Inside The Outsiders
Chapter 10
Lost Chasing Birds
After school started again in September, Mrs. Curtis didn't know who was growing faster, Ponyboy or the puppy. Pony was only five, but he was growing like a weed. Every day it seemed, he ate a lot more, and he grew almost 3 inches in a month. Soda and Darry were growing as well, but it almost felt like Pony was growing twice as fast as the both of them combine.
Pony seemed to enjoy school. He made a few new close friends, and bugged his mother almost every day to have them over to his house, or the other way around.
He was still very shy, but every day they noticed that he was coming more and more out of his shell. He was also very into reading and writing. He would take picture books with him everywhere, and his teacher often had to tell him to pay attention, because he would read during class.
He was also a very curious child. Always asking questions and wondering why certain things did what they did. He liked learning new things, and his mother had to keep an eye on him, to prevent him from wandering off when he was playing in the front yard.
One day, Pony was bored. He was laying on the floor in the living room, rolling over this way and that, sighing every once in awhile.
"Mommmmmmmmmmmyy!" He called, in a somewhat whiney tone.
Mrs. Curtis sighed and came into the living room.
"Yes dear?" She asked.
"I'm bored!" He complained.
"Where's Soda?" She asked. "Why don't you play with him for awhile?"
"Soda's out at Alyssa's house. Darry's gone somewhere's, and daddy's outside busy. The dog is ignoring me, and you're making supper. I have no one to play with." Pony said, rolling over once again, so he was looking at him mother upside down.
"Well, what about one of your little friends from school? What's that one boy's name? Ted? Tad?"
"Todd." Pony said quietly. "He's busy on Saturday's. He plays baseball." He replied.
"Oh. Do you like baseball, Pony?" Mrs. Curtis asked, now leaning against the kitchen door.
"No. I only like running. All the boys laugh at me in Gym class, because I can't hit a ball." Pony said.
"I bet if you did hit it, you'd be the fastest base runner there." His mother said, smiling at him.
"I guess so." Pony said. "Mommy?" He said, after another pause.
"Yes, sweetie?"
"I'm still bored." He said.
"Well, why don't you go outside for awhile and play with some of those trucks that daddy found the other day. There's lots of mud out there though, so wear some old clothes, please." Mrs. Curtis said, walking back into the kitchen.
Pony went to him room, and took out the oldest clothes he could find, and put them on. He looked around the house for Pluto, and soon found him fast asleep in the corner. He didn't bother trying to wake him up, so he just went outside alone.
He found the toys in a pile beside the garage, and took them all over to the biggest pile of mud.
Mrs. Curtis had made a good call telling Pony to wear something old, because within five minutes, Pony was covered with mud.
Mr. Curtis came from around the side of the house, presumably done whatever work he had been doing. He spotted Pony playing, and walked part way over to him.
"Hey Ponyboy, I hope those are old clothes." He called.
Pony turned to look at his father and nodded. "Don't worry, they are. Mommy told me to where them."
"Ok, that's good. I'm going in now, ok? Stay in the yard." He said, and went in the house.
Pony did stay in the yard. To be honest, he was having too much fun where he was, to even think about straying away.
About an hour later, Pony decided he was bored again, and this time, he stood up from where he was, and wandered down to the gate that blocked off the road from the house. He kneeled down next to it, and pulled at the long piece of grass that was sticking in through one of the holes.
He wondered soon if he was tall enough to reach the latch on the gate. He had never been able to do it before, but he hadn't tried since the Spring. He carefully reached up and pulled at the latch. He didn't know how to open it, but he'd seen his father do it a couple of times. After about 5 minutes of trying, he finally managed to get it open. He stood before an open world, that he never dared to enter alone before this.
He took a cautious step out of the gate, and found himself full of wonder. He walked farther and farther away from his house, not even noticing. He was soon chasing a bird that was hopping along on the pavement.
Back at the Curtis house, Mr. Curtis was sitting down at the table for dinner, and Mrs. Curtis was serving it up. Soda had come home, and was carrying on a conversation with the dog, who was eagerly laying down beside his chair, and wondering what table scraps he would get. Darry was still over at Kaley's , studying for a test, and would not be home for supper.
"Soda, can you go outside and call Pony in for supper please?" Mrs. Curtis asked.
"Sure. Come on Pluto, lets go find Pony." He said, and got up from his seat.
He headed out the front door, and noticed that the wind was picking up. He looked around the house, and saw the trucks that Pony had been playing with, but Pony was not with them.
"Pony!" He called. No one answered.
"Pony, where are you? It's supper time!" He called again. Still no answer.
He ran around the house several times, and still finding no sign of Pony, he went back inside, just as a small thunder clap bellowed overhead.
"Mom, Pony's not outside." He said, coming into the kitchen.
"What? He has to be. He was there not 10 minutes ago. I looked through the window and saw him." Mr. Curtis said, standing up in a hurry.
"Oh no. Where is he? You're sure you looked everywhere?" Mrs. Curtis asked.
"Positive. Mom, he's not there." Soda replied, starting to look slightly worried.
"The weather's getting pretty bad out there. TV said we were in for a big storm tonight."
"Well, then lets find Pony before…"
"Grace!" Mr. Curtis shouted.
"What? What's wrong?" Grace asked, coming over to the window where her husband was standing looking out.
"The gate's open. I know I closed it when I came in. Pony must have opened it, which means that he's out of the yard." He said.
