by Louis Sachar
“If Marvin says he’ll ride down Suicide Hill, then he’ll ride down Suicide Hill.…”
But Marvin never said he’d ride down Suicide Hill, thought Marvin.
“When?” demanded Clarence.
“Saturday,” said Nick. “At twelve o’clock.”
“High noon,” said Stuart.
“This I’ve got to see,” said Clarence.
“I’m going to get a front-row seat,” said Travis.
“It’s going to be the biggest wipe-out in history,” said Clarence.
The Marvin Redpost series by Louis Sachar
Marvin Redpost #1 Kidnapped at Birth?
Marvin Redpost #2 Why Pick on Me?
Marvin Redpost #3 Is He a Girl?
Marvin Redpost #4 Alone in His Teacher’s House
Marvin Redpost #5 Class President
Marvin Redpost #6 A Flying Birthday Cake?
Marvin Redpost #7 Super Fast, Out of Control!
Marvin Redpost #8 A Magic Crystal?
More books by Louis Sachar!
The Boy Who Lost His Face
Dogs Don’t Tell Jokes
Holes
Stanley Yelnats’ Survival Guide to Camp Green Lake
There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom
Text copyright © 2000 by Louis Sachar.
Illustrations copyright © 2000 by Amy Wummer.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.
Published in the United States by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.
www.randomhouse.com/kids
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sachar, Louis, 1954–
Marvin Redpost : super fast, out of control! / by Louis Sachar.
p. cm. A stepping stone book.
SUMMARY: Afraid of his new mountain bike, third-grader Marvin finds himself in a desperate situation when he accepts a challenge to ride down Suicide Hill.
eISBN: 978-0-307-80574-4
[1. Bicycles and bicycling—Fiction. 2. Fear—Fiction.]
I. Title.
PZ7.S1185Maq 2000 [Fic]—dc21 98-31276
Random House, Inc. New York, Toronto, London, Sydney, Auckland
RANDOM HOUSE and colophon are registered trademarks and A STEPPING STONE BOOK and colophon are trademarks of Random House, Inc.
v3.1
To Carla
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
1. Saturday
2. Monday
3. Tuesday
4. Wednesday
5. Thursday
6. Still Only Thursday
7. Saturday
8. The Hill
9. Monday
About the Author
1
Saturday
Marvin and his friends were hanging out in his backyard.
“What do you want to do?” asked Stuart.
“I dunno,” said Marvin.
“It’s no fair that your mom won’t let us watch TV,” griped Nick. “What’s so special about fresh air?”
“Let’s play unicorns,” said Linzy. Linzy was Marvin’s five-year-old sister.
“We’re not playing unicorns,” Marvin grumbled.
“So what do you want to do?” asked Stuart.
“I dunno,” said Marvin.
“What about a video game?” asked Nick. “Does that count as TV?”
“I’m the gold unicorn,” said Linzy. “Marvin’s the rainbow unicorn. Nick, you can be the blue unicorn. Stuart will be the pink unicorn.”
“I don’t want to be pink,” said Stuart. “Why can’t I be the gold unicorn?”
“You can’t start out being gold,” Linzy explained. “First you have to do some good magic. Then the unicorn fairy will turn you into gold.”
“We’re not playing unicorns,” said Marvin.
“How did you get to be gold?” asked Stuart.
“The unicorn fairy made me gold,” said Linzy, “because I used my magic to save the princess.”
“We’re not playing unicorns,” said Marvin.
“How do you play?” asked Nick.
Linzy stared at Nick. She had never heard such a dumb question in all her life. “You just pretend you’re a unicorn,” she said.
“How?” asked Stuart.
Linzy sighed. She couldn’t believe Marvin had such stupid friends.
“Just pretend you’re a magical horse with a horn in your head, like this.”
She pranced around the yard, flapping her arms, and sang, “I’m a unicorn. Yes, I am. I’m a gold unicorn. Yes, I am. Oh, I’m a gold unicorn. Yes, I am.”
Linzy stopped prancing and flapping. “Your turn, Marvin,” she said.
“I don’t want to,” said Marvin.
“You have to. It’s the rules,” said Linzy. “Except when I did it, I was gold. You have to be rainbow.”
“Just get out of here, Linzy!” snapped Marvin. “Can’t you see we’re busy! You’re such a stupid pest.”
Linzy stared hard at Marvin. He was afraid she was going to cry.
“I’m telling the unicorn fairy on you!” she shouted, then stormed into the house. She slammed the door behind her.
Marvin sighed.
“So what do you want to do?” asked Stuart.
“I dunno,” said Marvin.
“It’s unfair your mom won’t let us watch TV,” said Nick. “What’s wrong with her?”
Marvin shrugged.
“We could ride bikes,” suggested Stuart.
Marvin got an uneasy feeling in his stomach. “There’s nowhere to go,” he said.
“Hey, didn’t you get a new mountain bike?” asked Nick.
Marvin felt sick.
“That’s right!” said Stuart. “How come you haven’t shown it to us?”
Marvin shrugged. “It’s just a bike.”
“I know!” said Nick. “Let’s ride our bikes down Suicide Hill!”
