“I’m scared.”
The voice on the other side of the door was too high to be Mr. Vaslov’s. It sounded young, like a kid.
“It will be all right. Don’t worry,” Mr. Vaslov answered.
Who was in Mr. Vaslov’s apartment? What were they worrying about? Since I wasn’t supposed to be snooping outside the door, I couldn’t knock to ask questions no matter how much I wanted to. And it was getting dark. My mom would be coming home from work soon, expecting me to be doing my homework. Breaking the rules could mean no TV time.
I ran across Starwood Park, stopping short at the rail by the cellar steps. The moaning sound was back.
“WAAAEEE! WAAAEEE!”
What was making that noise? Was it the wind? Sometimes the wind sounds like someone moaning. But the air was perfectly still. The noise had to be someone crying.
“WAAAEEE! WAAAEEE!”
Mr. Vaslov forgot to lock the door. If I was brave enough, I could turn the knob and step inside.
“WAAAEEE! WAAAEEE!”
Superheroes are supposed to face danger, not run away. I forced myself to open the door and reach for the light switch. It was hard to find. Even worse, the concrete wall was cold and scratchy against the palm of my hand. A cobweb broke across my face. Yucko!
As soon as I turned on the light, the crying stopped. The storage room was deathly still, just like last time. Should I poke around again? The skeleton in the cage seemed twice as big as before. Did it always have dark hollows for eyes?
I searched slowly, facing forward. I kept feeling like someone was behind me, reaching for my neck with long bony fingers.
“FREDDIE!” a voice shouted. “What are you doing down here?”
I whirled around. “Mom!”
Even though I knew she was mad, I was happy to see her. A little bit of yelling was better than being alone with a skeleton in a creepy storage room.
Mom grabbed me. “I came home from work and saw you weren’t there. When I went back outside to look, I saw you walking down the cellar steps. Yo estaba preocupada.”
When Mom was worried, she hugged just as much as she yelled. I got squeezed a bunch before Mom was ready to hear my side of the story.
“I’m glad you care about others,” she began, “and you always want to help.”
Whew! Mom was seeing things my way! My TV time was safe.
“Checking the cellar is Mr. Vaslov’s job, not yours, Freddie. I’m calling him right now.”
Uh-oh! Would Mr. Vaslov tell Mom that he had just been here with me? I held my breath as I watched him walk up with his big set of keys. Luckily, Mr. Vaslov was more upset about his mistake than mine.
“I’m sorry,” Mr. Vaslov told my mom. “This was my fault. The door should never have been left unlocked.”
Mr. Vaslov jiggled the handle to make sure no one could get inside the cellar without him. Sometimes grown-ups don’t have to tell you not to do something again. They make it impossible.
We all stopped thinking about the cellar to look at a boy standing a few feet away. He had dark hair and puffy red eyes.
“This is Alexis.” Mr. Vaslov introduced us. “He’s my great nephew.”
“Nice to meet you,” Mom said.
Alexis only nodded. His nose was just about as red as his eyes. Now I knew who had been crying behind Mr. Vaslov’s door. I just didn’t know why.
“How long are you visiting?” Mom asked.
“The weekend,” Mr. Vaslov spoke for Alexis. “We’re going to the Air and Space Museum tomorrow.”
“Really?” I asked. “My class went there today on a field trip.”
I stared at my shoes, thinking how my friends saw the museum while I was too busy with Zapato Power.
“There are lots of neat things there,” I added.
“Would you like to go again, Freddie?” Mr. Vaslov asked. “You could be our guide.”
I looked at Mom. Having superpowers only changed some things. I still had to ask my mom before I could go anywhere.
“You are always so thoughtful!” Mom told Mr. Vaslov. “Freddie loves airplanes and spaceships.”
¡Fantástico! I was getting a second chance to see the inside of a cockpit and everything else I’d missed.
What’s more, I might get the chance to find out why Alexis had been crying.
Then there would be only one mystery left. Who was making noise in the cellar?
