by Marisa Montes
UNO
CHAPTER 1
Gabí the Great!
"Watch out, World!" I yelled from high above my room.
I was jumping on my bed, wearing my red cowgirl boots. My wavy hair bounced as I jumped . . .high . . .higher . . . higher still!
"I'm Maritza Gabriela Morales Mercado—also known as—"
I hopped off the bed and flung a red beach towel around my shoulders like a cape.
"¡La Gran Gabí! Gabí the Great!"
I took my favorite pose: fists on my hips, boots slightly apart.
"That's Ga-BEE, with the accent on BEE. 'Cause that's the way I like it!"
Like my favorite superhero Dragon-Ella, I was ready to fight crime and stamp out evil.
"Bullies be warned! Get ready for Gabí! ¡Gabí está aquí-ííííííí!"
Just then, my black and white cat Tippy wandered in the open door.
Quick as anything, I tied a red scarf around his neck. It flowed behind him like bright bat wings. (If you haven't noticed yet, my favorite color is red.)
As soon as the scarf touched his neck, he magically became my super-gato sidekick—
"El Tiperú!" I held El Tiperú up in the air and swished him around. He was flying!
The moment I set him on the floor, El Tiperú zipped out the open door.
"Yes!" I cried, racing after him. "We're on the trail of bad guys!"
Just as I rounded the corner into the family room, someone grabbed me from behind and pinned my arms to my sides.
"¡Te agarré! Now I got you!" said a low voice. "Let's see how great La Gran Gabí really is!"
¡Ay, ay, ay! It was the Dreaded Abu-Della, Wicked Woman of the West! (Actually, it was just Abuelita, my grandma. But Abu-Della sounds more like an evil villain.)
Abu-Della tied my hands behind me.
Her dark eyes shone with evil!
Now what?
All I had was my secret weapon, my trusty pair of red boots. And Abu-Della was eyeing them! She knew they were the source of all my power.
¡Caracoles! Yikes!
As Abu-Della grabbed for my boots, I made my move. I kicked my right foot, and off flew my boot! It whizzed into the air, hit the carpet, and bumped her on the leg.
But that's all I needed. One touch from my boot, and my enemies drop. Abu-Della flopped to the floor.
She wouldn't budge—for now.
I broke free of my ties and jumped up.
"Aha!" I cried. "How great is Gabí the Great now?"
I stuck out my rear for a hip-wiggle victory dance, when—
Something jumped on my back, screaming, "Aaaaaa-iiiiii-eeee!" It could only be Abu-Della's winged monkey (otherwise known as Miguelito, my four-year-old brother.)
I fell to the floor. I couldn't move.
"Got-you!Got-you!Got-you!" it said in a squeaky voice. The winged monkey smushed my cheek into the carpet!
I stopped squirming and played dead. Maybe I could trick the monkey into letting me go. I held my breath.
The winged monkey let go of my head. As soon as he sat back, I leaped up and tapped him with my boot.
"I'm free!" I shouted. "Bien hecho, El Tiperú! The world is safe from evil once more!"
"El Tiperú?" I looked around for Tippy.
"He's hiding," whispered the monkey. "He's under the couch."
"Shhh!" I said. "You're supposed to play dead. Anyway, El Tiperú never hides. He takes cover. Only wimps hide."
Miguelito tilted his head to get a better look at Tippy. "Nope. I'm pretty sure he's hiding. See how—"
"Shhh-hhh! Put your head down!"
"Nooo-ooo!" Miguelito shook his head. His shiny dark hair flopped back and forth. "I'm tired of being dead. Why do I always have to be the bandido?"
"Because I said so. I'm the big sister, so I get to make the rules. You don't see Abuelita—I mean, Abu-Della—complaining, do you?"
I pointed at the still body of Abu-Della. Just then, the still body sat up.
"Ay, Gabrielita, es tarde," she said. "It's getting late, and I promised your mami I'd make dinner tonight."
Abuelita spoke to us in Spanish. She's visiting us from Puerto Rico and that's the only language she knows.
