The Mystery of Silas Finklebean by David Baldacci, Rudy Baldacci Page B

circles around them so fast they finally fell over, dizzy, with their tongues hanging out.
    Curly used a water hose to fill up a car hubcap he’d found on the ground. The dogs thirstily lapped up the water while the green Fry scratched them behind the ears. When they were done with the water, the dogs licked Curly’s arm. He said, “Comeonlet’sgoseemyfriends.”

    When Dubowksi saw his dogs meekly following Curly, the cigar fell out of his mouth. From the top of the fence, Si yelled, “Atta boy, Curly. You sure have a way with mean dogs.”
    “They’renotmean,justmisunderstood,” mumbled Curly.
    “Hey, you stupid dogs,” growled Dubowski. “What do you think you’re doing? I told you to sic ’em.” He cuffed one of them on the ear and it yelped.
    “Don’thitthemagainorI’llhavetogetroughwithyou,” Curly warned him.
    Dubowski walked over to Curly and balled up his fists. “They’re my dogs and I’ll treat ’em any way I want to.”
    Curly looked at the dogs and mumbled, “Okay-guysgogethimbutnobodilyharm.”
    The dogs started growling and moving toward Dubowski, who backed up, looking terrified.
    “Ihopeyoucanrunreallyfast,” mumbled Curly.
    With a scream, Dubowski took off running, and the dogs flew after him.
    Si and Meese jumped down from the fence and ran over to join Curly.
    Si said, “Okay, let’s get out of here while the getting is good.”
    He made a move to leave, but Meese refused to budge.
    “Meese, let’s go before that guy gets back. I’m sure he just loves me because he could see what a great wheeler-dealer I am, but I don’t think he likes you very much.”
    “Give me the twelve dollars,” said Meese.
    “What?”
    “The twelve dollars, give it to me.”
    Si handed him the money, and Meese laid it on the ground and put it a stone on it so it wouldn’t blow away.
    “What are you doing?” asked Si.
    “Paying for this.” Meese picked up the blue suede car seat.
    Si beamed. “Meese, you
do
think it’s true, don’t you?”
    “I don’t know, but if Elvis Presley did sit his butt on this thing, I guess it’s worth twelve bucks.”
    The three streaked away while Irvin Dubowski ran screaming around the junkyard, the dogs right behind him.

CHAPTER 14
    HAROLD RETURNS THE FAVOR
    Theodore, Freddy, and Howie were hard at work on the time travel machine in Freddy’s lab when the other Fries returned.
    “Did you get everything on the lists?” asked Freddy.
    While Ziggy shook his head sadly, Si held up the blue suede car seat. “We got this super-duper seat,” said Si. “Elvis sat on it. His butt marks are on there for all time.”
    Freddy looked stunned. “This is it?! We can’t make the time machine work with only a blue suede car seat. We’ll be laughed out of town.”
    “Well, laughter
is
the best medicine,” observed Si with a big smile.
    Freddy shook his head and sat down on the floor with his hands over his face.
    “What are you doing?” asked Ziggy.
    “I’m trying to think of a small island where I can go and hide for the rest of my life,” Freddy replied.
    Just then the phone in Freddy’s lab rang. He picked it up. “Yes?”
    “Freddy, it’s Harold Pumpernickel. Your dad said I might find you around here. Can we talk about something?”
    Freddy looked curiously at the others. “Are you alone, Harold?”
    “Absolutely. Adam doesn’t even know I’m here.”
    “Okay, hold on.”
    Freddy pulled a lever. There was a scream, and Harold dropped down through the trapdoor and landed in a soft pile of hay. He stood and brushed himself off.
    “Wow, cool lab, Freddy,” said Harold as he looked around at all of Freddy’s equipment and inventions. He pointed to a pair of tennis shoes that hung on a peg.
    “What do those do?”
    “Show him, Howie,” said Freddy.
    Howie put on the shoes and clicked the heels together.
    VVRROOMM!
He took off like a shot. The shoes made him run so fast that he was completely a blur. And he could run up walls and even across the