by Kate Messner
“Maybe Clover can show you something,” Mia said. “All I can do is hang.”
“You’re getting better at it, though!” Clover said, laughing. “Weren’t you up to, like, fifteen seconds last week?”
“I want to try!” Anna said, so they took turns hanging from the bar and timing one another. Mia made it sixteen seconds before she dropped into the pine needles below. Clover did forty-five seconds. Anna made it to twelve, and then they all climbed up and did it again.
“Let’s try all at once!” Clover said. So on the count of three, they jumped up from the ground and grabbed the bars.
“My arms already feel like they’re going to fall off!” Anna said after a few seconds. “You should have told me this gets harder every time!”
“You need to distract yourself,” Clover said. “Think about robots or something.”
“We need music,” said Mia. When she and Eunice had to hold planks forever at gymnastics, they’d tap their feet out to the beat of some Renegade Kickboxers song, and that helped pass the time. But their phones were in the tree fort. “Somebody sing something!”
“Twinkle twinkle little star …,” Clover started. “My arms are falling off, yes they are …”
“That’s not helping!” Anna started laughing so hard that she dropped, but Mia kept holding on.
“Sing something better!” she said. “I need quality music to get through this.”
“One short day, in the Emerald City …,” Clover sang.
“Oh my gosh, I loved that show!” Anna said.
Mia’s hands were slipping, but she managed to grunt out, “Me too!” before she dropped to the ground, and then Clover jumped down, too. It turned out all their grandmothers had taken them to see that Broadway musical, Wicked, that Clover’s song was from.
“My favorite part was where Elphaba flew over the audience,” Mia said.
“Right?” Anna’s eyes were huge. “I kept trying to figure out how that pulley system worked so the whole thing was so smooth.”
“Anna’s going to be a Broadway special-effects engineer someday,” Clover said as they headed back to the house for water.
“Maybe,” Anna said. “But first, we have a cricket-harvesting robot to build.”
The girls spent Tuesday morning at Launch Camp talking more about the robot. Mia and Clover made new plans to snoop on Mr. Potsworth, too, but that didn’t exactly work out. After camp, they rode their bikes over to the food-processing plant, only to find that it was shut down for the whole week because of the holiday.
“That’s okay,” Clover said. “If he’s out of town, he can’t do any damage, and we have other things to focus on until he gets back.”
They spent the rest of the week getting robot updates from Anna, preparing for the farmers market, practicing their pitches to local businesses, and surviving Warrior Camp. Clover was getting pretty good at the quad steps, and she made it to the ten-foot mark on the warped wall.
Mia wanted nothing to do with that wall, and even though her scraped-up shin was scabbed over now, she didn’t like the quad steps, either. But on Thursday, she did manage to jump on the trampoline and stick her hands and feet on the spider wall a few times.
That little trampoline reminded Mia of the vault at her old gym. She used to love the vault. During the break at camp that day, she stopped to look in the gymnastics window to see if anybody was vaulting, but there were only kids on the bars and beam. The girl on the beam was really good, like Mia used to be. Mia rose on her toes, just a little, as she watched the girl lift and pivot. Then the Jamie lady came out the door. Mia’s heels hit the floor.
“It’s good to see you again!” Jamie said. “Don’t forget, if you ever want to try a session with us, just let me know.”
Mia shook her head and backed away. “I was just watching. I’m super busy.”
She was busy. She’d almost finished her business plan at Launch Camp. She’d been helping with the crickets all week and taking Syd for walks to bark at strangers. She’d even been to a few of the extra Warrior Camp sessions they held in the evenings. She was up to thirty whole seconds of hanging from her bar now.
“You’re going to be able to do the rings soon,” Clover said as they walked out of camp on Thursday.
“Doubt it,” Mia said. But she did feel a little stronger. She was even getting calluses on her palms, like weightlifters do.
“Hey!” a man’s voice shouted. Mia’s heart jumped into her throat, but it was only Mr. Jacobson. He jogged down the hall toward them, hugging a moose. It was wearing a pink headband and leotard. “I’ve been wanting to give you this,” he said, handing it to Mia. “It’s a sporty gymnast moose.”
