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CHAPTER TEN
"Sherman," Penny said, "Sherman, wake up."
Sherman slowly found himself opening his eyes. For a few moments, he had absolutely no idea where he was. There were people around him that he didn't recognize. And he was in a place he didn't know. Closest to him was a girl about his own age. He thought he knew her, but he couldn't name her.
"Wha-?" he eloquently asked.
In a flash his memory returned, and he realized he was at the courthouse. He did know the people around him-they were the Judge, Penny, her parents, and other people who were in the room. Suddenly Sherman realized that he had fainted, and it was then that his slight amnesia scared him. He knew at that point that he never wanted to faint again.
"You fainted, Sherman," Penny said, although Sherman had already figured that out, "Are you all right?"
"I-I think so," Sherman said groggily.
"Here, drink this," someone said, and the boy found himself staring at a water bottle in his hands. He shakily uncapped it, and downed the entire bottle.
"Elevate your legs," someone else commanded, and Sherman's legs were pulled off the ground and placed on top of a folding chair. The result was that Sherman's head, now much lower than his legs, began to feel clearer.
"Feeling better?" Mrs. Peterson asked.
"A little," said Sherman, who still felt a little weak, "What happened to Mr. Whiner?"
"He has been arrested," said the Judge, "Don't worry about him."
"Are you ready to get up now?" Mr. Peterson asked.
Sherman nodded, and was helped to his feet.
"There!" said the Judge, "Now that the boy is feeling better, you may take him home. But we still have to ascertain that he is comfortable there," the Judge continued, "Tomorrow we will send someone to your house. You've already met him, Sherman, he also came to Mr. Whiner's house."
"Understood," said Mr. Peterson, "He's welcome over anytime."
"Good," said the Judge, "Good bye, Sherman. Stay out of trouble!"
"Yes sir, your honor sir," Sherman stammered.
Then, with Penny forcing Sherman to lean his weight on her against his will, the Peterson family made their way out of the courthouse and into the family car.
"I still can't believe that the Judge finally granted us guardianship over you, Sherman," Mr. Peterson said as he turned on the car, "I was so sure there would be another millionaire who just had to adopt you."
"I'm glad there wasn't," Mrs. Peterson said, "He might have gone just as crazy as Mr. Whiner."
"Money can do that to a person," Mr. Peterson said, driving out of the parking lot.
"Yeah," said Penny, "So Sherman, when we make our own theme park, I'll make sure it doesn't go to your head."
"And that's another thing!" Mr. Peterson said loudly, "We're going to set down some ground rules about your money. I don't know if Mr. Whiner let you have anything you want with it, but as long as you're staying under my roof, you won't be touching a single cent until you're of age. If you want anything in the meantime you're going to have to save up for it yourself."
"But Dad!" Penny said, "What about an allowance?"
"An allowance is contingent on work, Penny," said Mr. Peterson, "If you and Sherman want an allowance, you're going to have to do chores around the house. That or get a job."
"A job?!" Penny asked, startled.
"When you're old enough for one, sweetie," her mother explained.
"Ugh!" Penny said, "I don't want to get a job!"
"You'll want one when you're older," her father explained.
Penny fell silent.
"We won't have to worry about the money," said Sherman, "I don't need to use it anyway, unless you'd like some of it to help pay for food and stuff. And sooner or later Mr. Peabody is coming back to get me."
The entire car fell silent.
"Sherman," said Mrs. Peterson, "That's very nice of you, but it's your money. Paul and I agreed not to touch it. But thank you for offering."
"You're welcome," Sherman said, "Are there any other rules I should know?"
"I don't think so," Mrs. Peterson said, "You stayed at our house before the court gave you to Mr. Whiner, and I think you learned all our rules then."
"There is one more thing," Mr. Peterson said, "You're not allowed to walk anywhere alone for a while. There are some crazies out there, and as soon as the story about you gets in the paper they might be after you for your money just like Mr. Whiner."
"What?" Penny said, "But we need to go back to Sherman's penthouse tomorrow!"
"Then one of us will take you," Mrs. Peterson said, "That's too far a walk for you both to walk alone, anyway."
"Penny," Sherman whispered, "Do you think we should tell your parents about what we're doing?"
"What, about building the WABAC Return?" Penny asked.
Sherman nodded.
"We can," Penny answered, "If we need to."
"Do you think that we did something wrong when we built it?" Sherman asked her.
"Probably," Penny said, "Or it just doesn't work."
"If Mr. Peabody built it, then it's going to work." Sherman argued.
"But he never built a prototype, remember?" Penny asked. She instantly regretted it, seeing the look on Sherman's face. "Um," she continued, "Or there might be another clue in the manual that we missed."
"That's probably it!" Sherman whispered, excitedly, "Why didn't I think of that? Penny, we missed something in the manual!"
"We can investigate it when we get it back from the penthouse tomorrow," Penny said.
"What are you two whispering back there?" Mrs. Peterson asked, a smile in her voice.
