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  “I’m sure I told you boys I’d be here after school to help get everything ready,” Mrs. Osborn said. “Don’t you remember? I asked you to watch Gabe for me while I set up.”

  What! I nearly yelled the word, but held my tongue. It was a good thing because Jacob and Zack said it for me.

  “What!” they cried at the same time.

  Zack bit the inside of his lip. “I don’t remember you telling us!” He was so surprised his eyes were bulging out of his head like a cartoon character. “I’d have remembered a thing like that!”

  “I’d have remembered too,” Jacob added. I could see the panic on his face.

  The twins couldn’t babysit today! Mr. C was counting on us. According to his little black book, Martin Luther King Jr. was the next to give up and quit. We had to convince him to follow his dream.

  “I—,” I began, thinking of a hundred reasons Jacob and Zack couldn’t watch their brother. But I didn’t get a chance to tell Mrs. Osborn even one good reason.

  She checked her watch and said, “Oh, my goodness, I’m late.” And before I could get another word out of my mouth, Mrs. Osborn spread a blanket out on the classroom floor and gently lay Gabe on top of it.

  “I’ll be back when club time is over,” she told us. “That’s exactly two hours from now. I’ll be in the gym if you need me.” She handed Gabe’s diaper bag to Zack. Like me, he wanted to argue, but couldn’t get the words out. Zack just stood there sputtering, “I—We—You—Me—”

  “Gabe should sleep the whole time I’m gone. He won’t bother your club meeting. If for some reason he wakes up,” Mrs. Osborn continued, “give him the crackers and sippy cup of water from his bag. I’m counting on you kids to keep him out of trouble.”

  With that, she left the room.

  STACIA DEUTSCH is the author of more than fifty children’s books. She loves to write adventure, mystery, and movie novels, but time-travel stories are her favorite. Just in case she gets the chance to time travel, Stacia keeps a long list of the people she would like to visit. For now she lives in California with her three children.

  RHODY COHON wishes she could time travel too! Until her machine is in working order, she’ll travel through her imagination to wild and woolly places from her prickly home in Tucson, Arizona.

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  in the Blast to the Past® series!

  #1 Lincoln’s Legacy

  #2 Disney’s Dream

  #3 Bell’s Breakthrough

  #4 King’s Courage

  Coming soon:

  #5 Sacagawea’s Strength

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division

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  www.SimonandSchuster.com

  This Aladdin paperback edition January 2014

  Text copyright © 2005 by Stacia Deutsch and Rhody Cohon

  Interior illustrations copyright © 2005 by David Wenzel

  Cover illustration copyright © 2014 by Fernando Juarez

  Cover design by Jeanine Henderson

  All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

  ALADDIN is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc., and related logo is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  BLAST TO THE PAST is a registered trademark of Stacia Deutsch and Rhody Cohon.

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  The text of this book was set in Minion Pro.

  Library of Congress Control Number 2004118394

  ISBN 978-1-4424-9536-4

  ISBN 978-1-4391-1265-6 (eBook)