The Society of Super Secret Heroes by Phyllis Shalant Read Free Book Online

speak,” he said.
    You are right, Master. No common cape can speak. But I am not common.
    Finch pressed his hands against his temples. This only happened in books or movies. It couldn’t be real. “I’m not actually hearing anything,” he told himself firmly.
    It is true that you are not hearing me with your ears. You are hearing me with your mind, Master.
    â€œStop calling me that!”
    I am sorry, but I cannot help myself. It is part of the rules. When you guessed my identity, you became my master.
    â€œWhat identity?”
    But I have told you. I am the Thinking Cape. That is what you called me when you put me on and wrote the Oath.
    â€œIt’s not a real oath. I was just fooling around,” Fin said.
    It could be real, Master. My job is to help make ordinary mortals into extraordinary ones. I can assist you in following the Oath—to do your best to help others. You do want to be a real superhero, do you not?
    Maybe I’m dreaming, Finch thought. How else could I be talking to my kindergarten plaything? How else could it be answering back? “I don’t really like fighting,” he answered finally. “I can’t stand the sight of blood.”
    Rest assured I detest violence as well. I can help you solve problems by thinking, not fighting. That is my power, Master.
    â€œI AM NOT YOUR MASTER!” Fin shouted.
    Alas, there is nothing to be done about it. The rules cannot be changed. O Master, you have no idea what a relief this is! I have been waiting a thousand years.
    â€œNo! I don’t want to be a mental case.” Fin picked up the wastebasket. “I’m dumping you into the garbage can by the driveway. You can talk to the trash from now on.”
    But Master, should you not ask the other members of the Society of Super Secret Heroes what they think first? Perchance they would appreciate having a magical cape.
    â€œThere aren’t any other members. There isn’t any Society of Super Secret Heroes.”
    Do you not think your friends would like to be members—and superheroes? You could ask them to join you.
    Fin hesitated. “My friends could hear you, too?”
    Of course—if you want them to.
    Finch thought about how amazed the guys would be if they heard the Thinking Cape speak in their heads. They’d freak out, of course. But if they heard it, too, that would mean he wasn’t nuts. He had to know.
    â€œAll right. Maybe tomorrow, I’ll ask the guys to come over. But don’t talk to me anymore until then.”
    Yes, Master.
    â€œI said no talking!” Finch shoved the cape to the bottom of his backpack. This time the Thinking Cape didn’t answer.

    On Wednesday nights, Finch and Mimi always had dinner with their father—unless Mr. Mundy had to babysit for Jake. The kid was eight months old now. Sometimes Finch’s dad brought him to see Jake, but the little blob had a schedule like a business executive. It was always time for his lunch, his bath, his nap, his walk, his playgroup, his baby gym class, or his baby swim class. Mostly, Finch saw the back of the kid’s head as he was leaving. It was hard to feel brotherly.
    Tonight they went to Finch’s favorite Italian restaurant, Sal’s, since Mimi claimed she was too sick to go out. They sat in their favorite booth, which was next to a window in the wall where you could watch the two pizza men, Dom and Louie, tossing pies. Sometimes Finch and his father bet on which of the guys would finish making a pizza first. Or else they tried to guess what toppings would go on the next pie. But tonight, Finch just stared through the window while he downed a soda.
    â€œA pepperoni for your thoughts,” his father said.
    â€œDad, when you were a kid, were you normal?”
    â€œNormal? I don’t know, Fin. One man’s normal is another man’s nuts.”
    â€œWhat?”
    Fin’s dad grinned. “I mean it’s normal for people