Chapter Twenty Two DARKNESS STILL LIFE A SCRATCH Chapter Twenty Three TEARS LAUGHTER DREAMING Chapter Twenty Four ONE BROTHER TWO BIKES THREE ACES Chapter Twenty Five DREAMS PROMISES ME
Chapter ONE BAD NEWS A MEAN MAILMAN HIS NEW VAN After barely a month of work the post office fired me Even though Reverend Prospero didn't use the word fired and he assured me that I was good at my job it didn't change the fact that I was no longer the mailman in Applecross Come with me boy Reverend Prospero said He gestured as if politely inviting me inside but it felt more like he was pushing me along Let's go talk to Jules
Then again Reverend Prospero wasn't completely aware of his own strength At almost six feet six inches tall he was the kind of man you wouldn't argue with His wild eyes and loud voice didn't encourage dissent either Come on Patches I told my dog He immediately bounded after us The person we were going to see Jules was the real mailman in Applecross the one I'd been covering for We delivered letters to all the farms on the mainland and sometimes even on the islands Often the addresses were wrong which meant I'd have to bike all the way to the other side of the bay to deliver them Except for the locals the world didn't seem to have the slightest idea where Applecross was I can't blame them though Applecross is a small village in the northern part of Scotland There is just one road that leads to us and on that road there's a sign that reads Watch out danger ahead Do not drive on this road if
you aren't familiar with it No it's not a joke that sign actually exists But that summer the real danger didn't come from driving on our roads though that could be fatal near the rocks of Small Peak And it wasn't even because of all nineteen sharp turns along the way nor because of the rabbits crossing the road whenever they heard cars coming no one knows why our rabbits seem to love engines but they do It's not even because of the fog that can come so thick so quickly that it blocks your entire view of the road So what was the real danger you ask Jules the mailman I'd taken over Jules's mail route that summer because he twisted his ankle while riding his bicycle He didn't get a lot of sympathy for his injury because well he's a cranky guy And lazy Case in point in the four weeks I covered for him I delivered more mail than he had in the previous six months
