Flying Feet (7 page)

Mitchell wore a tin hat.

Habib had straw sticking out of his sleeves.

“We’re characters from Dorothy’s story,” they said together.

Sumiko popped out behind them. She held Ms. Katz’s dog, Tree Stump.

She wore the red Flying Feet sneakers.

She tapped them together three times. “See? Ruby-red sneakers.”

She looked around. “There’s no place like home,” she said. “Oops, I forgot to say I’m Dorothy. This is my dog, Toto.”

Sumiko stopped. “These are also Flying Feet. I’ll touch them for luck for the next race.”

Tree Stump jumped out of her arms. Beebe chased him. “Got him!” she said.

Charlie heard voices behind him.

“This is great,” Zelda A. Zigzag was whispering to Mrs. Farelli.

Would his part be great? Charlie wondered. Or would Larry laugh?

Destiny came next. She had yellow streaks in her hair. “I’m Mary. Some people might think this is a pile of junk.”

She waved her arms around. “But it’s a secret garden. See the flowers? See the pipes that make a little fence around them?”

“Good ideas,” said Mr. Randolph.

“Wow,” Jake said.

Then it was Charlie’s turn.

He went to the box.

Inside were the work gloves.

They looked huge.

They were stuffed with cotton.

There was just room for his hands.

But first he read Mitchell’s paper. “This is the story of an inventor named Charlie,” he said. “He invented Wizard Walkers.”

“Who ever heard of that story?” Gina asked.

“It’s a new one,” Charlie said. “It was written by Mitchell McCabe.”

Mitchell took a bow.

“Lovely,” said Ms. Katz.

Charlie snapped on the gloves. He waved them in the air. “These are Wizard Walkers. Dorothy’s wizard might have used them.”

“Lovely,” said Sumiko in a Ms. Katz voice.

Charlie climbed up on the wall.

He crouched down.

He leaned on his hands.

He threw his legs up in the air.

And began to walk on his hands.

One hand-step.

Two.

He was going to fall. “Yeow …”

But then someone held on to his ankles.

“Everyone needs a helper,” a voice said. “Even a wizard.”

It was Larry. He wasn’t laughing.

Charlie kept going along the wall. Right to the end.

He still owed Larry T-shirt money. He’d give him the penny he’d found. That was a good start.

Then he stood up. “I have more Wizard Walkers in the box,” he said. “Help yourself.”

Mrs. Farelli nodded. “We all do things together at the Zelda A. Zigzag School. We do them for each other.”

Everyone was clapping.

“Time for snack,” Mrs. Farelli said. “Red soup.”

Zelda A. Zigzag was twirling on the
three-legged twirling chair. She stood up. “Ah. The wonderful red kind with lumps.”

Charlie walked with her.

He might try a little more of that soup, too.

He felt a buzz. Was it about soup?

A new invention was on the way.

He just had to figure out how to do it.

Buzzzzz.