Just hearing those words made Marvin feel like he was falling down a very steep cliff.
“I’ll go home and get my bike,” said Stuart. Marvin couldn’t believe it. Nick was a daredevil, but he thought Stuart was smarter than that.
“I’ll bring my stopwatch,” said Nick. “Maybe we can break the record.”
“Cool,” said Stuart.
Marvin didn’t care about breaking records. He was more worried about breaking bones.
Linzy returned to the back door. Marvin was glad to see her. He thought it might be fun to play unicorns after all.
“Mom wants to see you,” Linzy said.
As Marvin walked into the house, Linzy said, “You’re in big trouble now, mister.”
They walked to their mother’s office.
Marvin’s mother was sitting at her desk, in front of the computer. She worked as an accountant. She helped people figure their taxes. She normally didn’t work on Saturdays, but it was getting close to April 15, so she had been very busy lately.
“Did you yell at your sister?” she asked Marvin.
“Kind of,” he admitted.
“You need to tell her you’re sorry,” said his mother.
Marvin turned to Linzy. She was wearing her sad and pitiful face.
He got an idea. “Why should I?” he asked boldly.
“I beg your pardon?” said his mother.
“Linzy is a pest,” Marvin said.
“Marvin!” exclaimed his mother.
“Now he owes me two sorry’s!” said Linzy.
“You’re the one who should be sorry,” said Marvin. “For be
ing so stupid!”
Marvin’s mother looked at him for a long moment. She didn’t yell at him. She simply said, “You need to tell Nick and Stuart it’s time for them to go home. Then you will spend the rest of the afternoon in your room.”
Marvin pushed his luck. “That’s not fair!” he exclaimed. “We were going to ride our bikes down Suicide Hill!”
“You won’t be riding your bike for a week,” said his mother.
Marvin went back outside and told his friends the bad news.
“Why? What did you do?” asked Stuart.
“Nothing,” said Marvin. “My mom’s just in a bad mood.”
He told them good-bye, then went up to his room. He felt awful. He was glad he wouldn’t have to ride down Suicide Hill, but he felt bad for calling Linzy a stupid pest. More than that, he felt terrible for being so afraid.
He wasn’t just afraid of Suicide Hill. He was afraid to ride his new bike.
It seemed so big. And it had hand brakes. He had never used hand brakes before. He also didn’t know how to use all the different gears.
What made it worse, he was the one who had asked for a new bike. He’d begged for a new bike. His parents had said it was very expensive. They said he already had a bicycle, but he’d called that a “baby bike.” He wanted a mountain bike. He said Linzy could have his old bike.
And in the end, they bought it for him.
That was ten days ago, and he still hadn’t ridden it. Just thinking about it made him sick to his stomach.
At least he wouldn’t have to ride it for a week. He wished he still had his baby bike.
2
Monday
“You’re so brave,” said Casey Happleton. She sat next to Marvin in Mrs. North’s class. She had a ponytail that stuck out the side of her head, instead of the back.
Marvin shrugged and smiled. He didn’t know why Casey thought he was brave, but he was glad she did.
“Judy and I are going to come watch you,” said Casey.
“Watch me what? When?”
“Saturday,” said Casey. “When you ride your new mountain bike down Suicide Hill.”
Marvin felt as if he’d been kicked in the stomach. He tried not to show it. He didn’t want Casey Happleton to think he was scared. “Who told you that?” he asked.
“Judy,” said Casey. “She said you would have ridden down last Saturday, but you got in trouble for calling your sister a stupid pest. Now you can’t ride your bike for a week.”
Marvin didn’t know how Judy Jasper knew so much about his life.
“Stuart told her,” said Casey.
Marvin never told Stuart he’d ride down Suicide Hill on Saturday. He just told him that he couldn’t ride his bike for a week.
“Marvin,” said Mrs. North. “Have you been listening to anything I said?”
He looked at his teacher. “Um, I’m not sure. What did you say?”
Mrs. North gave Marvin the Look.
At recess, Marvin asked Stuart why he told Judy that he had called his sister a stupid pest.
“She asked me,” said Stuart.
They were playing wizzle-fish tag.
“Let me get this straight,” said Marvin. “Judy Jasper just came up to you and said, ‘Did Marvin call his sister a stupid pest?’ ”
“Something like that,” said Stuart.
“And you told her we’re going to ride our bikes down Suicide Hill on Saturday?” Marvin asked.
“No,” said Stuart.
Marvin was glad about that.
“I told her you were going to ride your bike down Suicide Hill. My mom won’t let me.”
“My mom won’t let me, either,” complained Nick. “Just because it’s dangerous or something.”
“But we’ll come watch you,” said Stuart.
“You might need someone to call 911,” said Nick.
Marvin couldn’t believe it. They were the ones who had wanted to ride down Suicide Hill, not him. He thought he remembered Nick bragging about how he’d ridden down Suicide Hill lots of times, full speed all the way.
“I thought you said you’ve ridden down Suicide Hill,” he said.
“No, I never said that,” said Nick.
Marvin knew he was lying.
