The Invisible Twins

By Tom Mach

Amy and Becky, identical 10-year-old twins, find that their grandpa, a retired chemist, had accidentally discovered a formula which will make things disappear as well as another formula that will reverse the process. When grandpa is away, they apply the potion on themselves, hoping to have fun by being invisible while they play a trick on their friends. Dogs bark at the invisible girls and a woman shrieks when she doesn't see them but hears their voices. Their greatest adventure occurs when they find their friends' house is being burglarized, and the have fun scaring the crooks away. But after they return, they apply the formula which was supposed to make them visible again. Oh no! it doesn't seem to work. What will they do? Will they miss out on the rest of their lives because of this? This is an unusual adventure story for boys as well as girls, and it will keep them reading from cover to cover.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tom Mach
• Release date: May 20, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310678806

Tom Mach

Tom Mach wrote three successful historical novels, Sissy!, All Parts Together, and Angels at Sunset. The first two were listed among the 150 best Kansas books in 2011. Sissy! won the J. Donald Coffin Memorial Book Award while All Parts Together was a viable entrant for the 2007 Pulitzer Prize Award. Angels at Sunset was a Finalist for the International Book Award. Tom's latest collection of poetry is The Museum Muse and his previous poetry collection won the 2008 Nelson Poetry Book Award. He also wrote a collection of short stories entitled Stories To Enjoy which received positive reviews. In addition to winning poetry awards from Kansas Authors Club, Tom was a finalist in a nationwide Writer’s Digest Awards competition He coaches writing for 4th and 5th graders in his spare time.

Book preview

The Invisible Twins

by

Tom Mach

Copyright ©2015 by Tom Mach

Smashwords Edition

Published by

Hill Song Press

PO Box 486

Lawrence, KS 66044

PHOTO CREDIT

Cover photo used by permission

License granted by Shutterstock.com

Copyright ©2015 by wavebreakmedia

Chapter One

Becky and Amy Thornville, identical blond-haired and blue-eyed twins who looked forward to their tenth birthday next week, stopped Mom from turning to the next page of the family scrapbook. Wait a minute, this isn’t right, Amy said, pointing to a photo of Grandpa standing near Mom, Becky, and Amy. Yeah, Becky added. How come Grandma’s not in that photo? We remember her being there when you took that picture."

Charley, the Thornville’s black French poodle, barked twice as if he confirmed the legitimacy of their question. Then he crawled under the coffee table after the twins tried to shush him.

Mom’s lower lip quivered a bit and the girls knew this was a sensitive subject. During the silence that followed, Becky adjusted the pink bow in her hair while Amy brushed strands of her blond hair away from her forehead. Girls, Mom finally said, Grandpa had a hard time getting used to Grandma’s death in February. He really doesn’t want to be reminded of it by seeing her picture, so he removed her from the photo.

How could he make her disappear from a photograph? the twins asked at the same time.

Grandpa somehow he did it on his computer.

Becky tilted her head. How?

Yeah, Amy said. How? I bet it was magic.

No, it wasn’t magic, her mom answered, but you’ll have to ask him that question.

Charley resurfaced from the underside of the coffee table, shaking his short tail vigorously.

Charley, Becky said, rubbing his fur, wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could all disappear?

Charley barked his response just as the kitchen screen door swung open and 15-year-old Jason Thornville rushed to the refrigerator door. Got any lemonade, Mom?

Eileen put the scrapbook back on the dining room table. We’ll have to get some tomorrow. Get ready for dinner. How was school?

Pretty good, Jason said. Coach told me I may have a shot at playing guard on our team. Tells me that I have good coordination for basketball.

He parked himself on the La-Z-Boy and flashed a teasing smile at the twins. How are my goofy sisters today?

Becky frowned. We’re not goofy. You’re the goofy one.

Yeah, Amy said. We’re going to start calling you Goofy if you don’t stop it.

Charley barked, wanting to get in on this discussion but then retreated to another room when he didn’t get any response.

Girls—and you too, Jason, Mom said, I don’t want any bickering. She turned to the twins. C’mon, find out if Grandpa returned from the chemical supply company. If he did, tell him it’s almost time for dinner.

