Stories Collide - A Stuart Gibbs Story

Chapter 4 - Case

Perspective Switch: Teddy Fitzroy

Several Days After Bear Bottom

Present Time On Earth

There was a flash of light.

The penguins in Polar Pavilion started running every which way, spooked. One almost nailed itself in the head with a fish that had been shot out of the cannon.

The cannon at Polar Pavilion was meant to feed them in a natural way. Instead of having them beg for food, fish were shot into the water through a tube, having the penguins chase the fish. It was great for the penguins, but it often malfunctioned.

The problem was, the flash of light caught me by surprise as well. I was sitting on top of an ice block, observing the penguins. It wasn't that tall, but the light startled me and I jumped, wobbled forward, and plummeted into the ice-cold water.

When I emerged, the penguins didn't seem at all surprised. Three of them strolled past casually, and one even hopped in the water itself and swam near me.

I got out of the water, trembling and soaked. My girlfriend, Summer McCracken, was laughing so hard she slipped and landed on the end of the fish tube.

"Ow!" She yelled, but she was still giggling a little.

"It's not funny," I informed her. "What was that flash of light?"

"I don't know, but it certainly frightened you!"'

"And the penguins. That's not funny, Summer."

"Sorry." She flopped down in the snow.

"But what was it?"

Now that she had stopped giggling, I could understand her. "I don't know," she said.

"A lighting malfunction?"

"Most likely. But I don't know how it could have been so bright!"

"Marge messes plenty of things up."

"Teddy, she's not an electrician. You can't blame everything on her." She paused for a moment to consider her words, then admitted, "Okay, most of the things that go wrong are her fault. But it can't be this."

Marge O'Malley (or Large Marge, as most of the kids called her, including me) used to be a security guard for FunJungle but was recently downgraded to be a crowd control officer, which basically meant that she would ride around in her wheelchair all day yelling at people, which was her favorite pastime, anyway. She had a reputation at FunJungle for screwing things up.

Just then, Chief Hoenekker and the rest of security burst through the doors of Polar Pavilion.

"Teddy Fitzroy," he said. "And Summer McCracken. We have a case to solve."