But that's okay because my family always speaks Spanish at home. It's Mami and Papi's rule, so we'll never forget it. They want Miguelito and me to speak really good English, too, but we get lots of that at school.
"Ohhhh, ok-kaaayyy." I hung my head.
"Mira, Gabrielita, look." Abuelita waved her arm. "See, no bad guys. El mundo is safe from evil once more! All because of La Gran Gabí and El Tiperú!"
I grinned. "Yeah!" I stomped my boot.
"Ahora," said Abuelita, "why don't you niños go out and play while I start dinner? Your mami and papi will be home from work soon."
Miguelito bounced on his toes. We both yelled, "Yeay!"
Then I grabbed his hand and we ran out to get our bikes.
DOS
CHAPTER 2
Mystery Neighbors
I rode my glittery red bike toward the spooky old house down the street.
Miguelito pedaled beside me on his big blue plastic tricycle. It made a huge racket as he pumped his short legs, trying to keep up.
As we rode, I thought about Abuelita. She had surprised us with a visit last month. We didn't know how long Abuelita would stay, so I was spending as much time with her as I could. I hoped she'd never leave.
Before we reached the end of the block, I slowed down and gulped.
Across the street, the old house filled the sky. Purple and orange paint chipped off its wooden walls. The right corner had a creepy tower room with windows all around. And the big front door was wide open, like a mouth ready to gobble someone up.
The kids at school thought the old house was haunted. Mami always said it wasn't. But Miguelito and I, we weren't so sure.
We stared quietly for a moment. Then Miguelito pointed to a big truck.
"¡Mira!¡Mira!¡Mira!" he yelled. "Un camión!"
I jumped. "Shhh! We have to be very quiet."
Miguelito put a pudgy finger on his lips. "Shhh, silencio," he whispered.
I looked at the truck. The back doors were open. A big old ramp ran from the back of the truck to the street.
Two huge men were carrying a couch down the ramp.
It must be a moving van!
"A new family's moving in!" I shouted, forgetting to be quiet. I slid off my bike and did a happy hip-wiggle. "New neighbors might mean new kids!"
"And new kids could mean new friends!" Miguelito yelled back.
He hopped off his trike and bounced beside me like a ball of Silly Putty.
We've never had kids our age on our block before. All the other kids are much older.
We set our bikes under a mulberry tree, and I helped Miguelito cross the street. The closer we got to the huge spooky house, the harder Miguelito squeezed my fingers. That's what he always does when he's scared.
I glanced around. I didn't see any new neighbors. And there were no signs of kids. Lots of boxes were stacked on the lawn. But no toys or bicycles.
"Careful, kids," said one of the big men. "Don't get too close to the house. I heard some chains rattling. Might be ghosts." Then he laughed real loud.
Miguelito ducked under my arm and glued himself to my side.
I patted his head. "Está bien, Miguelito, he's just kidding . . . I think."
I stared at the dark windows of the tower.
Did something move up there?
The two men kept going back and forth carrying boxes and furniture.
Then a third man came out of the house. He went up the ramp and walked down carrying a chair.
"Are you the new neighbor?" I asked.
"Nah, kid. I'm just one of the movers. The new owners aren't here yet. Real estate lady let us in."
"Oh," I said. "Do you know when they will move in?"
"Nope. Not my business." He put down the chair to wipe his sweaty face.
"Do they have kids?" Miguelito asked.
"You kids are full of questions, aren't you?"
Miguelito nodded. "There's lots we want to know."
The man laughed. "Yeah, kid. Me too. Like sometimes I want to know what's the point?"
"Huh?" Miguelito and I said. Some grown-ups are really weird.
"Yeah, honey. Huh? That's what I say."
The man picked up the chair and took it inside. He never even told us if the new owners had kids.
We waited another minute. When no one else came out of the house, I glanced around. The house was dark and quiet. No one was looking.
"Quédate quieto, Miguelito." I pried his fingers from mine. "Don't move."
I stepped to the back of the truck and peeked inside.
Way in the back were three bicycles: Two big bikes and a small one.
And you won't believe this! The small one was just like mine.
Only it was pink and purple.
A girl's bike!