The twins saw Grandpa drive his black Honda Accord into the garage. He didn’t see Amy and Becky as he unlocked the door to his small lab where he spent a great deal of his time. It was a small brick building adjacent to a two-car garage. It had a metal flue that jutted from the clay tile roof and a frosted window on each side of the building. Grandpa used to have regular windows, but when he caught someone looking in to see what he might be working on, he installed those frosted windows to allow light in while discouraging prying eyes.

Mom once told them that Grandpa Joe Thornville had retired as a chemist but that he still loved the idea of making something different, something extraordinary, and something that would set him apart from other chemists. But none of his efforts were successful. Last year Grandpa Joe told the twins he had been working on a chemical that would prolong life. Too bad your dad already knows about it, he had said, because I wanted to keep it a secret.

Think Grandpa will mind that we’re bothering him? Becky asked her twin sister as they stood near the door of the lab.

Grandpa’s always happy to see us, Amy said.

The door opened before either one of them could knock on it. Aha, I thought I heard you, Grandpa Joe said, his hand on the doorknob. I just came back from picking up some supplies I needed. With white hair, bushy eyebrows, white beard, and wire glasses resting on his nose—as well as his rotund waist—he could have passed for Santa Claus except he wore a brown laboratory apron over his gray shirt and dark slacks.

Before either twin could speak, Grandpa added, I’ve got to show you girls something amazing. Want to see? He put his bag of supplies underneath his lab bench and welcomed them in.

While it wasn’t a large room, it contained a restroom and a closet, where he kept a lab coat and an extra shirt. Nearer to the front door was his workbench and on it was a Bunsen burner he had used before to heat chemicals in a round-bottomed flask, a long glass tube that Grandpa called a fractionating column, and another glass tube called a condenser. Nearby was a large cylinder of helium that Grandpa said was once needed for one of his experiments, and sometimes he would use it to fill balloons for the twins so they could take them outdoors for a balloon race or for their birthday party.

Grandpa, Becky said, Mom told us you made the picture of Grandma disappear from a photo. How did you do that? She turned her attention to the various bottles lining a shelf on the wall, wondering if he used one of those bottles to do that kind of magic.

Amy noticed Grandpa’s sad face and poked her sister with an elbow. Shhh. Maybe he doesn’t want to talk about it.

No, that’s okay, Grandpa Joe said. "It’s quite simple, really. I used a computer software program named Photoshop. Until now, I always wondered why we can’t make real people disappear the same way."

A smile broadened Becky’s face. It would be fun.

Maybe it’s even possible, Grandpa said, scratching his chin. I’ve got to tell you girls something, but you have to promise me you’ll keep it a secret. Don’t even tell your Mom or Dad. Promise?

We promise, Amy answered.

Let me show you something. He sat down by his desk and reached down to lift up a wire cage containing two white mice. Say hello to Lulu and Coco. Those are the names I gave them because they are both female mice.

We know, Becky said. Dad told us about your pet mice.

Well, they’re not exactly pets. I’ve been using them for my experiments. Until today, it was always hard for me to distinguish Coco from Lulu. Just like it’s hard for me to know which one of you is Becky and which one is Amy.

I always wear a pink bow, Becky said, and Amy always wears a green one.

He grinned, removing his spectacles. I know, but what if you two switched bows?

Well, Mom can tell us apart, Amy said. For one thing, I have a squeaky laugh.

So does that mean I have to tickle each of you to see who’s who?

Becky and Amy laughed while backing away from his twitching fingers.

Look, he said, turning his attention to the mice. Until today, the only way I knew which one was Lulu was because she has a tiny black spot on her right leg.

Amy’s eyes narrowed as she looked at the rodents in the cage. How come one of them doesn’t have a tail?

Becky nodded. Her sister was right. One of the mice definitely did not have a tail while the other one did.

That’s Lulu, Grandpa said, returning the cage to the floor by his desk. Now I can really tell which one is which because the one without the tail is Lulu.

Omigosh! Amy squealed. Did you cut it off?

He laughed. Now why would I want to do a silly thing like that?

Becky frowned. But then how come her tail is gone?

He put on his spectacles, turned on his desk lamp and flipped over the pages of his journal until he got to his latest entry. Aha, here it is. Take a look.

The girls looked at the entry he had written in his journal. It said something about Formula JT-1. There were chemical symbols nearby and equations which neither one could understand.

What’s JT stand for, Grandpa? Amy asked.

"My