The next morning, I left 29G early, wearing my orange bathing suit with the palm trees. I was all ready to check out the pool before summer camp started.
The flopping sound was so slow compared to Zapato Power. Would I ever be fast again? Or was I doomed to flip-flop around for the rest of my life? I hoped my brainpower was working, and that Maria had given me a good clue for finding my white backpack in the boys’ locker room.
When I got there, I was happy to see the laundry hamper still in the corner, still filled with white towels, the same color as my backpack. Could my backpack be mixed in there by mistake? I sure hoped so. That’s why I dumped the hamper over, just as the man who cleans things up came in.
“What are you doing?” he hollered.
He wasn’t as friendly as the day my backpack disappeared. First, he made me clean everything up. Then, he grabbed my arm and marched me out to the pool.
“Is this kid with the palm trees one of your campers?” he asked my swim coach.
Mrs. Barlow looked at my orange bathing suit. “Yes,” she said. “This is Freddie.”
“Well, Freddie made a huge mess in the boys’ locker room,” the man said.
“That’s not nice.” Mrs. Barlow frowned and fingered the whistle around her neck.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I was looking for my backpack.”
“Backpack?” the man repeated. “Was it a white one?”
“Yes!” I jumped up as high as I could in my flip-flops. “Where is it?”
“He’ll tell you later,” Mrs. Barlow said, putting her hand on my arm. “First, we’re going to have a swimming lesson.”
“But I need my backpack,” I pleaded.
“Why?” Mrs. Barlow asked. “Does it have your goggles in it?”
I nodded my head. Superheroes don’t lie, but they don’t tell everything they know either.
“If I had my goggles, I might be able to put my face in the water.”
“Then let’s find your backpack.” Mrs. Barlow smiled.
She went with me to the lost-and-found, the place where the man who took care of the wet towels said he put my white backpack after finding it in the hamper.
“Sorry,” he explained. “I must have picked it up with the towels by mistake.”
My feet couldn’t move fast enough. Was I really about to get my Zapato Power back?
The bin in the cafeteria was filled to the top. Underneath a couple of lost hats and a red T-shirt was a white backpack. I grabbed it and looked inside.
“My zapatos!” I shouted. “My wristband! My goggles!”
Everything was back. I could outrun a train or Erika’s bicycle. I could help Mr. Vaslov keep the sidewalks clean. But before I did, there was something I had to do first.
I put on my silver goggles and looked at my swim coach.
“Are you ready?” Mrs. Barlow asked.
We walked back to the pool together.
My goggles gave me the courage to jump in the water and get my whole head wet.
“Terrific!” Mrs. Barlow said. “Now put your arms out with your face down.”
We practiced for an hour before summer camp. And when I came back with the Tadpoles after lunch,
I showed Maria and Adriana what I had learned.
“Freddie!” Maria shouted.
“You’re almost swimming!”
“Wow!” Adriana agreed.
At the end of the day, I climbed out of the pool, ready to be a superhero again. I got dressed and put on my purple sneakers to race home at super speed.
When I reached 29G, Gio and Puppy were playing outside.
“Look!” Gio said. “Puppy has a new toy!”
Puppy dropped a giant squeaky bone at my feet. I picked it up.
Puppy barked.
“He wants to play with you,” Gio said. “Throw it.”
Just as I raised my arm to throw, Erika came speeding by on her green bike. She swiped Puppy’s bone right out of my hand and rode off.
“NO!” Gio cried. “Not fair!”
Erika didn’t steal my backpack, but she was still a bully. I had my Zapato Power back—and my courage. I could fix this.
Erika turned the corner to Building H, right past a wad of purple bubble gum.
I jumped over the gum and the bike, landing a few feet in front of her with my arms crossed. Erika stopped her bike with a screech.
“Give back Puppy’s bone,” I said.
Erika opened her mouth so wide her bubble gum fell out. I don’t think she was used to people telling her what to do. She handed me Puppy’s bone.
came a little boy’s voice.
I heard Gio and Puppy back at 29G and turned around. Mr. Vaslov was walking toward us with his pooper-scooper.
“Puppy and Gio need you, Freddie,” he said in his deep voice. “I’ll take over from here.”
He handed his pooper-scooper to Erika. “Clean up your bubble gum!”
Without saying a word, Erika took the pooper-scooper and got busy. Starwood Park’s bully was under control—at least for the moment. I squeezed Puppy’s toy and took off.
