Bell’s Breakthrough
You can buy the Blast to the Past book "Bell's Breakthrough" by clicking here!

Get Real with History!
Read all about Alexander Graham Bell on Wikipedia.

We had shown Professor Bell everything we could. We couldn’t show him how fast the fire trucks could get to an emergency. He’d have to trust us that his invention helped save many lives every day.

“Professor Bell?” I asked, turning my head to tell the inventor it was time to go home. But he wasn't there! I looked around. He wasn’t standing with us in the hall. “Where’d he go? I swear he was just here a second ago.”

“I tried to stop him,” Zack said. He pointed out the door of the garage.

We rushed out to the driveway. The first truck was turning the street corner.

I squinted to see where Zack was pointing and couldn’t believe my eyes.

Professor Bell was waving at us from the back of the fire truck!

“What happened?” I asked Bo.

“He can run really fast,” Bo answered.

“So can Zack,” I replied. “Zack’s the fastest runner in the whole third grade.”

“I think Alexander Graham Bell might be faster,” Jacob said. “Professor Bell ran and jumped onto the truck while it was leaving. Zack ran after him and tried to block his way, but Professor Bell was too quick.”

“We’re in trouble,” Zack groaned. “The first truck could be going anywhere in the city.”

“That’s not exactly true,” Jacob said. “This station is only for a small part of the city. Only the firehouse closest to the fire sends trucks.”

“Unless there is a big emergency,” Bo said. “Then many firehouses send their trucks.” It really didn’t matter how far away the fire truck went. It was just plain bad that it had left. And that Professor Bell had gone with it.

We were in big trouble.

“We could wait until they get back,” I suggested. It wasn’t a great plan, but it was the only idea I had.

“That would take too much time,” Jacob said, checking his watch. “We have only forty-three minutes to get Professor Bell back to eighteen seventy-six.”

“And to get him to invent the telephone,” Bo added.

It seemed like things couldn’t be any worse, but Jacob was smiling. “I can solve one of our problems,” he said, grinning so wide, all his teeth showed.

“How?” I asked.

Jacob led us all back into the firehouse. Next to the telephone was a computer.

“Can you find the fire truck?” Bo asked Jacob.

“Sure,” Jacob said as he sat down at the desk. “This computer keeps track of where 9-1-1- calls come from,” he explained while he pushed a few letters on the keyboard. Numbers flashed across the screen. “When a person calls 9-1-1, an emergency operator answers the phone. The operator asks some important questions to decide what kind of help the person needs.”

Jacob was still sitting at the computer pressing buttons. He continued: “In some cities, they have new computers that can figure out addresses. No one needs to tell the operators where to send help. The computer can figure it out on its own.”

“And the best part is,” Zack added, “Dad told me that if you call 9-1-1, it usually takes less than a minute for help to be on the way.”

“Boy, if only we could have called 9-1-1 in eighteen seventy-six,” I said, shaking my head, “maybe that woman’s head wouldn’t have burned down. Telegrams sure took a lot longer than telephones.”

“Too long,” Zack agreed.

Bo leaned over Jacob’s shoulder and read the information, “A woman called 9-1-1 from 324 High Street. There is a fire in her kitchen.”

“Oh, No!” My heart started beating so fast, I thought it might explode. “I live at 322 High Street! Right next door!”

“We live at 320 High Street!” Jacob and Zack shouted at the same time.

“It’s our neighbor Mrs. Kapalsky!” I said. “She might need help because she can’t hear the fire engine’s siren. She’s deaf!”

“Just like Mabel,” Bo said.

“Yes,” I said quickly.

“We’d better run!” Zack was out the door before the rest of us were ready to go.

“Jacob, we need to hurry. Tie your shoe!” I said, and poked him in the arm.

Jacob refused and took off running after Zack.

Bo and I rushed out of the firehouse. We went running down the street and around the corner. We scooted past my house and got to Mrs. Kapalsky’s house just as the firefighters were packing up the truck to return to the fire station.

“What happened?” I asked Zack. He’d gotten to Mrs. Kapalsky’s house a little before me.

“She put too much oil in a pan. It bubbled and made a small fire in her kitchen. Dad was able to put it out quickly,” Zack answered. Jacob and Bo came to stand beside us.

“Mrs. Kapalsky is fine,” Bo said. “Because they got here so fast, the firefighters saved her house.”

I was just about to ask if any of the boys had seen Mrs. Kapalsky, when I saw her standing on the front lawn talking to Professor Bell and Firefighter Osborn. They were standing in a small circle. They had their heads close together.

Professor Bell was talking with his hands. He was speaking in sign language to Mrs. Kapalsky. Mrs. Kapalsky handed a white square box to Professor Bell and gave him a kiss on the cheek. She gave Firefighter Osborn a hug.

I discovered I could read lips, too, when I saw her say “thank you” to the two men.

She saw us standing in the driveway. She waved and went back inside her house.

Firefighter Osborn went over to talk to another firefighter. Professor Bell came over to us. He was very excited. “The fire is out. Everyone is safe. And I have two important things to show you.”

I’d never seen Professor Bell so happy. I liked him best when he wasn’t quitting, tricking us, or running away.

CONTINUED...

Read about Alexander Graham Bell and write the story the way YOU would make it turn out.

Then get the Blast to the Past book and see what happens in this story.

You can buy the Blast to the Past book "Bell's Breakthrough" by clicking here!

Read all about Alexander Graham Bell on Wikipedia.

Read all the Blast to the Past chapters here!

Education World®
Copyright © 2007 Education World