Amos and the Alien by Gary Paulsen Page A

his clippers. “Where was I? Oh yeah. ‘She loves me not. She loves me.…’ ”
    “They’ll probably name the meteorite we find after us. The Culpepper-Binder meteorite.”
    Amos stopped. “Would they do that? Name it after us, I mean?”
    “They always name famous discoveries after the people who discover them.”
    “That would make us sorta famous, wouldn’t it?” Amos dropped the clippers and edged toward his bike.
    “Maybe.”
    “And Melissa might hear about it.…”
    “If it’s a big enough find, we’ll at least be on the local news. They might even put our picture in the encyclopedia.”
    “What are we waiting around here for?” Amos jumped on his bike and powered down the street. At the end of the block, he turnedand rode back. “Where
is
this meteorite, anyway?”
    “Didn’t I mention that part?”
    “No.”
    “It’s not too far from here.”
    “Dunc.”
    “Okay. I think it landed on the other side of the waterfront.”
    Amos closed his eyes and sighed. “The waterfront? Are you sure?”
    Dunc nodded.
    “You know I hate that place! It’s full of rats and winos and people who aren’t happy unless they can rearrange the parts of your body.”
    “It’ll be okay this time. We’ll ride right through, cross the bridge, and come out on the other side. No problem.”
    Amos thought about it. “You could be wrong about where it landed. After all, it was probably moving kinda fast.”
    “I tracked it.”
    Amos sighed again. “Of course you did. Tell me, how come you’re the only one who knows anything about this? They didn’t even mention it on the local news.”
    “Pure luck. I was looking through my telescope around twelve thirty last night—”
    “What were you doing up at twelve thirty? If Coach knew about that, he’d be all over you.”
    “I had a good reason. It was a clear night, and I was searching for a white dwarf.”
    “Right. And how about the tooth fairy?”
    “Amos, a white dwarf is the technical name for a star that’s losing its light and slowly fading away.”
    “If you say so. But what does this have to do with me risking my life down near the waterfront?”
    “Like I said, I was searching for this white dwarf that night when I saw the meteorite. At least, I think it was a meteorite. I heard a whistling noise and saw a light when it hit the ground.”
    “You mean you’re not sure? You want me to put my life on the line for a hunk of rock, and you’re not even sure if that’s what you saw?”
    “Have I ever steered you wrong before?”
    Amos looked at him.
    “Recently?”
    Amos waited.
    “Okay, since yesterday. But when I suggested you go back to the gym to find your lost gym shorts, how was I supposed to know the girls’ choir would be practicing in there? And it was your idea to wrap that towel around you because you were too lazy to get dressed. Besides, who would have thought Ms. Fishbeck would accuse you of dropping your towel on purpose?”
    Amos turned his bike and started pedaling in the opposite direction—hard.
    “Wait up, Amos! This time it’ll be different! Trust me!”

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    “Hey, Dunc. Did you see that big guy with the patch over his eye by the dock?”
    “Keep going, Amos. Don’t look at him.”
    “I’m not sure, but I think he just insulted your whole family.”
    “Don’t pay any attention. We’re almost there.”
    “You won’t forget what you promised to name it?”
    “How could I forget? It was the only way you’d agree to come with me. I still think the Binder Blockbuster is kind of an unusual name for a meteorite, though.”
    Amos rode across the bridge. “Okay, where is it?”
    “It should be right around here somewhere. You look over in that direction. If you find a big rock sitting in an even bigger hole, that’s it.”
    Amos headed toward the trees.
A big rock and a hole in the ground. That shouldn’t be too hard.…
    “Ummmfff.” Amos ran his bike into a wall—or what felt like a wall. “Uh, Dunc. You