by Zoe Quinn
Another thing I liked about Josh: he was honest to the core.
“We learned a pretty good lesson tonight,” I said. “In the future, we should leave the crime busting to the professionals.”
And by “professionals,” of course, I meant me.
I waited until Josh was safe inside his house, then bolted home.
Just as I was sneaking back in through my bedroom window (relieved to find that neither Dad nor Mom had checked on me while I was gone), I heard the phone ring. Two minutes later, Dad was zooming out of the house, and I knew it was because of the “anonymous” tip.
I put my superbackpack in the closet and yawned as I changed into my pj's. Nothing like a good night's work to make a kid— even a super kid—tired.
I climbed into bed and instantly fell asleep.
The next morning, I went down to breakfast to find my father on the phone providing the details of his long night to his boss, the chief.
“We managed to track down all the employees the tip had mentioned,” Dad was saying.
The goons, I thought, suppressing a giggle.
“A guy named Morty ratted Mitchell out on everything.” Then Dad mentioned the diamonds that had been found in Mitchell's office. I had almost forgotten about them, but suddenly I was interested. What would a guy like Mitchell be doing with diamonds?
“Mitchell was planning to use them in a new manufacturing process that required something as hard as diamonds to cut metal. Judging by the clues we found at the scene, it looks as if the Slink was trying to steal them but got sidetracked by the commotion in the cargo bay and left without taking anything.”
It wasn't a bad theory. I wished I could tell him what had really happened, but of course, I couldn't.
“Two different crimes at one location, Chief!” Dad was saying into the phone. “This is one for the record books.”
You can say that again, I thought, stuffing a bite of pancake into my mouth.
Later that morning, I called Josh and asked him how he was feeling.
“The doctor in the ER said it was a pretty major bump, but I don't have a concussion or anything.” He paused.
“What?”
“I'm grounded for a week for riding my bike without my helmet, but I feel so bad about lying to them that I kind of don't care about the grounding. Isn't that crazy?”
“No, I don't think it is. I totally understand,” I replied.
As I hung up, I actually felt a little envious. Josh had said he would never lie to his parents again, and I was sure that was a promise he would keep. I, on the other hand, had plenty of sneaky excuses ahead of me. All for a good cause… but still. I wished it could be different.
I was hanging up the phone when the doorbell rang.
I opened the front door to find Grandpa Zack on the porch. He looked very, very pleased, and he was holding something behind his back.
“Nice work last night, Zoe.”
“Just doin' my job,” I said, trying to sound modest. “The Slink's still on the loose, though.”
“Zoe, you can't get all the bad guys your first time out!” Grandpa stepped inside and looked around. “Are your folks here?” he asked in a whisper.
“No. Dad went down to the police station, and Mom's at the library.” I stopped, frowning. “Hang on. How do you know what happened last night?”
Grandpa winked and led the way into the living room. From behind his back, he produced a copy of the Supernews. I read the headline:
“Who's Kid Zoom?” I said.
“You are!”
“I am?”
“The Superhero Federation gets to choose the names.” Grandpa shrugged. “It was between that and Little Zipster.”
“Yeah. I told them you'd say that. So they went with Kid Zoom.”
“I like it!”
“Me too.” Grandpa took my face in his hands and gave me a kiss right in the middle of my forehead. “Do you have any idea what a great achievement this is? Most heroes don't get a write-up in the newsletter until they've been on active duty for several months. But you, kiddo— you make the front page your first time out.”
I could feel myself beaming as I read the article at super-speed.
“Can I keep this?” I asked. “I'd like to start a scrapbook like yours so someday I can show it to my Super grandkids.”
Grandpa gave me a warm smile. “And you'll be as proud of them as I am of you, I'm sure.”
He sat down on the sofa and put his feet on the coffee table. I sat down beside him and put my feet up, too.
“So,” I said, folding my arms behind my head, “what's next on the superhero agenda?”
“I don't know.” Grandpa folded his arms behind his head. “But don't worry, we'll find out.
“ Too right, we would.
And when we did, Kid Zoom would be ready!
lives in Maryland with her family and still loves reading comic books. The Caped Sixth Grader books are her first novels.
Published by Yearling, an imprint of Random House Children's Books a division of Random House, Inc., New York
Text copyright © 2006 by Working Partners, Ltd. Illustrations copyright © 2006 by Brie Spangler
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eISBN: 978-0-307-49836-6
v3.0