Read Online Attack of the Spider Bots by Robert West - Free Book Online

in a trolley car either,” Beamer threw back at him.
    â€œHey, it beats being locked up in some government joint. Here I’ve got my freedom and a pretty cool playground. Now tell the little guy next to you to go out for a pass.”
    â€œI’m not a guy!” Scilla said in a huff as she whipped off her stocking cap to reveal her dark blonde ponytail. “The name’s Scilla.”
    â€œOh, sorry,” said Jack with a grimace. “Here, kid . . . uh . . . Beamer. Hit me over middle.” He was just starting to run when Scilla cut in front of him.
    â€œHey, what do y’all think you’re doing?” she shouted at Jack. “Just because I’m a girl, doesn’t mean I can’t play football. Come on, Beamer, I’m gonna cut right.” She ran about ten strides and then cut right. Beamer lofted the ball but it wobbled away behind her.
    â€œWhoa there, Beamer,” Jack said as he ran to scoop up the ball. “Your passing technique’s strictly in the toilet. Here, let me show ya,” he said as he walked toward Beamer, tossing the ball up and down several times.
    He worked like a coach showing Beamer the way to hold the ball, until Beamer’s passes started losing their wobble. Surprisingly enough, they all started having fun, catching and passing or trying to block or intercept. They plopped and skidded, getting face-fulls of snow and throwing alley-oop passes over the trolley cars. By the time the sun was low in the sky, they were so caked in snow they could have passed for gingerbread cookies — iced.
    â€œHey, we gotta get goin’,” Scilla finally said. “My grandma doesn’t even know where I am. If she start’s worrying, I could be in big doo-doo.”
    â€œMe too,” chimed in Beamer.
    Jack looked disappointed, and his eyes started moving like he was thinking up something. “Well, y’all are about the worst football players I’ve ever seen,” he finally said with his rooster laugh, “but I can work you into shape. When y’all comin’ back?”
    They looked at each other and shrugged almost at the same time. “I don’t know,” Beamer mumbled. “We’re not supposed to be here at all.” After an awkward silence, he shrugged again and said, “We’ll see what we can do. Where can we find you?”
    â€œNice try, Beamer,” Jack said with a smirk. “I’ll find y’all, but only if y’all are alone.”

10
    The House that Time Forgot
    That night Beamer had to face some heavy-duty interrogation. Luckily his parents weren’t into thumb-screws and electric shocks. When the questioning was over, it was torture enough that they forced him to clean up his room. Brushing the dust off his wall-length Lego monorail system took him a whole hour! “Cleanliness is next to godliness,” they’d always say, as if it was in the Bible or something. Frankly, as far as Beamer was concerned, cleanliness was way overrated. Nobody ever had to sweep the forest floor or dust the rocks on a mountain.
    Well, the Star-Fighters did have to dust the instrument panels in the tree ship from time to time. Otherwise, they couldn’t read them. But that was a definite exception. In fact, it was while they were polishing things up a few days later that the crew got their first airmail delivery. Beamer heard it bang off the side of the tree ship.
    Beamer ran out the door and picked it up off the outside platform. It was another wad of paper wrapped around a rock with rubber bands. “Hey, Jack!” he yelled down toward the ground. “Are you down there?”
    â€œNope, jus’ me,” yelled Beamer’s little brother. “Who’s Jack? Anyway, some man in a fancy suit delivered this to the house a few minutes ago. Dad asked me to give it to you, and this seemed the fastest way to do it.”
    â€œThanks a lot, bubble brain,” Beamer