They lifted together, on either side of the base. Coley sucked it up and strained his muscles to the utmost. He could tell he was doing most of the lifting by far, but the little bit of help Ruthie provided was just enough to make the difference. The statue was on its side, teetering on the flat surface of the railing. Coley was out of breath; he had to pause several seconds to recover. His pulse was racing. Ruthie was in the same condition, only worse.
Then it was time. The final push was easy. The statue tumbled over and smacked the water with a huge splash. It submerged briefly beneath the water’s surface, then ever so slowly, or so it seemed, rose to the top. It floated. It was in motion, carried by the swift current. The two of them stood in the rain, watching it bob its way into the distance until it was hardly more than a speck.
“It floats,” said Coley.
“That’s displacement for you.”
“How far do you think it’ll go?” he asked her.
She was cleaning her glasses again, and returning to her old sarcastic self. She said, “Oh, I suppose it’ll probably go clear to the ocean.”
“Yeah, but which one? The Atlantic or the Pacific?”
“Maybe neither one. Maybe it’ll end up down in the Gulf of Mexico.”
He hadn’t thought of that option. “That would be just about perfect,” he said. Then he asked her, “Did I thank you yet?”
“Not that I remember, but that would take social skills.”
“Thanks a lot, Ruthie. Come on, I’ll take you home.”
Acknowledgments
About the Author
James W. Bennett’s uncompromising, challenging books for teens have earned him recognition as one of the nation’s leading—and most provocative—novelists for young adults. His fiction has been used in curricula at the middle school, high school, and community college levels.
His 1995 novel, The Squared Circle, was named the year’s finest by English Journal and the Voice of Youth Advocates.
Bennett has served as a guest author at Miami Book Fair International, as a featured speaker at the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of the NCTE, and as a writer in residence (a program he established) for secondary schools in Illinois. He has also been the director for the Blooming Grove Writers Conference.
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2001 by James W. Bennett
Cover design by Mimi Bark
ISBN: 978-1-4976-8397-6
This edition published in 2015 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
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