Encyclopedia Brown Shows the Way (3 page)

Encyclopedia picked up the gloves. Nervously, he pushed the right glove over Sally’s hand and began lacing it. Ike did the same with the left glove.

Presently Bugs came out of the clubhouse. With him was a boy wearing boxing gloves. The boy looked like three fifth-graders: he was as tall as one and as wide as two.

“Bearcat,” groaned Ike.

Bearcat’s little dark eyes studied Sally up and down. “She don’t look like much,” he said slowly.

“She thinks girls can do anything boys can,” said Bugs.

“I don’t know,” said Bearcat, tapping his knees without stooping. “I never boxed a girl before.”

“She’s been asking for it,” said Bugs. “You know what? She said you’d have to fall down a well to get a deep thought. Would I lie to you? Give it to her!”

Bearcat shrugged. “If you say so, Cousin Bugs,” he muttered. He advanced on Sally.

Quickly Encyclopedia stepped between them.

“It won’t work, Bugs,” he said. “The fight is off. You made Ike hire us just so you could get revenge on Sally by putting her against Bearcat.”

 

 

HOW DID ENCYCLOPEDIA KNOW?

Riding the bus home from the Globe Theater, Encyclopedia wondered why he had done it. Why had he let Charlie Stewart talk him into seeing the triple-feature horror show?

He wished he had stayed home and read a book. He could have learned something useful.

Through the window of the bus he peered at the night sky. Clouds were gathering to the north.

“I’m going to be scared enough walking home in the dark without a rainstorm beating down,” he thought nervously.

On the seat beside him, Charlie Stewart gave a shudder.

“I was fine through
The Headless Vampire
and
The Killer Gorilla,”
said Charlie. “But those floating hands in
The Torture Chamber of Dr. LeFarge-
brrrrr! ”

They were nearing their stop. Encyclopedia hoped some other passengers would get off with them.

“Pine Needle Lane,” called the driver.

The two boys moved stiffly to the door. They were the only ones getting off. In a moment, they were standing alone in the dark night.

“It’s spooky,” moaned Charlie. “I know something terrible is going to happen.”

“They were just movies,” said Encyclopedia. “Nothing in them was real.”

“Gorillas are real,” insisted Charlie. “They can kill you.”

“The nearest gorilla was in the Crandon Zoo,

They began to walk.

“What about all the door lights that have been mysteriously broken in the neighborhood lately?” said Charlie. “Those floating hands—they always put the lights out before they attacked, remember?”

“Did you have to bring that up?” mumbled Encyclopedia.

The boys walked faster.

The night was growing darker. Storm clouds had blotted out the moonlight behind them.

They had to walk eight blocks on Pine Needle Lane and then four blocks on Rover Avenue to Encyclopedia’s house. Charlie lived two blocks farther down Rover.

“Would you like to stay over at my house tonight?” Encyclopedia invited. “I’ll use my sleeping bag.”

“Thanks, but I’ll make it home,” said Charlie bravely. “Besides, there’s not a light out.”

It was true. Every house along Pine Needle Lane had a friendly door light burning. But the street and the spaces between the houses lay blanketed in shadows.

The boys had covered six blocks in record time when a bolt of lightning turned the night into bright day. As the lightning faded, a sharp tinkling noise sounded, followed by a mighty clap of thunder.

Charlie shot into the air as if he were practicing to be a human cannonball.

“D-did you hear that?” he whimpered. “It sounded like glass breaking.” Suddenly he pointed and screeched,
“Yiiiiii!
I knew it!”

Encyclopedia stared at the blacked-out house. His eyes strained, searching the night-covered street for a pair of hands, or the ghost of the Crandon Zoo gorilla, or a headless vampire.

“Save yourself,” squeaked Charlie. “I can’t move.”

“Try to run,” urged Encyclopedia. “Try!”

“T-too late,” chattered Charlie.

