Space Shuttle Scam

by Ron Roy

  DINK, JOSH, AND RUTH ROSE AREN’T THE ONLY KID DETECTIVES!

  CAN YOU FIND THE HIDDEN MESSAGE INSIDE THIS BOOK?

  There are 26 illustrations in this book, not counting the one on the title page, the map at the beginning, and the picture of the space shuttle that repeats at the start of many of the chapters. In each of the 26 illustrations, there’s a hidden letter. If you can find all the letters, you will spell out a secret message!

  If you’re stumped, the answer is on the bottom of this page.

  This book is dedicated to reading kids and reading parents.

  —R.R.

  To Payton and Abigail

  —J.S.G.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Text copyright © 2020 by Ron Roy

  Cover art copyright © 2020 by Stephen Gilpin

  Interior illustrations copyright © 2020 by John Steven Gurney

  Many thanks to Viki Ash of the San Antonio Public Library for compiling the list of titles for further reading on this page.

  All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.

  Random House and the colophon and A to Z Mysteries are registered trademarks and A Stepping Stone Book and the colophon and the A to Z Mysteries colophon are trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.

  Visit us on the Web!

  rhcbooks.com

  Educators and librarians, for a variety of teaching tools, visit us at RHTeachersLibrarians.com

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Roy, Ron, author. | Gurney, John Steven, illustrator.

  Title: Space shuttle scam / by Ron Roy; illustrated by John Steven Gurney.

  Description: New York: Random House, [2020] | Series: A to Z mysteries.

  Super edition; 12 | “A Stepping stone book.” |

  Summary: Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose head to Florida, where they uncover a scam at a local space memorabilia attraction. | Includes bibliographical references.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2019019070 | ISBN 978-0-525-57889-5 (trade) | ISBN 978-0-525-57890-1 (lib. bdg.) | ISBN 978-0-525-57891-8 (ebook)

  Subjects: | CYAC: Swindlers and swindling—Fiction. | Florida—Fiction. | Mystery and detective stories.

  Classification: LCC PZ7.R8139 Sn 2020 | DDC [Fic]—dc23

  Ebook ISBN 9780525578918

  This book has been officially leveled by using the F&P Text Level Gradient™ Leveling System.

  Random House Children’s Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read.

  v5.4

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  Contents

  Cover

  Dedication

  Copyright

  Title Page

  Map

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Get the facts from A to Z!

  About the Author

  Walker Wallace turned the engine key and adjusted the throttle. The propeller began whirring as he let up on the foot brakes. His small airplane raced down the airport runway in Hartford, Connecticut, then lifted into the April sky. “We’re off!” he cried.

  Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose were buckled into the seats behind Walker. Walker’s sister Wallis sat in the front passenger seat. “Florida, here we come!” she said.

  “Am I going to get airsick?” Josh asked.

  “You’d better not,” Dink said. “I’m right next to you!”

  “Me too,” said Ruth Rose, who sat on Josh’s other side.

  The kids wore jeans and sweatshirts. Ruth Rose liked to have everything match, so her headband, shirt, and jeans were the color of spring violets. Her sneakers and backpack were the same color.

  “We should have a smooth ride,” Wallis said. “We’ll be in Florida before you know it!”

  Wallis Wallace was the kids’ favorite mystery book writer, and their friend. She was going to Florida to visit her aunt Alice, and had invited Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose to join her. They were headed for the town of Christmas, Florida, where Aunt Alice lived. She ran Alice’s Space Shuttle, a small museum where kids could see space stuff up close.

  “How’s Abbi?” Ruth Rose asked Wallis.

  Abigail, who liked being called Abbi, was Wallis’s adopted daughter. She was born with spina bifida, so she used a wheelchair to get around.

  “Fine, thanks,” Wallis said. “This week, she’s at camp, and she’s learning to ride a horse!”

  “Can you tell us what your new book is about?” Dink asked Wallis.

  “I only have part of the story worked out,” Wallis said, turning to look at the kids. “It’s about an astronaut who accidentally leaves his cat on the moon after a mission.” She grinned. “The cat’s name is Blinky, and I have to figure out how to get him back to Earth!”

  “Can’t the astronaut just return to the moon and get Blinky?” Dink asked.

  Wallis shook her head. “Moon launches are super expensive,” she said. “And the missions use a lot of fuel, so it would cost millions of dollars to go back to the moon. Until I come up with an idea, the cat is stuck up there!”

  “Poor Blinky!” Ruth Rose said. “He’ll be so lonely!”

  “And hungry!” Josh said.

  The small plane sailed higher. The kids gazed through the windows at the clouds. Dink wondered if there were clouds over the moon. He decided he’d look it up later. His laptop was tucked inside his backpack.

  Ruth Rose was flipping the pages of her guidebook. “Wow, a lot of wild animals live in Florida,” she said. “Want me to read the list?”

  “No, thanks,” Josh muttered.

  “Please tell us!” Dink said. He and Ruth Rose liked to tease Josh. They knew he wasn’t a fan of wild animals.

