The Mystery of Silas Finklebean by David Baldacci, Rudy Baldacci Page B

shouted Howie.
    “Isecondthatmotionandvoteayetoo,” mumbled Curly.
    “Ditto to what Curly said — although I have no idea what it was,” said Si.
    “Okay,” added Meese miserably, “although I’m probably going to live to regret it. Or more likely
die
.”
    “Let’s go,” squeaked Ziggy.
    Freddy looked at Theodore. “Theodore, what do you think?”
    The blue Fry cleared his throat and said, “I think everyone has learned a valuable lesson about the perils of using time for their own personal gain. And I think we should
all
go back to where we came from.”
    Freddy looked at Theodore and smiled. “You really are one smart Fry.”
    “Now it won’t be easy,” said Finklebean quickly. “I mean, I broke the law, and while I’m not in jail or anything, I am prohibited from using a time travel machine for any reason.” He pointed to a device on his wrist. “This allows them to follow my every move. The Robotic Police are very smart.”
    “No problem,” said Si confidently. “They haven’t run into this gang before.”
    Finklebean looked at the Fries one by one. “Excuse me for asking, but what exactly are you?”
    “Aluminum coiled, carbon-tubed, microchip-powered with just a touch of the finest Idaho potato,” replied Theodore.
    “In other words, we are kick-butt spuds,” bellowed Wally.
    Freddy thought for a bit and then said, “Okay, this actually should be pretty easy. The police can’t know about our time machine because it’s invisible. It’s on the other side of Pookesville, near the town square.” Freddy described the exact location for Silas. “You leave a few minutes after us and head there too, only by a different route. We’ll jump in the time machine and be long gone before anyone even knows.”
    “Sounds like a plan, Freddio,” said Si.
    “Well, just be careful,” warned Finklebean. “I’ve tried to escape before and the police have always caught me. And since you’re helping me, they’ll arrest you too.”
    “We’ll take that chance,” said Freddy confidently.
    Freddy and the gang left the apartment and headed to the time machine. Finklebean left a few minutes later. However, twenty feet behind Finklebean, something was following him.
    When Freddy and the gang reached the time machine, Freddy hit the button turning off the invisibility shield. He checked his watch. “Okay, Finklebean will be here any minute. Let’s get in the time machine and be ready to take off.”
    A minute later Ziggy squeaked, “There he is.”
    “Right on time,” said Si. “I love it when a plan comes together.”
    “OR NOT!” yelled Meese. “Look!” He pointed right behind Finklebean.
    A dozen robotic policemen were charging toward them.
    “Mr. Finklebean, look out,” yelled Freddy.
    “You look out too,” shouted Finklebean, pointing behind Freddy.
    The gang whirled around and saw police robots coming from all directions.
    “I told you they were very smart,” shouted Finklebean.
    “Evasive action, guys,” ordered Freddy.
    The police quickly grabbed Finklebean, but Freddy, Howie, and the Fries started scrambling. Big Wally was gone like a shot, a purple blur that disappeared around some buildings.
    A squadron of robots suddenly zoomed into the air. “Oh, great, they can fly!” said Freddy as the robots swooped down at them.
    “What’s the big deal? So can we,” said Si. He and Meese held their breaths and floated into the air. One robot ran into them in midair and dropped to the ground.
    Curly uncoiled to his full height, grabbed hold of two robots, and was pulled into the air. He held on tight and when they passed close to a building, Curly reached out and grabbed onto a flagpole. This brought both robots up short. Curly reeled them in and then tied them to the flagpole using the flag as a rope. Then he dropped to the ground.
    “Boythatwasfunbutldon’twanttodoitagain,” he said, panting.
    Two of the robots were zooming right at Ziggy. An instant before they got to him he