Their mom kept going on and on about spring splendor, spring splendor . . . bleh. What Joey Mason cared about was gym: Mondays he usually had gym, but today they were having a special assembly. So no matter how “spring splendor” it was outside, he was still on his way to a day of school with nothing to look forward to.

His little brother, Tony, on the other hand, liked assemblies more than gym, so he was psyched. But he was a geek who slept with books, so what did he know about anything.

The walk from home to school was about eight blocks long and nothing big . . . just down St. Francis Street by the church and some other stuff. They were supposed to stay on the right side, because there was a gas station on the left that had lots of traffic in and out of its driveway. And they were supposed to stop at every corner curb. Which Joey did—usually while grabbing Tony’s collar to keep him from walking right into a car.

Tony always walked with a book open. Just like he ate reading and went to the bathroom reading and got dressed reading.

Stupid. Just stupid, because you missed so much if you weren’t looking around.

Like this cool car they were coming up on. The windows were black and the body was black and it had a number for a license plate: 010. That was it; no letters. Joey glanced over at his little brother, and sure enough Tony hadn’t noticed.

His loss.

The thing looked like one of those police-type jobbies.

As they came up to it, he nabbed his brother’s collar and yanked him up short. Tony didn’t question the stop—just turned another page. He probably thought they were at a curb.

Joey leaned in a little and tried to see inside, all the while braced for something in a uniform to get out and yell at them for being nosy. When he saw nothing and nothing happened, he cupped his hands and put them against the cold glass—

He jumped back. “I think there’s someone in there.”

“Is not,” Tony said without lifting his head.

“Is too.”

“Is not.”

“Is too. And how would you know?”

“Is not.”

Okay, Tony didn’t know what he was talking about and this argument could go on forever. And then he and his little brother would be late for homeroom and he’d get grounded. Again.

But . . .

How coooooooooool if they found a dead body—right in front of the McCready Funeral Home!

Dropping his book bag, Joey moved his brother away from the car by picking him up and relocating his feet. “This is dangerous. I don’t want you hurt.”

That finally got Tony’s eyes out of the book. “Is there really somebody inside?”

“You stay back.”