The Time Warp Wonder

   CONTENTS

  CHAPTER 1 SCIENCE FAIR STANDOFF

  CHAPTER 2 TIME WARPED

  CHAPTER 3 HAMSTER JAM

  CHAPTER 4 ON A ROLL

  CHAPTER 5 SIR HAMSTERLOT

  CHAPTER 6 POCKET SCIENCE

  CHAPTER 7 HAIRY SCARY

  CHAPTER 8 FETCHING FIND

  CHAPTER 9 SQUEEZE PLAY

  CHAPTER 10 NICK OF TIME!

  AUTHOR THE AUTHOR

  Chapter 1

  Science Fair Standoff

  “What’s your science fair project, Joe?” Chet Morton asked. “It looks like a spaghetti strainer with bells on the sides.”

  Eight-year-old Joe Hardy proudly held up his project. It was a Friday in October. The third and fourth graders were setting up their projects for the Bayport Elementary School Science Fair. The fair would be held on Monday in the lunchroom.

  “It may look like a spaghetti strainer to you, Chet,” Joe told his friend. “But there’s more to the Joe Hardy Lie Detector Helmet than meets the eye.”

  “Or eyes,” Joe’s nine-year-old brother, Frank, said. “Show Chet the chart you made, Joe.”

  Joe’s chart showed two faces he’d drawn himself. Underneath one face was the word Truth. Underneath the other was Lie.

  “The lying eyes look funny,” Chet said. “How come?”

  “A lie can make eyes shift back and forth,” Joe explained, “which makes the muscles on the sides of the head move, which makes the bells on my lie detector helmet ring!”

  “A lie detector helmet!” Chet exclaimed. “Awesome!”

  “Give it a try, Chet,” Frank suggested. “You’ve got nothing to hide.”

  Joe pointed to a stain on Chet’s shirt and said, “Except the chocolate bar you snuck into class today!”

  Chet rubbed the stain with his thumb. He loved snacking more than anything else. He also loved trying out new things!

  “Okay,” Chet said. “Just don’t ask me about the candy bar.”

  Joe helped Chet pull on the helmet. He waited for the bells to be still, then asked the first question. “Chet, yes or no: Is your favorite lunch at school macaroni and cheese?”

  “A humongous yes!” Chet declared.

  The bells on the helmet rang as his eyes darted back and forth.

  “I don’t get it, Chet,” Frank said. “Everyone knows that mac and cheese is your favorite lunch.”

  “It is my favorite lunch,” Chet said.

  “So . . . why were your eyes bouncing back and forth like Ping-Pong balls?” Joe asked.

  “Because we’re in the lunchroom,” Chet said. He pointed to a small blackboard listing next week’s lunch menu. “I was looking to see if we’re having mac and cheese on Monday!”

  Chet sighed as he took off the helmet. “Veggie loaf instead. Boring.”

  “Don’t you want me to ask more questions?” Joe asked.

  “I want to try out Frank’s project next,” said Chet. “I heard it’s a detective science project too.”

  “Surprise, surprise,” Joe said with a smile.

  The Hardy brothers were detectives and were always ready for a mystery. That was why Joe never left the house without their clue book. The book was where Joe and Frank listed all their suspects and clues.

  “Hey, wait a minute,” said Frank as he sniffed the air. “I think I smell something cheesy right now.”

  “That’s my science project,” Chet said. “Follow me!”

  Frank and Joe followed Chet through a crowd of students setting up their projects. The school science teacher, Ms. Klinger, was there to approve the projects before the fair.

  Chet brought the brothers to a table against the wall. On it was a plate covered with a dome-shaped lid.

  “Ta-daaa!” Chet announced as he pulled up the lid to reveal a pizza slice. “Introducing the Chet Morton Pizza Project!”

  “Now it’s my lunch!” a voice sneered as a hand yanked the slice off the plate.

  “Hey!” Chet complained.

  Frank, Joe, and Chet turned to see a tall boy holding the slice above his gaping mouth. It was fourth grader Adam Ackerman—the biggest bully at Bayport Elementary.

  “Put it down, Adam,” Frank insisted.

  “I will!” Adam snickered. “Down the hatch!”

