“Oh, I’m not punishing you. You’re just going to have another accident,” Thorn said. “Only this time your nose is going to run into my fist.”
“Yeah, an accident!” Bud echoed as he leaned against the bathroom door to keep anyone else from coming in.
Finch tried to squirm away, but Thorn only pushed him harder against the wall. His hand was right below Fin’s neck, pressing his collarbone so hard he had to fight back tears of pain.
Tell them you will fight later, Master. Say you promised Mr. Burns you would arrive early.
At the sound of the cape’s voice in his head, Finch took a breath. “I don’t have time to fight now,” he said, trying to sound calm. “I’ve got to finish feeding the crabs or they’ll get crabby. I’ll fight you later.”
Thorn squinted into Finch’s eyes. His hands let up a little.
“Besides, someone’s going to want to go to the bathroom,” Finch continued quickly. “If they can’t get in, they’ll call Mr. Paul. We’ll all get in trouble.” Mr. Paul was the custodian.
Thorn dropped his arms. “All right.”
All right? Finch pulled down his T-shirt. He couldn’t believe Thorn had agreed so easily. It was like . . . magic! He reached around Bud for the doorknob.
Thorn’s hand shot out and grabbed one of the straps of his backpack.
“Not so fast. You didn’t say when we’re going to fight. Or where.”
“Oh, right.” Finch scratched his head. “Cape? What should I tell him?” he asked silently.
You pick a location, Master.
“Well?” With his free hand, Thorn pounded the door above Finch’s head.
Finch swallowed. “When it’s time for lunch, don’t go to the cafeteria. Go outside. The school yard will be empty.”
“Good thinking. I guess you don’t want to eat first so you won’t hurl your lunch.” Thorn grinned at his own joke.
“V-very funny!” Finch stammered. “I’ll s-see you later.”
“Bye-bye, Towelman.” Thorn and Bud whooped with laughter as Finch hurried through the door.
“Thanks, Cape,” Finch whispered when he was out in the corridor.
My suggestion merely loosened your tongue, Master. It was your words about being discovered by the custodian that stopped them.
Finch felt a little burst of pride. Then reality set in. “What about later? They still want to fight me.”
You will need supplies. Bandages, crutches, an ice pack, smelling salts . . .
Finch stopped short. “Hold it! You mean those guys really are going to beat me up? I thought you were supposed to help solve problems.”
I am doing my best, Master. But after nearly one thousand years of sleep, I am afraid my powers may be rusty. Besides, it is always better to be safe than sorry.
“Okay.” Finch gave up and headed for the nurse’s office. Mrs. Goldstein was dropping pills into a paper cup.
“Hi, Finny, what’s wrong?”
“Could I have a Band-Aid?” Finch held up a finger with a tiny cut he’d gotten from his ferrets’ cage. “This really stings.”
“Sure.” Mrs. Goldstein reached into a cabinet.
“Er, could I have a few in case one gets dirty?”
The nurse handed Finch three Band-Aids. When he didn’t leave, she crossed her arms over her chest. “Anything else?”
Finch cleared his throat. “Yes. I also need an ice pack, some crutches, and smelling salts.”
“What’s going on? Are you planning to be injured?”
“No—the opposite. They’re to prevent me from getting hurt.”
“I don’t know, Fin. I think you need to talk to someone about this. A grown-up.”
“I already did—a really old, er, advice giver. Please, Mrs. Goldstein, I only need the stuff during lunch recess. I’ll bring it back.”
The nurse rested her chin in her hand. With one finger, she reached up and tapped her cheek. “Well, okay. I don’t know what you’re up to, but I’m going to trust you. Stop in on your way to lunch. You’ll have to forget about smelling salts, but you can have the crutches and the ice pack as long as you promise to return everything as soon as recess is over.”
“I promise. Thanks, Mrs. Goldstein.” Finch raced out of the office before she could change her mind.
13
TO PUNCH OR NOT TO PUNCH
When Finch finally got back to the classroom, he was relieved to see that the guys had arrived. He hurried to their cluster of desks to tell them what had happened.
Raj shook his head. “I can’t believe the cape wants you to fight. It told us it could help solve problems by thinking.”
