Storing Up Trouble, стр. 23

“He’s more likely to let us if you don’t hide why you were sneaking around his workshop.”

Gemma’s nose shot straight into the air. “It wasn’t sneaking, because I knew Uncle Norman wouldn’t care if I helped myself to the discarded items he tosses into that bin in his workshop.” She jolted into motion again, passing the second carriage house a moment later, leaving Norman and Oscar behind.

“She’s got a good stride for a girl,” Norman said.

Oscar shuddered. “Don’t say that around Gemma. She doesn’t like when people use that ‘for a girl’ comment. Tends to make her grumpy.”

“Duly noted,” Norman said, falling into step beside Oscar. “So what was Gemma trying to invent that she needed my old scraps for?”

“A boat that could be operated like one operates a bicycle.”

“Did she succeed in building that?”

“She did build it, or rather, she used me as the muscle to build it while barking out instructions.” Oscar grinned. “Gemma’s real bossy at times, but I thought she was on to something. Problem was that after we mounted an old rowboat over the bicycle Gemma got for Christmas last year, and then put fins on the tires like paddlewheels, we left a few tiny openings in the boat and . . . it sank within minutes of launching.”

“Were you and Gemma in it at the time?”

“We were, but we both know how to swim. Your sister, Mrs. Michelson, was furious when she found out what happened.”

Norman stopped walking. “You told my sister what happened?”

“’Course not. Your brother, the other Mr. Nesbit, told her, even though Gemma suggested he keep that information to himself.”

Norman frowned. “How did Stanley find out about your adventure with the rowboat?”

“Uncle Stanley followed us to the lake,” Gemma said, stomping up to join them. “He’d been keeping an eye on me, thinking Oscar and I were acting suspicious, so when we loaded our invention into my pony cart and headed for the lake, he trailed behind us.” Gemma blew out a breath. “I couldn’t stay mad at him for telling on us, though, because he did manage to retrieve my bicycle.”

“I didn’t realize Stanley was so involved in your life,” Norman said slowly.

“He’s my uncle, so of course he’s involved in my life, although you’re my uncle as well, but I suppose you’re not as involved because you’re always so consumed with your experiments.” Gemma flashed him an unexpected grin. “But I’m not complaining. We scientists are known to become consumed with our work, so it’s fine that you don’t spend much time with me.”

A sliver of what felt like guilt slid through Norman.

Gemma was right. He’d not made much of an effort to be involved in her life, or involved in any of his nieces’ or nephews’ lives, which didn’t speak highly of him in the least. He was certainly going to have to make amends for his clear neglect, although how he was going to go about that while still being able to devote enough time to his work was something he was going to have to plan out in detail, perhaps make a few charts and even a graph or two, laying out a detailed schedule that would allow him to dedicate more time to being a proper uncle.

“Are you feeling well, Uncle Norman?” Gemma asked, breaking into Norman’s less-than-pleasant thoughts. “You look like you’re about to toss up your accounts.”

He summoned up a smile. “I’m fit as a fiddle, Gemma.”

Gemma grinned. “Thank goodness. That means there’s no reason to delay showing Oscar and me how your electric wagon works. We’re hoping you’ll let us test it out, but we need to hurry. Mother and Grandmother will certainly be joining us soon, and while Mother won’t balk if you agree to let us try out your wagon, Grandmother might be another story.”

“I never said you could try out my electrical conveyance vehicle.”

Gemma immediately took to looking stubborn. “I don’t know why you’d object to that. I overheard you and Theo speaking about the difficulty you were having marking the distance the wagon could travel because the weighted bags you were using kept falling off when the wagon traveled over bumps.”

“Me and Gemma are real good at staying on things that move,” Oscar added. “And we know that you need something that weighs over a hundred pounds, but not more than one hundred fifteen pounds, which is why you couldn’t put Theo on the wagon because she weighs one hundred twenty-two pounds. So right now we’re your most convenient option.”

Norman tilted his head. “How do you know for certain the two of you weigh a combined weight of less than one hundred fifteen pounds?”

Oscar shrugged. “Gemma insisted on weighing us this morning, knowing you’d ask this question, which is when we confirmed that I weigh fifty-four pounds and Gemma weighs forty-nine pounds.”

“And how did you obtain those numbers?”

“Gemma used my seesaw.”

Norman turned to Gemma. “You used a seesaw to weigh yourself?”

Gemma gave an airy wave of a small hand. “It wasn’t difficult. Oscar and I used bags of flour we knew weighed five pounds, setting those bags on one side and then adjusting them until we achieved a perfect levelness as we sat on the other side.”

“And you went through all that bother so that you’d be able to tell me your combined weights are approximately one hundred four pounds?”

Gemma nodded.

“Then I suppose with that level of determination that I can’t very well deny the two of you a chance to try out what isn’t a wagon, but an—”

“Electrical conveyance vehicle,” Gemma finished with a grin, falling into step beside him as he headed toward the third carriage house, which housed his workshop on the first floor and his bachelor apartments on the second.

“Oscar and I decided that ladies will probably be more keen to drive electrical vehicles over men,” Gemma declared.

“But I’m trying to invent an electrical vehicle for my own personal use, and clearly I’m a man,” Norman