  Ruth Rose opened the book and read: “Florida Flora and Fauna.”

  “What are flora and fauna?” Josh asked.

  “Flora means plants, and fauna means animals,” Dink said.

  “How do you know that?” Josh asked.

  Dink tapped the side of his head. “Dink brain,” he said.

  Josh laughed. “Okay,” he said to Ruth Rose. “What animals live in Florida?”

  “Lots of stuff,” Ruth Rose said. “Pumas, bears, snakes, alligators—”

  “Yikes! Stop the plane! I want to get off!” Josh yelled.

  “Plus mosquitoes, butterflies, raccoons, eagles, frogs, fish, turtles, lizards, and spiders,” Ruth Rose continued.

  “You forgot to mention the Red Gobbler,” Dink said.

  Josh closed his eyes. “What’s a Red Gobbler?” he asked.

  Dink just grinned.

  “How about a hint, Clint?” Josh asked, trying not to grin.

  “Well, they have red hair,” Dink said. “And they gobble!”

  The plane’s loud humming and the vibration coming through his seat made Dink feel drowsy. He closed his eyes.

  * * *

 
—

  “Wakey-wakey,” Wallis said. She reached around and tapped Dink on the knee. “We’re almost there. Walker is going to fly us over Aunt Alice’s house before we land at the airport.”

  Dink sat up, rubbed his eyes, and peered through his window. He saw more clouds.

  “Right now, we’re over Kennedy Space Center,” Walker said over his shoulder. “Sorry about the clouds.”

  A few minutes later, the kids looked down on a small town. Buildings and cars looked like pieces in a board game.

  Walker took his plane lower. “Any minute now…there! See that white house? That’s where Aunt Alice lives!”

  The kids looked down and saw a house and barn. Spreading wide behind the barn was a jungle-like forest that seemed to go on for miles. Two cars were parked in the driveway on the right side of the house.

  “We’ll land in about five minutes,” Walker said. He turned the plane and headed for the airport.

  “There’s the airport,” Walker said.

  The kids looked down and saw parked planes, buildings with flat roofs, and a parking lot. SPACE COAST REGIONAL AIRPORT was painted in huge letters on a roof.

  Walker landed the plane and taxied to one of the buildings. “Welcome to Christmas, Florida,” he said.

  Walker and Wallis helped the kids deplane. They collected their backpacks and walked toward the building.

  “It’s hotter here than in Connecticut!” Josh said.

  “Well, it gets warmer,” Wallis said. “Be thankful this is April and not July!”

  She looked toward the parking area. “Aunt Alice is usually here to meet us,” she said. “But we saw her station wagon in the driveway.”

  “Let’s give her a few minutes,” Walker said. “Maybe she just forgot….”

  “Walker, you know Aunt Alice never forgets anything!” his sister said.

  Dink looked around the airport. He saw tall palm trees and short buildings. One bird flew over. Everything was hot and quiet.

  “Finally!” Wallis said. She waved at a station wagon that was heading toward them.

  The station wagon Dink had seen parked by the white house pulled up and stopped. A young guy with blond hair in a ponytail hopped out and waved. “Hi, I’m Kenny,” he said. “I work for Ms. Wallace. She asked me to come get you.”

  Kenny wore baggy shorts, a tank top, and flip-flops. His skin was tanned deep brown. A tiny glass earring sparkled from his left earlobe.

  “Sorry I’m late,” Kenny said. “I had to bring something to my uncle at the bank where he works.”

  “Hi, Kenny,” Walker said. The men shook hands. “I’m Walker. This is my sister Wallis, and these are our friends Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose.”

  “Nice to meet y’all,” Kenny said.

  Walker hugged his sister. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said. “Some of my pals work at Kennedy Space Center and are getting together tonight, and I told them I’d join them. You’re still planning to make Aunt Alice a birthday cake tomorrow, right?”

  Wallis nodded. “Don’t be late!” she said.

  The kids thanked Walker, and he trotted back to his plane.

  “Where’s my aunt?” Wallis asked Kenny. “I thought she’d be picking us up.”

  Kenny put the luggage in the back of the station wagon. “Um, she was going to, but she’s pretty upset,” he said.

  “What is she upset about?” Wallis asked.

  “I’ll tell you on the way,” Kenny said.

  They piled into the station wagon. Kenny drove out of the airport parking lot and turned left.

  Wallis looked at Kenny. “You were saying…?” she asked.

  “A mountain lion was hanging around your aunt’s house this morning,” Kenny said.

  “Oh no!” Wallis said.

  “Ms. Wallace was inside,” Kenny went on. “The lion was in the driveway, just watching the house. Maybe it smelled her dog. I managed to get a picture on my phone before it ran away.”

  Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose were listening to every word. “Did the mountain lion escape from a zoo?” Josh asked.

  Wallis turned around to face the kids. “There are mountain lions in the wild in Florida,” she said, smiling a little. “They’re also known as cougars or pumas. We almost never see them because they stay away from people.”