Something was hurrying toward them from the direction of the blacked-out house. As it drew closer, Encyclopedia made out a person —almost.

The person seemed to be waving his arms wildly above his head... only he had no head!

“P-please, feet,” wailed Charlie. “Do your thing!”

His legs started going like sixty. Not running, knocking.

Encyclopedia was looking for a soft spot to collapse when the runner stopped and a head popped out. It belonged to Duke Kelly. Duke lived on the block and was one of Bugs Meany’s Tigers. He had been pulling a shirt over his head while running.

Charlie gave a yowl of relief. “What are you doing out here?” he demanded.

“I was reading by the window,” said Duke. “I must have dozed off. That clap of thunder woke me.”

“So you ran down the street like a headless vampire,” said Charlie. “If I didn’t have too much nerve, I’d have been scared sick.”

“What’s this vampire jazz?” said Duke. “I woke up and looked out the window. A bolt of lightning lit the street, and I saw two kids throwing rocks at Mr. Taft’s door light. They broke it. I grabbed a shirt and tried to catch them.”

“You chased them while putting on your shirt?” said Encyclopedia. “Most kids take off their shirts when they fight.”

“Us Tigers fight like gentlemen,” said Duke.

“You’ll lose to a tree someday if you keep putting on your shirt while you run,” warned Encyclopedia.

“Not this shirt,” replied Duke, laughing. “It’s a loose knit. I can see through it.”

He tucked the shirt into his jeans and regarded Encyclopedia and Charlie suspiciously.

“What are you two meatballs doing out at night?” he said. “Breaking door lights, maybe?”

“Good try, Duke,” said Encyclopedia. “But you have to do a lot better. You’re afraid we saw you break the light.”

 

HOW DID ENCYCLOPEDIA KNOW?

Gus Elkin walked into the Brown Detective Agency. “I’m on my way to the city dump,” he announced.

“Are you looking for something special?” asked Encyclopedia.

“I’m not going there to look,” said Gus. “I’m going to listen to Wilford Wiggins. He’s called a secret meeting at two o’clock. He promised to show us little kids how to make lots and lots of money.”

Wilford Wiggins was a high-school dropout. He was so lazy he got dizzy spells thinking about getting out of bed in the morning. During the hurricane season, he opened his window and waited for the wind to straighten up his room.

Most of his time was spent dreaming of ways to make money without working. Encyclopedia was kept busy protecting the children of the neighborhood from his crooked deals.

“What’s Wilford selling now?” asked Encyclopedia.

“He wouldn’t say,” replied Gus. “It’s something big, though. I’ve a hunch I ought to trust him.”

“You’re safer trusting an elephant to bring you a bag of peanuts,” warned Encyclopedia.

“Maybe today will be different,” said Gus.

“Wilford didn’t tell me about the meeting,” observed Encyclopedia thoughtfully.

“You’ve wrecked too many of his get-rich-quick schemes in the past,” said Gus. “That’s why I want you to come with me—in case Wilford’s up to his old tricks. You know, smooth talk and a slap on the back.”

“When Wilford slaps you on the back, he’s trying to knock the money out of your pocket,” said Encyclopedia. “Let’s go.”

The boys rode their bikes to the city dump. They arrived as a crowd of children was gathering around Wilford. He stood on an old wooden table, looking very aboveboard.

“I asked you out here because I don’t want any snoopy grown-up stealing my secret,” he began. “I know this place hurts the nose. But each and every one of you will walk home smelling like a rose after you hear what I have to say.”

Bugs Meany shoved his way to the front.

“I didn’t come here to smell anything except money,” he said.

“Ah, the sweetest smell on earth,” agreed Wilford with a grin. “Okay, step closer. You’ve heard of the armored-truck holdup in Detroit last week?”

The children shook their heads.

“You should read the newspapers,” scolded Wilford. “A lone gunman got away with a million dollars in cash!”

“And you found the money in your lunch pail,” sneered Bugs.