The dark clouds were looming closer and Ada could see the far-off trees swaying in the wind. A storm was coming.
Soon, that wind would reach the factory, and when it did, everything would change. The eddy that now trapped Uncle Ned would collapse and he would be set loose from its grasp. Then, who knows where he might fly?
“Hurry, Arthur!” said Ada. “We’re running out of time.”
THWACK!
The ball lobbed into the air and soared gently over Uncle Ned and right past him. It dropped to the ground with a gentle thud.
“Too hard,” Arthur said and adjusted his grip.
He tried again.
THWACK!
This time, the ball arced high into the air. Uncle Ned reached out and grabbed it! The crowd cheered. Uncle Ned took off his helmet and put the tennis ball inside.
“Keep going!” said Ada.
THWACK! THWACK! THWACK!
Arthur hit ball after ball into the air. One after another, they flew close enough for Uncle Ned to catch and put in his helmet. As Ada had hoped, Uncle Ned dropped a tiny bit lower in the air. The plan was working. The crowd went wild!
“Yay!” they cheered. “Arthur! Arthur!”
Like his favorite tennis player on Centre Court at Wimbledon, Arthur Twist took a deep breath and focused.
THWACK! THWACK! THWACK!
Arthur hit the tennis balls perfectly. Uncle Ned missed a ball, but he caught the next two. As he added each ball to the helmet, he dropped a little lower. He hovered a few centimeters out of Beau’s reach. Beau stretched as far as his long arms could go.
“I can almost reach you!” yelled Beau. “Hurry, Arthur! The storm clouds are coming!”
Indeed, the dark clouds moved closer and closer still.
THWACK!
“One more!” yelled Ada.
THWACK!
With perfect precision, Arthur lobbed a ball high into the air. The ball soared up … up … up … and into Uncle Ned’s outstretched hand.
Uncle Ned grabbed it. He plopped it onto the pile of tennis balls in the helmet.
Uncle Ned dipped toward the ladder as Beau reached and reached and reached—
