Jim tried to quiet them down but it was no use.

Walter looked like he was about to bang the pans again when Jim climbed onto the counter and shouted, “The post office is closing!”

That did it. The room went so quiet I could hear the whine of Mr. Skinner’s hearing aid all the way in the front row.

“Weird,” Dad said. “That doesn’t sound at all like, ‘The town is disappearing.’”

Chapter 6

At first, I didn’t get it either. How big a deal could it be that the post office was closing? How often had I even been to a post office in my life?

I had to be missing something. I knew that from the look on Jim’s face, the same weighted-down one he’d had that afternoon in our kitchen.

“Big deal?” Harley Turnby called. “We can just go to Crellin.”

“We want to know the surprise!” somebody shouted.

A bunch of people “yeah-ed.”

“We want the rink. We want the rink…” the Ice Kings sang.

“Don’t you get it?” Jim shouted over them. He was shaking his head and tugging on his beard. This “annoyed” Jim was at least better than the “crushed” Jim from earlier. “You don’t get an ice rink! If you don’t get a post office, you’re not getting an ice rink!”

The room went quiet.

“So what do we get?” Cal said.

“Nothing!” The parts of Jim’s face that hadn’t been taken over by beard were nearly purple.

“And that’s the surprise?” Cal said.

“That’s right.”

“But that’s not a surprise.” Harley wagged a finger at Jim.

“They’re right,” Jeanine said. “He never should have called it a surprise. That was a mistake.”

“Jeannie, remember what we said about only saying the helpful things,” Mom said.

“You want a surprise?” Jim yelled. “Ready? Here it is: Petersville is disappearing. Surprise! We’re going to be like the Roman Empire or Atlantis or Troy. Just like that. One day, Petersville won’t be here anymore. The place most of us have lived our whole lives and the place our parents lived their whole lives and their parents lived their whole lives. Not today or tomorrow, but I’m telling you, if we don’t do something fast, Petersville will disappear like the dinosaurs.” Then he threw his head back and cackled. His eyes were bulging and his beard was sticking out in all directions.

“What’s wrong with Jim?” Jeanine asked.

“He’s okay. Just a little…overwhelmed,” Mom said.

“See? He should take a public speaking class.”

“Jeanine,” Mom said through her teeth.

“What? That’s helpful.”

Up front, Walter had brought Jim a glass of water, and he was guzzling it down. When the cup was empty, he handed it back with a “thank you,” and exhaled like he was blowing out candles on a birthday cake.

“You want to sit down, Jim?” Dr. C called.

Jim shook his head. “Anybody want to guess how many people have moved to Petersville in the last five years? Come on. Give me a number.”