a hundred yards ahead, I could see Dr. Freud near the side of the tracks. Carrying his medical bag, he moved among groups
of passengers and train crew, checking on their condition.
Dr. Freud happened to look our way. Even from this distance, I could see the relief on his face when he spotted Judge. I waved
to him and mouthed the words, “We did it!” I don’t know if he understood exactly what I meant, but he smiled broadly and turned
back to the passengers.
“There’s Teddy!” Judge said, pointing to a spot near where Dr. Freud worked. My heart leapt when I saw my dear dog. A little
boy and an older woman were sitting with Teddy on the edge of the platform. The boy’s arms were wrapped around Teddy’s neck.
Teddy sat with the boy patiently, comforting him. Suddenly, my dog’s nose pointed up in the air. His big head swiveled and
he looked at me, his tail wagging furiously as he made a little hop.
Before he could come bounding toward me, I quickly made three flicks with my index finger and put my palm to my heart, telling
him in Teddyspeak, STAY and GOOD BOY.
It was best for him to stay out of danger and comfort the little boy. We would be reunited soon enough.
As the four of us walked, my brother took my hand. I held his with all my might. “Killian, do you know what it’s like to meet
someone that you know you will be friends with forever?”
Killian said he did. Judge put a hand on my shoulder, knowing I was talking about her.
I continued, “Well, imagine my surprise. I’ve met two people like that on board this train–even if one of them is full of
balloon juice.”
Despite the dim light, I saw William Henry blush and look away with a smile. His perfectly clean uniform was a thing of the
past. After our adventure in the baggage car, his hair and clothes were smudged with dirt and sweat. But he looked good, even
like that.
Two men walked quickly toward us, their eyes darting here and there. One was carrying a large camera and the other made notes
on a pad of paper. Clearly, they were journalists.
“What will we call this disaster in the newspaper?” One of the men asked the other as they approached us.
Without thinking I said, “The Big One.”
Judge looked at me, surprised.
The journalist who had asked the question overheard me. I saw him write down what I had said.
“The Big One,” he repeated as he passed by us. “Yes, I think that will work.”
WARNING: This letter reveals the story’s ending!
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
S WINDLED ! takes place in the past, but that doesn’t make it a history book. While I tried to be accurate when it came to the detective
techniques of 1906, I wrote this book to be entertaining. So, when historical events weren’t what I needed them to be—prestol
I changed them for the sake of the story.
Fitz, Judge, the train itself—all seem very real to me and, hopefully, to you. But they are inventions of my imagination.
The book’s biggest example of “historical fiction” is the made-up cause of the USS M AINE’S destruction.
There’s no doubt that the M AINE sank in Cuba’s Havana harbor in 1898 and that this event sparked the Spanish-American War. Many historians say the most likely
cause was a mine that bumped up against the M AINE and exploded—but, to this day, no one is completely sure what really happened.
I thought it would make the adventure more exciting if Fitz helped solve one of our country’s oldest mysteries—so I created
the Calamity Crew.
I hope you had fun reading S WINDLED ! Just don’t use Fitz’s journal as study material for your next history test!
Yours in time,
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bill Doyle was born in Lansing, Michigan, and wrote his first mystery when he was eight. He loved seeing the shock on people’s
faces when they discovered the identity of the story’s villain–and knew then that he was hooked on writing. Bill has written
for Sesame Workshop, LeapFrog, Scholastic, R
of passengers and train crew, checking on their condition.
Dr. Freud happened to look our way. Even from this distance, I could see the relief on his face when he spotted Judge. I waved
to him and mouthed the words, “We did it!” I don’t know if he understood exactly what I meant, but he smiled broadly and turned
back to the passengers.
“There’s Teddy!” Judge said, pointing to a spot near where Dr. Freud worked. My heart leapt when I saw my dear dog. A little
boy and an older woman were sitting with Teddy on the edge of the platform. The boy’s arms were wrapped around Teddy’s neck.
Teddy sat with the boy patiently, comforting him. Suddenly, my dog’s nose pointed up in the air. His big head swiveled and
he looked at me, his tail wagging furiously as he made a little hop.
Before he could come bounding toward me, I quickly made three flicks with my index finger and put my palm to my heart, telling
him in Teddyspeak, STAY and GOOD BOY.
It was best for him to stay out of danger and comfort the little boy. We would be reunited soon enough.
As the four of us walked, my brother took my hand. I held his with all my might. “Killian, do you know what it’s like to meet
someone that you know you will be friends with forever?”
Killian said he did. Judge put a hand on my shoulder, knowing I was talking about her.
I continued, “Well, imagine my surprise. I’ve met two people like that on board this train–even if one of them is full of
balloon juice.”
Despite the dim light, I saw William Henry blush and look away with a smile. His perfectly clean uniform was a thing of the
past. After our adventure in the baggage car, his hair and clothes were smudged with dirt and sweat. But he looked good, even
like that.
Two men walked quickly toward us, their eyes darting here and there. One was carrying a large camera and the other made notes
on a pad of paper. Clearly, they were journalists.
“What will we call this disaster in the newspaper?” One of the men asked the other as they approached us.
Without thinking I said, “The Big One.”
Judge looked at me, surprised.
The journalist who had asked the question overheard me. I saw him write down what I had said.
“The Big One,” he repeated as he passed by us. “Yes, I think that will work.”
WARNING: This letter reveals the story’s ending!
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
S WINDLED ! takes place in the past, but that doesn’t make it a history book. While I tried to be accurate when it came to the detective
techniques of 1906, I wrote this book to be entertaining. So, when historical events weren’t what I needed them to be—prestol
I changed them for the sake of the story.
Fitz, Judge, the train itself—all seem very real to me and, hopefully, to you. But they are inventions of my imagination.
The book’s biggest example of “historical fiction” is the made-up cause of the USS M AINE’S destruction.
There’s no doubt that the M AINE sank in Cuba’s Havana harbor in 1898 and that this event sparked the Spanish-American War. Many historians say the most likely
cause was a mine that bumped up against the M AINE and exploded—but, to this day, no one is completely sure what really happened.
I thought it would make the adventure more exciting if Fitz helped solve one of our country’s oldest mysteries—so I created
the Calamity Crew.
I hope you had fun reading S WINDLED ! Just don’t use Fitz’s journal as study material for your next history test!
Yours in time,
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bill Doyle was born in Lansing, Michigan, and wrote his first mystery when he was eight. He loved seeing the shock on people’s
faces when they discovered the identity of the story’s villain–and knew then that he was hooked on writing. Bill has written
for Sesame Workshop, LeapFrog, Scholastic, R
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