Madman in Manhattan

by Marianne Hering

  But Gerald wasn’t alone.

  Patrick’s heart started to race. “Mr. Whittaker!” he cried. The person Patrick least expected but wanted to see more than anyone else was standing on the roof. He was right next to the modern Imagination Station.

  “Don’t take public transportation,” Whit said. “Why don’t you just come with me?”

  Patrick rushed into Whit’s arms. The two friends exchanged a brief hug.

  Patrick felt tears of joy trying to spill down his face. But he blinked them away.

  “Why were you gone so long?” Patrick asked. “You didn’t answer your phone when we needed you.”

  “Did you truly need me?” Whit asked. “It seems as if you, Beth, and Eugene have been managing just fine. I’m proud of you.”

  Patrick smiled at Mr. Whittaker.

  Mr. Whittaker continued, “But I’m sorry if you’ve been worried. It sounds as though we have some work to do to set things right.”

  “Then let’s go to Wardenclyffe,” Patrick said.

  Whit put a hand on his shoulder. He gave Patrick a reassuring pat. “We’ll go in just a minute,” Whit said. Then he turned to Gerald.

  Gerald was running his hands over the outside of the Imagination Station. “It’s so beautiful,” he said. “May I take a ride in it?”

  Whit leaned over to look Gerald in the eyes. Whit smiled. His eyes twinkled.

  “I’m afraid not, Gerald,” Whit said. “You’ve got a birthday party to plan for your grandfather. And tomorrow Mr. Tesla will need you. These last years of his life are going to be difficult for him. He’ll need better friends than just the birds.”

  “I’ll help all I can, sir,” Gerald said. “My grandfather and I will look out for Mr. Tesla’s patents.” Gerald offered Whit his hand for a good-bye handshake.

  Whit chuckled and shook Gerald’s hand. Whit said, “The best adventures are often at home, right where you are.”

  Whit and Patrick climbed into the Imagination Station.

  Whit motioned for Patrick to push the red button.

  Patrick felt calm and confident. He trusted the machine now that Whit was there. He knew he wouldn’t land in a lightning storm or a tsunami.

  He slammed the button with his palm. And suddenly everything went black.

  Beth closed her eyes. The wind and dust hurt too much for her to open them. The air pressure was making her cheeks flap. She held on to the helicopter seat. Her fingers ached from holding on so tight.

  She peeked with one eye and looked down. The helicopter was above water. She wondered what would happen if it crashed into the river. Would the seat cushion be a flotation device?

  She could hear Tesla gasping for breath.

  He’s pretty old, Beth thought. What if he has a heart attack? What if I have a heart attack?

  Beth closed her eyes again. They traveled about a half hour across the state of New York. She tried to ignore the cold and wind burning her skin. She ignored the creaking sounds of the helicopter straining against the wind. She prayed and prayed and prayed to God that she wouldn’t die.

  The helicopter banked. Beth noticed a slight change in the rhythm of the blades. She peeked again.

  Tesla was turning a lever. Beth felt the helicopter begin to descend.

  They were above an open field near a long, one-story building. A tan sedan was parked near the entrance.

  Surely Tesla would land the helicopter now. He would use the new landing gear he had designed.

  Panic rose again in her heart. We’re going to land with the new gear that has never been tested!

  Thud!

  The helicopter landed with Beth’s back parallel to the ground.

  The landing jostled Beth. Her teeth clamped shut with the impact. Her head slammed against the back of the seat.

  Next the helicopter rolled. Then—thud—it flopped forward ninety degrees. Now she was sitting upright. She looked at the mad inventor.

  Tesla hadn’t fared much better. He was thrown half out of his seat. He was holding on with a leg and one hand.

  Patrick was suddenly next to them shouting, “Are you okay? Tell me you’re okay!”

  Tears of fear streamed down Beth’s cheeks. But she said, “Check on Mr. Tesla first.”

  She watched as Patrick reached up to help Tesla out of his seat. The inventor ignored the offered help. Tesla hopped down by himself and brushed past Patrick. He headed toward the long building.

  The windows were covered with black paper. But the front door was open. It was possible to see some inventions inside.

  “My lab!” Tesla shouted. “It’s been restored just as the old man said!”

  “Beth?”

  She heard a familiar voice. She whipped around to find its owner.

  “Mr. Whittaker!” Beth said. Her tears of fear turned to joy. They ran down her chapped cheeks. “I am so happy to see you.”

  She looked at Patrick. “And you, too,” she said. “I was afraid Mr. Tesla and I were doomed!”

  Whit helped her out of her seat.

  Beth planted her feet firmly on the dirt. She had never been so glad to be on the ground. She hugged Whit and said, “You were the one who took the Model T off the roof.”

  “I was responsible, yes,” Mr. Whittaker said. “It seemed fitting to work on it in Nikola’s lab. I was able to fix both machines with the things here. I have Eugene to thank for that. I also traveled back to see his radio tower, which contained the key for fixing the time circuits.”

  Beth wondered what the tower had to do with time travel. But at the moment, she didn’t care. She was relieved the machines were working. “May we go home, please?” she asked Whit. “I’d like to visit the good old twenty-first century. I want to be back in Odyssey.”