The moose was fat and lopsided, with enormous antlers. It looked like it would be about as elegant as Mia had been the last time she was on a balance beam. It would have been rude to remind Mr. Jacobson that she wasn’t a gymnast now, so she just said thanks.
“And look!” He squeezed the moose’s ear.
“Hello from Vermont!” it said.
“Wow.” It wasn’t just a sporty moose. It was a talking sporty moose. “Thanks.”
“I know it’s tough to move to a new town, so I thought you might like a buddy.” Mr. Jacobson looked at Clover then. “Not that you don’t already have buddies!”
They all laughed, and Mia and Clover went out to their bikes. Mia shoved the moose into her gym bag, but its antlers wouldn’t fit.
“That is a sad excuse for a moose,” Clover said.
“I know. But he was trying to be nice. And he’s helped Gram a bunch, so …” Mia shrugged and jumped on her bike. She could pretend to like the moose.
“All set for Saturday?” Clover asked as they started toward home.
“Sure,” Mia said, even though she didn’t feel ready. She figured that if she kept pretending to be brave, she might trick herself into feeling that way. Besides, everyone else was working so hard to help Gram keep her farm. Daniel was putting in extra hours. Anna had already figured out a new robot grip that could hold on to thin cardboard. Clover’s Chirp Challenge banner looked amazing. And Mia had practiced her pitch so much she could do it in her sleep.
The thought of talking to all those people at the farmers market still made Mia’s stomach feel floppy. But that was fine. She could talk crickets with a floppy stomach. She had to do whatever she could to keep Gram’s farm going. She had to help Gram show Daniel and her parents and everyone that it wasn’t time to give up. Mia took one hand off her handlebars and ran her thumb over the calluses on her palm. She was a warrior. She could do this. Right?
CHAPTER 12
The Chirp Challenge
On Saturday morning, Mom dropped off Mia and Clover at the farmers market. Mia had told her parents they wanted to spend the afternoon on Church Street after the market wrapped up. They said that was fine, and the girls could walk home when they were done. Mia didn’t mention they’d be making business pitches instead of shopping for socks and eating ice cream. She didn’t even tell Gram or Daniel or anybody else from Launch Camp. If nobody knew what you were planning, they couldn’t laugh when it failed.
“Morning, ladies!” Daniel waved from the booth. He’d already spread out a blue tablecloth and fliers about the nutritional and ecological benefits of eating insects. “I have to take off by noon, but I can stay with you for a while. Ready to sell some crickets?”
“Yep!” Mia said. She and Clover set up the cricket tasting. They lined up tiny paper cups for samples and shook a few roasted crickets into each one.
It was only nine o’clock, but the market was bustling. Farmers unloaded crates of kale and zucchini, the lemonade lady had her juicer set up, and the Himalayan restaurant had a batch of momos cooking. Mia could smell them as she helped Clover hang the Chirp Challenge banner. She’d been too nervous to eat breakfast, but now she was hungry.
“Is it too early for momos?” she asked.
“It’s never too early for momos,” Clover said. They
bought a plate to share before the market officially opened at ten. The family who ran the momo place lived near Gram, so Mia had known them since she was little.
“Thanks, Mr. Dorjee!” she said, and headed back to the cricket booth with a mouth full of doughy, spicy dumpling goodness.
Shoppers started arriving a little before ten. Daniel had to run back to his car because he forgot his phone.
“Think he really has a game today? Or is he having another sneaky meeting?” Mia asked as Daniel walked away.
“I thought of that, too. There’s a game.” Clover held up her phone. “I checked online.” She nudged Mia and pointed to a family of tourists heading for the booth. “Look, customers!”
“Cricket samples?” the mom said. “Ha! If only we’d brought Franklin, our pet chameleon, on this trip …”
The dad laughed, but the kids looked interested, and Mia knew this was her chance. Her heart raced, and the momos churned in her stomach, but she took a deep breath and imagined herself pitching on Deal with the Sharks. “Actually, crickets are the new superfood for people, too.” She gave her whole talk about protein and sustainability and wrapped up with, “Would you like to sample some? We have sea salt and garlic, barbecue, and maple-flavored today.”
