Freddie Ramos Zooms to the Rescue (7 page)

I knew it! Mrs. Connor hated the squirrel, and it was up to me to save him.

Could I distract her? I pressed the top button of my wristband and dashed behind the stage curtain.

I expected to find a purple squirrel, not a purple mess. There were tiny purple footprints everywhere—up, down, and all around. They led to the far corner of the stage where I found a squirrel's nest and a chewed plastic bottle in a puddle of purple paint. The squirrel was like my guinea pig who chomped on everything he could. Claude the Second would make a mess like this if he didn't have to live in a cage.

“Don't get too close, Freddie!” Mrs. Connor called. She was behind me again, but I wasn't worried anymore. I'd figured it out.

Mrs. Connor didn't paint the squirrel. He painted himself.

“Do you think it's gone?” Mrs. Connor whispered.

We heard a rustle and turned around to see the purple squirrel. He raised his purple paws like he was begging.

“EEEEEEE!”

Mrs. Connor threw her arms in the air and ran off the stage. Her face looked like she'd just seen a werewolf.

That's when I figured out something else. Mrs. Connor didn't hate squirrels. She was afraid of them.

“Don't worry, Mrs. Connor. I know what to do.”

First, I shut the gym doors.

Now the squirrel had only one way out—through the big hole in the roof. “BOO!” I stamped my foot. He climbed up to the ceiling and disappeared.

Mrs. Connor walked up to me. Her face looked better, like someone looking at a puppy, not a werewolf.

“Thanks, Freddie,” she said. “You're a hero.”

I smiled. That was exactly what I wanted to be.

ZAPATO POWER: FREDDIE RAMOS TAKES OFF

One day Freddie Ramos comes home from school and finds a strange box just for him. What's inside?
ZAPATO POWER
—shoes that change Freddie's life by giving him super speed!

ZAPATO POWER: FREDDIE RAMOS SPRINGS INTO ACTION

Freddie Ramos is back, now with even more
ZAPATO POWER!
Can he figure out how to use his zapatos in time to save a friend?

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Illustrations © 2011 by Miguel Benitez

Copyright © 2011 by Jacqueline Jules

978-1-4804-6200-7

Published by Albert Whitman & Company

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Park Ridge, Illinois 60068

www.albertwhitman.com

Distributed in 2013 by Open Road Distribution

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www.openroadmedia.com