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Back The Cloud Chamber
Chapters (35)
  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Dedication
  4. Acknowledgments
  5. Author’s Note
  6. One
  7. Two
  8. Three
  9. Four
  10. Five
  11. Six
  12. Seven
  13. Eight
  14. Nine
  15. Ten
  16. Eleven
  17. Twelve
  18. Thirteen
  19. Fourteen
  20. Fifteen
  21. Sixteen
  22. Seventeen
  23. Eighteen
  24. Nineteen
  25. Twenty
  26. Twenty-One
  27. Twenty-Two
  28. Twenty-Three
  29. Twenty-Four
  30. Twenty-Five
  31. Twenty-Six
  32. Twenty-Seven
  33. Twenty-Eight
  34. Twenty-Nine
  35. Thirty

“What’s got into you, Junie?” Nate asked after school, as he sat at the kitchen table having a glass of milk.

For a minute, she didn’t say anything. She was drawing in ink on the belly of Palomino Pal. Just a small mark, almost like a cattle brand. Still, Nate never would have thought she’d do something like that to one of her precious model horses.

“You lied to me,” she said at last.

“What are you talking about?” Nate asked her. “When?”

“You promised we’d go see my dad. I waited. You never did anything.” She was scribbling fiercely now. Black lines, back and forth, on the horse’s flank.

“I keep thinking about him sitting in a room someplace all alone,” Junie said to him. “I keep thinking how he’s waiting for us and he’s wondering why we never come.”

“He knows it’s hard,” Nate said quietly. “He knows we love him.”

“But we’re not there, are we? If you love somebody and they’re in trouble, you should be there. And you promised you’d take me.”

He didn’t make excuses. Junie was right. She had trusted him. He’d said he’d take care of it, and he hadn’t. He was no better than Aunt Sal, who’d said to him all those weeks back, “Be patient.” And then did nothing.

“I wasn’t going to tell you until I was sure,” he said. “I didn’t want you counting on this, but I do have a plan. The thing is, it depends on the cloud chamber.”

Junie stopped drawing on the horse. She looked at him hard. “Your science fair project?”

“The winner at our school gets a trip to the state finals. They’re in Butte. Near Warm Springs.”

“What about me?”

“You get to bring a family member along. Most people bring their mom or dad, but I’ll take you instead.”

Junie didn’t ask what their mom would say when she found out. Or how he knew for sure he’d win in the first place. She trusted him to work it out, was all. She set her horse down and threw her arms around her brother. She ruffled up his hair the way she said made him look like Ringo.

“You are the best brother in the world,” she told him. “I knew you’d figure something out.”

“It’s still two weeks to the science fair,” he said. “Not to mention, there’s no guarantee Naomi and I can win.”

“I know you will.”