  Patrick said, “Soon. But not yet. There’s something Mr. Whittaker wants to do in 1923.”

  Whit smiled. His eyes twinkled with merriment. “Let’s all go inside,” he said. “There are some people I want you to meet.”

  Mr. Edison and Mr. Ford

  Patrick and Beth walked into the lab. Eugene was asleep in a chair in the corner. Beth was amazed at how fast Tesla recovered from the helicopter flight. He seemed to come alive inside his lab in Wardenclyffe.

  Whit had somehow brought in a new, adapted Model T car. Its hood was raised so the engine was exposed. Two men were inspecting it. They had arrived in the fancy tan car outside while Beth was in the helicopter.

  Beth and Patrick moved close to the car on display.

  Beth whispered to her cousin, “I recognize Mr. Whittaker and Mr. Tesla. But there are two other men in suits and black hats. I’m guessing they’re Thomas Edison and Henry Ford. They’ve been looking to make a better electric car.”

  “You’re right,” Patrick said. “Let’s edge closer to hear what’s going on.”

  The men were discussing the merits of the Model T’s invention.

  Beth leaned over to Patrick. She said quietly, “It looks exactly like the engine of the car Imagination Station. But this Model T hasn’t been bashed up and cracked. It’s a new body. And it has a backseat.”

  Patrick nodded.

  Whit motioned with his hand toward the engine. He spoke to everyone in the room.

  “Nikola and I developed an electric engine a few years ago,” he said. “Since then I’ve been working to perfect this very powerful engine. It’s affordable and can easily be reproduced. But we need investors.”

  Henry Ford spoke up. “Has it been road tested?”

  Whit smiled mysteriously. “It’s been around the world, so to speak.”

  Edison said, “I’ve got my own ideas about improving car batteries. I don’t want to invest in something that will replace them. I’ll lose money.”

  Suddenly Tesla blurted out, “But this engine can be used in a time machine! Mr. Whittaker knows how to go back in history!”

  Ford merely laughed.

  Thomas Edison said, “We don’t want to go back in time. That’s the difference between y
ou and us, Nikola. We’re men of the future!”

  This seemed to make Tesla angry. He said, “But you can travel ahead in time too.” He turned to Beth and said, “Tell them it’s true. Tell them you’re from the future.”

  Beth looked to Whit for the okay. He nodded.

  “My cousin and I live in the twenty-first century,” she said. “We’ve got cell phones. I can talk to anyone around the globe.” She tried to think of other things to say. “And we have movies and TV, moving pictures in color!”

  Patrick added, “And there’s this thing called the Internet. It’s an electric communication system that unites the world!”

  Ford laughed again. “All that tells us is that you kids have seen Nikola’s patents. What you’re talking about sounds exactly like his wild dreams. He has ideas for all kinds of outlandish inventions that don’t work.”

  Ford turned to Whit. “We need something more practical than an imaginary time machine. We need a better battery.”

  Edison lifted his hat in a good-bye gesture. “Thank you for the offer to invest, gentlemen. But we politely say no. I wish you well, Nikola. I hope you find someone who believes in you.”

  The two famous inventors left.

  Beth heard the engine of the fancy sedan roar to life. She went to the lab window and lifted the black paper. She watched the car drive away.

  Eugene woke up and said, “Did I miss anything of great importance?”

  He stood and shuffled over next to Nikola Tesla. Tesla was leaning on the corner of a desk. He looked around at the lab.

  “I’m a fool,” Tesla said. “No one trusts me. They think I’m a madman.”

  Tesla pointed to the photo in the newspaper and said, “You came to me for help all those years ago, John Whittaker. And I thought I was so great with my tall transmitter tower. I wouldn’t listen to your ideas. They seemed so small at the time.” He lowered his head. “I’m sorry.”

  “I learned a lot from you,” Whit said. “After we parted ways, I got the Imagination Station to work after all. And I did consult a few of your patents to do it. They had expired by the time I needed them. But I still owe you a great debt. I’d like to thank you somehow. How would you like to travel to the twenty-first century?”

  Tesla’s moustache twitched. He asked, “Would you trust me with your machine?”

  “Hardly,” he said with a laugh. “But there’s a way I can keep you out of trouble. First, Eugene is going with you. Second, the Model T Imagination Station will be in lockdown mode. So you’ll be able to see but not get out. And no one will be able to see you.”

  “What will happen to me?” Eugene asked. “Will I return to my proper age?”

  Whit’s face turned a bit gray. “I don’t know exactly, Eugene,” he said. “But we’ll deal with that when you return to Odyssey.”

  Eugene opened his laptop. He typed on the keyboard. The Model T Imagination Station appeared.

  Eugene and Tesla got in the car.

  Beth saw Tesla turn the steering wheel. There was a flash of colors spinning. And then they disappeared.

  Suddenly a bird flew in through the open door of the lab.

  “That’s Tesla’s bird,” Beth said. “It follows him everywhere.”

  She patted the bird’s head. “I’ve got an idea. Let’s attach a note to the pigeon. It will fly back to the Hotel Marguery. Tesla will find the message when he gets back!”

