Science Fair Sabotage

by Anthony VanArsdale

“Now comes the fun part,” said Jessie. Slowly, she poured more water into the washbasin. As she did, little critters appeared out of the muck. One by one, she scooped them out and into another clean washbasin. It was slow, messy work.

  “Here’s what I see,” Jessie told her sister when she was done sorting through the muck. “Three worms. Four crawdads. Eight water bugs, and one snail.”

  Violet wrote down the count of each type of critter. When they were done, Jessie dumped the basin back into the water so the creatures could go back to their homes.

  As the children walked up the steps back to the patio, a man shouted, “Hey, is the water okay?” He held up a drinking glass. “Should I be worried?”

  Before Jessie could answer, Mrs. Fernando hurried over. “What do you think you are doing here?” she asked.

  “We’re testing the water for my science fair experiment,” said Jessie. “I thought you wanted us to figure out what was going on.”

  Mrs. Fernando shook her head. “The problem isn’t here,” she said. “It’s up the river!”

  “We don’t know that yet,” said Jessie. “That is why we are testing.”

  Mrs. Fernando looked back at the curious customers on her patio. “Well, I don’t want you doing any more of this ‘experiment’ on my property.” With that, she stormed away.

  Jessie looked at her brothers and sister. Mrs. Fernando was the one who had given Jessie the idea for her project. Didn’t she want her to find out what was going on?

  The Aldens’ second stop was at the fishing dock, which was right across the river from a large farm field. Part of Jessie’s project was to figure out, if there was pollution, where it was coming from. Ms. Kennedy had told her that farm fields had caused a lot of pollution in the past from fertilizer and other chemicals. Jessie wanted to see if there might still be a problem.

  Next to the dock, Jessie found five worms, six crawdads, ten water bugs, four snails, and a beetle.

  Then she scooped a jar full of water and passed it to Benny.

  Benny wrote an F for fishing dock and a 1 for the first sample. Just as Jessie and Henry were about to get out of their waders, a man on the dock stopped them. “Say,” the man said. “Do you think you could do me a favor? My line is stuck.” He held up his fishing pole to show he could not pull his line back in.

  “Sure,” said Henry. “I can help you get your line unstuck.”

  Henry stepped into the water and followed the line into the river. He moved slowly because the river bottom was slippery. Toward the middle, the water came up almost to the top of his waders. But as he crossed toward the other bank, the water became shallower.

  Violet took photos as Henry reached the end of the fishing line.

  “It’s tangled on a pipe,” Henry said, leaning over to get a better grip. He waded a little further into the river. He was curious. Over the ripple of the river current, there was another noise he hadn’t noticed before.

  A pumping sound.

  If he wasn’t listening hard, he might never have heard it. Henry freed the fisherman’s line and started back to where the others were waiting. He reported to Jessie, Violet, and Benny what he’d seen and heard.

  “Why is there a pump in the river?” Jessie asked. She wrote a note down in her notebook. “One end is in the water. Where is the other?”

  “Do you think the pump could be the thing making the water smelly?” asked Violet.

  “And murky,” Benny added. “Don’t forget murky. Mrs. Fernando said there was both stink and murk.”

  “We won’t forget, Benny,” Jessie said. “I have a feeling if we find the answer to one, we will find the answer to the other.”

  CHAPTER

  Weirder and Weirder

  Jessie’s third and final testing site was near Lazy River Rentals. To get to the rental shop from the fishing dock, Grandfather had to drive all the way around the construction site.

  “It keeps going and going,” said Benny, looking at the tall, chain-link fence that surrounded the property. The fence was covered by a dark fabric so no one could see what was happening behind it. “I wonder what’s going on back there.”

  “Whatever it is, it’s awfully loud,” said Violet, closing the car window to block out the sound of clanging metal and the buzz of heavy equipment.

  Over the top of the fence, Henry saw a machine with a huge shovel for digging. “Didn’t Mrs. Fernando say they were building a pathway from Greenfield to the river?” he asked.