"Nothing!" Penny responded.
"Well, whatever 'nothing' is, you can finish talking inside," Mr. Peterson said, pulling the car into their driveway, "We're here."
Penny and Sherman were quick to rush inside, and they went into Penny's room to talk privately.
"So," Sherman said, "If Mr. Peabody isn't here by tonight, we'll know for sure it didn't work. And we'll go over tomorrow to remake the machine."
"Sounds great!" Penny said, "But first, let's stop by the store."
"The store?" Sherman asked, "What for, Penny?"
"To pick up anything we need for the machine that might have broken," Penny said, "That thing was a wreck by the time we left, remember?"
"Right," Sherman said, "We'll ask your parents to take us to the store first."
Penny giggled. "They're going to be so surprised when we tell them what we need!" She laughed.
Sherman laughed too. Some of the crazy things used to build the WABAC Return included the container that disinfectant wipes come in, a watch, a guitar and a lampshade.
All that night during dinner, Penny couldn't wait until tomorrow. Sherman, on the other hand, was waiting for something else. He didn't want to tell Penny, but he was convinced that the machine had worked and Mr. Peabody was just late. All throughout dinner, brushing his teeth and getting ready for bed, Sherman kept anticipating that the Petersons would get an important call or something telling them that Mr. Peabody was alive, and that they were to bring Sherman back to the penthouse immediately.
Mrs. Peterson seemed to pick up on Sherman's anticipations, even if Penny didn't notice them. Although, Mrs. Peterson assumed that he was anxious about something else.
"Don't worry, Sherman," she said as she tucked him in bed, "Mr. Whiner can't get to you here. You're safe now, so you can relax."
That night he had a very restless sleep. The minute he woke up the next morning, Sherman tore off the bed sheets and raced downstairs-just in case Mr. Peabody had decided to come to the Petersons overnight.
What he found, however, was Mr. and Mrs. Peterson in the living room, arguing with a stranger. On second thought, he wasn't entirely a stranger; Sherman had briefly seen him at Mr. Whiner's house. He must be the person that the Court had sent over to check up on him.
"And moreover," the stranger was saying, "The conditions of this place are-well, hello there, Sherman. How are you this morning?"
"Fine," said Sherman.
"He's up early," said the stranger, "Do you always wake your children up this early?"
"No no!" said Mr. Peterson, "Only on schooldays. Our daughter Penny is still asleep."
"So," said the worker, unimpressed, "You give them free rein to sleep in as long as they want?"
"Um, you see," Mr. Peterson began.
"Sherman, why don't you go into the kitchen and have breakfast?" Mrs. Peterson interrupted, "I was making some pancakes earlier, and there's a nice stack of them on the table."
"Thank you, Mrs. Peterson," Sherman said, happy to get out of the room.
He quickly raced to the kitchen. Half an hour later, while the Petersons were still arguing with the stranger in the living room, Penny groggily entered the kitchen herself.
"Do you know his name?" She asked. Sherman shook his head.
"His name is Mr. Wall," she said, "I looked him up online. I don't think he likes my mom and dad."
"No," Sherman said, stuffing the last of his pancake into his mouth, "He liked Mr. Whiner. That's where I first saw him-at Mr. Whiner's house."
"Is there any more of that?" Penny asked, pointing to the empty plate.
"Sorry, that was the last one," Sherman said, "But I could make more for you."
"You? Cook food?" Penny asked, "Sherman, didn't you tell me you almost burnt down the house when you tried cooking without Mr. Peabody?"
"I can do it now," Sherman said, "Just watch!"
He got up and picked up the pancake recipe, which Mrs. Peterson had left conveniently on the counter.
"See? I just follow the instructions," he said, and he began to gather the ingredients.
"You know," Penny said as she watched him measure the flour, "I've been thinking. If Mr. Peabody heard you earlier when you asked him to bring me to the penthouse and he sent me a text message, then why don't we ask him to send us a text message telling us how he is, and what we should do?"
"Penny, you're a genius!" Sherman cried out, mixing the batter, "Mr. Peabody, please send Penny a text message!"
The two of them were silent, staring at Penny's phone. Penny was still staring sometime later, when Sherman placed a nice big stack of pancakes in front of her and handed her the syrup.
"He must be busy," Sherman said, giving himself one more pancake, "Maybe he'll send it later."
"I hope so, Sherman," Penny said.
As soon as Penny finished eating, Mr. Peterson stuck his head in the doorway.
"Sherman," he said, "Are you and Penny finished?"
"Yes Mr. Peterson," Sherman said.
"Mr. Wall wants to see you in the living room," Mr. Peterson said, "Wash your hands and face, alright?"
Sherman and Penny did just that, and then slowly walked into the room where the Peterson parents had been arguing since before the children awoke.
"Now," said Mr. Wall, the social worker, "Sherman. Did you sleep well last night?"
