The Mystery of Silas Finklebean (9 page)
She put her hand protectively on top of the device. “I’m not sure.”
“We’ll take good care of it, I promise,” said Freddy.
“I’ve never let this out of my possession since he gave it to me.”
Freddy glanced over at the pictures on the mantel and then turned back to her. “If you let us take it, I think that the next wish you make in your wishing mirror might just come true. And Silas did say it would be safe with a child.”
Mildred still looked unsure. “My wish? How can you —”
“Just trust me, Ms. Maraschino,” said Freddy. “I know I’m just a kid, but I’m also a scientist, a very trustworthy one.”
Mildred looked doubtful for a moment, and then she finally said, “Well, until you both came along no one seemed to care about Silas anymore, which was very sad indeed. So, yes, you can take it.”
As Freddy took the box, Mildred added, “Do you think you’ll be able to find your future with it?”
Freddy patted the box. “I think our future looks really bright now.”
THE POWER OF PURPLE AND BLUE
Freddy and Howie got back to the lab, and with the help of the Fries they were able to attach the device Mildred had given them to the time machine.
“There,” said Freddy with a final turn of the wrench.
Theodore was looking at the plans. “Well, we have everything in place. The only problem is we have no way to power up the time machine.”
“I know,” said Freddy miserably.
While no one was looking, Wally had slipped behind some junk they hadn’t used and took a bottle from a hiding place. It was the liquid blue stuff he’d found in Finklebean’s lab.
“Okay, Freddy said I shouldn’t do this, so I’m not,” he said to himself. “No matter how much I want to or how good it tastes or how thirsty little, skinny Wally is, I’m not going to drink it, because that would be bad — very, very bad.”
He took the top off the bottle and sniffed.
“Right — no matter how good it smells, no matter how much fun it is to drink this blue stuff, Wally is not gonna do it, because I promised my special friend and buddy, Freddy, that I wouldn’t — and friends always keep their promises.”
Wally tipped the bottle up to his mouth.
“And another thing,” he continued, whispering to himself, “A friend who can’t keep a promise to another friend is just no stinking good. I mean, how can a friend do that to another friend? A promise is a promise and Wally never, ever breaks a promise.”
Wally tipped the bottle all the way up and took a long chug, wiped his mouth, and put the top back on. “Whew, that was close. But like I said, a promise is a prom—YEOW!” Wally flew up into the air and crashed into the ceiling of the lab. Then he shot down, hit the floor, and zoomed forward.
Freddy and the rest of the gang threw themselves in all directions as the big purple Fry whizzed around the room like a ball in a pinball machine, knocking over shelves, smashing equipment, and punching holes in walls. For twenty minutes they all watched as the purple blob whizzed around the room faster and faster.
Finally, Wally came crashing down. The lab lay in ruin. Everyone stood and gathered angrily around him.
He started muttering, “Wally is a good Fry. Wally kept his promise. No blue stuff.” He opened his eyes and looked up at them. “Hey, guys, is it lunchtime yet?”
Ziggy scolded, “Wally, you drank the blue stuff and destroyed Freddy’s lab.”
“What do you have to say for yourself?” added Theodore severely.
Wally sat up, looking confused. “Now wait just a minute. Are you sure it was
me
? There are other Fries in the room too, you know.”
“Enormous and purple narrows it down considerably,” said Theodore.
“And,” squeaked Ziggy, “there’s the blue bottle right there in your hand.”
Wally held up the bottle. “I’ve never seen this before.” His eyes got really big. “It must have been
planted
on me. Oh, my gosh, there’s a conspiracy going on. People are out to get me.”
“Why would anyone want to get
you
, Wally?” said Howie.
Wally threw up his big hands. “Don’t you see, Howie? They’re jealous. I mean, look at me: Tall, handsome, smart, and PURPLE. But I want whoever did it to know this!” He paused, put a hand over his heart, and said in a high-pitched, choked voice, “I forgive you.” He wiped a tear away.
Theodore looked over at Freddy. “Well, Freddy, you haven’t said anything. What do you think his punishment should be? Freddy?”
Freddy was staring off into space. He obviously hadn’t been listening to any of their conversation.
“Uh, Freddy,” said Theodore gently.
“EUREKA!” shouted Freddy and he jumped straight up in the air. Then he gave Wally a big hug. “You big, beautiful purple Fry you. You’re brilliant!”
He grabbed the blue bottle from Wally and raced to his work area.
Wally looked at the other Fries. “Well, I’m glad to see at least someone here recognizes genius.” He walked away with his head held high, tripped, and landed upside down inside an old tractor tire.
The other Fries hustled over to where Freddy was working frantically.
“Freddy,” said Theodore, “Why are you so excited?”
Freddy held up the blue bottle. “This, Theodore, this.”
“The blue stuff?” said Si. “Okay, it’s blue and it’s wet, but even for a happy Fry like me, it’s not all that exciting, Freddio.”
“Oh, it’s very exciting,” said Freddy. “It’s the most exciting thing to happen to me since I invented all of you.”
“What do you mean?” asked Theodore. “How can that blue liquid be so important?”
“Because
this
is what’s going to power our time travel machine.”
THE PRIMO FAKEOUT
“Freddy,” called out Nancy, who was standing on the trapdoor to Freddy’s lab. “Oh, Freddy, dear, I’d like to take a tour of
THE NANCY S. FUNKHOUSER IMPERIAL THEATER
and Museum, and I’d like it right
now.