Grace's eyes went wide. "Oh no! Darrell, we have to find him now." She said, grabbing her jacket out of the closet, and putting on her shoes.
"Soda, you stay here. The last thing I want is for Pony to come home and see that we're all gone and wander off again. Ok?" His father asked.
"O..Ok." Soda stammered, looking downright scared.
Mr. And Mrs. Curtis left the house in a hurry, and Soda was left alone with Pluto, anxiously staring out the window.
"It's gonna be ok boy. They'll find him, don't worry." Soda said, patting Pluto on the head, to which he responded with a lick on the hand.
Mr. and Mrs. Curtis ran through the open gate and onto the road. The sky was starting to get dark, and they knew they didn't have much time to find Pony before the sun went down. They started running faster.
"Where would he go, Grace?" Mr. Curtis called to his wife.
"Darrell, he's a six-year-old boy, he could go anywhere!" She called back.
Meanwhile, Pony, not even noticing the darkening sky, had lost track of the bird, and had started to walk back the way he came. The only problem was, he didn't know which way that was. He knew the neighborhood fairly well, but mostly from the back of a car. He had hardly ever walked through it, and when he did, he was never alone, and didn't pay attention to him surroundings very much.
When he realized he was lost, he started to panic. As much as he told himself not to, he did anyway. He didn't know anyone is this area, and there were lots of weird noises around, that he had never heard before. Every time a lightning flash pierced the darkening sky, followed by a loud clap of thunder, Pony grew more and more worried.
Back at the Curtis house, Soda was now sitting on the couch with Pluto beside him, and a pillow over each ear. He was not normally scared of thunder and lightning, but he had never been alone in a storm before. He wished that his parents would hurry up and find Pony, so they could come home. Or even if Darry could come home, he would feel safe. But, right now, he didn't feel safe, he felt very scared.
Mr. and Mrs. Curtis were picking up they're speed with every passing minute. They had already searched half the neighborhood, and there was still no sign of Pony. Mrs. Curtis was growing frantic, and her mind raced with terrible thoughts of what could have happened to him. She swiftly pushed them to the back of her mind, and focused on her task.
Mr. Curtis was shining the flashlight he had brought along up and down the road. He only managed to pick up a stray cat in it's strong beam.
Pony was growing more and more panicked with every step he took. He didn't know a thing about where he was, and worst of all, he didn't know how to get back.
He stopped in front of a house, and sat down on the curb. He was starting to cry, but tried desperately to hold the tears back.
"Pony?" A voice called from behind him.
Pony turned around and came face to face with Two Bit.
"Two Bit! I'm glad to see you!" He said, standing up and running over to him.
"What in the world are you doing all the way over here? And by yourself no less!" Two Bit said.
"I…I got lost. I was playing, and I opened the gate, and chased a bird and ended up here." Pony said, through sobs.
Two Bit had not understood the concept of Pony's sentence, but got the idea that he was lost.
"Ok, come on inside, and we'll call your house." He said, ushering him towards the inviting warmth of his house.
Pony went inside, and sat down on the couch, while Two Bit picked up the phone and dialed his number.
Soda jumped when he heard the phone ring, and ran to get it.
"Hello?" He asked.
"Soda? It's Two Bit. Listen, I found your brother. I have him in my house. Says he got lost. Are your parents around?"
"No, they're out looking for him." Soda said.
"Oh, well. If they come back before they get here, tell them that I've got Pony. I'd bring him home, but my dad has the truck, and my mom can't drive me anywhere." Two Bit said.
"Ok, thanks Two Bit. I'll tell them. Is Pony ok?" Soda asked.
"Yea, he's fine. Just a little shook up is all. He'll be jut fine. I'll see you later kid." Two Bit replied.
"Bye." Soda said, and hung up the phone.
Five minutes later, Mr. and Mrs. Curtis came bursting through the front door.
"Soda, we can't find him. We're going to call the police."
"Mom…" Soda started.
"Don't worry, I'm sure he's fine."
"Mom!"
"What?" Mrs. Curtis asked, stopping in mid sentence to look at her son.
"Mom, Pony's at Two Bit's house. He just called and told me. He's perfectly fine." Soda said, almost laughing.
"Oh, thank goodness." Mrs. Curtis said, breathing a sigh of relief.
"How in the world did he get all the way over there?" Mr. Curtis asked, grabbing the keys from the table.
"Must have tried to find his way home, and just ended up farther away than he thought." Soda replied, feeling smart.
"Well, I'll go get him." Mr. Curtis said.
After Mr. Curtis left, Mrs. Curtis sat down on the couch with Soda.
"I'm really proud of you." She said. "You were very brave staying home all by yourself, and in a thunder storm as well."
"Yeah. I wasn't scared." Soda replied.
A thunder clap bellowed overhead, and Soda jumped into his mother's arms. After it died down, he looked up at her and grinned.
"Well, I wasn't scared much." He said, and his mother laughed.
Mr. Curtis came home with Pony a few minutes later, and as soon as they got in the door, Pony ran to the couch and threw his arms around his mother.
"Mommy, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to wander off, I was just playing." He wailed.
"It's ok. It's ok Pony. I'm just so glad you're alright." Mrs. Curtis said.
Everyone was seated on the couch hugging each other. Even the dog was involved.
The front door suddenly opened, and a very wet Darry stepped inside. He saw every one on the couch, and stopped in his tracks.
"Hey guys. What'd I miss?"
Hey guys. Please R&R!
Jess