“Maybe it hasn’t revealed the whole plan yet. It might still have something up its sleeve,” Elliott suggested.
“A cape doesn’t have sleeves,” Kev reminded him.
Finch rubbed his collarbone. The ache he felt was just a taste of what was going to happen to him later—unless some miracle occurred. Because it didn’t look like a thousand-year-old cape with rusty powers was going to be much help.
Suddenly he realized that Ms. Mitchell, the school secretary, was reading the morning announcements over the loudspeaker.
“. . . and Back to School Night is in two weeks. This year, for the first time ever, students are invited to accompany their parents.”
“Yuck,” Kev groaned.
“Yeah—who wants to come to school twice in one day?” Elliott agreed.
“Shh!” Chloe hissed. “I can’t hear.”
“. . . In order to help things run smoothly, we’re looking for a few students to be hospitality captains. It will be their job to help parents and pupils to get around the building, and to see that everyone follows our school rules. If you would like to volunteer, please come to the office.”
Mr. Burns raised his eyebrows. “Anyone want to be a hospitality captain?”
Three hands went up.
“Thorn, you’re volunteering?” Mr. Burns sounded doubtful.
“Sure—I’m good at making people follow orders,” Thorn said.
Chloe twisted around in her seat. “That’s not what Ms. Mitchell meant. You have to be a good host or hostess. I’m experienced. I always help my mother run her Diet Time meetings.”
“Ooh! Ooh!” Bud kept waving his hand.
“You want to volunteer too, Bud?” Mr. Burns asked.
Bud nodded. “Do the captains get to wear badges?”
“I don’t know.” Mr. Burns took a slow, deep breath. “All right—you three may go to Ms. Mitchell’s office.”
Finch winced. He could just imagine Thorn and Bud ordering the parents around: “Walk, don’t run! Spit out that gum! No lingering in the hallways!” With Thorn and Bud as hospitality captains, Back to School Night was going to be more like a Back to School Nightmare. But maybe he wouldn’t have to worry about it. He might be dead then, anyway.
When it was time for lunch, he grabbed his backpack and trudged toward the classroom door.
“Hey, dude, is something wrong?” Mr. Burns asked as Finch passed his desk. “You’re looking pretty low.”
Finch hung his head. He sort of wished he could tell his teacher. But he had his pride—he didn’t want to be a tattletale. Besides, Thorn and Bud would just pound him some other time. He wanted to get it over with.
Mr. Burns was waiting for him to answer. Fin racked his brain. “Anthony won’t eat. I think maybe he’s injured,” he blurted out. It was true. When he’d refilled the crabs’ food dish, perky Phillip had scuttled right over. But Anthony had just stayed in a corner of the tank.
“It’s really nice that you’re concerned, Fin. But most hermit crabs eat at night. Anthony’s probably been chowing down while you’re asleep. Phil is unusual—the little pig will eat anytime.”
“Ohhh, right.” Finch pressed a hand to his forehead. “I read that on the Web—but I forgot. Thanks.”
“Anytime,” Mr. Burns said. “You’d better go eat your lunch.” He spread a napkin out on his desk a
nd began unzipping his insulated bag as if he were going to eat in the classroom.
“Aren’t you going to the teachers’ room?” Fin asked before he could stop himself.
“Not today, dude. I want to finish this e-mail to my brother Anthony. I’m inviting him to visit for my birthday.”
“When’s that?”
“The last day of September.”
For a moment, Finch imagined two red-haired bobbleheads nodding at him through the windshield of a car with California license plates. He’d probably been right about Mr. Burns. The guy didn’t have any friends here yet.
But right now he had his own problem. Fin raced to the nurse’s office. Mrs. Goldstein was busy with a kindergartner who’d lost a tooth, but she had the crutches out for Finch. She told him to take an ice pack out of the fridge.
Finch almost wished he were back in kindergarten. He nudged his backpack with his elbow. “Cape, do you really think this is going to work?” he asked as he pushed through a door that led out to the school yard.
I am a Thinking Cape, not a Promising Cape, Master.
