Read Online The Amazing Flight of Darius Frobisher by Bill Harley - Free Book Online

He stuffed three cookies in his mouth.
    “Wait, Anthony,” Darius said. “You can’t do that. She’ll know there’s some missing.”
    “And whose problem is that?”
    “She’ll kill me.”
    “Exactly. Like I said, not my problem.” He took out another handful, then handed Darius the near-empty bag. “If you’re going to die, you might as well have some.”
    Darius put the bag on the counter and went back into the living room. Anthony followed, his mouth and hands filled with cookies, and hovered inches away from Darius—much too close for his liking. “What were you doing?” Anthony asked. “Probably something stupid.”
    “I was reading a book.”
    “Something stupid, just like I thought,” said Anthony. “At Crapper Academy we don’t have time to read. There are too many important things to do.”
    Darius was mystified. He liked reading, and he assumed that’s what all kids did at school. “You don’t read books?” he asked.
    “Oh, some, sure…. One or two.”
    “Then what do you do?” asked Darius.
    “Important things. Like drilling and marching. I’m especially good at drilling—a lot better than you’ll ever be. We polish buttons on our uniforms and get ready for inspections. And we have meetings about discipline and order. Discipline and order are very important.”
    “Why is discipline important?”
    This question upset Anthony. He started circling around Darius, leaning over him and yelling, “Why is it important? What kind of idiot are you? Don’t you know anything? If there’s no discipline, everything falls apart. Soon the enemy would come and take over!”
    “Who is the enemy?” asked Darius, trying to move out of range of Anthony’s terrible breath.
    “Who’s the enemy? You’re even stupider than I thought,” said Anthony, backing Darius down into Aunt Inga’s big chair. “The enemy could be anybody, anytime. You know, if you went to Crapper Academy, you’d probably be under disciplinary arrest all the time.”
    “Disciplinary arrest? What’s that?”
    Anthony shrieked with laughter. “What’s that? WHAT’S THAT? It’s when you can’t do anything right, and they have to punish you. Half the school is under arrest all the time! You’d be under arrest the minute you got there, that’s for sure.”
    Darius shuddered. “What happens to you when you’re under arrest? How can they arrest so many kids?”
    “A special squad of students is chosen to guard them, and
we’re
in charge of punishment.” Anthony leaned very close and smiled. “I’m going to be captain of the guards next year. I’ll get to decide what the punishments are.”
    Darius was thinking that Crapper sounded like the most unpleasant school in the universe, when all of a sudden Anthony pounced on top of him and started twisting his arm. “Let’s wrestle,” he said. “I’m sure I can wrestle better than you can.”
    “Ouch! Stop it!” yelled Darius. Anthony was twisting his arm so hard that Darius was afraid he would twist it off. Darius squirmed and struggled, trying to get away.
    “Stop it, Anthony! Stop it!” he yelled, but Anthony only laughed louder. Darius looked around in desperation, trying to think of a way to stop this torture. The only thing within his reach was the television remote control. With his one free hand, he grabbed it and pushed the ON button.
    “Anthony,” he screamed, “let’s watch some television.”
    The second the television came on, Anthony let go of Darius and sank to the floor, staring at the screen.
    Darius looked at Anthony. The boy’s eyes were glazed over. Darius turned off the television. Anthony instantly came back to life and leered at Darius.
    “I’ll twist your arm off, just like I do to kids at school,” he cackled, reaching toward Darius.
    Darius hit the ON button again. Anthony slumped back to the ground and stared at the screen.
    TV off. Anthony came to life. TV on. Anthony stared.
    It was magic! This is a handy little trick,