Read Online Lucky Seven by Matt Christopher - Free Book Online Page B

pasted the license decal on the rear first, then the figuresix on the hood and doors. Halfway between the doors and the rear fenders he pasted the decals of a white cat, then glued
     on the dashboard.
    He painted the goggles of the driver silver, the jacket light blue, the helmet and gloves black, and left the face its natural
     flesh color. He painted a bottle cap brown and glued it to the driver’s hands when the paint had dried. It passed perfectly
     for a steering wheel.
    He glued the driver to a piece of thin card-board, then adjusted the cardboard inside the car’s body. He secured the cardboard
     with Scotch tape, then installed strips of fiber glass tape along the bottom of the body shell, inside, for reinforcement,
     and stuck a pin through the holes. Then he held the car’s body away from himself and looked at it, turning it this way and
     that. Man, it was a dream.
    “All I’ve got to do now is screw the body to the chassis and I’m finished!” he exclaimed proudly.
    He waited for the decals to dry. Then he set the chassis inside the body, lined up the mounting holes, inserted the screws
     and tightened them.
    The car was finished!
    He rushed up the stairs two at a time, the model car held as if it were an egg.
    “Look, Dad! Mom! I’ve finished my car!”
    They were in the living room. Mom looked up from her book and Dad from his magazine.
    They looked wide-eyed with pride before any of them said a word.
6
    Early Saturday morning Chick called up Ken Jason and asked if he could test his “new” Ferrari on Ken’s home track.
    “Sure,” said Ken. “Bring it over.”
    On the way to Ken’s he met Butch Slade and a couple of other guys.
    “Hey! Whose bomb you got?” Butch asked, reaching for Chick’s car.
    Chick yanked it back. “Mine. Whose you think?”
    “Bought it from Mort?”
    “No, I didn’t buy it from Mort. I repaired the chassis after it busted, then custom-built the body.”
    Butch laughed. The others joined in, only louder. “I hope you’re not going to enter it in the Concours d’Elégance, or the
     race this afternoon, Chickie, old boy. That bomb will fizzle.”
    Something like a toothache hit Chick’s stomach. “Thanks,” he said. “I’m glad you have so much confidence in me, old pal.”
    He walked away, the guys’ laughter roaring in his ears.
    Ken liked the Ferrari. “It looks great, Chick! I bet Jack would never recognize it as the one he sold you.”
    “Know something?” said Chick, smiling. “He helped me customize it!”
    Ken’s eyes popped. “Well, I’m not too surprised. He’s not a bad guy.”
    Chick shrugged.
Guess everybody thinks he’s a good guy but me. But I don’t care. I said I’m going to beat the pants off him one of these days
     and I will.
    Chick placed the Ferrari on the track first—the inside lane—to see how it would run. He placed the flag squarely in the slot,
     saw that the copper brushes were touching the metal strips properly on each side, then asked Ken to turn on the switch. Chick
     picked up the controller for the inside lane, pushed the plunger down gently, and the car crawled forward.
    A proud smile came over Chick’s face. He pushed the plunger father down. The Ferrari picked up speed, slowed at the S-curve,
     then bolted down the straightaway. It seemed to shimmy a little and sounded noisy.
    “Oh, no!” said Chick, the smile fading. “Something’s wrong. Maybe it wasn’t soldered well enough!”
    He stopped the car in front of him, picked it off the track and examined its underside.The soldered joints were solid. He checked the gears.
    “No wonder!” he said. “There’s too much play!” But hadn’t he adjusted the gears only last night?
    Then he saw the trouble. There was at least a thirty-second of play between the bushing and the nut of the right rear wheel!
    “I think I’ve found it, Ken,” Chick said hopefully. “Got a wrench?”
    “Sure do.” Ken got it and handed it to him. Chick loosened the nut