped the sweat off Uncle Ellery\u2019s brow and handed him water. In the opposite corner crouched Wilton Daylatch, with eight lanky tarantula legs, all tapping impatiently for the bell to resume the fight, while […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=213"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":221,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213\/revisions\/221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}