The Mystery of Silas Finklebean Read Free

suddenly.
    “I don’t remember there being another door here,” he said, pointing at a small black door across from them.
    Freddy tried the doorknob, but it was locked. He pulled out his Wriggle-Jiggle, yet before he could insert it in the lock, the door swung open.
    “YEOW!” said Wally as he jumped on top of Theodore, flattening the blue Fry.
    “Ho-how di-did that ha-hap-pen?” Freddy stammered.
    There was a flash of light, and the next thing they knew, they were running for their lives. They raced down the hallway, through the hole, into the basement of the Burger Castle, up the steps, out the front doors, across the drawbridge, and onto the street.
    Stopping to catch his breath, Freddy’s mind was whirling so fast he could barely understand what he was thinking. As his head cleared, Freddy was sure of one thing. There had been a man down there, dressed in what looked to be clothes from a very long time ago. He had looked right at Freddy. His mouth was open and he seemed to be trying to say something, but all that came out was one long moan.
    And that wasn’t all.
    The man had lights flashing all around him. And he had been hovering at least two feet OFF the ground!

CHAPTER 3
    THEODORE’S COCONUTDUMDUM
    At the slightly run-down Funkhouser farm, Freddy, Howie, and the Fries dashed into one of the old barns far from the old two-story house. Freddy pulled a hidden lever and the floor opened under them, and they all fell about ten feet and landed in a soft pile of hay. They were now in Freddy’s underground lab.
    “I need to fix that,” Freddy reminded himself as he pulled hay out of his navel.
    “I wif ud ix it tu,” mumbled Howie, spitting hay out of his mouth.
    “Stairs might be in order,” pronounced Theodore as he put back on his glasses.
    Wally slowly stood and looked sheepish. “Uh-oh,” he moaned. Under him was Ziggy, flat as a pancake.
    “Sorry, little papoosie,” he said, prying Ziggy off the ground. “For such a skinny guy, I actually weigh a lot. It must be heavy bones.” As he attempted to help Ziggy up, he accidentally hit the yellow Fry in the back of the head. Ziggy’s arms, legs, and face immediately fell off.
    “I hate when it does that,” cried out Meese. “It’s disgusting to have body parts all over the floor.”
    “Boy, I wish my face and arms and legs fell off like that,” declared Si.
    “Hey, that’s
my
arms and legs you’re talking about too,” said Meese. “And I want them all to stay right where they are.”
    Freddy kicked Ziggy in the butt, and all Ziggy’s parts flew back on. “I gotta fix that too,” Freddy reminded himself.
    The Fries had set up their living quarters in Freddy’s lab, and so there were five bunk beds on one side of the wall.
    Freddy and the gang all gathered around Freddy’s long lab table, which was crammed with equipment and gadgets that he was working on.
    “Okay, guys, did you see what I saw in the room?” he asked.
    They all looked at each other and then at him, and one by one they slowly shook their heads.
    Howie explained, “You were standing in front of me, so I couldn’t see anything that was in that room.”
    “Yeah, you started screaming and yelling and took off running, so we just followed you,” said Si.
    “That’srightIwasscaredbecauseyouwerescared,” mumbled Curly.
    “What did you observe that petrified you so comprehensively?” asked Theodore.

    “Maybe he should tell us what scared his pants off first, Teddy,” said Wally.
    “THAT’S WHAT HE JUST SAID, YOU BIG PURPLE DOUGHBALL,” cried out Ziggy, who was still obviously upset at being smashed flat.
    “Well,” said Freddy, “I saw a man wearing really old clothes. And he was moaning. And that’s not all. He was also
floating
in the air.”
    The others stared at him dumbfounded, while Theodore scratched his blue chin. “That is quite a conundrum,” he said.
    “I
love
cocunutdumdums,” said Wally excitedly. “With the little marshmallows, and whipped