10. A Plan Comes Together

A PLAN COMES TOGETHER 10 Jasper Eerie led Sam, Lucy, and Antonio over to a desk. There were towering stacks of faded, crinkly papers. They contained sketches and scribbles.

"These papers hold Orson's plans for the machine," Mr. Eerie explained. "We need to go through them and reverse his directions. We need to make the machine work backward. And I'll need your help." Sam and Lucy picked up tools. Antonio eyed the desk. "I'm good at cursive, so I'll read the plans to you three," Antonio said, grabbing some papers. He sat cross-legged on the floor. With that, they got to work... "Switch the vacuum cleaner to reverse mode," Antonio called out. Sam unbolted, removed, and reattached parts.

Lucy slid underneath the huge machine. "Screwdriver!" she said. Jasper handed it to her. Next, she called out, "Pliers!" and he rushed them over. When Lucy slid out from beneath the machine, she was covered in grease and soot. "It's like putting together a Lego set," Lucy said, smiling. "And we're making progress," said Jasper, turning a knob. Finally, Antonio pointed to a large red lever atop the machine. "There's only one last thing to do," he said. "Turn it on..."

Sam climbed on to the machine. He held his breath as he pulled the lever. VROOOOOOOM! A loud, high-pitched roar filled the room. The machine rumbled and smoked! Sam hung on as it shook faster and howled louder. "The whole neighborhood will hear that!" Mr. Eerie exclaimed. "Turn it off!"

Just as Sam yanked the lever to OFF, he was flung across the room. The machine went still. Jasper helped Sam to his feet. With a smile, he said, "I believe we've done it. Good work, students." Antonio set down the papers. Lucy grabbed a rag and cleaned her hands. Sam wiped soot from his nose. "Tomorrow," Sam said. "We remove Orson Eerie from Eerie Elementary— once and for all..."