The Mystery of Silas Finklebean Read Online Free Page B

gone!” The purple Fry was so upset he ran straight into a wall and knocked himself out.
    Freddy closed the umbrella and reappeared.
    “Light particle refraction, undoubtedly,” said Theodore while Curly mumbled, “WowI’venever
not
seensomethinglikethat before.”
    “That’s right, Theodore,” said Freddy as he and Curly helped a groggy Wally to his feet.
    “The umbrella’s big enough to cover me and Howie. And you guys can stay upstairs at the Burger Castle and make sure my Dad and sister don’t come into the basement.”
    “Your sister never goes in the basement,” said Theodore.
    “Well, she might sort of come looking for me,” said Freddy sheepishly.
    Theodore eyed him closely. “Freddy, you didn’t do something you shouldn’t have, did you?”
    “Well, she made me mad so I might have played a teensy-weensy trick on her.”
    “Way to go, Freddio,” said Si. “I’m sure she deserved it.”
    “Speak for yourself, you happy-go-lucky maniac,” snapped Meese. “His sister scares me to death. And if I die, you die!”
    After they finished working at the Burger Castle, Freddy and Howie snuck down to the basement with the Invisibrella and a ladder. They had covered up the hole that Wally had made in the wall with an old shelf. They moved it aside and slipped into the secret passageway; soon they reached the trapdoor under Stewie Spanker’s office.
    Howie took a moment to devour four cheese cubes, swallow, and wipe his mouth. “Okay, I’m ready.”
    They climbed up the ladder, eased open the trapdoor, and peered into the room. It was empty.
    “This is perfect, Howie,” said Freddy. “Come on, hurry.”
    They clambered through the trapdoor and stood in a corner. Freddy opened the large Invisibrella over their heads. He was able to confirm their invisibility by looking at a mirror hanging across the room. It didn’t show their reflections, but the boys could see each other because the light refraction only took place outside the umbrella.
    “Now we just wait and hear their whole plan,” said Howie.
    “Shh, someone’s coming.”

    The door opened and Stewie and Adam Spanker walked through. They looked so ridiculous in their Patty Cakes uniforms that Freddy and Howie had to cover their mouths to keep from laughing. And then it got even worse — or better, depending on how you looked at it.
    Stewie Spanker sat down and let out an enormous burp. “Gotta cut back on those burgers and shakes,” he groaned.
    “Ha, that’s nothing,” said Adam, and he let out a gigantic fart that seemed to bounce off the walls like cannon fire.
    “I knew I raised you right,” said Stewie proudly. “But grab that can of air freshener and give the room a real good spray, son.”
    Freddy and Howie wanted to laugh so hard they could barely breathe. But they also knew the Spankers would tear them apart if they found out they were here.
    “Okay, son, what have you come up with to get rid of the Funkhousers?”
    “An unbelievably brilliant plan that I’ve already put into place, Dad,” proclaimed Adam proudly.
    Howie and Freddy looked at each other and smiled. This was working perfectly.
    Back at the Burger Castle, the Fries were cleaning up when Alfred Funkhouser came out of the kitchen.
    “Hey, guys,” he said.
    “Where is that little monster?” yelled Nancy as she ran out of the broom closet wearing a big hat.
    “What’s the matter?” asked her father.
    “Look at this.” She jerked off the hat and her red hair sprang out. It was a mass of curls and puffed up to about two feet over her head. She looked like walking cotton candy.
    Her father remarked in a delicate tone, “I see you’ve changed your hairstyle again, dear. It’s very, well, it’s very interesting.”
    “
I
didn’t do this,” shrieked Nancy. “That little jerk did. He must’ve slipped me one of his stupid perm pills when I wasn’t looking.”
    Alfred looked very proud. “A perm pill? What a great idea.”
    “Dad! I look like a