  Adam was about to take a bite when he frowned. “I don’t see any toppings on this slice. Where’s the pepperoni? The mushrooms? The anchovies?”

  “Anchovies?” Joe said, wrinkling his nose. “Who eats hairy little fish on their pizza?”

  Adam glared at Joe. “I like hairy little fish on my pizza, Hardy!” he snapped. “Got a problem with that?”

  Joe was about to answer when Chet piped up: “But it does have toppings, Adam. Fuzzy green moldy toppings!”

  Adam stared at the slice. “Moldy?” He gulped.

  “It’s my science project,” Chet explained. “I want to see how long it takes a slice of pizza to rot.”

  “In fact,” said Joe, tilting his head, “I think I see some green stuff on it already!”

  “Bon appétit, Ackerman,” Frank said.

  Adam’s face burned red as he slammed the pizza slice back down onto the plate. “Who ever heard of a pizza science project?” he muttered.

  “At least I have a science project, Ackerman!” Chet shouted after Adam as the bully stormed away.

  “You tell him, Chet,” said Joe. “The only thing Adam has down to a science is acting like a creep.”

  Frank examined the pizza on the plate. “There’s no mold on it yet,” he pointed out. “How long does it take for pizza to get funky, Chet?”

  “I don’t know,” Chet said with a shrug. “I’ve never left pizza uneaten long enough to find out!”

  He was about to put the lid back, when—

  “Eeeeek!”

  Racing through the room with her hands in the air was Mrs. Carmichael, the lunch lady!

  “A mouse is running through my clean lunchroom!” Mrs. Carmichael shouted as she ran. “Somebody call the custodian to catch the little pest!”

  Joe pointed in the direction of a furry little creature. It was climbing on top of Daisy Zamora’s solar-system diorama.

  “There’s the mouse!” he declared.

  The creature hopped off the diorama and dashed straight toward Perry Lichtenstein’s baking-soda volcano.

  Iola Morton, Chet’s sister, charged toward the volcano. “Come back!” she shouted. “Please, come back!”

  “Hey, Chet,” Frank asked. “Why is Iola chasing a mouse?”

  “Because that’s no mouse!” Chet said, his eyes wide. “That’s Crusty!”

  Chapter 2

  Time Warped

  “You mean Crusty, your pet hamster?” Frank asked Chet.

  “Yeah, he’s the star of Iola’s science project,” Chet explained.

  “What kind of project?” asked Joe.

  “Iola’s proving that a hamster will run through a maze to get veggies on the other side,” Chet said.

  Crusty hopped from one table to the next until he landed on the one with Chet’s pizza project. The little brown hamster with the white spot on his stomach nibbled hungrily at the slice.

  “Looks like Crusty would rather eat pizza than veggies,” Joe said, pointing.

  “That’s why we named him Crusty!” said Chet. “His favorite part of the slice is the crust!”

  Iola smiled as she picked up Crusty. She turned to Mrs. Carmichael and said, “Crusty’s not a mouse. Just a cute little hamster.”

  “I don’t care if he’s a magic unicorn,” Mrs. Carmichael snapped. “No critters in my clean lunchroom.”

  “Crusty is my science project, Mrs. Carmichael,” Iola explained. “I’ll make sure he doesn’t escape f
rom his carrier again.”

  “How did Crusty escape from his carrier?” Chet asked his sister. “Did you leave the door open?”

  “Just a crack,” Iola admitted. “I didn’t want him to feel trapped, since he’s in a new place. I brought him today so he could get used to the lunchroom for Monday.”

  “You want him to feel at home? Take him there!” Mrs. Carmichael demanded.

  The rubber soles on Mrs. Carmichael’s shoes squeaked as she headed back to the kitchen.

  “Definitely not a hamster fan,” Joe said.

  “She’s not,” a voice declared, “but I am!”

  The boys and Iola turned to see Trent Greengrass hurrying over. Trent was in Frank’s fourth-grade class.

  “You like hamsters, Trent?” asked Frank.

  “Totally,” Trent said with a smile. “If I had my own hamster, I’d enter him in those cool hamster ball races.”

  “Hamster ball races?” Iola asked.

  “What are those?” Joe wanted to know.