  No one spoke for the next few miles. “How long are y’all staying with Ms. Wallace?” Kenny asked.

  “Just the weekend,” Wallis said. “So you work for my aunt? I didn’t know she’d hired anyone.”

  “I started in January,” Kenny said. “Just part-time. I go to the community college here in Christmas.”

  “That was just after my uncle died,” Wallis said. “And what do you do for Aunt Alice?”

  “I help out when teachers bring their classes to see the space barn,” Kenny said. “I also run the café, and I help Howie if he needs me.”

  “Who’s Howie?” Wallis asked.

  “He works for your aunt, too,” Kenny said. “He mows the lawn and keeps the place looking good. Howie’s a handy dude.”

  “Well, I’m glad she has you both,” Wallis said.

  “Oh, and there’s Hanna,” Kenny said. “She comes a couple times a week to help your aunt around the house. When kids visit, Hanna shows them around the barn.”

  “What’s in the barn?” Josh asked.

  Wallis turned and grinned. “That’s where my uncle kept all his space stuff,” she said. “You’ll see it soon.”

  Dink poked Josh on the arm and pointed out the window. Nailed to a post was a sign that said SNAKE WORLD! Y’ALL COME ON IN!

  Josh closed his eyes and shook his head.

  A few minutes later, Kenny turned the car into the gravel driveway. They passed under a wooden replica of a space shuttle. The silver shuttle was about fifteen feet long and hung on chains from trees on both sides of the driveway.

  “That is so cool!” Josh said.

  “The space shuttle is new,” Wallis said. “I haven’t seen it before.”

  “Howie painted it,” Kenny said. He parked the station wagon behind a gray van.

  Wallis and the kids hopped out and got their luggage. Kenny scuffed his foot in the gravel. “Right here’s where the mountain lion was,” he said. “The thing’s tail was almost touching this car!”

  Everyone looked at the spot. Dink gulped. The animal had been only ten feet from the house!

  “The place looks great!” Wallis said. The house was white with black shutters. The windows gleamed in the sunlight, over window boxes planted with a variety of flowers.

  A tall man carrying a ladder strode across the yard toward them. He wore jeans, a blue T-shirt, and thick-soled work boots. “Hi there,” the man said. “I’m Howard Booker, but you can call me Howie.”

  He laid the ladder down on the lawn and stuck out a big hand to shake. When Dink shook, his own hand seemed to disappear.

  “You’re here!” a voice cried. A plump woman with white hair and eyeglasses came through a side door.

  Wallis and her aunt hugged, and then the kids stepped forward to greet her. Dink put out his hand, but Alice pulled him into a hug. “We’re big huggers here in the South!” she said.

  After she’d hugged Josh and Ruth Rose, Alice brought them inside to the kitchen. On the table, Dink noticed a bag of flour, a mixing bowl, a jug of milk, and a pan with a dozen spoonfuls of cookie dough.

  “Wallis told me you kids like cookies,” Alice said.

  Josh started to say something about how much he liked cookies. But he stopped when something licked his hand.

  Josh pulled his hand away and let out a yelp. A small bundle of fur with shining black eyes was looking up at him.

  “This is my sweet dog, Bear,” Alice said. “He’s just saying hello to you, Josh
. But he is hungry for these cookies I’m about to pop in the oven.”

  Alice opened the kitchen door. “Outside, little Bear,” she ordered. “Go help Howie clean the gutters!” The dog hopped across the threshold and took off around a corner of the house.

  “Bear adores Howie,” she said. “You should see this place when Howie brings his kids over. They chase Bear, and he chases them right back!”

  She started wiping the table. “Dink, be a dear and put the milk in the fridge, would you?”

  Dink opened the fridge and slid the milk jug inside. He noticed a bunch of magnets sticking to the fridge door. One was a plastic alligator, holding a note in its mouth. In big handwriting, the note said:

  PLEASE BUY MORE PAPER TOWELS. H.

  “Aunt Alice, Kenny told us about the mountain lion this morning,” Wallis said. “You must have been terrified!”

  “I didn’t see the critter, but poor Kenny was pretty shook,” she said. “I was in the house. Suddenly he came running in the back door and showed me a picture of the lion on his cell phone. I ran to the window, but by then it was gone.”

  “Well, I’m glad nothing worse happened,” Wallis said.

  “It’s not the mountain lion I’m worried about,” Alice said. “Kenny said he’d seen alligators and snakes by the pond out back.” Alice shuddered. “Now, snakes and gators I can do without, especially with little Bear playing in the yard!”

  Just then, they all heard a small engine. Dink looked through the kitchen door and saw a thin woman with red hair climb off a motor scooter. She was wearing shorts, a T-shirt, and sandals.

  “That’ll be Hanna,” Alice said.

  The woman came into the kitchen, carrying some mail, and Alice introduced everyone. “My niece and her friends came all the way from Connecticut to see me,” Alice said.