Double Jeopardy by Franklin W. Dixon

Author:Franklin W. Dixon
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aladdin

9 Where There’s Smoke . . .

* * *

Frank barreled into the rail like a cannonball. He then slid along the top for a few feet before landing in a crumpled heap back on the track. Every part of his body seemed numb except the front of his left leg. From the knee down it felt as if someone were roasting it in a bonfire.

He sat up slowly and looked down at his leg. His entire shin was scraped. His lower leg seemed to swell as he watched.

A race official and the doctor on call hurried over to Frank. “We’d better get a gurney,” the doctor said, motioning for a stretcher.

“No,” Frank said. “I’m okay. I can walk.” He stood up and put his foot down. The pain from his leg radiated up into his brain, and he could feel his face contort into a grimace.

The race slowed when Frank crashed. Cyclists held their positions and slowly circled the track.

The two men who’d hurried over propped Frank up and helped him hop off the track. Spectators clapped as he made his way to the exit. He nodded and smiled at the crowd as he left the track on his human crutches.

Joe was waiting for them at the door to the medical examining room. “Man, that is one nasty-looking leg,” he said. “How do you feel?”

“I’ve been better,” Frank said with a laugh. “A lot better.”

“Hey, Frank,” J. J. called out. He was joined by Noah and Becky. Noah held one of Frank’s bike wheels in his hand. They stayed in the hall as the doctor and Joe helped Frank into the examining room and up onto the table. The doctor took nearly a half an hour to clean, medicate, and dress the foot-long scrape. Then he gave Frank a tube of antibiotic medicine, which had a topical anesthetic in it to help dull the pain. He also gave him gauze and tape so that Frank could change the dressings himself.

By the time the doctor finished, Frank’s pain had subsided. He and Joe went out into the hall. J. J., Becky, and Noah were still there. They all seemed relieved to see Frank limp on his own.

“The equipment squad brought your bike down,” J. J. said, his forehead wrinkled with concern. “What’s left of it, that is.”

Frank looked at the pile of bike pieces and felt like he’d been punched. His prized bike—the one that had taken him to a couple of finish lines in first place—was totaled!

He and Joe carefully packed the pieces of the bike up in boxes provided by the equipment squad. “The race should be over soon,” Frank said, lifting one of the bike’s wheels into the box. “Afterward I want to do a thorough search of the track—and make sure there are no more parts out there.”

As Joe and J. J. brought the boxes outside, Frank, Noah, and Becky headed back to the track. “Do you guys have any idea what happened?” Noah asked. “I saw you making some adjustments during the practice, Frank.

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