Doc and Abby sprinted into town, along busy streets.
No sign of Lincoln.
They saw a brick building with a sign above the door that said: LINCOLN-HERNDON LAW OFFICES. They ran up and looked through the window.
They ran another block, skidding to a stop in front of an alley between two buildings.
Lincoln was in the alley, hitting a small ball against the brick wall with his hand. The ball hit the wall, bounced, and Lincoln hit it again.
“I used to do this to relax,” Lincoln said when he noticed Doc and Abby watching. “Back when I had a stressful job. What can I do for you?”
“Come meet our class!” Doc shouted.
“Excuse me?”
“Tomorrow,” Abby said. “Come to our school and talk to our class.”
“And they’ll see that you’re actually a pretty cool guy!” Doc added.
Lincoln caught the ball and turned toward them.
“Please,” Abby said. “They’ll love you, I know it!”
“They really will,” Doc agreed. “And then you can go back to doing, you know … all your history stuff.”
“History stuff,” Lincoln said. “Like what?”
“You know, stuff,” Doc said. “Being such a great president, signing the thing, the … Declaration of Independence?”
Lincoln put his hand on Doc’s shoulder.
“From now on, we’ll pay attention,” Abby promised. “The whole class will, once they get to know you a little.”
Lincoln’s mouth stayed stiff. But his eyes were shining.
“You know where to find us,” Doc said. “Oh, yeah, and one more thing.”
“Yes?”
“How do we get out of here?”
Lincoln leaned down to them and spoke quietly. “You won’t tell anyone?”
They shook their heads.
Lincoln said, “You have to close your eyes.”
They did.
“And flap your arms like an eagle.”
They did.
“And shout, ‘We love history!’”
They shouted, “We love history!”
“Louder!”
“We love history!”
But nothing happened. Except that a guy riding by on a horse looked over and said, “Thank you!”
Doc and Abby stopped flapping their arms. They opened their eyes. They were still in the alley.
“Forgive me,” Lincoln said, laughing. “I couldn’t resist.”
“Mary’s right,” Abby said. “There’s such a thing as too many jokes.”
“I know, I know,” Lincoln said. And he started to look a little worried.
“What?” Abby asked.
“The truth is,” Lincoln said, “I don’t know how you leave.”
“How did you get to us?” Abby asked.
“I’m not supposed to say.”
“Please,” Doc said. “It’s our only chance to help you. Pretty much all the kids in our class think history is boring—”
At that instant, they disappeared.
And reappeared in the cardboard box in the storage room behind the library.