He tossed a paper plate on the ground and stepped on it. Everyone had two paper plates. The paper plates were the wizzle fish.
Clarence and Travis wizzled beside him.
“Hey, Marvin,” said Clarence. “Are you really going to ride down Suicide Hill?”
“Uh, I’m not sure.”
“See, I told you he was chicken!” Clarence told Travis.
“We’re not scared,” said Nick.
We? thought Marvin.
“If Marvin says he’ll ride down Suicide Hill, then he’ll ride down Suicide Hill,” said Stuart. He patted Marvin on the back.
But Marvin never said he’d ride down Suicide Hill, thought Marvin.
“When?” demanded Clarence.
“Saturday,” said Nick. “At twelve o’clock.”
“High noon,” said Stuart.
“This I’ve got to see,” said Clarence.
“I’m going to get a front-row seat,” said Travis.
“It’s going to be the biggest wipe-out in history,” said Clarence. He and Travis laughed.
Marvin didn’t know what to do. Everything was happening too fast. He felt like he was speeding downhill, out of control, unable to stop. He wanted to scream.
3
Tuesday
Linzy was wearing unicorn pajamas. “Do you want to frolic?” she asked.
“Frolic?” asked Marvin. He didn’t know what the word meant. He wasn’t sure it was a real word.
“That’s what unicorns do,” Linzy explained. “We frolic.”
She showed Marvin how to frolic. She skipped down the hall and sang, “We’re happy, happy unicorns. Oh, happy unicorns frolicking.”
Marvin didn’t feel like frolicking. He wasn’t a happy unicorn.
It was Tuesday night. Saturday was only four days away.
He could see the light on in his brother’s room. Jacob was doing homework. Jacob had ridden down Suicide Hill before.
Marvin knocked on his brother’s door.
“What?”
Jacob sounded annoyed. They gave a lot of homework in middle school.
“I just wanted to ask you something,” Marvin said timidly.
“What?” asked Jacob.
Marvin wasn’t sure what to ask. “I don’t remember,” he said.
Jacob glared at him.
Marvin could tell Jacob thought he was just a dumb little kid. Marvin felt like a dumb little kid.
He headed back to his room.
The whole school was expecting him to ride down Suicide Hill on Saturday. He couldn’t figure out how it happened. He never wanted to ride down Suicide Hill in the first place. It was Stuart and Nick’s idea, but their parents wouldn’t let them.
That gave him an idea. It was so obvious, he wondered why he hadn’t thought of it sooner. He walked quickly to his mother’s office.
His mother was working on the computer. She turned and smiled at Marvin as he entered.
“Sorry to bother you,” Marvin said.
“Oh, that’s okay.” She took a sip of coffee.
“In four days I get to ride my bike,” Marvin said.
“That’s right,” said his mother. “I hope you’ve learned your lesson.”
Marvin nodded. “You know the first place I’m going to ride it?” he asked, trying to sound excited.
His mother smiled and asked, “Where?”
“Suicide Hill!”
“Sounds exciting,” said his mother. She entered some numbers into the computer.
Marvin thought maybe she hadn’t heard him. Or maybe she thought it was no big deal, since Jacob had ridden down it lots of times. Didn’t she realize Jacob was a lot older?
“Suicide Hill,” he repeated. “I’m going to ride my brand-new expensiv
e bike super fast down Suicide Hill!”
“I’m glad to see you’re so excited about riding your new bike. Your father and I were beginning to wonder.”
“Stuart’s and Nick’s parents won’t let them ride their bikes down Suicide Hill,” said Marvin. “I guess they think it’s dangerous or something. For a third grader.”
“I guess,” said his mother. She entered some more numbers into the computer.
Marvin wondered if she heard anything he said. He kept trying. “I guess Stuart’s mom is worried he might break his arm, or worse.”
“I know you’ll be careful,” said his mother.
“Sure, I’ll try to be careful,” said Marvin. “But when you’re going downhill super fast, out of control, it’s—”
“Is it raining?” asked his mother.
Marvin didn’t know what that had to do with anything. “I don’t think so,” he said, but then he saw a flash of lightning.
A few seconds later, he heard thunder. A few seconds after that, Linzy came running into the room.
“Turn off the computer!” she screamed. She was wearing her wild and worried face. She clutched her mother.
“There’s nothing to worry about,” said her mother.
There was another flash of lightning. “Turn it off! Turn it off!” Linzy demanded. She was crying.
“I know you’re scared,” said her mother. “But I—”
“The lightning will come through the computer!” Linzy shrieked.
Her mother sighed. “We are all very safe,” she said.
Marvin’s father came into the study. He picked up Linzy and held her close. “Everything is all right,” he told her.
“She has to turn it off before it explodes.”
“She has an important job to do. And it’s our job to let her do it. You too, Marvin.”
Marvin followed his father as he carried Linzy to her room and set her on her bed.
“Can I sleep with you, Marvin?” Linzy asked. “Please?”
Marvin felt bad for her, but he’d tried sleeping with Linzy once before. She could never keep still. She kept kicking him all night, and ended up sleeping sideways across the bed.
