“So, to review.” Doc said, “Our plan to save history: complete disaster.”
“Probably,” Abby said. “Almost definitely.”
It was after school. Doc and Abby were in the storage room. They hadn’t seen Abraham Lincoln since Principal Darling threw him out of the school for the second time. They’d searched the parking lot and playground. No luck.
“Any chance he went back?” Doc said. “You know, to history?”
“One way to find out,” Abby said.
She pulled a history textbook from the shelf and flipped to the section about Lincoln.
“Listen to this,” she said, and read aloud: “November 6, 1860, was Election Day. It was perhaps the most important election in the nation’s history. Abraham Lincoln, however, was missing. Mary Lincoln looked for her husband in his office in town. She checked the barbershop where he liked to talk with friends and the alley where he often played handball. He was nowhere to be found.”
Abby closed the book.
“Yep,” Doc said. “Disaster.”
Abby was putting the book back on the shelf when the door flew open. Abraham Lincoln darted in and kicked the door shut. He bent over, hands on knees.
“I—” pant, pant “—don’t think—” pant, pant “—the mean principal saw me.”
“Where were you?” Abby asked.
Lincoln held up an enormous cup from a fast-food place. He sipped through a straw and said, “You guys have better drinks than we do.”
“They’re looking for you in Springfield,” Doc said.
“Never mind Springfield,” Lincoln said. “That fake Lincoln was right!”
He lifted his hat and pulled out a folded piece of paper. It was a poster for the wrestling tournament at the school that night.
“I had no idea it was possible to earn a living as a wrestler,” Lincoln said. “This is my big chance—don’t you see?”
“Not at all,” Doc said.
“I can meet these wonderful athletes, find out how it all works. Find out how I can try out myself!”
“Wait,” Abby said. “Try out for what?”
“To be a professional wrestler!” Lincoln practically roared. “Far more fun than sitting around in my living room. And you and your friends will finally care about me!”
“What about history?” Doc asked.
“What about it?”
“History needs you,” Abby said. “We all need you.”
“Too late for that now,” Lincoln said. “You two did try, I’ll give you that. It didn’t work out. And to be honest, I’m not sorry, far from it! I feel free from the stress and worry of my usual responsibilities! Free to get into the ring and wrestle!” Lincoln put his ear to the door. “Voices. The coast isn’t clear! Never mind, I’ll go out the window!”
And he did.