  “It’s where hamsters are put inside clear plastic balls,” Trent explained. “When the hamsters run, the balls roll around.”

  “Pretty cool,” Frank admitted.

  “That’s why I want to borrow that hamster,” said Trent, pointing to Crusty, “so I can enter him in those races.”

  “Borrow him?” Chet asked.

  “Crusty is our pet, Trent,” Iola said. “We don’t just lend him out like a library book.”

  “Besides, Crusty’s had enough racing for now,” said Chet, “through the whole lunchroom!”

  Trent’s shoulders slumped. He muttered, “Whatever,” before trudging away.

  “I’d better put Crusty back into his carrier,” Iola said. “And this time I’m closing the door!”

  “And I’m covering my pizza,” Chet said as he placed the dome-shaped lid over the slice, “just in case.”

  Frank, Joe, and Chet walked around the lunchroom to check out more science projects. They found their friend Phil Cohen standing next to a towering object shaped like a capsule. The whole thing was covered with silver foil from top to bottom.

  “What’s that, Phil?” asked Joe.

  “It looks like a giant baked potato,” Chet said.

  Phil waved dramatically at his project. “Guys,” he said, “meet the Phil Cohen Time Warp Wonder!”

  “Time Warp Wonder?” Frank repeated.

  “Dude,” Joe said excitedly, “did you invent a time machine?”

  Before Phil could answer, Ms. Klinger walked over. “Did someone say this is a time machine?” she asked with a smile.

  “It is, Ms. Klinger,” Phil said proudly. He nodded toward a plastic wheel. It had an arrow pointing to different time periods in history. “That wheel controls where in time you go.”

  Ms. Klinger tapped her chin thoughtfully as she studied Phil’s time machine. “You’re an excellent inventor, Philip,” she said, “but calling this a time machine might not be enough.”

  “Not enough?” Phil asked. “Why, Ms. Klinger?”

  “You should show what makes it a time machine,” said Ms. Klinger. “And if anyone can do it, it’s you, Philip!”

  Ms. Klinger walked on to the next project. When she was out of earshot, Frank asked, “What are you going to do, Phil?”

  “I don’t know,” Phil admitted. “How can I prove that my time machine is a time machine?”

  “Uh . . . by sending someone back in time?” Joe suggested.

  “I’ll go first!” Chet said, stepping forward. “Send me back to the time of King Arthur.”

  “So you can sit around King Arthur’s Round Table,” asked Frank, “with his knights?”

  Chet shook his head. “So I can sit around his table with all that food,” he said. “I heard you could eat with your hands back then.”

  Suddenly—

  “Are you still talking about food, Morton?”

  Joe groaned at the familiar voice. It was Adam Ackerman—again!

  “What’s that?” Adam asked, pointing to Phil’s science project. “A giant baked potato?”

  “It’s a time machine,” Phil muttered.

  “Chet was going to try it out,” Joe piped up. “But I have a better idea.”

  “What?” asked Adam.

  “Let’s send you back in time instead, Adam,” Joe joked, “and leave you there!”

  “Hardy-har-har!” Adam said through gritted teeth. “I have an idea too!” He turned and dashed off.

  “Where’s he going?” Chet asked.

  In a flash, Adam returned with something small and furry in his hands. It was Crusty!

  “Give him back, Ackerman!” Iola shouted as she ran behind Adam. “I said, give him back!”

  “What are you doing with our hamster, Adam?” Chet demanded.

  Adam stepped toward Phil’s time machine. “I’m sure they had hamsters back in the prehistoric age,” he said. “They were called dino chow!”

  Before anyone could stop him, Adam opened one of the time machine’s doors. Squeezing into the time machine, he placed Crusty on a stool that was inside. With a grin, he stepped out and shut the door behind him.

  Frank and Joe tried to grab the door handle. But Adam stood in front, arms folded across his chest.

  “Show us how your time machine works, genius,” Adam told Phil. “Unless it doesn’t.”

  “Don’t listen to him, Phil,” said Frank.

  “Yeah,” Joe agreed. “You don’t have to prove anything.”

  “Yes, I do,” Phil insisted.