  “She did,” said Jessie. “I wonder why they are digging so much for a path. Can’t they just smooth the land and put down cement or gravel?” She admitted she didn’t know much about making paths.

  Grandfather slowed the car. They were reaching the end of the construction zone. The route had taken them all the way to the edge of downtown Greenfield. Henry looked at one of the new apartment buildings where the site ended. “The trail must start here and go down to the fishing dock,” he said.

  “Mr. Cho will be happy,” said Jessie. “I bet some of the people who move in here will like kayaking and canoeing.” She stared out at the structures. It was hard to imagine what they’d look like when they were done.

  Grandfather stopped the car at a stoplight near a sign for the new building. Benny sounded out the words. “‘Live close to town. Stream views. Ex-ercise room.’” He frowned. “Ugh. Exercise. Nope. I couldn’t live there if you have to exercise.”

  “It’s a choice,” Henry explained. “Some people like to run or lift weights to stay healthy.”

  “And other people don’t like running ever.” Benny pointed at himself.

  “What do you think they mean by stream view?” said Violet, looking back at the sign. “Do you think you could see the river from here? Even if you were way up in an apartment?”

  Henry thought for a moment. The apartments were pretty far from the river. “I don’t think so,” he answered.

  “It’s weird that they are offering a view from here,” said Jessie.

  “Strange,” Violet agreed.

  “Odd,” Henry said.

  “What’s another word for weird?” Benny whispered to Henry. Henry whispered back, and Benny said, “Bizarre!”

  The light turned green, and Grandfather steered around the construction zone. Benny tried to think of more words that meant the same as weird until Grandfather reached the rental shack.

  “Wacky,” he said, as they gathered the supplies for the third sample.

  Jessie and Henry put on the waders. Violet took a few pictures of the shack and the river in front of it.

  “Wild,” Benny said, holding the water scoop with two hands.

  Violet took his photo.

  “Unusual,” Benny said, smiling. He gave Jessie the scoop. “I’m unusually good at thinking of words that mean the same thing,” he said. “Get it? Unusual is like weird too!”

  “A rare talent,” Jessie took the net and prepared to go in the river.

  Benny looked confused. Then he said, “Hey, that means weird, too, doesn’t it!”

  Henry and Jessie waded into the river to take their final soil sample. As they were moving around to break up the soil, a red pickup truck drove right through the parking lot and parked in front of Lazy River Rentals. A man in a blue baseball cap got out of the truck and stretched as though he had just woken up from a nap.

  Watch ran up to Mr. Cho and put his feet on the man’s knees.

  Mr. Cho let out a yelp. “Shoo! Shoo!” he said, and Benny called Watch back to the riverbank.

  “Sorry about him,” Jessie called. “He shouldn’t jump up like that.”

  “That’s…okay,” said Mr. Cho, catching his breath. “I…I just don’t get along with dogs very well.” Mr. Cho tipped his head to the side as though he had just noticed what the children were doing. “What are you children doing at the shop? And why are you two dancing in the river?”

  “We’re looking for mutant critters!” Benny called.

  Mr. Cho looked even more conf
used.

  Jessie stopped wiggling her feet to loosen up the soil. She held up the basin and motioned to the net Henry was holding. “We’re collecting water samples for my science fair project,” she explained.

  “Like an experiment?” Mr. Cho said. “That sounds like an awful lot of work.” He sat down on an old rusty chair next to the dock.

  “We think it’s important,” said Violet. “We are worried the water in the river might be polluted.”

  “Polluted?” said Mr. Cho, putting his feet up. “The Big Cleanup took care of all that. You children are wasting your time. The water here is as clean as ever.”

  “But if it isn’t, aren’t you worried about your business?” said Henry. “The other day you said not many people were coming to take lazy river rides.”

  Mr. Cho waved off the question. “The water is fine. Plus, pretty soon this river won’t be my problem anymore.”

  With that, Mr. Cho stood up and went inside the Lazy River shack.

