Freddie Ramos Stomps the Snow (4 page)

In five minutes, the steps between Starwood Park and Starwood Elementary were clean. Mr. Vaslov sprinkled salt on them to keep them from getting icy.

“The sidewalks around the school need clearing too. Are you too tired?”

“
No hay problema
,” I said.

“Good work, Freddie!”

We walked into the building with a click, clack, clatter.

“Your snowshoes sure are noisy on floors.” Mr. Vaslov laughed.

He showed me how to fold up the snowshoes and put them in the inside pocket of my winter coat.

“Keep them handy,” he said. “You never know when you might need them.”

Then we went into the school gym. People immediately surrounded Mr. Vaslov to ask him when the furnace would be fixed in Building D.

“Not before Monday, I’m afraid. We need a new part.”

A gray-haired lady with a red wart on her chin turned away with a groan. Then she hobbled off, rubbing her back as if sleeping on the floor hadn’t been the best adventure of her life.

“Abuela?” a girl asked. “Are you all right?”

The voice sounded familiar to me but it was a lot nicer than I’d ever heard it before. Bubblegum popped near my ear. I turned to face Erika.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

“I’m here with Mr. Vaslov,” I said, pointing to where people ere lined up to talk to him. He was taking notes on a clipboard.

“Last night he came over on the fire trucks with us.” She yawned, showing off her purple mouth. “He helped set up the blankets and sleeping bags.”

For once, I didn’t have to wonder if Erika was telling the truth. Mr. Vaslov always helped the people of Starwood Park.

“Freddie!” He waved at me. “I’ve got another job for you.”

For the rest of the afternoon, I ran back and forth between Building D and the school, carrying things Mr. Vaslov pulled out of the apartments for the people camping out in the gym. “We want to make the people of Building D as comfortable as possible,” Mr. Vaslov said, checking his clipboard list.

That meant finding Pedro’s teddy bear in 19D and Mrs. Wu’s pillow in 35D. It also meant filling Erika’s green backpack with her comb, toothbrush, and purple bubblegum. Eeew! Sometimes being a hero was tough.

I ran back to the school carrying Erika’s backpack as far away from my body as possible. My plan was to toss it at her feet, like somebody feeding a lion, and get away in a Zapato Power flash. But when I walked into the gym, there was crying and commotion

“MY MONEY!” the gray-haired lady with the red wart on her chin wailed.

“Somebody stole my abuela’s purse!” Erika shouted. “Call the police!”

Mr. Vaslov put away his cell phone. “The police will come as soon as they can. But with the snow, there are emergencies all over the city.”

Erika’s grandmother covered her face with her wrinkled hands and leaned over like someone about to throw up. I felt sorry for her, even if she was related to Erika and had a red wart on her chin.

It got me thinking. Could I do something? Superheroes helped the police. But would that be helping Erika too? Do superheroes have to help people they don’t like?

“Somebody here is a thief!” Erika pointed at the crowd gathering around her grandmother’s chair. “Give my abuela’s purse back. It has our rent money.”

I knew what it was like to worry about rent money. Mom and I did before she got her job at the doctors’ office.

“Don’t say things like that,” Mr. Vaslov told Erika. “We’re all neighbors here.”

Was there anyone in the school right now who didn’t live at Starwood Park? It was time to do a little Zapato Power snooping.

Right away, I spotted footprints— lots of them—up and down the hall by the back gym door. Were they all from the people in Building D? Or did one set of footprints belong to a crook?

I searched the rest of the school.

Most of the halls were dark. I saw only one light coming from a boys’ bathroom. Then it clicked off. I took two steps closer. That’s when I felt cold air in the hallway. Was there a thief near me…or…a ghost?

Superheroes are supposed to be brave. But they don’t have to do everything alone. I ran back to the gym for help.