Freddie Ramos Takes Off (5 page)

There wasn't time to stop and figure it all out. Mrs. Lane would be blowing the whistle to end recess soon.

I ran around the building a third time, searching every blade of grass. This time I got lucky. I found a piece of red chalk. It was a good clue. Someone with red chalk wrote
POOPEE
on the shed and the sidewalk. Who? Could I figure it out if I kept running around? Or did I need something more than Zapato Power?

I checked my watch. Mrs. Lane would notice if I didn't come back from recess. She was the kind of teacher who counted heads to make sure no one was lost.

Even if Zapato Power couldn't solve all my mysteries, it could keep me out of trouble with Mrs. Lane.

7. Puppy Is Missing!

After school, Maria and I walked home together. Gio came running up with tears on his face.

“My puppy! She's missing!”

“Where did you see her last?” Maria asked.

“Over there.” Gio pointed to the sidewalk. “I put down Puppy to write with chalk.”

“Chalk?” I repeated, remembering my clue. “What word did you write?”

“My favorite word,” Gio said. “I wrote ‘Puppy.'”

That's when I solved my first mystery. Only it took more brain power than Zapato Power. Gio was the one who wrote
POOPEE
on the shed and sidewalk. He was a very bad speller.

“Puppy!” Gio cried again. “She ran away!”

“We have to find her,” Maria said. “She could get hurt.”

Puppy was too little to be alone. She could get run over by a car.

“Let's spread out and look in different places,” I said.

Gio went right. Maria went left. I went everywhere.

I circled Starwood Park, my heels smoking, searching bushes, trees, and corners with my Zapato Power eyes.

I tried the school playground. I looked under the slides and all the benches, too. No little black dog with cute white ears.

I ran up and down the block, leaning down to check under parked cars. With my super speed, I had covered every inch for at least two miles. Puppy wasn't anywhere. By the time I met back up with Gio and Maria, I was worried.

“Do you think Puppy's been kidnapped?” I asked.

“No!” Gio started to cry again.

“Maybe Mr. Vaslov saw something,” Maria suggested.

We walked over and knocked on the toolshed.

No one opened the door, but someone answered. “Ruff! Ruff!”

It was the second time in an hour that brain power worked better than Zapato Power. When were my purple sneakers going to make me a hero?

“Puppy!” Gio cried.

We pushed the door open. Inside on the floor was a pair of purple sneakers just like mine. Beside the sneakers was a little black dog with cute white ears chewing on a paper bag.

Maria's lunch!

Just then, Mr. Vaslov walked up. “What's going on?”

Mr. Vaslov had a loud, deep voice. Maria, Gio, and I were used to it. But Puppy wasn't. She ran scared between his legs and out of the shed. We all chased after her as she raced toward the street. A blue car came around the corner.

“No!” Maria shouted.

Puppy was speeding. The blue car was speeding. Maria, Gio, and Mr. Vaslov couldn't keep up. But my purple sneakers could.

I dashed to the curb and scooped up Puppy before she ran into the street.

It was about time Zapato Power made me a hero.

Gio ran up to me. “Puppy! You saved her!”

“Ruff!” Puppy barked as she licked my face.

“She's saying thank you.” Gio took the little black dog from my arms.

“No problem.” I felt my cheeks spreading out in a huge smile. Then Maria and Mr. Vaslov joined us on the sidewalk.

“How did you do that?” Maria asked. “You were so fast you turned into a puff of smoke.”

I gulped. What could I say that didn't sound too much like a lie? If I was going to use my Zapato Power a lot, I would need to learn how to talk as fast as I could run.

“Great job!” Mr. Vaslov patted my back. “Your feet were smoking, like an Olympic runner.”

I stared at Mr. Vaslov. Was he saving me from Maria's question? I remembered the purple sneakers in the toolshed.