Ugg. Finch felt weak in the knees. But Thorn and Bud were already in the school yard. They were looking at him with joy on their faces.
“We thought maybe you weren’t coming,” Thorn said. His vampire teeth glinted in the sunlight.
“You brought your own crutches?” Bud squeaked. Finch wondered if he was hopping up and down because he was excited or because he hadn’t stopped to use the bathroom. Finch wished he’d used the bathroom himself.
Master, try to get them to move nearer the fence—under the big oak tree.
“Why should I?” Finch said aloud before he realized it.
Thorn squinted an eye at him. “Who are you talking to?”
“No one! I mean, we’d better move away from school, in case someone’s looking out the window. Maybe that tree will block the view.”
Bud scowled. “He’s stalling. There’s not much time before everyone gets out of the cafeteria.”
Thorn shrugged. “Don’t worry. It will only take a few seconds to make him cry like a baby.”
Finch felt a trickle of sweat run down his back as he led Thorn and Bud to the oak tree.
“Okay, Towelman. Drop your backpack and get ready.” Thorn already had his fists up.
“Wait! Just let me get out the rest of my supplies.” Finch fell to his knees and began taking out the Band-Aids, the ice pack, and a water bottle. He crouched down and arranged them on the grass next to the crutches. Maybe Bud had been right about stalling. Maybe that was the Thinking Cape’s plan.
“Haw, haw, haw! You brought your own hospital,” Thorn cracked. “Good idea!”
Master! Tell him the supplies are not for you.
Finch was confused. But there was no time to ask questions. “These first-aid supplies aren’t for me,” he said. He pulled some tissues out of his pocket and added them to the display in case someone ended up with a bloody nose or was crying.
Thorn smirked. “Oh yeah? Then who are they for?”
Suddenly Finch understood what the cape was up to. He stared Thorn in the eyes. “They’re for you.”
As if those three words were a cue, Raj, Elliott, and Kev stepped out from behind the tree.
“Hey, what is this—an ambush?” Thorn demanded.
“No fair,” Bud whined.
“Guys! What are you doing here?” Finch exclaimed. He was as surprised as Thorn and Bud.
“We’re your cheering section,” Elliott announced.
“Yeah, we’re here for moral support,” Raj said. But Finch noticed he’d removed his glasses as if he were expecting to be in a fight.
Kevin stuck out his bulldog chest. “For your information, Fin doesn’t need our help. So you’d better hurry up and start fighting. That ice pack’s melting and you’re going to need it afterward.”
Thorn gnashed his teeth. He stabbed a finger into Fin’s skinny biceps. “They’re lying! If you can fight, why didn’t you stop me from spraying soda all over you?”
Finch hesitated. His arm hurt.
Master! Remember the gift or the curse.
“When people find out you’ve got a gift, they’re always bothering you to use it,” Finch said. “You know, like Spider-Man.”
Thorn narrowed his eyes. “Huh?”
“I figured if it got out I could fight, kids would be challenging me all the time. Just because I can fight doesn’t mean I like to hurt people. I’ve got self-control.”
“That’s bull!”
“Okay, then forget it.” Finch stuck out his chin. “Go on and hit me.”
Nay, Master, nay! I fear you are crossing the line from bravery to foolishness.
Thorn made a fist and pulled back his arm.
Finch stood his ground. He locked eyes with Thorn. He tried his best to look unafraid.
“You think you’re so smart, don’t you, Towelman? Well, if you’re not going to use your gift, I’m not going to use mine either. I’ve got self-control, too.” Thorn let his arm drop.
For a moment, no one seemed to know what to do next. Then the school doors opened and students began pouring out into the yard.
“Come on.” Thorn gave Bud a shove. “Let’s get out of here.”
Silently, the members of the SSSh watched Thorn and Bud cross the field. All at once, they turned to one another and began shouting.
“Ye-es!”
“You did it, Fin!”
“Thorny actually looked scared.”
“It was the Thinking Cape’s idea.” Finch nodded toward his backpack. “Thanks, Cape,” he whispered.
You are welcome, Master Finch. But I am afraid it is too early to celebrate.
“Why?”