  After Henry and Jessie were done collecting their sample, Jessie told Violet what critters she found. Then she filled a third jar with water and handed it to Benny.

  He wrote a K for kayak and a 1 for the first sample.

  As the children packed up their things, Violet said, “Mr. Cho was acting strange.”

  “I’d say,” said Benny. “Who doesn’t like dogs?” He gave Watch a nuzzle.

  “You’re right, Violet,” Jessie said. “Mr. Cho didn’t seem like he cared if the water in the river was dirty.”

  “So first Mrs. Fernando was worried about the river, but then she didn’t want us to do our experiment,” said Henry. “And now Mr. Cho doesn’t seem worried at all, even though his business isn’t doing well.”

  “What was that thing he said about the river not being his problem pretty soon?” Jessie said. “That was weird too.”

  “It’s…” Benny tried to think of one more word for weird. “Superweird!”

  Once the children were all packed up, Grandfather drove them to Jessie’s school. She wanted to keep her supplies there so she could work on her project during her after-school club meetings. Grandfather helped the children carry their things inside. Then he took Watch home to start preparing lunch. The children would walk home together when they were done.

  There were only a few other students in the science room.

  “I have to analyze the data on my own,” Jessie reminded Henry, Violet, and Benny. She took a large piece of paper from the science closet. “I’ll make a chart.”

  Down one side, she wrote the locations where they collected the samples. Then next to each place she wrote: Kinds of Critters. Then How Many Critters. In the fourth column, she wrote: Water, Color, and Smell.

  Jessie started with what they had found at the Lookout Café:

  3 worms

  4 crawdads

  8 water bugs

  1 snail

  16 total

  Then she checked out the water sample from the jar labeled L1. The color looked a little orange, mixed with light brown.

  She sniffed the water. It smelled a tiny bit like rotten eggs, but not terrible rotten eggs. She wrote down that if a 1 was a great egg and a 10 was the worst egg ever, the water smelled like a 4.

  Next, Jessie recorded what they had found at the fishing dock:

  5 worms

  6 crawdads

  10 water bugs

  4 snails

  1 beetle

  26 total

  The water color in the F1 jar was close to the color of the waterfall water—kind of orangey and brown. When Jessie held it to the light, Violet said it looked like Grandfather’s favorite tea.

  Benny smelled the fishing dock sample and reported, “This doesn’t smell like tea. It’s got that same eggy smell, like the water at the café.” He smooshed up his face. “Yuck.”

  Jessie wrote down what Benny said, even though “eggy smell” wasn’t a good scientific phrase. She knew that sulfur caused that smell. She wrote that down too.

  The final sample was from the rental shack:

  10 worms

  12 crawdads

  15 water bugs

  8 snails

  5 beetles

  50 total

  The water was clear blue. It was really pretty.

  Benny sniffed it and said, “Oooh. What’s better than rain and the ocean?” He thought about it. “This water smells like…rainbows!”

  Jessie wrote that down because the water did smell very fresh.

  When everything was recorded on the poster board, she held it up for Violet to take a photo. Jessie grinned as she pointed to the results. She wasn’t sure what anything meant yet, but she was proud of her first day.

  As the children were tidying up their workstation, Claudia walked into the science room. She was again wearing overalls and muddy boots. As soon as she saw the Aldens, she looked away and pretended not to notice them.

  Jessie said, “Hi, Claudia. How’s your project?”

  “Oh, hi,” Claudia said. “My project is fine.” She noticed Jessie’s chart. “So you’re really doing the river project. Find anything interesting?”

  “Yes,” Jessie said, feeling proud. “Well, I’m not sure. I still need to compare these results to new samples later, but I think we’re on to something.” She looked at her siblings, and they all nodded.

  “Well, good luck,” said Claudia shortly. “You’ll need it.” With that, she set her notebook on a lab table and walked to the closet to get supplies for her own project.

  “You wanted to be partners with her?” Benny whispered. “She doesn’t seem very nice.”