  “Let’s use the telegraph paper,” Patrick said. “It’s thin.” Patrick went to the odd-looking reel machine.

  “I know what I want to write,” Beth said. She wrote a note on the paper. It said:

  Dear Mr. Tesla,

  Someday a company that builds electric cars will be named after you. I hope that makes you happy. But you should also look to your past. The best ideas come from the Bible your mom gave you. Don’t forget that.

  Love, Beth.

  Patrick rolled up the message. He found a bit of string and tied it to the bird’s leg. He took the pigeon to the door and shooed it away.

  Beth said, “Let’s go home now.”

  Patrick said, “One more thing. I’m going to send a telegraph to Mr. Inumaru in Japan. I want him to know why we didn’t finish the rice balls.”

  Beth nodded. “Tell him it was to help Mr. Tesla,” she said. “He’ll understand.”

  Whit’s End

  Patrick and Beth returned to Whit’s End in the modern Imagination Station. They were in Whit’s workshop. They got out before the machine disappeared. Moments later it came back with Whit.

  They all went upstairs to the ice-cream shop. Beth turned on the lights. They flickered a bit.

  Beth said, “I hope the storm has finally passed. I don’t like being in the dark.”

  “Look,” Patrick said, “there’s my backpack. It’s right where I left it.” It was sitting under one of the small tables. He sighed. “I still have a report to do about the history of soccer.”

  Whit went to the fountain. He made Patrick and Beth chocolate milkshakes. The cousins sat at the counter, sipping their treats.

  “Was Lewis Latimer rich like Edison or poor like Tesla?” Beth asked.

  “Well, he wasn’t rich,” Whit said. “He was a consultant and draftsman who helped attorneys write good patents. He did invent one important thing—a filament.”

  Beth swallowed a mouthful of her shake. “What’s a filament?” she asked.

  “It’s part of the lightbulb,” Whit said. “Mr. Edison invented the first lightbulb. But Lewis invented an inexpensive filament that made Edison’s bulb last longer. Lewis’s name is on the patent. But the money went to the company he worked for at the time.”

  “Did Mr. Latimer read the Bible?” Beth asked.

  “We don’t know a lot about Mr. Latimer’s spiritual life,” Whit said. “But we do know some things. He helped start a church in New York City, for example.”

  “Why do you think Mr. Tesla didn’t read the Bible?” Beth said.

  “Sometimes scientists focus only on what they can test and control,” Whit said. “And God can’t be measured or put into an experiment. He can’t be controlled in any way. That frightens some people, even smart scientists.”

  “What happened to Mr. Latimer’s grandson, Gerald Norman?” Patrick asked. “He seemed like a nice kid.”

  Whit picked up a towel and began to wipe down the counter. “Gerald became a New York judge,” Whit said. “His job was to make sure people were paid fairly. Perhaps he did it to help people like his grandfather. Lewis Latimer didn’t get paid as much as white men doing the same work.”

  The cousins were silent as they sipped the rest of their milkshakes. Patrick was still thinking about their last adventure.

  Patrick finally said, “I’m still confused about the photo. Mr. Tesla’s tower helped you create the Imagination Station, right? So how did you get back there in the first place?”

  Beth gasped. “Or are you really from the 1920s?” she asked. “Is Whit’s End one of your adventures in the twenty-first century?”

  Whit didn’t answer. He merely smiled, and his eyes twinkled mysteriously.

  To find out more about the next book, Freedom at the Falls, visit TheImaginationStation.com.

  Secret Word Puzzle

  The turn of the twentieth century marked an era of invention. The experiments Nikola Tesla performed startled everyone. His efforts to harness the energy of the world were noble.

  Harnessing physical power is good. But did you know that having spiritual power is better? Spiritual power is always available to you. It’s enough for everything you need and then some! When you experience spiritual power, it may startle and surprise you.

  The Bible talks about good things God will do for us. Those things are often beyond our wildest imaginations!

  You can learn more by finding your way out of the maze on the next page. Then copy down the letters in order on the lines and in the boxes. When you finish, you’ll know all of Ephesians 3:20. The word in the box is
the secret word.

  “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the . . .

  Go to TheImaginationStation.com.

  Find the cover of this book.

  Click on “Secret Word.”

  Type in the answer, and you’ll receive a prize.

  THE KEY TO ADVENTURE LIES WITHIN YOUR IMAGINATION.

  Voyage with the Vikings

  Attack at the Arena

  Peril in the Palace

  Revenge of the Red Knight

  Showdown with the Shepherd

  Problems in Plymouth

  Secret of the Prince’s Tomb

  Battle for Cannibal Island

  Escape to the Hiding Place

  Challenge on the Hill of Fire

  Hunt for the Devil’s Dragon

  Danger on a Silent Night

  The Redcoats Are Coming!

  Captured on the High Seas

  Surprise at Yorktown

  Doomsday in Pompeii

  In Fear of the Spear

  Trouble on the Orphan Train

  Light in the Lions’ Den

  Inferno in Tokyo

  Madman in Manhattan