Wait Sorry That looks wrong You can only see Niles in that picture That is because they are in the middle of a prank Here is a picture from five minutes earlier Much better Here we go 4
Chapter 2 IT WAS SUNDAY It was autumn Miles and Niles wearing very large coats sat side by side near the back of the number three bus The three ran by Niles’s house on Buttercream Buttercream Lane out past a pasture owned by Bob Barkin which is where they were headed Normally they would have just rid den their bikes but today they were carrying a bunch of stuff Beneath their coats between the two of them Miles and Niles had strapped to their bodies Three cans of livestock paint deep purple Three cans of livestock paint neon green One cardboard stencil made from a refrigerator box polka-dot pattern A really long measuring tape Pruning shears Hand tools wrapped in a leather carrying case A Brünte 3030 Hand Reel Push Lawn Mower disassembled
Are you sure this paint will stick to its fur Miles asked Yes Niles said But are you sure sure Miles asked Yes yes Niles said It’s livestock paint That’s what it’s for Oh said Miles OK Miles didn’t know much about livestock paint or livestock because he hadn’t grown up around cows He had grown up a thousand miles away in an apartment in a pink building that was close to the ocean Two years ago Miles and his mom had moved to Yawnee Valley And even though it had only been two years Miles felt like everything that had happened back then back there in that town by the sea had happened to somebody else It felt like his real life was the stuff that had happened since For Miles it was like his story began when he met Niles Sparks which is what it can feel like when you meet your best friend I thought we were going to wear sunglasses said Niles who was wearing sunglasses
Oh yeah said Miles He got his sunglasses out of his coat and put them on Why are we wearing sunglasses he asked Niles shrugged Big coats Sunglasses It seemed like a cool look Miles admired their reflection in the window Yeah he said It sure is The bus stopped at a corner Its doors hissed open and a woman in a cap and a navy blue uniform stepped aboard Tickets she said to an old man in the front row The old man pulled out a bus ticket She promptly punched it click click and handed his ticket back Thank you said the old man kindly The bus woman moved on without saying you’re welcome Tickets A little girl in the next row handed over two tickets one for her and one for her mother My mom said I could hold our tickets said the little girl
