The next day Ada took her dad’s advice and called Tycho to ask for help on Nina’s website. After breakfast she crossed the courtyard to Mr. Peebles’s stoop. She was about to ring the bell when Tycho shouted out the window from above.
“Hey, Ada, check this out.”
After a few minutes the lock to the front door released. Ada stepped to the side to make way for the opening door. She was impressed. Last time she had visited Mr. Peebles’s building, he could unlock the door with a button, but it couldn’t open on its own. She entered the building and started to climb the stairs. But then, from behind the staircase, she heard a loud, metallic clank and a squeaking sound. The tips of Tycho’s sneakers were just visible descending behind the staircase. There was an elevator back there now! It didn’t look like a normal elevator though. There was an old-school, handmade feel to it. After another clank, Alan jumped from Tycho’s lap and ran toward Ada. Tycho wheeled behind. Ada clapped.
“That’s amazing!”
“I know! We finished it right after I got here.”
Ada had met Tycho a few months before when he had come to stay for a long weekend with Mr. Peebles. It had been tough. Mr. Peebles had to have help from their neighbor Jacob or Mr. Lace to get Tycho and his wheelchair up and down the stairs. But now they had a manual elevator based on an old Otis design. That and the automatic door meant that Tycho could come and go as he pleased.
“Can I ride on it?” asked Ada.
“Of course!”
Ada ran over to the elevator. There was a rope that was kept taut to keep the elevator from moving. In order to go up, Tycho tugged on the rope to release the brake. Then Ada pulled on the other rope to make it go up. They moved about a foot off the ground and stopped.
“That’s hard!” she said, shaking out her arms.
“I got you,” said Tycho.
He handily pulled them to the top of the stairs. Ada set the rope for the brake.
“I can’t believe you could do that,” she said. “My arms feel like spaghetti.”
“Well, mine get a lot of work,” said Tycho. “Come on, I want to show you something.”
Alan jumped into the chair beside Tycho and gnawed away contentedly on his chewy. Ada opened the door to Mr. Peebles’s apartment and they went inside.
“Alan looks pretty cozy there,” said Ada.
“Yeah,” said Tycho. “I’ve been giving him free rides since I got here!”
Alan looked up at Tycho and licked his fingers. Then he nestled in and started chewing again. Tycho rolled into Mr. Peebles’s workshop and Ada followed. Spread across the floor was a lot of hardware—big wheels with knobby tires, metal piping, PVC, nuts, bolts, and various kinds of jigs.
“Ta-da!” said Tycho, as if the magic were clear.
“Uhh . . . cool? What am I looking at?”
“Oh, uh”—he looked around—“the plans are over there.” He pointed to a piece of paper anchored under a couple of bolts. It showed a really rugged looking rig, with big knobby tires and handlebars in the front.
“It’s a handcycle! Kinda like a bicycle with three big wheels, but instead of pedaling with my feet, I turn these cranks with my hands. The best part is that it can roll over all kinds of terrain. I want to go mountain biking.” Tycho lowered his voice. “The next step will be convincing my mom.”
“Wow, that’s amazing! When will it be ready?”
Just then Mr. Peebles walked in, wiping his hands with a rag.
“Hopefully, by the end of the week?” said Mr. Peebles. “It’ll be tight, but we’re trying.”
