So I just try to be me. No one can do it as good as me So I just try to be me. No one can do it as good as me anyway. Nobody!!

Kenny is in the front of my canoe and I’m in back. He says, “Whaddya think they’re doing?”

“Dunno,” I say.

Up ahead it looks like Jack and Jimmy are having trouble. They are stopped on the bank arguing with three strange men. We’re all stopping.

Kenny’s saying he saw one man with a gun. A gun? Sounds bad.

We’re stopping because Jack and Jimmy are in our tribe and we are all like family. We look out for each other.

As we get out, Kenny whispers that his mom was talking this morning about some bank robbers who were loose. He had seen a picture in the paper of the crooks and it was these men!

This is screwy! Whatever they want, it can’t be good.

The whole tribe is here and I hear Mario whisper to Kenny that he saw the picture too and would try to create a diversion or trick so I can get the gun. They say I’m the toughest.

It’ll be risky though. The paper warned that these men were dangerous and to use much caution.

So we’re standing on this riverbank with bank robbers, these bad guys, who’re telling Jack and Jimmy that they have to hand over their canoe! The crooks want it to get away.

“No way!” says Jack. Jimmy shakes his head.

“Are you gonna stop us?” says bad guy number one.

I’ve named him Scruffy since his beard’s half-grown. Of the other two, one is bald and the other has an earring in his nose! Gross!!

They have earned the names Baldy and Ring and it’s easy to see why. They smell horrible too! Yuck!!

Ring says, “They might’ve seen us in the paper.”

“Naaahh,” says Baldy. “These kids are too young for the paper.”

“Think so?” Ring says.

“Know so, I wasn’t into the news till I was 25,” Baldy admits.

They must think we’re stupid and scared. Truth is that we’re neither but we play along.

Scruffy, the guy with the gun, tells the other two, “I’m gonna take a leak.” He makes sure we’re not looking, puts the gun down behind a tree. Thing is, I saw the whole thing because I pretended to look away but was secretly watching.

He struts into the woods and then Mario starts yelling in Spanish real loud and real fast. Like you never heard! Like 5,000 words a minute!!

I guess Mario was looking too “cause he”s thinking the “zact same thing as me. Here”s the diversion we were thinking of.

Ring is looking like he doesn’t know what’s going on. Same with Baldy.

I hustle over and grab the gun. Baldy and Ring are just standing there waiting for Scruffy to return. Boy, are they dumb.

They see me with the gun and become mean. They start to charge us but before they can do anything, I act like my brother would. I’m really scared but I don’t let it show.

“Hands up!” I scream just as Scruffy comes scrambling back. I can tell they don’t think I mean it until I point it at Baldy, really over his head, and pull the trigger.

Kaboom!! The gunshot is ear-splitting! I never knew guns were so loud! It’s so thunderous that I think I’m deaf.

They think I mean it now.

I think Baldy went in his pants! I think Ring had a heart-attack! Scruffy is furious!

Jimmy whips out his cell phone and speed-dials 911 and hands it to me. I’m also the calmest of us all so I try to act grown up. It’s hard!

I end up yelling at the lady, “Get the cops! We’ve got the bank-robbers right here!”

I tell her where we are, that we’re all okay. This is too much, a bunch of kids catching these scumbags; unreal!!

The police come and arrest the robbers. They can’t believe we did it, a bunch of kids. But you and I know we did.

Oh, here comes some reporter from the newspaper.

But we’re too young for the paper right? Riiiiighht!