Time Out!, page 6
‘I don’t see what a lesson in gravity has to do with me being rich,’ said Matthew.
‘It means,’ said Eddie with an edge to his voice, ‘that space and time are connected. If you move very fast through space, then time slows down for you.’
Matthew was getting bored. ‘Move, Arlo,’ he barked. ‘It’s time to go.’
‘It’s time all right!’ cried Eddie.
‘NOW!’
18
MAKING HISTORY
Everything happened at once.
Arlo swung around on the spot and ran back towards the others, still carrying his backpack.
DT, Eddie and Rusty threw their weight into shifting the cart.
Eddie had no way of knowing if time did slow down but, suddenly, they were all moving very quickly through space.
‘GRRRRRR!’ Eddie pushed as hard as he could. His legs and arms burned as he tried to shift what felt as immovable as a building. The cart shifted forwards with a jerk and began to move. They kept pushing and when Arlo reached them, the force of his weight was all the cart needed to pick up speed.
‘JUMP,’ Eddie called to Arlo, who was struggling to keep up while carrying the heavy pack.
‘You too, Eddie!’ shouted DT.
Eddie jumped on with Arlo and looked back.
Matthew had finally realised what was going on and was running after them. If they didn’t pick up speed, he’d catch up. He was still carrying his shovel and his face was purple with fury.
Eddie gulped. He could see the whites of Matthew’s eyes as he got closer and closer. But then he felt a shift in the cart. They were no longer on the flat but heading downhill. The cart picked up speed and DT and Rusty were straining to keep up. Arlo and Eddie helped pull them in.
‘That was close,’ gasped DT. Eddie could no longer see or hear Matthew. He closed his eyes tightly and hung on as the cart hurtled down dark tunnels, jerking this way and that.
In the dark there was no warning about changes in direction and the kids found themselves slamming into the sides of the cart, or each other.
Their screams and cries pierced the air.
‘OUCH. ARRGHH. EEEEEEKKKKK!’
The cart shuddered and shook and rattled and sighed. Eddie imagined the bolts of the cart straining, weighed down by their combined mass.
After what felt like forever, the cart finally slowed as the ground flattened and gravity released its hold. Eddie took a deep breath and opened his eyes.
Bright daylight flooded the entrance to the tunnel. The smell of the sea filled their nostrils. Eddie looked at the others. They were all pink cheeked, flushed with fear and adrenaline.
They’d done it.
On shaky limbs they walked together out into the sunshine.
‘Matthew got away with all that gold,’ said Rusty.
Arlo shook his head. ‘Matthew didn’t get away with anything. I filled his pack with coal.’
They looked down and realised they’d been sitting on top of the gold nuggets the whole time.
‘Arlo, you’re a GENIUS!’ DT exclaimed.
‘Yeah, maybe,’ said Arlo.
DT laughed and squeezed him on the shoulder.
‘Quick thinking!’ said Eddie.
Arlo smiled.
‘Do you think you’ll stay at Red Hill Public?’ Eddie asked.
‘My other dad lives not far from here, so yeah, I think I’ll stay.’
‘I’ve got the police on the phone, Eddie,’ said Rusty. She held out her mobile. ‘They want to talk to you.’
It was difficult to hear Mr Jasper over the construction noise, but Eddie didn’t mind. It meant that soon the renovation to the school hall would be complete and they’d get their own classroom. Although, Eddie had grown used to the cramped library. Having Arlo Smythe next to him was okay. They’d become friends since having the cart ride of their lives.
HJ’s gold was in good hands too. It was going to be used to restore historical buildings and landmarks in the town.
The Lord Mayor was holding a small ceremony this weekend to unveil a gold plaque in honour of the Super Sleuths. They had been allowed to choose where the plaque would be laid, and they had unanimously chosen the rocky ledge beside the waterfall in Red Hill National Park.
The plaque read:
Eddie loved that he and his best friends now had their own little place in history, alongside HJ.
The three friends had had enough mystery solving for the time being.
Hadn’t they?
About the Authors
EDDIE WOO is Australia’s favourite maths teacher. His ‘Wootube’ channel on YouTube has amassed a following of more than 1 million subscribers and his videos have been viewed more than 100 million times.
In 2018, Eddie was named Australia’s Local Hero of the Year and shortlisted as one of the top ten teachers in the world.
He is the presenter of the ABC series Teenage Boss, and the author of Woo’s Wonderful World of Maths, and Eddie Woo’s Magical Maths 1 and 2.
JESS BLACK is an award-winning author of more than 45 children’s books, such as the Tales of Mr Walker series, the Pepper Creek Ponies series and the Keeper of the Crystals series. She is also the co-author of the hugely successful Bindi Wildlife Adventure series, the Kaboom Kid series and the Animal Tales series. Jess loves using humour and action in her stories.
Pan Macmillan acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today. We honour more than sixty thousand years of storytelling, art and culture.
First published 2022 in Macmillan Australia by Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Ltd
1 Market Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 2000
Text copyright © Eddie Woo and Jess Black 2022
Illustration copyright © Mitch Vane 2022
The moral right of the author to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted.
All rights reserved. This publication (or any part of it) may not be reproduced or transmitted, copied, stored, distributed or otherwise made available by any person or entity (including Google, Amazon or similar organisations), in any form (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical) or by any means (photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise) without prior written permission from the publisher.
Cataloguing-in-Publication entry is available from the National Library of Australia http://catalogue.nla.gov.au
EPUB format: 9781761262364
Typeset in Fairfield by Hannah Schubert
The author and the publisher have made every effort to contact copyright holders for material used in this book. Any person or organisation that may have been overlooked should contact the publisher.
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