“I want barbecue!” the littlest kid said.
Mia looked at the parents. “Is it okay if she tries them? She’s not allergic to shellfish or anything, right?” They had a sign up at the booth warning people about that, but Mia still figured she shouldn’t hand out crickets to kids unless their parents said it was okay.
“Better you than me,” the dad said. “Go for it.”
Mia handed the girl a little cup of crickets, and she poured them all into her mouth at once. “They’re good!”
“Can I try some, too?” her older brother asked. Pretty soon, all the kids and the mom were chomping down on barbecue crickets.
Clover held a cup out to the dad. “Would you like to try one? No pressure, but I don’t want you to feel left out.”
“Do it, Daddy!” the little girl shouted. “They’re crunchy!”
The dad made a face at the crickets, but then he nodded. “Actually, can I try maple? We are in Vermont, after all.”
Mia gave him the sample, and he picked up a single cricket between two fingers. He tipped his head back, held it over his mouth, and made a face at the kids.
“You have to eat it, Daddy!” the little one shouted, and his whole family started chanting, “Eat it! Eat it!” They were so loud that a crowd gathered, and then the dad hammed it up even more.
His dramatic pose reminded Mia of Eli, mugging to have his picture taken, and that reminded her about the Chirp Challenge. “Hold on!” she said, just when it looked like the dad might stop goofing around and eat his cricket. “Before you do that, you should snap a photo with our banner. You’re taking the Chirp Challenge, after all!”
The dad loved that. He took a picture, and then the whole family got more crickets and posed under the banner for a photo together. “Well, this will make for an interesting Christmas card,” the mom said.
“Do you want to take some home to share with your friends?” Clover asked, shaking a five-dollar tub of barbecue crickets.
“Can we, Mom?” the girl asked.
“Sure.” She dug into her purse, and by the time they left with three tubs of crickets—one of each flavor—a line had formed. It was even longer than Mr. Dorjee’s momo line. Daniel raised his eyebrows and gave them a thumbs-up as he returned. “That banner is brilliant,” he said, and jumped in to help with all the people who wanted to take cricket selfies.
Anna came by with her family, and they all took pictures, too.
“It’s so nice to meet you,” her dad said as he paid for a tub of barbecue crickets. “Anna told me her new friend had an interesting project, and I had to see this to believe it.”
Mia couldn’t help smiling. She loved that Anna already called her a friend. “Well, Anna’s harvesting robot is a key part of our business plan.”
Anna’s mom nodded. “We got to see the plans last night.”
“Prima helped me figure out a few things.” Anna nodded toward her sister, who had a mouthful of chocolate croissant. “I just need a couple more parts, but I should be able to run a demo soon.” She looked over her shoulder at the growing line. “We’d better let you go. You have fans waiting!”
Mia and Clover waved goodbye and got back to work. People were having so much fun with the Chirp Challenge that Mia forgot how nervous she’d been and laughed along with them. Sometimes she came out from the booth and took pictures so groups of people could all be in the photo, eating crickets together. One lady who’d come on her bicycle asked Mia to do that, too. She wanted her bike in the shot.
“There you go!” Mia said, handing her phone back to her, along with a business card that had the farm’s website. “Have a great day!”
Clover grabbed her arm when she stepped back in the booth. “Mia! Do you know who that was?”
Mia shook her head.
“That was Jackie Obasanjo!” When Mia didn’t react, Clover added, “The mayor! You just took a Chirp Challenge photo of the mayor!”
“Oh wow!” Mia stood on her tiptoes so she could see Mayor Obasanjo walking her bike away through the market crowd. “I didn’t know. Brett Cunningham was the mayor when we lived here before.”
“Yeah. Ms. Obasanjo ran against him and won. She’s super cool. I follow her … hold on …” Clover poked at her phone. Then she gasped. “Mia, look!”
