Flo smiled. “That kid is me,” she said. “And that’s my dad.”
“Oh,” Furry said quietly.
“He’s not around anymore,” Flo said. “But when he was, things were different. Dad was an artist. He used to draw cartoons.”
That got Furry’s attention. “Really?” he asked, perking up. “Which ones? I love cartoons. It’s one of my favorite things about this world.”
Flo sighed. “My dad created Dyno-Katz,” she said.
Furry scratched his head and looked at the picture again. “Weird,” he said. “I’ve never heard of Dyno-Katz. Was it on TV?”
Flo shook her head. “It never made it to TV,” she said. “It was my dad’s dream, though. He worked so hard on it. One of the networks decided they wanted a whole season of episodes.”
“So what happened?” Furry asked. “How come it was never on TV?”
“It fell apart,” Flo said. She turned the picture over so she could look at it, too. “They decided not to do the show.”
Furry sat quietly. Flo put the picture safely back in her lunchbox and closed the lid carefully.
“They were going to make Dyno-Katz toys, games, breakfast cereal, you name it. One of the companies made this lunchbox as a test,” Flo explained. “My dad was so excited. But a few days later, they changed their minds. The company never made another one. That’s why the lunchbox is really special to me. So, I understand. It’s hard to let go.”
Furry nodded. “I get it now,” he said. “It’s one of a kind. Just like you, Flo.”
“Oh, stop it,” Flo said. “That just sounds corny.”
Furry laughed. “Corny, but true,” he said with a grin.
Flo stood and looked up at the looming, beat-up building. “I have to get back,” she said. “My mom is probably wondering what’s taking so long.”
“Yeah, okay,” Furry replied. “I’m glad you got your lunchbox back.”
Flo smiled. “Thanks,” she said. “I’m glad you got your shard back. Thanks for coming in after me.”
Furry stood up too. “Hey,” he said. “What’re friends for?”
Lots of things, Flo thought as they walked inside. But best friends are something else entirely — even if they drool sometimes.
THE AUTHOR
Thomas Kingsley Troupe writes, makes movies, and works as a firefighter/EMT. He’s written many books for kids, including Legend of the Vampire and Mountain Bike Hero, and has two boys of his own. He likes zombies, bacon, orange Popsicles, and reading stories to his kids. Thomas currently lives in Woodbury, Minnesota, with his super cool family.
THE ILLUSTRATOR
Stephen Gilpin is the illustrator of several dozen children’s books and is currently working on a project he hopes will give him the ability to walk through walls — although he acknowledges there is still a lot of work to be done on this project. He currently lives in Hiawatha, Kansas, with his genius wife, Angie, and their kids.
THE SKELETONS IN CITY PARK
The rest of Flo’s morning passed by smoothly. Everything seemed to be going well until they started the math unit. Her teacher, Mrs. Shamp, had just handed out their workbooks for reviewing fractions when Flo saw something thin and white sneaking past the ground-floor window.
“What was that?” Flo blurted out before she could stop herself.
“Flo?” Mrs. Shamp asked. “Is everything okay?”
Flo looked away from the window and realized everyone was staring at her. Great, she thought. Not only am I the new kid, but I’m the weird new kid.
“Um, yeah,” Flo said quickly. “I just thought I saw something outside.”
“Well, if you see it again, let me know,” Mrs. Shamp said. “Now you’ve got me curious.”
A few of the kids in the class laughed.
Flo took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She tried to force herself to focus on the instructions for completing the worksheet correctly. But she couldn’t help it. She glanced back up at the window.
Flo gasped. There it was again — a skeleton.
Furry and Flo is published by
Capstone Young Readers
A Capstone Imprint
1710 Roe Crest Drive North Mankato, MN 56003
www.capstoneyoungreaders.com
Text and Illustrations © 2014 Stone Arch Books
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Summary: Furry and Flo find themselves in an ancient land chasing after a misplaced mummy - and some very important belongings!
ISBN 978-1-4342-6396-4 (library binding)
ISBN 978-1-62370-047-8 (paper over board)
ISBN 978-1-4342-9244-5 (eBook PDF)
ISBN 978-1-62370-205-2 (eBook)
Artistic effects:
Shutterstock/Kataleks Studio Background Image
Book design by Hilary Wacholz
The Misplaced Mummy Page 4