Spiders on the Case by Kathryn Lasky Page B

like the exterminators who are coming tomorrow.”
    Buster felt something quicken in his spinnerets. He had been waiting a long time to hear the story of the Place Where Time Has Stopped.
    â€œRight, and what did I answer?”
    â€œYou said” — Julep’s voice grew very tiny — “that this was not the Place Where Time Has Stopped, but you thought we were getting closer.”
    â€œYes. I truly believe that. It is our destiny, but before we reach that place, we must endure some travails.”
    â€œWhat are travails?” asked Julep.
    â€œHard and sometimes painful times,” Edith replied.
    â€œEnough already!” Felix blurted out. “I already lost one leg, remember. I might not be able to regrow it again if I lose another. I’m heavy in the travails department.”
    â€œWe’ll get there. I have faith. Faith in all of you. Children, you are brave, inventive, honest, and so smart.”
    Does she mean me, too? Buster wondered.
    â€œSo I think this evening it would be appropriate if our webtime story was ‘The Story of the Place Where Time Has Stopped.’ For it is a story of hope.”
    Edith tucked her fangs in neatly and, settling herself into a corner of the web, began to speak in that somewhat hazy webtime story voice that seemed to come from gauzy blue mists of time.
    â€œThere is a place far, far away. Some say it is a grand mansion, some say it is a small cabin in the woods, some say it is across an ocean,” Edith began. Buster looked over at the three young spiders. He could see that they knew this story so well that they were repeating every word silently to themselves. Oh, he was envious of them. All he knew were words from books. No one had ever told him a story like this one. What would he do when they left? It was hard to imagine life without them! He closed his eyes and listened on.

A nd so I don’t know how to put it.” Buster sighed. “But my life has never been as complete as when you and your family arrived here at the Boston Public Library.”
    Jo Bell considered as Buster finished his little speech. Of course she wanted him to come along, but she couldn’t help but remember how he had shouted, “Venom! Use your venom, Jo Bell!” The words had haunted her.
    Ever since that fateful moment on Agnes Smoot’s bangs, she had asked herself if Buster really liked her. Liked her for herself and not just her venom. She looked at him now almost shyly, with only three of her six eyes. What if he just wants a crime buster and not a friend — not a girl friend? She took a deep breath and began to speak.
    â€œI realize you have to leave, too. But do you want to come with us?” Jo Bell stammered out the question.
    â€œOh, Jo Bell!” It was Edith, peeking around the corner of a web at the other end of the display case where Buster and Jo Bell were talking. “I think that’s a wonderful idea. Buster is part of the family now.”
    â€œYes, yes, but, Mom, could I have a few minutes alone with Buster? I need to ask him something — something private.”
    â€œOf course, dear.”
    As soon as Edith left, Buster blurted out, “Something private? What, Jo Bell? What?”
    â€œWell, perhaps ‘personal’ is a better word.”
    â€œWhat is it?”
    â€œLook, this is difficult for me to say. But do you like me for me, and not just for … well, you know, my venom?”
    Buster looked confused.
    Yikes, boys are stupid! thought Jo Bell.
    She took a deep breath. “I want a real friendship, not just to be your partner in solving crimes. I want a real friend, Buster. I have a mom, a sister, a brother, but I still need a plain, wonderful friend.”
    â€œHow could you think it was just your fangs?” Buster gasped. “You thought up the whole idea of the hieroglyphics and the dragnet. You were the mastermind and you did it without fangs or venom. You