Sidekick: The Misadventures of the New Scarlet Knight Read Online Free PDF Page A

often as we do.”
    “You’re just saying that because you don’t have a sidekick. I’m pretty sure the heroes who do don’t think of it that way. I know the sidekicks don’t.”
    “Then that’s something we’re going to have to change.”
    I smiled. “I like that idea. But change doesn’t come easily, you know.”
    “I know. The important thing is to be ready for it.” Prism stood. “Trust me, I’m sure the other kids are just as happy for you as the rest of us are. Even Mystery, and he’s never happy. Now all we need,” she kissed me gently on the forehead, “is for you to be happy, too.” She started toward the door. “Take a couple of minutes. Get comfortable. Then join us out at the big table. There’s cake. Just ignore the ‘happy birthday’ scrawled on it.”
    She left, and I leaned back. I wasn’t just the Squire anymore. I was the Scarlet Knight.
    ***
    Uncle Jack’s funeral was on a Thursday. My promotion, or whatever you want to call it, came on Friday. I spent the rest of the weekend organizing things at the mansion and setting up my room in HQ. I didn’t plan on living there; the mansion was my home, and I intended to stay there for as long as I could. I only wanted to make my room at HQ comfortable enough to be worth staying at when I needed to.
    With my personal life in as much order as I could get it and my new professional life ready to get underway, I had one last life decision to think about.
    I’d planned on going to college right after high school. Now, I had to think about my future as a hero. Besides, I’d never have to worry about a paycheck if Uncle Jack’s will went the way everyone expected it to. I didn’t have to go to college now that I’d had a career handed to me.
    The question was: Did I want to go down that road?
    Back when summer had started, I’d talked with Uncle Jack about these same issues. I’d told him how much I appreciated everything he’d done for me, that he’d saved my life both metaphorically and literally, and how much I loved being a sidekick. I’d just always felt it was necessary for me to build my own life. I wanted to discover what the world held for Bobby Baines, not just for the “youthful ward” (as the tabloids liked to call me) of industrialist Jack Horner.
    We had scaled back my sidekick duties, giving me more time to concentrate on school and the college application process. School started, and I’d all but hung up my costume. By October, after we’d taken down the Halloween Gang for the fourth year in a row (would they ever learn?), the Scarlet Knight was keeping order in Harbor City all by his lonesome, just like he’d done until the fateful day at the warehouse when our paths had first crossed.
    Now, Uncle Jack was dead, and the Scarlet Knight had to live on. I was facing all those issues I’d thought were long behind me all over again.
    I thought about calling Aunt Phoebe, or chatting with Rick or Tommy to get their opinions, but in the end, this was going to have to be a decision I made for myself.
    I’d kept my grades up when I’d patrolled with Uncle Jack every night (maybe not as high as I would have liked, but high enough to keep myself out of trouble) and could probably scale back some of the job to give myself extra time to study. I’d have to get creative with my time management.
    I packed another bag, took it downstairs, and programmed the teleporter. I was heading for my room at HQ, which seemed well suited for the task at hand: quiet, secluded, and conducive to concentration. After all, I had homework to catch up on, a Sunday night to get it all done, and I was going to need to focus.
    The next morning, I was going back to school.

Clothes Maketh the Man
    When and if I get married, I will never complain about how long my wife takes to get ready. That’s because I can truly sympathize.
    Early on in my “career” in heroics, Uncle Hank had given me a few solid lessons on maintaining my secret identity. Like I