A melon seed in the ground may one day reappear a thousand times bigger and fatter and pop you in the nose.
14
THE MISSION
“We’ve got exactly seventy-two minutes,” Raj whispered as he closed the door to his room. He’d just put his “secret weapon,” a DVD of The Jungle Book, into the DVD player. It was the best way to keep his twin siblings, Sonny and Meena, in the living room.
While the guys spread out on Raj’s red rug, Fin draped the Thinking Cape over his back. On the bus, he’d told the guys he had an idea for their first official mission. But he wasn’t sure how to begin. He knew his friends were expecting something adventurous or even risky—especially after his showdown with Thorn and Bud. But his idea wasn’t either of those things.
Elliott rubbed his hands together. “Come on! What’s the mission already?”
“It’s not a ‘what’ exactly, it’s more of a ‘who,’ ” Finch said carefully. “It’s Mr. Burns. He had lunch alone in the classroom today. He never hangs out in the hall with the other teachers. And he told me he invited his brother in California to come for his birthday at the end of the month. I bet he hasn’t got any friends here. I think we should help him make some.”
Kevin snorted. “That’s not a superheroes’ mission!” “Yes, it is. We’re supposed to do our best to help others. We’re supposed to solve problems,” Finch reminded him. “Being lonely is a problem. Having no friends is a problem.”
Kev crossed his arms over his chest. “It’s the most boring thing I ever heard. Superhero missions are supposed to be exciting.”
“Yeah, but we’re still beginners,” Raj pointed out. “We can pick tougher ones later on when we’re ready.”
“What about Miss Pesco, the new kindergarten teacher?” Elliott suggested. “She might need a friend. Maybe we could get her and Mr. Burns together.”
“A girl?” Kev scoffed.
“So what?” Elliott was the only one of the superheroes who had friend-girls in school. “Girls have some good points. They don’t finish their snacks, so you get to eat their leftovers. They laugh at your worst jokes. You can gross them out easily. And they always have an extra pencil you can borrow.”
“I don’t really think you can pick a friend for someon
e else,” Fin said thoughtfully. “I think our mission should be to help Mr. Burns meet a lot of people. That way he can find the right one himself.”
“How are we going to do that?” Elliott asked.
Finch shrugged. “I’m not sure.”
May I suggest a birthday party, Master?
“Yeah! What about a surprise party?” El exclaimed.
“Who would we invite?” Raj asked.
Fin ran his fingers through the shaggy rug. He was trying not to seem too excited. “We could invite the other teachers. And the principal, and Ms. Mitchell, and all the other adults that work at school.”
“I don’t want to go to a party with only grown-ups,” Kev objected.
“We’d invite our classmates, too,” Fin told him.
Raj nodded. “It might work.”
“Raji! Raji!” Suddenly the four-year-olds, Meena and Sonny, came bursting through the door.
“The DVD stopped!” Meena announced.
“I think it’s broken,” Sonny wailed.
“Oh, man!” Raj put his arms around the twins. “Let’s go back to the living room and I’ll see if I can fix it.” He tried to guide them out of his room.
But Sonny was staring at the cape. “What’s that?” Before anyone realized what was happening, he grabbed it.
“It’s Fin’s, Sonny,” Raj said. “Give it back.”
But Sonny held the cape out with both hands and stared at the bright yellow lightning bolts. “Can I have it, Fin? Pleeease?”
Finch had to force himself not to grab it away. But he only said, “No, Sonny. I’m sorry.”
Raj held out his hand. “C’mon. Give it to me.”
“But I want it!” Sonny hugged the cape tightly to his little chest and glared at Finch. “Big boys don’t wear these!”
Raj pushed his glasses up on his nose. “We can ask Naani to make you one. I think we have an old green towel in the basement.” Naani was their grandmother. Right now she was in the kitchen cooking dinner.
“I want this one!” Sonny burst into tears. Meena had been standing by quietly. But when she saw her twin crying, she began weeping, too.
“Shh! Shh! How about if I show you a magic trick?” Raj pulled a white handkerchief from a drawer in his desk. “I’ll make the little ghost appear.”
The Society of Super Secret Heroes Page 6
