href="#litres_trial_promo">GRUELING GOOLSBY
CHAPTER 7: FISHING FOR ANSWERS
CHAPTER 9: SOLVING ONE PROBLEM, CREATING ANOTHER$$SOLVING ONE PROBLEM, CREATING ANOTHER
CHAPTER 11: HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!
TOP FIFTEEN WAYS TO DETECT A GHOST, SPIRIT, OR POLTERGEIST
IT CREEPS!
“So are you going to help me or not?” Malcolm asked his best friend, Dandy.
“Help you do what?” Dandy asked.
Malcolm narrowed his eyes like a real scientist. “The experiment I’m about to undertake in my lab. Are you going to help me?”
Dandy, whose real name was Daniel Dee, shrugged. “What kind of experiment?”
“Fusion,” Malcolm answered. He was more eager to start than to explain.
Dandy scratched his head. “Fusion? Is that a real word?”
“I don’t make up words,” Malcolm said. “It’s real.”
“Will we have to sneak your sister’s blow-dryer again?” Dandy asked, grinning.
Malcolm grinned back. “Maybe.” He’d say anything to get Dandy’s help, except make up words.
“Count me in!”
The boys bounced down the creaky steps into Malcolm’s lab. Only it was really just the basement. Malcolm had shoved most everything stored there in the corner. On a long counter he kept his chemistry set, gizmos, and gadgets. The rotten-egg odor of last week’s stink bomb still hung in the air.
“Hey, Malcolm. What are we going to fu—fu—uh—fusion?”
“Money,” Malcolm said. “I have an idea that I think will help the economy.”
Dandy scratched his head. “What’s the economy?”
Dandy was a great best friend, but for a ten-year-old, he sure didn’t know much. Malcolm sighed and patiently explained, “The economy has to do with earning and spending money.”
Dandy picked his nose. “Doesn’t sound very scientific.”
“Wait ’til you see what I’m going to do. You know when something costs 97¢, and you have to dig in your pocket to find three quarters, two dimes, and two pennies?”
Dandy silently counted on his fingers to double-check.
“Well, most people hate having change jingling around in their pockets, so they have to give the clerk a dollar bill. Then they get back three pennies, which means they still have change jingling around in their pockets.”
“Okay,” Dandy said with a blank face.
“Well, why should change be separate? Wouldn’t it be easier to buy something for 97¢ if the three quarters, two dimes, and two pennies were stuck together?”
Dandy nodded his head. “Oh yeah, I get it. Like with superglue?”
“No,” Malcolm said, rolling his eyes. “We’ll fuse it together. Then we’ll present our idea to the government and win a medal from the president.”
“Cool,” Dandy said, picking his nose again. “So, do you want me to sneak your sister’s blow-dryer?”
“No. I want you to loan me 97¢.”
“Will I get it back?” Dandy asked.
Malcolm grinned. “All in one piece.”
Dandy stood with his mouth wide open as Malcolm brought out his newest prize.
“Wow! Is that your mom’s curling iron?” Dandy asked.
“No,” Malcolm said. “It’s my latest find. And close your mouth before you swallow a fly.”
Dandy snapped his mouth shut—for a moment. “Where’d you find it?”
“In the back of one of my magazines,” Malcolm answered. “It’s made especially for fusing metal. When I turn it on, a red-hot laser will melt the money together. Are you ready?”
Malcolm stacked the coins on the counter, biggest on the bottom. He pointed his fusion wand, then flipped the switch.
No humming. No buzzing. No whirring. Just a click.
A thin stream of white light shone down on the coins.
“I thought the laser would be red,” Dandy said.
“Shhhh,” Malcolm snapped, giving Dandy a warning look. “It’s hot. Like a white flame.”
The boys stared at the money. Dandy sniffled. “If it’s that hot, wouldn’t it burn a hole in the counter?”
Malcolm didn’t answer, even though it was a good question. “Time’s up,” he finally said, clicking off the fusion wand.
Both boys inched slowly toward the table.
“Shouldn’t there be smoke?” Dandy asked.
“Gosh, Dandy, don’t you know anything? Lasers heat differently than fire.”
They leaned forward, their noses just inches from the coins.
“Shouldn’t it smell hot?” Dandy asked.
Malcolm reached his pointer finger toward the money. Slowly . . . slowly . . . slowly . . .
Dandy wiggled impatiently. “Well? Did the change . . . uh . . . change?”
Malcolm’s finger touched the stack, and it came toppling down. He picked up one of the pennies. It wasn’t even warm.
“What went wrong?” he muttered.
“Did you read the instructions?” Dandy asked.
“I couldn’t. They were in Japanese.”
Dandy picked up the fusion wand