Mia took the phone. “Whoa!” The mayor had just posted the photo Mia took for her with the caption: Great day at the Burlington farmers market! Got to sample some amazing BBQ crickets from innovative local entrepreneurs. Check them out when you get a chance! #ChirpChallenge #MadeInVermont
“She linked to Gram’s website!” Mia said.
Clover grabbed her phone back. “She has sixty thousand followers! This is amazing!”
“Hey!” Daniel shouted. “Are you going to help me with this line or what?”
Mia and Clover put away the phone and got back to the line. For the next three hours, they filled sample cups, took Chirp Challenge photos, shared Gram’s brochures, and sold crickets. Daniel had to take off at noon but promised James would swing by before the game to pick up the banner and money and everything when the market ended.
By the time he showed up at two, Mia and Clover had one tub of sea salt and garlic crickets left for sale. Mr. Dorjee came over and bought it while they were packing up.
“Well, that was a success,” Clover said as she rolled up the banner. “Ready for the second part of today’s mission?”
“Yep!” Mia said. “Let’s hit Church Street!”
It was funny, she thought as she folded the blue tablecloth and loaded it into James’s truck. Five hours ago, she’d had a stomachache just thinking about walking into restaurants to talk about crickets. Now it didn’t seem like a big deal at all. Maybe some of Clover’s attitude really was rubbing off on her. And after all, if the cool new mayor loved their crickets, who could possibly say no?
CHAPTER 13
Pitching Crickets
Convincing businesspeople to serve crickets to their customers was harder than getting people to eat one for a selfie, it turned out. For starters, half the businesspeople weren’t there.
“You’ll have to talk to Tony on Monday,” said the guy at the sports bar.
“Christina won’t be in until tomorrow,” said the hostess at the Mexican restaurant. Two other managers were too busy to talk, and Roy from Anderson’s Pub was out having knee surgery.
“I don’t see why the world has to come to a stop because of Roy’s knee,” Clover said as they collapsed on a bench outside the pub. Mia was frustrated, too. Her pitch was ready, but she never got past, “Hello, I’m Mia Barnes with Green Mountain Cricket Farm, and I’d like to talk with you about an exciting opportunity …”
They bought lemonade from the cart ou
tside the candle store. Mia looked at the cinnamon-scented candles in the window while she sipped hers. Could you put crickets in a candle? She didn’t know why anyone would want to, but things were feeling desperate. “What’s left on our list?” she asked Clover.
“Tom and Harry’s Ice Cream, Mazzella’s Pizza, Giordano’s Italian Restaurant, that French place, and the Chocolate Shoppe.”
“Let’s try that one next,” Mia said. The manager would probably be out having elbow surgery or something, but at least they could get salted caramels.
The shop was quiet when Mia and Clover walked in, probably because everybody was in line for Tom and Harry’s Ice Cream across the street. There was a family sampling peanut butter cups with a worker at the counter, and another lady stood at the register. Mia walked up to her.
“Hi, I’m Mia Barnes with Green Mountain Cricket Farm, and I’d like to talk with you about an exciting opportunity for your store.” Mia paused and waited to hear where the chocolate store owner might be today. Maybe France, sampling new chocolates, she decided.
But the lady at the counter smiled and said, “Sure, go for it! I’m Caroline, and I’m the owner here. I’m always looking for fresh ideas.”
Mia was so surprised that she stared for a few seconds until Clover nudged her. “We think your customers would love the novelty of a cricket chocolate treat,” Mia said, and pulled out one of Gram’s handouts. She gave Caroline her whole pitch, just the way she’d practiced. “I can give you samples if you’d like to experiment with a recipe or two.” Mia held out one of the sample bags she and Clover had prepared. “We have different flavors, but plain roasted crickets would probably be best with chocolate.”
“Hmm.” The chocolate lady opened the sample bag and ate a couple. She was different from the people at the market. She chewed thoughtfully, nodded, and then looked at her fancy chocolates behind the glass. “Any idea if other chocolate makers have tried this?” she asked. “I wonder if it would be best as a topping—like a cricket on top of a truffle—or something else.”
