Read Online Samantha Smart by Maxwell Puggle - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Maxwell Puggle
Ads: Link
excitement and eyeing the nifty wrist-communicator.
“Hold on a moment,” The Professor put his hand up. “I’m not so sure if that’s such a good idea either, sending a young girl alone
back in time–you could get hurt or lost–I’d feel simply horrible if anything happened to you.”
“I’ll take Polly with me!” She beamed, nodding as if this were the obvious solution. Polly wagged her little stub of a tail and looked back and forth between Samantha and The Professor.
“That dog has caused enough trouble already, don’t you think?” The Professor looked at Polly and spoke in a scolding tone so that she cowered slightly from him.
“Oh, she didn’t mean
it, Professor. And I’ll keep her on the shortest leash, the whole time!”
“Well,” The Professor grumbled, “unfortunately, I fear that I absolutely mustn’t go myself. I’m afraid having two Professor Smythes in the same time and place might produce some disastrous result, though I’m not sure what exactly would happen.” He looked at Samantha long and hard. “I suppose it has
to be you. I can’t rightly draw anyone from this timeline into our little mess. I thought about asking one of the museum security guards to do it, but then my mind got to wondering–what if they weren’t meant to exist in that timeline,
our
normal timeline. Would they be able to exist there as we are able to exist here, or might they simply blink out of existence upon reaching
our
1931? Though presumably, our timeline and this one were one and the same up until that specific point when I goofed something up.” The Professor shook his head. “There are too many ifs,
Samantha.”
“Well then that settles it,” Samantha said firmly. “If there are too many ifs,
Professor, one logically has to follow the course with the
most
certainty, even if it isn’t one hundred percent. If you’re not sure what will happen if you go yourself or send some security guard, you have
to send me. You know
that I won’t cause any ‘double-occurrence’ like you would, and it’s less
likely that I’ll blink out of existence than someone from this new timeline, and I’m the only one in this timeline besides you who even knows half of what’s going on here. Do you think some security guard is going to be easily talked into walking into some crazy Mayan time machine because you’ve just explained to him that he and his whole world weren’t meant to exist, and that we need to fix that?”
Professor Smythe frowned.
“You certainly put forth a very compelling argument, Samantha.” He sat brooding for a few moments, seemingly going over their very limited options. “All right. But I want you to take Polly–
on a short leash.
And before I let you anywhere near
that time machine we’re going to give this communicator a real test.”
“Okay! Fine–I mean, it’s a deal. I need to take Polly out anyway–how far do you want me to go with it?”
“As far as you can,” The Professor said, strapping the small, watch-like device onto her wrist. “I’d actually like you to take a cab down to Battery Park, at the bottom tip of the island.”
“I’ve been there.” Samantha assumed her worldly tone and looked down at her little Boston Terrier. “Polly, do you want to come for a
walk
?”
“Walk” being a word that even most dogs of far less intelligence understand and celebrate as a key to some promised land, Polly became very excited and started sproinging around (a word Samantha had made up), panting and yipping in her little bark-voice. Samantha smiled and scratched her between the ears, then looked up at The Professor.
“Don’t worry, Professor. We can take care of each other, really. We’ve been doing it for years. Polly’s smarter than she acts sometimes, you know.”
“Hmmmph,” The Professor snorted, turning away. “I’ll believe it when I see it.” He started digging in his pocket then turned back to her. “Do you have any money left?” Samantha
“Hold on a moment,” The Professor put his hand up. “I’m not so sure if that’s such a good idea either, sending a young girl alone
back in time–you could get hurt or lost–I’d feel simply horrible if anything happened to you.”
“I’ll take Polly with me!” She beamed, nodding as if this were the obvious solution. Polly wagged her little stub of a tail and looked back and forth between Samantha and The Professor.
“That dog has caused enough trouble already, don’t you think?” The Professor looked at Polly and spoke in a scolding tone so that she cowered slightly from him.
“Oh, she didn’t mean
it, Professor. And I’ll keep her on the shortest leash, the whole time!”
“Well,” The Professor grumbled, “unfortunately, I fear that I absolutely mustn’t go myself. I’m afraid having two Professor Smythes in the same time and place might produce some disastrous result, though I’m not sure what exactly would happen.” He looked at Samantha long and hard. “I suppose it has
to be you. I can’t rightly draw anyone from this timeline into our little mess. I thought about asking one of the museum security guards to do it, but then my mind got to wondering–what if they weren’t meant to exist in that timeline,
our
normal timeline. Would they be able to exist there as we are able to exist here, or might they simply blink out of existence upon reaching
our
1931? Though presumably, our timeline and this one were one and the same up until that specific point when I goofed something up.” The Professor shook his head. “There are too many ifs,
Samantha.”
“Well then that settles it,” Samantha said firmly. “If there are too many ifs,
Professor, one logically has to follow the course with the
most
certainty, even if it isn’t one hundred percent. If you’re not sure what will happen if you go yourself or send some security guard, you have
to send me. You know
that I won’t cause any ‘double-occurrence’ like you would, and it’s less
likely that I’ll blink out of existence than someone from this new timeline, and I’m the only one in this timeline besides you who even knows half of what’s going on here. Do you think some security guard is going to be easily talked into walking into some crazy Mayan time machine because you’ve just explained to him that he and his whole world weren’t meant to exist, and that we need to fix that?”
Professor Smythe frowned.
“You certainly put forth a very compelling argument, Samantha.” He sat brooding for a few moments, seemingly going over their very limited options. “All right. But I want you to take Polly–
on a short leash.
And before I let you anywhere near
that time machine we’re going to give this communicator a real test.”
“Okay! Fine–I mean, it’s a deal. I need to take Polly out anyway–how far do you want me to go with it?”
“As far as you can,” The Professor said, strapping the small, watch-like device onto her wrist. “I’d actually like you to take a cab down to Battery Park, at the bottom tip of the island.”
“I’ve been there.” Samantha assumed her worldly tone and looked down at her little Boston Terrier. “Polly, do you want to come for a
walk
?”
“Walk” being a word that even most dogs of far less intelligence understand and celebrate as a key to some promised land, Polly became very excited and started sproinging around (a word Samantha had made up), panting and yipping in her little bark-voice. Samantha smiled and scratched her between the ears, then looked up at The Professor.
“Don’t worry, Professor. We can take care of each other, really. We’ve been doing it for years. Polly’s smarter than she acts sometimes, you know.”
“Hmmmph,” The Professor snorted, turning away. “I’ll believe it when I see it.” He started digging in his pocket then turned back to her. “Do you have any money left?” Samantha
Similar Books
