Colin's Eagle: Book 1 In the Friendship Series

By Cassyashton Porter

His best friend has moved away, Billy Tucker, the school bully, picks on him, and his overprotective parents won't even let him have a dog! It's no wonder fifth-grader Colin Masterson spends his afternoons lying on his back in his parents hay fields, watching a golden eagle flying free in the wide Montana sky. Colin finds his private world invaded by a new girl in school, red-haired Janet Mitchell who shows Colin how to deal with Billy Tucker, and even encourages the two boys to become friends. When the boys discover the eagle lying unconscious in a snow bank in Colin`s back yard one snowy afternoon, and the new friends must learn to set aside any differences they still have for each other if they have any hope of finding their way back to the warmth and comfort of Colin's home.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Apr 18, 2016
• ISBN: 9781365056338

Book preview

Colin's Eagle: Book 1 In the Friendship Series

Colin’s Eagle:

Book 1 in the Friendship series

by

Cassyashton Porter

Illustrated by J.M. Dubry

C2004

Chapter One

The twelve O’clock bell clanged, dismissing the students for lunch. While Colin Masterson’s class dashed from the room, hurry-scurry, Colin slowly gathered his books, shoved them into his desk, and dragged himself from his homeroom. None of the kids in his fifth grade class paid attention to him, and his best friend Barry Holmestead had moved away two months before school started.

Colin sighed as he wrapped his hand around the cafeteria doorknob and pulled open the heavy wooden door. He stepped inside and ploughed through groups of children as he headed to the lunch line. After choosing macaroni and cheese, his favourite lunch, he inched his way to a table and sat down. He had just opened his carton of milk when a soaked paper napkin slapped him hungrily on the back of his neck, followed by taunting snickers, but Colin did his best to ignore them and wiped his neck with a napkin. While he thirstily gulped down his milk, a girl who had just sat down next to him, introduced herself.

Hi, I’m Janet Mitchell. I just moved here last week. I’m in your homeroom. You’re Colin, right?

Yeah, Colin quickly replied as he continued eating. Janet looked at his plate.

Is that mac and cheese good? I’m having the meatloaf. Janet took a bite of her lunch, chewed slowly and raised her eyebrows thoughtfully as she swallowed. Hey, it’s not as bad I heard it was, she said.  Want to try it?

Colin shook his head.

You don’t talk much, do you? asked Janet.

Colin shook his head. This conversation was making him nervous. He dipped his fork into his mac and cheese and lifted it to his mouth. But Janet, demanding his attention, playfully nudged him with her elbow and the pasta dropped limply from the fork and landed in Colin’s lap.

Colin scoffed.  Look what you made me do! He snapped, as he picked up the slimy pasta and dropped it onto his plate.  Disgusted, he pushed the plate aside, turned away from Janet and planted his chin in his left palm that was now propped up on the table by his elbow.

Janet’s smile faded and the freckles on her face melted back into themselves. I’m sorry, she said. I only wanted your attention.

So you hit me?

I didn’t hit you, I nudged you. But I said I was sorry. Janet stifled a laugh, but Colin heard the snicker.

That’s right, laugh at me, he chided. Just like everyone else in this school.

I wasn’t laughing at you, said Janet, But the look on your face was funny. Colin ignored her and remained fixed with his head against his hand.

Janet continued eating and was down to her last bite when she decided to offer it to Colin.  She tapped him gently on the shoulder and said.  Are you sure you don’t want to try some?  It’s really good.

No, I don’t, so bug off!

You don’t have to be so huffy, said Janet. She finished the last bite and pushed her tray to the side.

Colin swung around and for the first time since Janet sat down he noticed that she had red hair and freckles, but sky-blue eyes.  This surprised him, because he thought all red-headed people had reddish-brown eyes. Then, thinking about his own blonde hair and hazel-coloured eyes, Colin began to think that Janet’s combination wasn’t so strange after all. 

