The Great Bike Rescue

By Hazel Hutchins

The summer is off to a lousy start when Levi's bike is stolen from outside the corner store. He feels even worse because he didn't lock it. But when his best friend Riley's locked bike is stolen the very next day, the boys are determined to get both of them back. When they discover there has been a string of bicycle thefts in the area, the friends hatch several plans to find the culprit. There are so many potential suspects—Steve Morrow and his gang, the tattooed guy who sits at the bus stop, the owners of the secondhand-bike store. There's also Emily Grimshaw, Levi's childhood nemesis, who keeps popping up and showing a peculiar interest in the thefts. Does she really want to help or is she involved somehow? And will Levi and Riley ever see their beloved bikes again?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
• Release date: Oct 1, 2013
• ISBN: 9781459804807

Hazel Hutchins

From her home in the mountain town of Canmore, Alberta, Hazel has written over forty books for children of all ages. She gives lively presentations at schools and libraries across Canada. For more information, visit www.hazelhutchins.net.

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The Great Bike Rescue

The Great Bike Rescue

HAZEL HUTCHINS

ORCA BOOK PUBLISHERS

Text copyright © 2013 Hazel Hutchins

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in

any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,

recording or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be

invented, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Hutchins, H. J. (Hazel J.)

The great bike rescue [electronic resource] / Hazel Hutchins.

(Orca young readers)

Electronic monograph.

Issued also in print format.

ISBN 978-1-4598-0479-1 (PDF).--ISBN 978-1-4598-0480-7 (EPUB)

I. Title. II. Series: Orca young readers (Online)

PS 8565.U826G74 2013       jC813'.54       C2013-901903-0

First published in the United States, 2013

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013935388

Summary: Levi and Riley are determined to find out who’s behind a recent string of

bicycle thefts after their own bikes are stolen.

Orca Book Publishers gratefully acknowledges the support for its publishing programs

provided by the following agencies: the Government of Canada through the

Canada Book Fund and the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Province of

British Columbia through the BC Arts Council and the Book Publishing Tax Credit.

Cover artwork by Laura Bifano

Author photo by Gaston Maqueda

www.orcabook.com

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Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter One

It only takes a minute for a great summer to turn into something else entirely.

Levi! Come outside—quick!

My friend Riley almost spilled his slushie rushing back into the corner store. His eyes were round. His face was flushed. He was in a panic. But it wasn’t the fear kind of panic. It was something else.

What’s wrong? I asked.

I was still paying for my own slushie at the counter. And I wasn’t worried about Riley. Riley likes excitement. He even exaggerates things in order to have something to get excited about.

Your bike, said Riley. It’s gone!

The clerk leaned back, his eyes seeking a gap between the sea of ads and posters that were plastered across the full-length windows of the storefront. He squinted as he looked out at the sidewalk.

A lot of bikes have been lifted from out front lately, he said.

I had to think about what he meant by the word lifted. Lifted up? Lifted over? Suddenly I understood.

Stolen? You mean someone stole my bike? I asked.

The clerk shrugged.

It wouldn’t be the first time, he said.

I raced outside. My bike had been leaning against a narrow pillar between the front windows. It wasn’t there now. I could see it wasn’t there. Riley kept telling me, See? It’s not there, it’s not anywhere. But still, I kept right on looking.

Two wheels. Knobby tires. Silver and black frame. My bike isn’t the newest bike in the world, or the fanciest bike in the world, but it’s a great bike. It’s my bike! I stared as hard as I could at the place it had been. I was trying to make my bike appear before me. Nope. Didn’t happen.

Something inside me started going thump, thump, thump, and a weird kind of energy was taking over. Do something! Find your bike! I felt like I was running in circles even though I was hardly moving at all.

I looked up and down Battersby Street. No bike.

I looked in the hidden doorway, the locked one the store doesn’t use. No bike.

I looked around the corner. No bike.

I looked at Riley, hoping against hope.

Did you take it? Just to fool me? I asked. Please tell me you took it.

Nope. I didn’t take it, said Riley. He shoved his slushie into my free hand and began to unlock his own bike from the light post.

I’ll check the alleys and the cross streets, he said. Super Riley to the rescue!

He took off around the corner, pedaling like crazy. I couldn’t just stand there! I raced inside and set both slushies on the counter.

I’ll be back, I said.

I was out of the store before the clerk could answer. I raced across Battersby and headed in the opposite direction from Riley.

I went down the alley. Look for a thief on a bike. I ran again.

Running didn’t feel nearly fast enough, but I kept running anyway. Riley would be able to circle around a bigger area, but at least I could cover some of it.

I turned the corner. Look for my bike. I ran like crazy some more. Turned another corner. Run. I heard the squeak of bike brakes, and Riley pulled up beside me.

Any si… I had to stop and gulp for air. Any sign at all?

Riley shook his head. He’d been riding hard and needed a moment to catch his own breath.

Nothing, he said. I looked everywhere. Whoever took it is long gone.

He swung off his bike and bumped it up onto the sidewalk. We walked back to the store together. Riley pushed his bike. I didn’t push mine.

An entire ocean of feelings was washing over me. Disbelief. Outrage. Even a crazy kind of hope as we passed a lady walking a dog and asked if she’d seen a black and silver bike.

Nope.

And beneath it all, there was a familiar feeling. A rotten and familiar feeling. I’d had stuff stolen before. It was four years ago when I was just a little six-year-old kid, even before Riley and I became friends.