"Wow," said Henry, staring up. Everyone agreed: the wall was "wow." It looked like something from another place and time, ancient and mysterious, leaning over them. They just stood. Gaping. Up. "It's so big," said Roy after a while. "What do you think it was ? I mean, what did it start out as, back when it was built?" "A castle!" Emma answered right away with absolute certainty. "A big giant castle. For when people needed to hide from Indians and wolves and for olden-time princesses to stay in when they visited Iowa." "Mmmmm. More likely a farmhouse," said Susan. "I don't think there are a lot of castles in Iowa, Em-" "Actually, Susan," said Roy, "I don't think a farmhouse makes any more sense than a castle. It's too huge for a house. Plus, if it were part of a house, it'd have some windows in it, right? And maybe a door?" They all looked up and agreed that the wall didn't have any windows in it, or doors either. Susan frowned. "Maybe it was a really enormous barn?" Roy guessed. "But it doesn't matter much. The big question is, what can we do with it?" The others agreed. Clearly, something so interesting and rare needed to be put to good use. "I guess it could be a kind of fort," said Susan at last, "if we leaned some branches against it, maybe. But they'd have to be really long branches." "And where would we get the branches from?" asked Roy, thinking practically. "Drag them from town?" "Who cares!" said Henry impatiently. "We can figure out what to do with it later. In the meantime, we should claim it." "Claim it?" asked Emma. "Yeah, Em. Like when someone finds a planet or walks on the moon or something. Or back in pioneer days, when they staked out homesteads in the Wild West. It's our wall now. We found it, and we need to claim it before someone else does. Right, Roy?" "We can if you want to." Roy nodded thoughtfully. "Although technically it belongs to whoever owns this field." Henry ignored this comment. Roy was his best friend and always had been, but sometimes it was necessary to ignore Roy in the name of fun. Henry wished his friend could understand that "technically" didn't always matter. "But what are we going to claim it with ?" Henry asked. "We should have a flag or a sign or something, a way to let people know that it's our wall. What have you guys got?" They all emptied their pockets. Henry had half a pack of very pungent bubble gum (the same gum that had left his hair a sticky mess), a handful of change, a crumpled dollar bill, the cell phone his mother made him carry, and a red rubber ball. Emma found one of the green handlebar tassels from her new bike (already pulled loose), a smiling-tooth sticker from the dentist's office, and another crumpled dollar bill. Susan found a tube of sparkle lip gloss, ten dollars (emergency money), a cell phone nobody ever had to remind her to carry, and a barrette. Roy found a funny looking rock, a compass, and a mouse skull, which is not nearly as gross as it sounds. He pulled the skull out last, and it gleamed fragile and white in his hand. "I don't know how we can make a sign or a flag with any of this stuff," said Henry, "but that "-he pointed at the skull-"gives me another idea. You know what would be awesome?" The others did not know, so Henry told them. "We should have some kind of ceremony. Make a sacrifice and say a prayer of thanks, like wh Excerpted from Any Which Wall by Laurel Snyder All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