I’m not being huffy, he said in reply to her comment.  I just don’t like being picked on all the time.  Would you?

No, I wouldn’t, said Janet, but when I am teased I just tell the jerk to bug off or I’ll deck ‘im, and he usually does.

Yeah, easier said than done, he retorted.

No, it isn’t, she replied, and proceeded to explain how she got another kid to stop picking on her.

Colin was staring more intently at Janet as she talked, without really listening to what she was saying.  A few moments later Janet waved her hand in front of his face to get his attention and said.

Hello?  Earth to Colin.

Huh?  What? said Colin, clearly in his own world.

I just asked if you were hungry.  You didn’t finish your lunch, and lunch break is almost over.

Colin sighed. I was, but not anymore. I had a wet napkin slap me on the neck, then you laugh at me for dropping my lunch in my lap. Colin stood, picked up his tray and pointed to Janet’s.  Are you done? He asked.

Yeah, Janet replied.  She stood up and went to pick up her tray, but Colin stopped her.

I’ll get it, he said. Colin emptied the trays and set them on top of the trashcan. He turned to leave and found himself staring into Janet’s sky-blue eyes. When the bell clanged announcing the end of lunch, Janet wrapped her arm around Colin’s.

Walk back to class with me, said Janet, and without waiting for a reply she dragged Colin from the lunch- room and back to their classroom.

As they entered the room Colin pulled his arm free and hurried to his desk. Behind him he heard whispers from some of his classmates, and guessed they were whispering about Janet and him. He tried to ignore them, as Janet had suggested, but a hidden tear still stole down his cheek. Colin leaned against his desk, his face hidden against his arm.

Colander’s got a girlfriend, jeered Billy Tucker. And it’s the red-head.

Janet shot Billy a deadly look. Sitting a row away from Colin she leaned across her desk. Don’t let him bug you. Just remember to laugh with them.

Colin sat up and wiped away the crusty feeling left by his tears. Just then Mrs. Williams entered and instant silence filled the room. She approached the chalkboard and began writing the afternoon’s assignment, which gave Colin a chance to glance at Janet. He ignored the stares of his classmates as he mouthed the word thanks to her, in the hope that he looked sincere and grateful for her support. But the cruelly meant words struck Colin too deeply, and despite Janet’s goodwill and friendship, to Colin the hurt was already done.

Chapter Two

The rest of the school day dragged by slowly for Colin. When the three o’clock bell rang, Colin crammed his books into his book bag, sprang from his desk, and squished into the pile of children in front of the door. He waited impatiently as Mrs. Williams tidied her desk and put away her notes. Then she scooped her night’s work of papers and tests into her arms and squeezed her way to the front of the line of anxious students.

I’m very proud of every one of you, children, she said, smiling. Theresa Williams knew her students couldn’t wait to leave by the way they danced and fidgeted from foot to foot. Have a good night. I’ll see you in the morning.

Mrs. Williams stepped aside to allow her students to pass.  She chuckled as they swarmed like bees into the hallway to mingle with their friends, as they headed for home or to the patiently waiting school buses idling near the front of the school.

Colin quickly said goodbye to Janet and dashed to his bus. When he was dropped off at his driveway, Colin raced up to his house and bolted into the kitchen, the screen door slamming shut behind him. He tossed his book bag on the floor then rummaged around the hutch drawer for his binoculars. His mother, hearing the door slam, entered the kitchen to greet her son. She smiled lovingly as she watched Colin run crazily around the kitchen as he looked for an afternoon snack.

Slow down, Colin, she said. How was your day?

It was all right, replied Colin. He gave his mother a quick peck on the cheek. And I can’t slow down. I have to get to the fields to see Misty.

Colin gulped down a glass of milk he had poured for himself, grabbed an apple and excitedly dashed out the door.

As he sprinted across the back yard he heard his mother call behind him.

Be home before dark!

I will, Colin called back as he stepped up his pace. When he reached the hayfields that covered most of his family’s ranch, Colin tossed the apple