• Prologue:
    I think it has to be about 12 years since anybody gave a thought to this. Except for me, and maybe Gracie. After all, it was her brother.
    You know, I STILL don't think I'm used to calling her Gracie instead of Jinx, like we all did. Speaking of which, I think it's probably been 15 years since we all saw each other. You know, it's pretty funny--or not--how one accident can split up a whole group, you know?
    Let me tell you about it...

    Chapter 1:
    "DICKS!" I could hear Dan calling from outside. I poked my head out, and surely enough, there he was, all 6"4 included. "HURRY UP!" He had no indoor voice, I swear.
    "Hold it, I'm coming." I both yelled and muttered to him as I went searching for my clothes on the floor; my momma says it's a pig's vacation destination. I don't really think so, because I always manage to find everything--Pants under the bed, socks in shoes, shoes under blankets in closet, shirt over chair. Except for when I forget.
    After I finally pulled on my pants, I looked down. Dan was still down there, and he looked like he was gonna explode.
    I slid down the staircase on the seat of my pants.
    "Bye, Momma!" Momma turned around.
    "To the fishing hole?" I nodded. "Okay." She turned to my sister. She was stuffing her pie hole with toast again. "Jane, Lars is leaving."
    Jane looked up for a second.
    "Don't drown." She said. I bee-lined right out the door, picking up my bait sack from the porch. Dan ran aside me, still glaring.
    "What?"
    "You have the speed of a dead turtle."

    A half a mile and a barbed wire fence later, we were there. We saw Jinx crouching down next to her bike, over the edge of the hole. She was dipping something into the water. Math was sitting next to her, and he looked pretty surprised.
    I edged in a little, and I saw that what Jinx was holding onto was a little orange tail.
    "Jinx!" Dan yelled. Jinx pulled the tail from the water. We saw a sopping wet cat, Sprite, on the end, a little fish in its mouth.
    "Yes?" She asked, in a smart-alecky way.
    Dan rolled his eyes at this point.
    "Whatever. Math!"
    "Yes?" Math replied bolting upright and adjusting his watch again.
    "Where the CUSS are those other two?" Dan asked. For a second, Math looked like he had no clue what Dan meant. But then his face made an expression that said, "Oh!" and hurried down to the bushes, gesturing for us to follow.