Freddie Ramos Makes a Splash (2 page)

When I run, smoke whooshes out of my shoes. No one can see me, but I can see just fine. The smoke from my super sneakers gives me Zapato Power eyes. That means I can see things way down the block.

At the very end of the street, I saw something shiny and green.

I was there in half a blink, ready to face the girl on the green bike. But it wasn’t her. It was my friend Geraldo on a green scooter. He opened his mouth like a fish.

“Hey, Freddie! Did you just step out of that puff of smoke?”

Zapato Power is the best thing in the world. But keeping it a secret sometimes confuses my friends.

I raced off, leaving Geraldo on his green scooter with his mouth hanging open.

The next green thing I saw was over by the entrance sign to Starwood Park. I zoomed over, hoping it was the girl on the green bike. Instead, it was my next-door neighbor, Gio, pulling a green wagon.

“Look, Freddie! Puppy likes to ride!”

Gio’s little black dog, Puppy, stood in the wagon.

Sometimes it takes more than superspeed to catch a crook.

Sometimes, you have to ask questions, too.

“Did you see a girl on a green bike?”

“Did she have black hair?” Gio asked.

“Yes,” I said. “When did you see her?”

“Right now!” Gio pointed over my shoulder. “Behind you.”

I turned around. The girl on the green bike was speeding past us.

She rode down the sidewalk fast, but that was no trouble for a guy with Zapato Power. In one blink, I was behind her, pushing a button on my wristband.

My super zapatos do more than run. They can jump—right over the girl on the green bike. As I sailed in the air, I looked down to see something very lucky.

The bike had a basket, and the pink wallet was sitting inside, ready for a Zapato Power rescue.

I landed and ran back toward the girl on the green bike. She only saw me for half a second. I grabbed the wallet and zipped off in a puff of smoke.

At the entrance to Starwood Park, I stopped to look inside the wallet.

Whew! The two twenty-dollar bills were still safely inside. Returning a wallet with missing money wouldn’t have made me look much like a superhero.

But who did the wallet belong to? A library card gave me the answer: ADRIANA SOTO.

I knew Adriana. She was a counselor at my summer camp. She also lived at Starwood Park. This was going to be an easy hero job. I pressed the button on my wristband.

I raced down the sidewalk, looking for a tall girl with a long ponytail. She wasn’t hard to find. Adriana was on her way home to Starwood Park, walking sideways, staring at the ground. She didn’t see the fire hydrant she was about to run into. My hero job just got a little harder.