  Jessie sighed. “I don’t know what’s gotten into her. She’s never acted like this before.”

  Violet was looking at the notebook Claudia had left behind. The words Vasquez Farms were written in bold letters on the cover. “Is Claudia’s last name Vasquez?” she asked.

  “No, why?” Jessie asked. “Her last name is Tobin.”

  Violet raised her camera from around her neck. She had seen the name somewhere. She scrolled backward through their day, looking for something to jog her memory.

  “Here!” she said. She pointed to a photo she had taken at the fishing dock. The small screen showed Henry untangling the fisherman’s line across the river. Above him was a No Trespassing sign with the name Vasquez Farms across the top. Mrs. Vasquez owned one of the biggest farms in Greenfield. The children had often seen her at the farmers market selling potatoes and beans.

  “That’s where I found the pipe that was pumping something into the river,” said Henry.

  “Do you think Claudia has something to do with it?” asked Violet.

  “I don’t know,” said Jessie. “But it is a strange coincidence.”

  “Oh, I know!” said Benny. “It’s curious.”

  Jessie looked to the back of the classroom where Claudia was still choosing paper for her own project. “Curious indeed.”

  CHAPTER

  Two Problems

  “We have three wonderful guests today!” Ms. Kennedy announced at the beginning of the next Science Fair Club meeting. “The science fair judges are here.”

  The night before, Jessie had stayed up late. She’d arranged the notes from her notebook, the data about the critters, and Violet’s photos into a binder. The purple three-ring binder held everything they’d learned on Saturday.

  When Team Alden visited the river again, she’d add new photos and data and compare the results. A lot could happen over a couple weeks.

  Jessie knew her project was important. She couldn’t wait to show Ms. Kennedy and the judges what she’d done so far.

  The door opened, and three adults came into the room. Two men and one woman. They were the ones who would decide the science fair winner. They stopped to talk to Ms. Kennedy.

  Jessie looked at Claudia. She had printed out papers and had them laid out in an orderly way. She looked really well prepared. Jessie tried not to be intimidated. Her project was good to
o.

  “Your project looks great,” said Jessie. “What are you working on?” The two still hadn’t talked much since Claudia had decided to do her own project.

  “A secret,” Claudia said, shuffling her papers together.

  “Are you still working by yourself?” Jessie asked.

  “I have a partner,” Claudia said. She clarified. “Not someone at school.”

  Jessie wondered if she meant Mrs. Vasquez from Vasquez Farms. But before she could ask, Ms. Kennedy called the class to attention.

  “Students,” the teacher said. “I want to introduce the judges.”

  The guests stood in a row in front of Ms. Kennedy’s desk.

  An older, short woman with thick black hair said, “My name is Carol Sterling. I’m an architect. I mostly design houses now.” She looked around the classroom. “But, years ago, I designed this school.”

  The students applauded. The school was pretty amazing. It had big classrooms and a lot of windows. Jessie loved the library the most. There were skylights that cast sunbeams on the walls above the reading stations. Now every time she was there, she would think about Ms. Sterling.

  A man with a mustache stepped forward. “I’m Peter Cooper.” When he spoke, his mustache wiggled, making him seem friendly. “I’m an engineer. And I haven’t designed any cool buildings. But like we say at my company, ‘We Help You Build On.’”

  Jessie had a lot of questions for Mr. Cooper. She knew that part of an engineer’s job was to make sure things like water were protected. She wanted to ask him more about pollution.

  As if she knew Jessie had things to ask, Ms. Kennedy said, “There will be time for questions later. The judges will come speak to each of you individually.”

  The third judge was a tall, thin man with thick glasses and a long beard. He looked like a character out of one of Henry’s favorite pirate novels.

  “I’m James Blackstone,” the man said. Jessie smiled to herself. It was a good pirate name. “I teach high school science in Silver City. I promise to be a fair judge.” He began to move around the room. “I’m looking forward to hearing your ideas.”