  Using both hands, he turned the control wheel until the arrow pointed to The Prehistoric Age. He then tapped a green button marked GO.

  “This is crazy,” Frank said, shaking his head. “Nothing is going to—”

  PFFFSSSSSSS!!

  Frank, Joe, Chet, and Iola froze.

  A thick pink mist oozed out from under the time machine. Bright lights began flashing on and off.

  “Whoa!” Joe gasped.

  Soon Phil’s time machine was totally covered by the pink mist. So were the boys and Iola!

  “Smells like strawberry shortcake!” Chet’s voice declared.

  About a minute passed before the mist began to clear. Through it, Frank and Joe saw more kids watching the time machine. They also saw Adam Ackerman racing out of the lunchroom!

  “Where’s he going so fast?” Frank asked.

  “Doesn’t Adam want to see if Phil’s time machine worked?” added Joe.

  “It better not have worked!” Iola said angrily. “I don’t want Crusty back in the days of dinosaurs. I want him here now.”

  “Go ahead, Phil,” Chet said, nodding at the time machine. “Open the door and give us back our hamster.”

  Phil opened the door and peeked inside. “Um . . . I can’t,” he said. “I can’t give you back your hamster.”

  “Why not?” asked Chet.

  “Because,” Phil said, opening the door wide, “Crusty is gone!”

  Chapter 3

  Hamster Jam

  “Did you say ‘gone’?” Chet asked Phil.

  “How could he be gone?” Iola said. “The door was closed, wasn’t it?”

  The boys and Iola looked through the door into the time machine. The stool where Crusty had once sat was empty.

  Frank stepped inside the time machine. He looked up, down, and all around. Joe looked inside too. There was no hamster anywhere.

  “Wow!” Joe exclaimed. “You mean Crusty really went back in time?”

  “Sure he did,” Phil said. “What do you think I invent? Junk?”

  “Okay,” said Chet nervously. “Now turn the wheel and bring Crusty back to the twenty-first century.”

  “Yeah,” Iola said. “I need him for my own science project!”

  Phil stared at the time machine. “Um . . . sure, I’ll bring Crusty back,” he said. “As soon as I figure out how.”

  “What do you mean, ‘figure out’?” Chet asked.

  “My time machine is
a work in progress!” Phil explained. “I have until Monday’s science fair to work on it.”

  He turned to close the time machine door. Joe noticed something sticking out of the pocket of Phil’s hoodie. Was that a little furry paw?

  Just then Ms. Klinger made an announcement. “Boys and girls, I was very impressed with your projects. Go back to your classrooms, and then have a wonderful weekend. I’ll see you here on Monday morning for the Bayport Elementary School Science Fair!”

  Cheers filled the lunchroom.

  Joe looked back at Phil’s hoodie to ask him about that paw, but nothing was there. It didn’t seem like anything was in his pocket anymore. Joe shook his head. Maybe he had imagined it.

  “Figure out how to get our hamster back, Phil,” Chet said firmly.

  “And do it before Monday,” added Iola.

  Chet and Iola turned and walked away. After a quick good-bye to Frank and Joe, Phil walked away too.

  “Awkward,” Frank sighed.

  “Do you think Crusty went back in time, Frank?” Joe asked.

  Frank shook his head. “Even if Crusty did go back in time,” he said, “why didn’t Phil’s time machine go with him?”

  “It’s the magic of science,” Joe figured. “What else could it be?”

  “The time machine was covered with all that mist,” said Frank. “I think someone opened the door during that time and took Crusty out.”

  “But going back in time would be awesome,” Joe insisted. “I don’t want to stop believing in that.”

  “You do want Chet and Phil to be friends again, right?” Frank asked.

  Joe thought about it. Chet and Phil were their best friends. Having best friends fight was never cool.

  “In that case,” Joe said, “say hello to my little friend.”

  He pulled their clue book out of his pocket and said, “The science fair may be Monday, but we have another project to work on.”

  “Yeah,” said Frank. “To find out what happened to Crusty!”

  “A hot bowl of chili always says ‘fall’ to me,” Laura Hardy said with a smile.

  “To me it says ‘yummo,’ ” Joe told his mother. “Winter, spring, summer, and fall.”