"Mostly," Sherman said. Mr. Wall raised his eyebrows, so Sherman elaborated, "I've been really missing Mr. Peabody lately, and it makes it hard to sleep."
"I see," said Mr. Wall, "Sherman, do you know what's going to happen with your money?"
The sudden change of topic threw the boy off guard.
"Well," he said, gesturing to Mr. Peterson, "He's says I'm not going to use it until I'm older."
"Listen," said Mr. Wall, "Mr. Peterson's plan to have all your money put in the bank. All your liquid assets will be taken charge of by Mr. Williams, while all your other assets and properties will stay right where they are. They are going to keep making money, lots of money. But you won't be able to touch a single cent of this until you are of age. Neither Mr. Peterson nor Mr. Williams will be able to give you so much as a dollar from your money when you need it. Do you really want to go through with this?"
"Yes," said Sherman, "I want it to be kept safe until Mr. Peabody comes back."
"And what if he never comes back?" Mr. Wall asked.
"Then the money will be kept safe anyway," Sherman said, "But Mr. Peabody's coming back, so I won't worry about it."
"Alright, that's enough," said Mr. Wall, sounding annoyed, "I know you people are dense, but this is ridiculous. Sherman, Peabody is dead. Deal with it and move on."
"Mr. Wall!" said Mrs. Peterson, "That is enough!"
"Out!" said Mr. Peterson, pointing to the door with a red face, "Out of my house!"
"Oh no," said Mr. Wall, "I'm not done. And unless you want me to tell the court that Sherman should be taken in by another family, you're going to let me finish."
"Not if you're going to keep saying those things to Sherman," said Mr. Peterson, "If you do, I'm kicking you out and suing you for psychological damage."
"And whose fault would that be?" asked Mr. Wall, "Wouldn't it be yours? You're the ones who should be telling him to knock off the fake hope."
"There is no proof that Peabody is dead," said Mrs. Peterson.
"Well, the court says otherwise." Said Mr. Wall, "Sherman, he's gone. Mourn and move on."
The front doorbell rang.
"I'll get it," said Mrs. Peterson.
"Stay," said Mr. Wall commandingly, "I'm not finished, and everyone should hear this. Sherman, suppose-just for an instant-that Peabody is never coming back. Would you still like to live here then?"
"What?" Sherman asked.
"Would you still like to live here, in this dump, without any of your money?"
"Yes," said Sherman, "And it's not a dump."
"Would you still live here, even though that would mean doing chores?"
The doorbell rang again.
"Yes," said Sherman, "I'm used to chores. But Mr. Peabody is coming back, so-"
Mr. Wall actually reached out and grabbed Sherman's collar.
"Get this through your thick head," he began.
At that moment Mr. Peterson took a step forward, and Mr. Wall immediately let go of Sherman.
"Understand this," he continued, "Peabody is never coming back. And I don't think you're prepared for that."
Once more, someone outside the house rang the doorbell.
"Will someone get that infernal door!" Mr. Wall cried out.
"I'll-" began Mrs. Peterson.
"Not you!" said Mr. Wall, "Sherman, you get the door. You want to live in this house? Then prove it to me. Answer the door."
"Wait!" said Penny, speaking for the first time, "What if it's someone who wants to kidnap Sherman? My dad said-"
"Your dad's an idiot," said Mr. Wall, "The kid will be fine. Look, Sherman, I know I'm being harsh, but I just want you to understand what is going on. I need to know you'll be happy living here for the next decade. Do you understand?"
The doorbell rang again.
"Just get the door," said Mr. Wall, not even waiting for Sherman to answer his question.
"Mr. Peabody is alive," said Sherman as he walked out of the room and into the hallway.
"He's dead and you know it," Mr. Wall responded, "Now get going."
"I'm coming with you," Penny whispered as she stepped behind Sherman.
"The girl stays," Mr. Wall said, "Sherman has to do this on his own. Tell the person at the door to go away and come back later."
"Sorry Sherman," Penny whispered as she fell back into the room.
"That's okay," Sherman whispered back.
He rounded the corner and gave a sigh of relief as soon as Mr. Wall was out of sight.
"Mr. Peabody is alive," he grumbled to himself, "And Penny and I are going to find him."
The doorbell rang again. It was starting to get annoying.
"Coming!" Sherman yelled out, and he finally reached the door.
Still grumbling, he turned the doorknob and threw the door wide open.
Immediately, Sherman came face to face with who was on the other side, and before he could gasp he was violently thrown backwards into the Peterson's hallway. White filled his vision, and if an arm hadn't protected his head he would have had a hard meeting with the floor. Just as he was starting to make sense of his new position, his captor held him down in what was practically a choke hold. Then, just as suddenly as when he had been knocked down, Sherman found himself being pulled off the ground and back onto his feet, facing his attacker.
"I apologize for my enthusiasm, Sherman," he said, brushing off his coat. And that was the moment when Sherman hugged him back, knocking both of their glasses askew in the process.