The Amazing Wolf Boy

Part 72 - The Yeti Sighting

Before long, dinner was on the table. There was enough food for twenty-five people instead of just five—mounds of mashed potatoes, string beans with slivered mushrooms, buttered corn, warm applesauce, and of course, the ham.

Grandpa Earle and Brittany's mother sat on either end of the table. Brittany and I sat across from Butt Crack. I held Brittany's chair for her as she settled in, more for her mom's benefit than because I thought she needed help. I knew it was something old people liked.

As I took my seat, I noticed the blue egg with the smashed-in face beside my plate. All hope of scoring points left me. I felt like it was a statement, like I had to pay for the stolen kiss.

Brittany's mother said, "Cody, will you do us the honor of saying grace?"

My jaw dropped, and my mind went blank. Grace? Like a prayer? I didn't know any. My parents were agnostic.

A terrible silence fell over the room. The others bowed their heads. Waiting. My hands grew clammy.

"Four score and seven years ago," I said, "our forefathers brought forth a new nation, um, in order to form a more perfect union—" No, wait! What was I doing? That was for Thanksgiving, wasn't it? "Um, conceived under God and to the republic, with liberty and justice for all. Amen."

"Amen," said Brittany.

She and her brother dove for the bowls of food.

Her mother said, "Thank you, Cody. That was quite... patriotic."

"Bah," grumbled Grandpa Earle. He reached for the basket of rolls "There are no real patriots anymore. The government's full of lies and conspiracies."

"Grandpa wears a skunk skin hat on the Fourth of July," Brittany said.

"Tell him about the flying saucer you saw last year, Grandpa," Butt Crack said.

"Bartley, no," his mother said. "Not in front of guests."

"You can laugh." Grandpa Earle waved his fork. "But I know what I saw. It was big and silver, and it tried to take over my mind."

"Grandpa was most insistent on that point," Brittany said. "He bypassed the sheriff's department and went straight to the press."

"Durned right," he said. "And do you know what they had the gall to tell me it was? A runaway hot air balloon from the State Fair. In Tampa, for Pete's sake."

"They probably believed what they were saying," Butt Crack mumbled around a mouth full of potatoes. "Mind control, you know."

"Maybe so," Grandpa Earle said. "Never thought of it like that."

Brittany smiled and rolled her eyes at me.

Her mother said, "Cody, tell us what it's like to live in Massachusetts."

"It's nice," I told her. "Big trees. Bigger hills. Traffic's worse there. Everything seems to move at a faster pace."

"Do you miss living there? Your friends?"

"The first week or two was pretty hard. I had a lot of friends in school. I was president of the Science Club. Teacher's pet. But I was in a rut. Taking the safe route. It's exciting living here. There's always something new to see."

"Good boy," Grandpa Earle said between bites. "You're never too old to see something new. I saw my first yeti this morning."

Brittany laughed. "Aren't they supposed to be in the mountains?"

"I know what I'm talking about. It was right outside the kitchen window. I came in for some water to take my rheumatism medicine, and I saw it."

"What did it look like?" Butt Crack asked. "Big and hairy?"