Floors: Read Free Page A

deliveries and guests with special yellow or green key cards.
If passersby on the outside of the Whippet think it’s strange, they’re in for an even bigger surprise should they ever choose to stay there. Not many people do. The Whippet is outlandishly exclusive and gossip flies all over town about the actual cost of a room and what might be found inside. Wanting to stay is one thing; being able to stay has much more to do with how fabulously wealthy a person is. There are those who say Merganzer planned it this way, because he didn’t really want anyone to come around. He’s busy tinkering, making things, playing with the ducks, and (as you well know by now) disappearing entirely.
It would appear that Merganzer D. Whippet has left the city.
Chances are he’s at the South Pole, honking at the moon.
     
    Bernard went back to staring out the window, a glimmer in his eye as he handed the report back to Milton.
    “It’s time we put our plan into action,” Bernard announced. He was a tall man, thin but sturdy, and his sharp nose crinkled with excitement.
    Milton was shorter, rounder, and more excitable. His fingers danced with anticipation as he jingled the keys to the black town car awaiting them downstairs.
    “As you wish, sir. As you wish!”

CHAPTER 2

     

T HE P URPLE B OX
     
    B etty was staring at Leo, her bill only a few inches away, quacking softly in his face. Her breath smelled like daffodils.
    “You’ve been eating the flowers on the grounds again, haven’t you?” Leo asked. “Mr. Phipps will have a fit if he finds out. I’ve been blaming it on the crows, but now you’ll have to come clean.”
    Betty almost seemed to understand what Leo was saying. She drooped her head and let out what could only be described as a long sigh in the form of a dying quack.
    “I’m only kidding. I won’t tell.”
    Betty brightened and moved a step closer, digging her orange bill into the front pocket of Leo’s overalls.
    “You’re all going on a diet. Look how cramped I am in this little corner!”
    Betty glanced at Leo then, and if the boy hadn’t known better, he’d have said the duck was scowling at him. No duck likes a diet.
    But it was true that the duck elevator felt unusually cramped. The long ride down seemed to last forever, and the ducks were restless, wobbling back and forth on their webbed feet and climbing all over Leo, looking for pumpernickel.
    When the duck elevator opened into the lobby, Leo told Betty to wait, which she did. When Betty waited, they all waited, and this gave Leo time to crawl out and find Merganzer’s walking stick. It was formed from one long, gnarled limb, its handle smooth and round. Without it, the ducks wouldn’t follow. There seemed to be magic in the walking stick, and after taking it from its closet, Leo returned to the duck elevator, stood before the group of them, and moved the walking stick across the floor. The six ducks marched out, Betty at the front.
    It wasn’t until they were all out of the duck elevator that Leo saw the purple box.
    “What’s this?” he whispered, barely hearing his own words. The ducks hadn’t grown larger after all; there had simply been less space for them to stand in. Leoleaned inside for a closer look and saw that the purple box was six or seven inches tall and a foot wide, with a seal on top that could not be mistaken:

     
    “Merganzer!” said Leo, edging into the small space so he could touch the mysterious box.
    “Get these ducks out of the lobby this instant!” yelled Ms. Sparks. “Move it, move it, move it!”
    The ducks were alarmed by her voice, and Leo began to lose control of the situation. The new bellboy, having gathered his courage, was inching his way toward the duck elevator. Leo couldn’t let anyone see what he’d found, but Betty had a look on her face that said
I am seconds away from biting someone’s ankle
.
    Leo slammed the duck elevator door shut with a
POW!
before the purple box could be seen, then pushed