In this story, we get a pretty good look at the life of Charlie Stewart, the weird kid with the tooth collection. Charlie and Encyclopedia went hunting for teeth. He likes to go looking for teeth after a good rain. “Rainwater washes off the dirt,” Charlie reasons. Charlie also likes to go barefoot, on the off chance that he accidentally steps on a tooth that he didn’t see.

The two went to the woods near Mill Creek so that they could avoid the garbage dump. Charlie didn’t like the dump because he once hurt his foot on an old dishwasher. The problem with the woods is that it meant that they would have to pass the ancient burial grounds.

The boys found some interesting things. They found two raccoon teeth that were ultimately rejected from the collection because Charlie apparently already had a complete set. They found a Tigers hat, which aroused suspicion. They also found a target attached to a tree near the ancient burial grounds. Encyclopedia wanted to investigate further. I’m not sure why, but whatever.

This required Charlie to get on Encyclopedia’s shoulders to get a better look. Sure enough, it was a target filled with pellets. I don’t know what else he was expecting to find near a target besides evidence that someone had been shooting at it. Whatever, kids are curious.

At some point, Charlie’s left big toe got injured. Upon closer inspection, they figured out that he had actually been shot with a pellet.

Later, a doctor tended to the wound as Charlie’s mother looked on. Charlie’s mother asked if they knew who shot him. They mentioned that they had noticed a Tigers hat in the area. I’m not one to come to the defense of the Tigers, but the fact that one of their hats was nearby is, by no means, proof of anything.

Mrs. Stewart then showed the first instance of good parenting we’ve ever witnessed in Idaville. She told them to “stay away from those boys. They’re wild. Let the police handle them.” Great idea, even if it’s from the woman who allowed her son walk around the dump barefoot so that he could build up his tooth collection.

The doctor told them that they would need an old shoe of Charlie’s, so that they can cut a hole in it to allow room for the bandage. Mrs. Stewart sent Encyclopedia to her house to get a shoe. On his way, he passed Tiger member Duke Kelly, pacing up and down the sidewalk with a worried look on his face. Encyclopedia asked Duke to go to Charlie’s house to get an old shoe.

Encyclopedia! Mrs. Stewart just told you to stay away from the Tigers. When she said that, she didn’t mean, “please send one of them to my house while I’m not there.”

Duke returned with a left shoe, which Encyclopedia thought was a little weird because he didn’t specify which shoe to get. Duke knew which shoe to get because he’s the one who shot Charlie.

Duke claimed that he didn’t mean to shoot Charlie. He meant to shoot near the two of them to scare them away from their secret shooting range.

I feel like I should reiterate the fact that this town has ancient burial grounds and that it was used as a secret shooting range.

  1. brownencyclopedia posted this