Read Online The Mystery of Silas Finklebean by David Baldacci, Rudy Baldacci - Free Book Online Page B

the street. Would you boys like to see something?”
    They both nodded.
    A few minutes later they were walking into Mildred’s little cottage. It was cozy inside with lots of dainty knickknacks everywhere. Mildred excused herself. While she was gone Freddy looked over some old family pictures on the fireplace mantel. One of them surprised him. He was about to say something to Howie but then Mildred came back into the room holding a small box.
    “Is that what Silas wanted you to keep safe?” Freddy said, pointing at the box.
    Mildred nodded, put the box on the coffee table, and opened it. Freddy and Howie looked at each other excitedly. It was the gyroscope-like thing from the time machine plans.
    “What did he say when he gave that to you?” asked Freddy.
    Mildred closed her eyes and her brow wrinkled as she thought hard. “He told me that it held the key to everyone’s future. And that he wouldn’t trust it with an adult, but that it would be safe with a child. I never knew what he meant by that.” She opened her eyes and continued, “Do you?”
    Freddy could hardly contain his excitement. “I think I know exactly what he meant. Ms.Maraschino, do you mind if we borrow it?”

    She put her hand protectively on top of the device. “I’m not sure.”
    “We’ll take good care of it, I promise,” said Freddy.
    “I’ve never let this out of my possession since he gave it to me.”
    Freddy glanced over at the pictures on the mantel and then turned back to her. “If you let us take it, I think that the next wish you make in your wishing mirror might just come true. And Silas did say it would be safe with a child.”
    Mildred still looked unsure. “My wish? How can you —”
    “Just trust me, Ms. Maraschino,” said Freddy. “I know I’m just a kid, but I’m also a scientist, a very trustworthy one.”
    Mildred looked doubtful for a moment, and then she finally said, “Well, until you both came along no one seemed to care about Silas anymore, which was very sad indeed. So, yes, you can take it.”
    As Freddy took the box, Mildred added, “Do you think you’ll be able to find your future with it?”
    Freddy patted the box. “I think our future looks really bright now.”

CHAPTER 16
    THE POWER OF PURPLE AND BLUE
    Freddy and Howie got back to the lab, and with the help of the Fries they were able to attach the device Mildred had given them to the time machine.
    “There,” said Freddy with a final turn of the wrench.
    Theodore was looking at the plans. “Well, we have everything in place. The only problem is we have no way to power up the time machine.”
    “I know,” said Freddy miserably.
    While no one was looking, Wally had slipped behind some junk they hadn’t used and took a bottle from a hiding place. It was the liquid blue stuff he’d found in Finklebean’s lab.
    “Okay, Freddy said I shouldn’t do this, so I’m not,” he said to himself. “No matter how much I want to or how good it tastes or how thirsty little, skinny Wally is, I’m not going to drink it, because that would be bad — very, very bad.”
    He took the top off the bottle and sniffed.
    “Right — no matter how good it smells, no matter how much fun it is to drink this blue stuff, Wally is not gonna do it, because I promised my special friend and buddy, Freddy, that I wouldn’t — and friends always keep their promises.”
    Wally tipped the bottle up to his mouth.
    “And another thing,” he continued, whispering to himself, “A friend who can’t keep a promise to another friend is just no stinking good. I mean, how can a friend do that to another friend? A promise is a promise and Wally never, ever breaks a promise.”
    Wally tipped the bottle all the way up and took a long chug, wiped his mouth, and put the top back on. “Whew, that was close. But like I said, a promise is a prom—YEOW!” Wally flew up into the air and crashed into the ceiling of the lab. Then he shot down, hit the floor, and zoomed