Alexander Graham Bell: Master of Sound #7 Read Free Page A

The Treasure Chest, pick up an object, and—”
    “All right, all right,” Maisie muttered.
    “And I say it won’t work,” Felix said. “First of all, there’s no way to get inside—”
    “There’s always a way,” Maisie said.
    “Second of all, we’ll be off who knows where, and the Ziff twins will be standing there in The Treasure Chest—”
    “So what? When you brought Lily Goldberginto The Treasure Chest, she never even knew we were gone,” Maisie reminded him.
    That time they’d gone all the way to China and stayed there for months. Yet, like always, when they returned it was as if no time had passed at all.
    They had reached the corner of Memorial Boulevard where Jim Duncan stood waiting for them.
    “If I can get in,” Maisie said to Felix, “will you at least try with me?”
    Felix glanced at Jim. “I don’t know,” he said.
    “Get in where?” Jim asked.
    “Nowhere,” Felix answered.
    Frustrated, Maisie stomped off ahead of the boys. First their father decided to get married. Then Great-Uncle Thorne decided to get married. And to throw Maisie and her family out of Elm Medona and make them move back upstairs to those dreadful servants’ quarters. It was time Maisie took control of something in her life, she decided. She would figure out a way to get back inside The Treasure Chest. And then she would convince Felix to let her bring the Ziff twins there. And then—she smiled to herself—and then how could Hadley Ziff not decidethat Maisie was the coolest person in the entire world? How could she not be her best friend after something like that?

    Hadley Ziff walked into class late. When she did, Maisie did a double take. Hadley was wearing a white skirt with a black T-shirt, and Maisie was wearing a black skirt with a white T-shirt. Hadley noticed, too, and as she walked past Maisie’s desk, she gave her a thumbs-up. For the rest of the morning, as Mrs. Witherspoon talked on and on first about pre-algebra and then about their new social studies section on inventors, all Maisie could do was watch the clock, counting the minutes until lunch, when she could finally talk to Hadley Ziff.
    Sometimes time seemed to slow down when Maisie waited for something important to happen. That was how it seemed to her that morning. The two hours until lunch felt more like two
hundred
hours.
    At one point, Mrs. Witherspoon said, “Maisie Robbins, do you know of any inventors to add to our list?
    List?
Maisie thought, looking around.
    Sure enough, Mrs. Witherspoon was writing a list on the board. She stood there, a piece of chalk in one hand, staring at Maisie.
    “The Wright Brothers?” Maisie said hesitantly.
    Mrs. Witherspoon tapped the blackboard with her chalk hard enough to send a little puff of chalk dust into the air.
    “We already
have
the Wright Brothers, Maisie,” she said. “Right here beneath Thomas Edison.”
    Maisie saw that now that Mrs. Witherspoon had pointed it out.
    “Um,” Maisie said, scanning the list.
    Names floated in front of her. Benjamin Franklin and Henry Ford and even Steve Jobs.
    “You seem to have them all covered,” Maisie said, and went back to watching the clock.

    Finally, a million years later, the lunch bell rang. By then, Maisie had come up with a plan. She would be the first one at the door, and she would stand there until Hadley Ziff walked out. Then Maisie would simply fall into step beside her. They would walk together to the cafeteria, move through the food line side by side, then find a place to sitaway from Bitsy Beal and her friends. By the time lunch ended twenty-three minutes later, Maisie would have invited Hadley over on Saturday. In Maisie’s mind, they were already practically best friends.
    Maisie was on her feet before the bell even finished ringing.
    But Mrs. Witherspoon stopped her before she got to the door.
    “Where is your mind today, Maisie?” she asked.
    Maisie kept her eye on Hadley, who was slowly standing up and moving across the