Fortress of Kaspar Snit

Chapter 1 THE UNDERPANTS PETITION We were in the middle of dinner when I said, "Why can't I learn to fly?" My mother had been raising a forkful of lasagna to her mouth, but she stopped to give me the look. You know that look the one that parents give when you've asked for something once too often. I guess my father didn't hear he was always thinking of something else because he said, "I got a very interesting offer today. There's a fountain in Istanbul, eight hundred years old, hasn't worked for centuries. The Turkish government wants me to advise them on how to restore it. The water source comes from a stream..." "If Eleanor gets to learn to fly, then I want to learn too," said Solly. His name was Saul, but everybody called him Solly. Maybe when he was older he wouldn't let anyone call him Solly anymore, but right now he was seven years old and a shrimp. Actually, he never called himself SaulorSolly. Not at home. Not at school. Not at the park. Not anywhere, ever. He always called himself Googoo-man. In my opinion, it was the most ridiculous name for a superhero ever imagined. But it came about because "goo-goo" was the first sound Solly ever made and, somehow, it stuck in that pea-sized brain of his. As always, Solly had come to dinner dressed in his Googoo-man superhero outfit. Green stretchy pajamas with a red bathing suit pulled over it. A cape made from a bath towel with the words property of hotel schmutz printed on it. Swim goggles and rubber bathing cap with chin strap. Swim flippers. Belt made from a thousand elastic bands tied together. Two weapons tucked into the belt: a "sonic blaster" (bicycle horn) and a "neutronic knocker" (old sock filled with unidentifiable substance). Wouldyoutrust a seven-year-old kid dressed this way to save the world? "You're too young to fly," I snapped, "just a kid. You can have fun pretending, like you always do. But I'm too old to pretend. I'm old enough" "You'rebothkids," my mother said wearily. "And for the hundredth time, no, Eleanor, you can't learn to fly." "What's that?" my father said, blinking. "Eleanor, are you starting up again? You know your mother's and my attitude about that. There will be no children learning to fly in this house." "But it isn't fair!" I insisted. "I really am old enough. I have lots of responsibilities now. I have to walk Solly to school. I have to make my bed. I have to clear the table. Why can't I have anyfunresponsibilities? What's the use of being eleven if I can never do anything I want?" "You get to do lots of things that you want," Mom said, trying to sound understanding. "You went to a movie with your friends last week, didn't you? Your father is a grown-up and he doesn't fly." "That's because he doesn't want to. But I do." My mother looked at my father and raised her eyebrows. She knew it was true. But my father shook his head. "Listen, Eleanor," he said, "I know how tempting it must seem. But your mother and I agreed before we even got married didn't we, Daisy? that there would be no moreFagan, Cary is the author of 'Fortress of Kaspar Snit' with ISBN 9780887766657 and ISBN 088776665X.