”
“Great,” said Freddy with a scowl. He was putting the finishing touches on the time travel machine.
When he didn’t answer, she said, “I know you’re in there, Freddy. I’ll give you two hours. If the theater isn’t done, then I’m telling dad about that secret passageway under the Burger Castle and that you’re up to something.” They heard her stomp away.
Freddy shook his head wearily. “Look,” he said, staring at Si, Meese, Wally, Curly, and Ziggy. “You guys are going to have to do something with her.”
“Like what?” asked Si. “Tell her a joke? I’m terrific at jokes.”
“The only one who laughs at your jokes is you,” said Meese.
“See, that’s what I mean,” said Si. “That proves how funny I am. I’m a tough critic.”
“What I want you to do,” said Freddy, “is somehow convince her that the stupid museum and theater is almost done.”
“It is?” said Wally. “I didn’t even know we’d been working on it.”
“We haven’t,” squeaked Ziggy. “We have to make her believe that we have.”
“I knew that,” said Wally quickly. “Okay, let’s go trick her.”
“Wally,” said Freddy, “do you have a plan as to how you’re going to do that?”
“Uh,” said Wally. “That would be a no.”
“Wait a minute, I’ve got a plan,” said Si. “A great plan. I read it in a book and it worked like a charm.”
“You’re sure?” said Freddy.
“Piece of cake. Just leave it to me.”
Two hours later, after a lot of hard work down in the secret area under the Burger Castle, Si, Meese, Ziggy, and Wally admired what they’d accomplished.
They had hung huge canvases on the walls and painted colorful scenes on them. In bright lights was a big marquee that read, THE NANCY S. FUNKHOUSER IMPERIAL THEATER. And there was a large picture of Nancy next to it dressed up in a fancy costume. A door into the theater had massive windows, and through them one could see the ticket counters and refreshment stand and the double doors leading into the theater.
On another canvas they had painted a sign that read: THE NANCY S. FUNKHOUSER MUSEUM. Here were portraits of Nancy and windows through which one could see costumes displayed in glass boxes. Also visible through a window was a shop where you could buy coffee mugs and T-shirts. It all looked three-dimensional, like you could walk right in.
“Do you think she’ll believe it’s real?” squeaked ziggy.
“Sure,” said Si. “It worked great in the book. And it’ll work great here.”
“What was the book?” asked Meese.
“
The Emperor’s New Clothes,
” replied Si.
“Uhohthere’ssomebodycomingandIthinkit’syou-know-who,” mumbled Curly.
“Quick, to your places,” cried Si. “And, action!”
When Nancy arrived, she saw Wally in his Wilma costume sweeping the entrance to the theater. Ziggy was busy washing windows, while Curly was on a ladder pretending to adjust the lights on the marquee. Si and Meese were polishing the knobs on the front doors.
Nancy’s eyes grew so huge it didn’t seem like her face had room for them.
“Oh, my gosh,” she said breathlessly. “It’s, it’s beautiful.
I’m
beautiful,” she added, looking up at her picture. “I can’t wait to go inside.”
She took a step toward the doors, but Si stopped her. “Uh, that’s not a good idea.”
“Why not?”
“It’s bad luck to go inside for the first time except on opening night.”
“It is?” asked Nancy.
“Absolutely,” said Si. “I’m sure an actress with your experience knows that.”
“Right, of course I do,” said Nancy hastily.
“And that way on opening night all of your adoring fans will be in their seats to see you for the first time in your very own theater.”
Nancy looked starry-eyed. “Well, I better go and start rehearsing. I’m thinking of playing all the parts in
Romeo and Juliet
”
After she’d rushed off, Ziggy looked at Si. “You pulled it off.”
“You mean you had doubts?” the happy red Fry said. “Like I said, piece of cake.”
“Oh yeah?” said a gloomy Meese.
“Come on, Meese, why the pout? She bought the story hook, line, and sinker.”
“That’s right, she did. For now! But what about when she comes back for opening night, tries to go through the doors, and runs right into the wall. What then, Mr. Genius?”
“By then I’ll have left the country,” said Si, grinning.
“Well,” said Meese, “At least you’re not as stupid as you look.”
TESTING TIME
The time travel machine was ready to test.
“Okay,” said Freddy. He carefully poured some of the blue liquid into a special tank he’d built as part of the time machine. “Now I’ve set it up so the blue fuel won’t ignite until it’s combined with liquid nitrogen. That’ll happen when I push the GO button inside the time travel machine.”
“Wow, Freddy,” said Howie. “This is so cool. We’re really going to travel through time.”
“That’s the general idea,” said Freddy. He picked up three football helmets and handed one to Howie and another to Theodore.
“What’s this for?” asked Howie.
“In case something goes wrong.”
“Will something go wrong?” he asked nervously.
“I don’t know, Howie. That’s why we wear the helmets.”
They climbed in and sat on the Elvis blue suede seat, and Freddy closed the hatch-like door. They went through their checklists like pilots did before a flight.
“Check-check-check-check and double check,” said Howie in answer to Freddy’s questions. “We are roger wilco and ready to GO-GO.”
“Okay, Theodore,” said Freddy, “engage the time dial.”
Theodore set the time dial for five minutes earlier. He nodded at Freddy, who took a deep breath and hit the GO button.
Instantly, there was a feeling of tremendous speed and blazing colors right outside the machine. As they looked out they could make out a swirl of things moving, like people and buildings. Freddy and Howie screamed once when something flashed next to the window. It looked like a large bird, but it was flying upside down.
