Freddie Ramos Springs into Action (4 page)

The purple wristband had a flashing white light in the middle of a clear button. My on-off switch! I couldn't wait to try it. But where was Mr. Vaslov?

It didn't feel quite right to be snooping around his toolshed, the place where he invented my super shoes. But Mr. Vaslov's toolshed didn't seem quite right, either. Stuff was blinking, beeping, and talking. Two computers had little white letters running across the screen. Some kind of radio made noise every couple of seconds. And a little TV set on a top shelf was playing a news show. My mom always makes me turn everything off before I leave 29G unless we're planning to come right back. She also makes me eat my food before I leave the house. There was an uneaten peanut butter sandwich with a glass of milk on the table. Mr. Vaslov had to be coming back soon.

About ten minutes went by, but Mr. Vaslov still didn't show up. It was hard to stay and it was hard to leave. What about the purple wristband? Could I try it on?

If Mr. Vaslov didn't yell at Gio for breaking Mrs. Tran's window, he probably wouldn't yell at me for trying on the wristband. After all, he was making it for me. I looked through the doorway one more time to make sure he wasn't coming. Then, I picked up the wristband.

I put it on my right arm. It was just the right size. And I loved the little flashing light. It looked like a radio bracelet a spaceman might wear.

Why didn't Mr. Vaslov come back? Should I try to find him?

I left the toolshed, still wearing the purple wristband. It was just too great to take off my arm. My eyes stayed on the flashing light beneath the clear button. What would happen if I pressed it?

It hummed under my finger. Then I felt a tingling in my feet, just like when my purple zapatos are itching for a rocket race. But something was different about it. What? The second I moved, I figured out why.

BOING!
I wasn't running.
BOING!
I was jumping! The wristband gave me a new power.
BOING!
I shot up into the air, floated for a second or two, and then came down. It was almost like flying.
BOING! BOING! BOING!

I jumped over the green dumpster for recycling.
BOING!
BOING!
BOING!
Each time I hit the ground, white smoke gushed out of my heels.

How high could I go?
BOING!
BOING!
BOING!
I jumped beside a big oak tree and reached for a big fat branch. It was easy to take hold and climb right in.

The branches above me were like a ladder. I decided to climb higher to see if I could find Mr. Vaslov from above. In no time, I was way above the ground, able to see all over Starwood Park.

Mr. Vaslov wasn't watering flowers near the front entrance sign or sweeping up any of the sidewalks. I didn't see him coming out of any of the apartment doors, either.

But I did see Gio's blue and white beach ball. It bounced off the roof of a new building on the edge of Starwood Park. That building was just finished and didn't have people moved in yet. What was Gio's ball doing way over there?

6. Are You Stuck?

As I watched Gio's ball bounce off the roof of the new building and fall to the ground, my tree shook in the wind. It jiggled my brain and I figured something out. The wind must have taken Gio's beach ball! They get blown around, just like kites.

I had solved the mystery of Gio's missing ball. But I had another problem. How was I going to get down from the tree? The green ground straight below me looked so far away and so hard. I squeezed the trunk tighter and tighter.

My body felt like someone had poured glue all over it. I learned something new. It is easier to climb up a tree than down it.

The sun dropped lower in the sky. Mom would come home from work soon. When she didn't see me at the table, doing my homework, she would start calling my name all over Starwood Park. The whole neighborhood would hear her hollering when she found me clinging to a tree with both arms and legs. This was not my day to be a brave superhero.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP THERE?” Gio called. Gio found me before my mother did. It didn't cheer me up. Gio was in kindergarten! What if he told his friends about this?

“Ruff! Ruff!” Puppy was with him. The dog wanted to know why I was in the tree, too.

Gio and Puppy looked so small way down below at the bottom. Now I knew why cats got stuck in trees. Would they have to call the fire department for me? Would I be on the TV news?

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP THERE?” Gio repeated.

I had to come up with something fast—a reason that would make me sound smart instead of like a meowing cat.

“LOOKING FOR MR. VASLOV! HAVE YOU SEEN HIM?” I shouted.

Gio shook his head. Puppy barked. “Ruff! Ruff!”

Where was Mr. Vaslov? He had a ladder. I'd seen him use it lots of times. I wished he was around to help me down.

“ARE YOU STUCK?” Gio called up.

How could I tell the truth? What kind of superhero gets stuck in a tree like a cat?

“I'LL HELP YOU!” Gio said, climbing into the tree.

Puppy barked. “Ruff! Ruff!”

Superheroes shouldn't be rescued by kindergartners! I looked down at Gio, climbing one branch after another. What if he got scared when he got this high up, too? Then we'd both be crying like cats in the tree. I had no choice. I moved my foot down a little and found the branch below me. The tree was just like a ladder. I could go down the same way I went up— one branch at a time.