The Potato Chip Puzzles: The Puzzling World of Winston Breen Read Online Free Page A

it, shook his head briefly, and threw his arms out wide in a gesture of surrender. “I guess I will. You win, Mr. Breen.”
    Winston was hugely relieved. “Thank you,” he said. He almost extended an arm to shake Mr. Garvey’s hand in gratitude but stopped himself from doing that. “It’ll be fine, I promise.”
    Mr. Garvey nodded, not wanting to discuss it any further. Winston was happy, but Mr. Garvey clearly was not. The teacher dug through the leather bag he was carrying and brought out a piece of paper and a pen. “Give me your address,” he said. “I’ll pick all three of you up at your house at eight thirty on Friday morning.”
    Winston wrote his address and handed it to the math teacher. Mr. Garvey glanced at it, then said, “Okay. I’ll see you in a couple of days. Be ready.” He stalked off down the hall, all in a rush.
    No, he definitely didn’t look happy.

    “YAAAGH!” cried the knight as the blade of a sword separated his head from his body. The headless knight fell to his knees and turned to dust. Then the dust itself vanished. When things died in this video game, they died permanently.
    “You did it again!” said Jake, frustrated. “How did you do that?”
    “When you just stand there gaping, you make it real easy,” said Mal.
    “I don’t just stand there!”
    “You do, all the time! I can tell when you’re trying to push the buttons for a special move. You take your eyes off the game and look at the controller, and your knight stands there like he’s birdwatching or something.”
    Jake stood up, aggravated. “This joystick has more buttons than an airplane cockpit,” he said. “Who can keep track of them all?”
    “Yeah, yeah,” said Mal. He turned to Winston, who was on the couch waiting for his turn. “Win! You’re up. Your turn to take on the master.” He blew on his knuckles like his hands were registered weapons.
    They’d been addicted to 10,000 Swords for a few weeks now, and even though it was Winston who owned the game, Mal had become the undisputed champion. Winston was passable, but Jake, considering his dexterity on the baseball field, was surprisingly hopeless. He once impaled himself on his own sword before his opponent could get a swing at him. They couldn’t even figure out how Jake had done it. They’d spent half an hour trying to do it again, with no success.
    Jake moved to the sofa, and Winston picked up the controller. Mal pushed the start button, and two warriors prepared to duel in a bleak castle dungeon.
    As the swords clanged together, Jake said, “So is there anything we have to do to get ready for this contest?”
    Winston shook his head, focused on the game. “I can’t think of anything. I wish there was. I hate waiting.”
    Mal’s knight jumped around, baiting Winston into making a move. Mal said, “And we’re stuck with Mr. Garvey as our chaperone? Can’t we get anybody else? I mean it—anybody else on earth?”
    “I wish,” said Winston. “But Mr. Unger chose him, so that means he’s the guy. There aren’t that many teachers willing to give up their first day of summer vacation.”
    “I never thought of it as their summer vacation,” said Jake.
    “Yeah, me neither,” said Mal. His fighter lunged forward.
    The phone rang. “KATIE, GET THE PHONE,” Winston yelled up to his sister, while his fighter ran away from his opponent. The phone rang again. “KATIE!”
    “Want me to get it?” said Jake.
    “Yeah. Ugh!” Mal’s fighter smacked him a good one.
    Jake picked up the receiver. “Hello?” He listened for a moment. “No, he’s in a swordfight right now. Who is this?” He listened for a moment and then said, “Who?”
    Winston glanced over and saw confusion on Jake’s face. That was all the opening Mal needed, and a moment later, Winston’s knight was a pile of dust dissolving on the castle floor. “Oh, nuts,” said Winston. “That’s not fair. I got distracted.”
    “That’s why you’re dead,” Mal pointed