HELP. COME NOW.
IM IN TRUBBLE.

No thats not rite. I have to do the last word again. I rub it out. Im working on my spelling. Mr Wing says its way better than when I came to Creekside last summer. But Im still pretty bad.

TROUBLE.

I think about what else I shuld rite. I only have 1 small sheet of paper and there isnt room for much. The pencil is a stub—I hold it in my thum and 2 fingers. The room is cold and my breath makes puffy little clouds when I breath out.

BE CARE FULL. BAD GUYS WITH GUNS.

Now I need to rite where I am or how will they find me?

NEWMAN.

Thats the most important thing. The name on the male box. I saw it when I got here. I was feeling sick from the long drive in the dark and when the guys in the masks pulled me out of the trunk of the car I fell down on my hands and nees and started throwing up. The mask guys jumped out of the way and went Eww. When I finished throwing up I felt better. I took deep breaths and wiped away my swet. And thats when I saw the male box at the end of the drive. It was nite and the car lites were shining on it and there was the name in brite red letters on the gray metal of the male box. NEWMAN.

I want help to come to the rite place. I stand up on my bed and stare out my little window. Theres snow piled up aganest the bottom of the window cause I am in the basement. And theres bars running up and down the window like jail bars. I rite down what I can see thru the window past the bars and the piled up snow.

WOOD FENCE. WHITE BARN. THING THAT GOES ROUND.

You know those things. They point where the wind blows. This one is shaped like an arrow with a sun on top.

ROAD WITH 40 SINE.

That’s the speed limit. The sine is past the fence down the road from the house. Not a lot of cars go by but when they do thats how fast they go. 40.

I get down from my bed and read over my note. Theres nothing else to put in. Pine trees and clouds and snow is the only other stuff I can see and that wont help anybody find me. Theres a bit of room at the bottom of the paper so I print my name.

BUNNY OTOOLE.

Thats me.

Its a pretty good note. Anyone reading it will know theres a guy named Bunny who needs help. They will look for a farm with a white barn belonging to Newman. If they are police they will come. And if they are not police they will go to the police.

I put the note in my pocket and wait for Vi. She is the nice 1 of the bad guys. There are 3 others or maybe more—its hard to say how many they are cause they all look the same when they wear masks. Vi doesnt wear a mask. Also she doesnt yell at me or push me around. Thats how I know shes nice. She told me her name and said she wanted to help me. What we are doing is rong, she said. WRONG. Our cause is rite but this is wrong. Kid napping is wrong.

Is that what you are doing? I asked. Kid napping?

Yes she said.

And who are you kid napping? You she said.

Oh rite I said.

That was this morning.

Last nite I didnt see her. I only saw the guys who took me out of the car. 2 of them. Pretty big guys with parkas and gloves and those ski masks with holes for the eyes. They dragged me out of the trunk and into the house and took off my skates witch I still had on from skating at city hall with my brother Spencer. The skate laces got into a not and one of the guys had to take off his gloves to undo them. He had white hands with dirty nails. The 2 guys dragged me down the hall and then pushed me down the stares. I was still feeling pretty bad. My head hurt and my legs didnt work rite. You know when your foot is asleep and you cant stand up? Like that only both feet. I fell all the way down the stares and lay at the bottom. The guys rumbled down after me and threw me into the room.

I didnt know what was going on. Thats normal for me. But this time I didnt have any idea at all. I mean nothing. I shivered all nite long.

In the morning an other guy came to see me so there were 3 guys in my room. The new guy was bigger than the other 2 and fat and his ski mask was red. They watched him. He didnt watch them. He was the boss.

I thot about standing up but I was feeling creeky. Also I thot that if I stood up the boss guy wuld nock me down and if I stayed sitting then he wuldnt. And if he nocked me over when I was sitting down then I wuldnt fall as far. Anyway I stayed down. He stood in front of me and asked questions about Mr Clean. At least thats what I thot he said.

Who? I asked.

