Gah. Where did all the time go? I thank everyone for being really patient, and I am finishing this story before I update to ensure that I don't get off track yet AGAIN. Thanks to everyone that read and reviewed! I hope you enjoyed the story!
Note: In the last chapter, Data was originally home sick, but I am going to edit that out of last chapter to make things... a lot less complicated. You'll see what I mean when you read this chapter.
Chapter 8: Surprising Discovery
I very nearly dropped the newspaper I was holding.
Everybody rushed behind her to take a look.
Stef was pointing at a tiny article. It was so small that a person could have easily overlooked it. There was a picture of a man with a piece of machinery that looked instantly familiar.
This machine was famous in Astoria. Everybody around this town knew what it was. Elgin Perkins had become famous for inventing it. It was his start; he had become rich by it. This machine had gotten him all sorts of promotions in his jobs. It had gotten him to his current position- ruler of the city of Astoria.
Except the man in the picture was not Elgin Perkins.
I grinned. "Great job, Stef."
She nodded.
It suddenly occurred to me how quiet Stef had been through this whole newspaper ordeal. Was it her family? Was it Andy?
I pushed the thought away as everybody further studied the article.
"Hey wait, where's the name?"
I stared at the article. There was a name, but it was so small and faded that I could not make it out.
Mikey took the paper and walked away. A few minutes later, he returned with a copy.
I looked at the newspaper again. I could make out a 'Clarence' and then a 'F-i-s' but nothing else.
"Guys, I can make out the name 'Clarence,' and the first 3 letters of his last name, 'F-i-s. He shouldn't be that hard to find. Does his name ring a bell to any of you guys?"
"No, why should it? The article said that he lived out in the country. He might have not even lived in Astoria.
"True. But it had to have been near Astoria, otherwise the newspaper wouldn't have printed it. I can show it to my Dad and ask…"
"No! This is our thing. We can't get our parents involved."
I sighed. "Yeah, I guess. But how are we going to figure out who this guy is?"
Suddenly I got an idea. "None of you guys would happen to have a magnifying glass on you, would you?" I asked.
Data rummaged around in the pockets of his trench coat, then handed me one.
I beamed. How lucky can I get? "Thanks, Data!"
Mikey shoved the copy towards me.
"No no no, I need the original newspaper." I pulled out the volume and turned to the correct date- September 8th 1966. I grinned in spite of myself. Who would've guessed that my dream was correct?
I took the magnifying glass and held it a few inches from the print. F-i-s…
"h," I said aloud.
I squinted at the print for a few seconds, and distinguished the next letter to be a very worn 'e.'
For the next few minutes, I strained my eyes on what had to be the last letter.
"Hey Lea? Anything yet?"
I waved Chunk away.
After my eyes started hurting, I decided that there was no way I would find the last letter.
I turned around. "Guys, I can't quite make out the whole name. F-i-s-h-e… It's probably Fisher."
"Clarence Fisher…" Mikey mused.
"Hey, I think I've heard of him!" Data piped up.
I gawked at him.
"I remember Dad telling me about this inventor guy, he was really poor and no one would give him a job…"
"Because he was cheated," I seethed.
"Guys, do you think there's any way to talk to him?" Mikey asked.
"Why?"
"Because if he can go public about this, and we have the newspaper as proof, Perkins'll be in the bag!" I said slowly, the intention of Mikey's idea dawning on me.
"In the joint." Chunk corrected.
I rolled my eyes. "You know what I mean."
"But how could we contact him…" Mikey mused.
"Well," I said with mock enthusiasm, "we can start with the phone book."
Everybody groaned.
We decided to go to Mikey's house, so we had the attic as a back-up source if the phone book turned out to be a failure. Flipping through the pages of the phone book, I saw that there were several 'Fisher' families in Astoria. Avery, Adam…
Clarence.
Clarence Fisher.
For a second, I was so excited I couldn't speak. And when I could speak, I could only muster a whisper.
"Guys."
Apparently they didn't even hear me, my voice was so low.
I spoke more loudly. "Guys."
When everybody looked at me I gestured toward the phone book.
"Clarence Fisher?" He's actually in the phone book?"
"Thankfully." I said, relieved. "Well, who's gonna call him?"
