The Amazing Flight of Darius Frobisher Read Online Free PDF

rusted, and the seat was badly tattered and worn.
    But Darius also saw that the situation was not hopeless. With a little hard work, he could fix it up and use it. He could already picture himself flying along the street, racing farther and farther from Aunt Inga’s house.
    And so, the makings of a plan came to Darius. I’ll fix this bike, he thought. I’ll ride away from Aunt Inga and never come back. I’ll find Miss Hastings, and we’ll take care of each other.
    He knew it wouldn’t be easy. Miss Hastings was very far away. As a matter of fact, Darius wasn’t sure just where she would be living since the lawyers had kicked her out of the house. She’d said she had a place to stay, some friends somewhere in the town where Darius had grown up. But where?
    Really, it was a ridiculous idea, fixing up an old bike and riding hundreds of miles to find a very old woman who burns toast. Where would he sleep on the way? What would he eat? The chances of pulling it off were a million to one.
    But it was a dream, and when things are this bad a person needs some kind of dream.
    He thought about his father. Finding him was a dream, too, but Darius didn’t have the faintest idea of how to make it come true. Even if he knew where to look, how would he get there? Sneak on board a freighter? Find his own hot air balloon? Build a giant kite? No. He decided the first step would be to find Miss Hastings. If anyone could help him find Rudy Frobisher, it was his beloved housekeeper.
    For now, fixing the bicycle and finding Miss Hastings would have to be enough.
    Darius decided to carry the bike back down the stairs and keep it in the basement. He thought about asking Aunt Inga if he could fix it. But if he asked, then Aunt Inga would know he wanted the bike, and she didn’t seem likely to give him anything he wanted. If she said no, Darius thought he would die. He decided it was better not to ask. The bike would be his secret.
    I know what you are thinking.
    WHAT IF HE GETS CAUGHT?
    Good question. Carrying a heavy old bike up and down the basement stairs makes a lot of noise. You’re probably wondering why Aunt Inga hadn’t heard all the racket. Even Darius wondered why she hadn’t burst into the kitchen, demanding to know what had been going on.
    The reason is that Aunt Inga was still sound asleep. She always got her best sleep from six to ten every morning. During the early hours of the night, she would lie awake and think about all the things that were wrong and all the things that might go wrong next week or next year. Finally, just before dawn she would doze off, exhausted. And when she slept, she slept like a log. Right until ten o’clock in the morning, which is late indeed, unless you are a teenager.
    The rest of the day, Aunt Inga walked around in her pink-and-green housecoat, unless she had to go to the store, which she did every Wednesday.
    Aunt Inga’s house was small. The living room, kitchen, and her bedroom occupied the entire first floor. Two tiny rooms upstairs were filled almost to the ceiling with things she had bought and saved but never used. She rarely went upstairs anymore and never went into the basement. And she hardly ever went outdoors, except for shopping or to visit in the yard with her neighbor Mrs. Gritbun.
    Aunt Inga didn’t have to go out because she worked at home on her own schedule. She sat in the big chair in front of the television and made phone calls, trying to get people to buy subscriptions to magazines nobody wanted. She persuaded a lot of people to buy them because she was so pushy and annoying. As you know, it can be hard to say no to someone who is pushy and annoying. Some people would buy even the stupidest magazines from Aunt Inga just to get off the phone with her.
    Her sales pitch went something like this:
    “Yes, I’m calling for the American Magazine Company. Believe me, I don’t like making these calls any more than you like getting them. You can imagine how difficult it is to