Read Online Secret Weapons by Zilpha Keatley Snyder - Free Book Online
Authors: Zilpha Keatley Snyder
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a vice president, she chose Lump. Of course everybody laughed, including Bucky. And they laughed some more when Athena told Lump he was vice president, and he got up and bounced over and kissed her so hard she tipped over backward. After that things got a little less tense, and once the meeting really got started it turned out that having Athena as president worked better than anyone had expected.
The way it worked was that someone, usually Kate or Bucky but not always, would say, “Madame President, I think the next order of business should be …” And Athena would stand up on a chair and say, “Okay. The next order of business is …” And then everyone would chip in with their ideas. So the way it turned out, it was as if everyone got to be president, at least now and then.
One of the first orders of business was to choose a club headquarters, and even though it was Kate who suggested they ought to have one, it was Eddy who came up with the best idea about where it should be. It was Eddy who suggested the Pit at Dragoland.
Dragoland was the mysterious vacant lot where, a long time ago, some people named Dragoman had started to build a big house, and then stopped and went away. And the half-dug basement—the Pit, as it had always been called—was a favorite place for Castle Court kids to play all sorts of games and dig clubhouses.
“I mean, it’s in the perfect location for our headquarters,” Eddy said. “Right between our house and the Andersons’, and no one ever goes there except kids. So we could have our meetings in one of the old clubhouses and keep some antiterrorist equipment there, and—”
“Hey, yeah,” Ari said. “And we could have an observation outpost in that big old tree out front. You know, the one right near the sidewalk at Dragoland. Big trees are great places for observation outposts.”
Then Eddy said he had some flashlights the club could use. And Bucky said he might be able to bring a lot of beepers so all the club members could get in touch with each other. Then Carlos volunteered his Boy Scout tent so the equipment wouldn’t get wet in case it rained. Kate said she’d bring some old karate practice mats for people to sit on inside the tent. When it was Susie’s turn she said she didn’t have any spy equipment but she could bring a lot of stuff from her dad’s restaurant for people to eat while they were on duty in the headquarters tent.
“Hey! Great idea!” Bucky jumped up and headed for the stairs. “I’m starving. Everybody meet in the Pit in fifteen minutes. And bring lots of stuff to eat. I’ll bring some popcorn.”
“Wait a minute,” Kate said. “Athena has to adjourn the meeting first. Athena, say the meeting is adjourned.”
“For fifteen minutes,” Eddy added. “Say the meeting is adjourned and will resume in fifteen minutes.”
Athena climbed back up onto her chair. “The meeting is injured and will go boom in fifteen minutes,” she said.
Everybody laughed and started for home. “And bring Lump,” Athena called back over her shoulder as she started down the stairs. “Don’t forget to bring the vice president.”
It wasn’t much more than fifteen minutes later that the Garcias climbed down the steps into the Dragoland Pit. Three Garcias. Carlos, Susie, and, of course, Lump. Carlos was holding Lump’s leash and carrying the rolled-up tent, and Susie was loaded down with stuff to eat. Carlos picked out a nice flat spot near the center of the Pit, took Lump off his leash, and began to unroll the tent.
A few minutes later Eddy arrived carrying a big plastic garbage bag. After he’d unloaded two different kinds of flashlights and two bags of potato chips, he helped Carlos finish putting up the tent. One of the flashlights was a big lantern type, the kind you could put on a table or hang up on the wall, and it would light up most of a room.
“That’s great,” Carlos said. “We can hang that from the ridgepole and it will light up the
The way it worked was that someone, usually Kate or Bucky but not always, would say, “Madame President, I think the next order of business should be …” And Athena would stand up on a chair and say, “Okay. The next order of business is …” And then everyone would chip in with their ideas. So the way it turned out, it was as if everyone got to be president, at least now and then.
One of the first orders of business was to choose a club headquarters, and even though it was Kate who suggested they ought to have one, it was Eddy who came up with the best idea about where it should be. It was Eddy who suggested the Pit at Dragoland.
Dragoland was the mysterious vacant lot where, a long time ago, some people named Dragoman had started to build a big house, and then stopped and went away. And the half-dug basement—the Pit, as it had always been called—was a favorite place for Castle Court kids to play all sorts of games and dig clubhouses.
“I mean, it’s in the perfect location for our headquarters,” Eddy said. “Right between our house and the Andersons’, and no one ever goes there except kids. So we could have our meetings in one of the old clubhouses and keep some antiterrorist equipment there, and—”
“Hey, yeah,” Ari said. “And we could have an observation outpost in that big old tree out front. You know, the one right near the sidewalk at Dragoland. Big trees are great places for observation outposts.”
Then Eddy said he had some flashlights the club could use. And Bucky said he might be able to bring a lot of beepers so all the club members could get in touch with each other. Then Carlos volunteered his Boy Scout tent so the equipment wouldn’t get wet in case it rained. Kate said she’d bring some old karate practice mats for people to sit on inside the tent. When it was Susie’s turn she said she didn’t have any spy equipment but she could bring a lot of stuff from her dad’s restaurant for people to eat while they were on duty in the headquarters tent.
“Hey! Great idea!” Bucky jumped up and headed for the stairs. “I’m starving. Everybody meet in the Pit in fifteen minutes. And bring lots of stuff to eat. I’ll bring some popcorn.”
“Wait a minute,” Kate said. “Athena has to adjourn the meeting first. Athena, say the meeting is adjourned.”
“For fifteen minutes,” Eddy added. “Say the meeting is adjourned and will resume in fifteen minutes.”
Athena climbed back up onto her chair. “The meeting is injured and will go boom in fifteen minutes,” she said.
Everybody laughed and started for home. “And bring Lump,” Athena called back over her shoulder as she started down the stairs. “Don’t forget to bring the vice president.”
It wasn’t much more than fifteen minutes later that the Garcias climbed down the steps into the Dragoland Pit. Three Garcias. Carlos, Susie, and, of course, Lump. Carlos was holding Lump’s leash and carrying the rolled-up tent, and Susie was loaded down with stuff to eat. Carlos picked out a nice flat spot near the center of the Pit, took Lump off his leash, and began to unroll the tent.
A few minutes later Eddy arrived carrying a big plastic garbage bag. After he’d unloaded two different kinds of flashlights and two bags of potato chips, he helped Carlos finish putting up the tent. One of the flashlights was a big lantern type, the kind you could put on a table or hang up on the wall, and it would light up most of a room.
“That’s great,” Carlos said. “We can hang that from the ridgepole and it will light up the
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