I wasnt sure I herd rite. He talked English ok but with an axent. He missed some words and he said other ones kind of funny.

The guy on TV? I said. The bald guy?

I am not knowing if he is on TV said the boss. He waved his hands around when he talked. His voice made me want to clear my throat.

He wanted to know where he kept things.

Mr Clean? I said again to make sure. It really didnt make sense.

Yes Mr Clean he said. Where would Mr Clean keep things?

He pounded one hand into the other like it was a baseball glove. He turned and said something to the other 2 guys.

Yes Yes they said nodding. Mr Clean. Mr Clean.

They were all talking together.

It was cold in the basement. We wore parkas and our breaths made clouds.

I tried to remember the last time I saw Mr Clean on TV. He was bent over and he was rubbing a stove and making it shine. The woman with him was smiling. It was all pretty lame.

Hes got a bucket I said. He keeps stuff in there. Sponges and cleaning stuff.

They wernt interested in Mr Cleans bucket.

Somewhere else said the boss. Where does he keep papers?

I felt dum witch I am used to. I wished Spencer was there to xplain what they wanted. Hes smart and good at xplaining. He xplained what was going on at the cottage when we found the pictures and stuff. I didnt know why DJ was so xited until Spencer xplained to me.

I did my best here.

Mr Clean doesnt have any papers I said. Xept maybe a coop on. Do you mean a coop on? By 1 and get 1 free? I think he has those. What papers do you want?

And then he said—the boss guy said it and the others nodded there heads like they were saying uh huh—he said The Anthem. With capital letters like that—like it was important and I shuld no it. Like it ment something.

The Anthem.

I nodded. I no what the anthem is.

O Canada I said.

Cause that is our anthem. We had to learn the words in French and English in Grade 4. I remember some of them. Carton brass a ton eh something Il say portay la craw. Or something. Pretty cool. Something about a cross witch is not the same as in English. In English we stand on gard a lot.

OK I said. Mr Clean has the anthem and you want to know where he wuld keep it. Rite?

When you put it like that it sounds dum eh? It sounded dum when I said it. But the boss guy nodded his red mask and said Yes yes yes. And the other 2 guys nodded there black masks. And then the door opened and Vi came in.

This was the first time I saw her. She didnt have a mask. And she said my name.

Hi Bunny she said. Im Vi.

Hi I said. I stood up. It seemed like the rite thing to do. So there we all were standing up in the basement. It culd of been a party but there was no snacks and we all had our coats on.

I was hungry and I wanted to go to the bathroom. No wait—I wanted to go to the bathroom first.

Vi was tuff but pretty. You know. Like she wuld fite you and look good doing it. Her parka was fluffy.

Hows our hoss stage? she asked me.

What?

Thats what you are Bunny she said.

Oh I said.

I didnt know what a hoss stage was then. I do now.

Vi was the first 1 who called me by name. Later they all did but she was the first. And she talked normal. Like me I mean or Spencer or DJ or the Creekside guys. She didnt have an axent is what I am saying.

Has Bunny told us anything? Vi asked. Has he helped us?

Hes going to help us now said the big boss guy with the red mask. He is going to tell us where is the anthem. Arent you Bunny?

He said my name a bit different from her. Vi said Bunny like I do. He was more like Bun neee.

That is what we want said Vi. Where wuld your grampa keep the anthem?

What? I said. Is this about Grampa? My grampa?

Of course she said. Your grampa has our anthem and we want it back.

Oh I said.

David McLean is your grampa rite? she said.

Not any more I said. He dyed. But he was my grampa and that was his name.

The guys in the black masks were nodding and saying McLean McLean. I got it now. They wernt asking about Mr Clean. They didnt care about him or his bucket.

I xplained the mistake to the boss guy—mixing up Mr Clean and Grampa.

I didnt understand you I said.

He got mad and pushed me. My legs were still feeling num and I fell down hard and hurt my sholder.

Careful! said Vi.

You are stupid! he shouted at me.

I know—I shuld not of stood up I said.