The Case of the Wilted Broccoli

by William Hertling

  At thirty minutes their dad came over, but they shooed him away.

  At forty minutes, Elon was checking the radio transmitter. The radio station of the transmitter and receiver had to match. "What frequency is it set for?" he asked.

  "They should find each other on C band," Linden said.

  "Well, this is set for D band," Elon said. He flipped a switch.

  "Bobby must have done it," Linden said. "Right, Bobby?"

  Willow yelled, "Bobby IS NOT--"

  But the blades on the drone began to spin, a high-pitched mini-roar that drowned out Willow's words, and the copter lifted off the grass!

  "Yes!" Linden shouted, and then he and Willow high-fived.

  Elon couldn't believe it -- the quadcopter was actually flying! And he was flying it.

  They flew a dozen more times that day. Linden and Willow each wanted turns, just taking off, hovering, and landing again.

  On Elon's next turn, he pushed forward, and the copter flew away. He gently pushed left, and the quadcopter began making a long, slow curve. He wanted to shout and jump up and down, but he couldn't let go of the controller, not for an instant.

  Of course, then Linden and Willow wanted to fly it in circles, too.

  Their dad came back from the car to watch.

  All this was fun, but it was just testing the motors, frames, and receiver. What they really wanted was to test the autopilot.

  They powered down one last time. Now Elon flipped the switch on the ArduPilot board. He looked to Willow, who had her laptop powered up.

  "Got it," she said, when the laptop had connected with the brains of the autonomous drone, so she could trigger and monitor the autopilot.

  Elon turned on the power to the rotors and backed away. Now it was Willow's turn to control the drone by telling the autopilot what to do.

  "Turning on autostabilization and setting it for an altitude of three feet." It was a simple test, but it would let them know if the autopilot software on the drone was capable of controlling the little quadcopter by itself. She input the data, then clicked enter.

  The drone came to life, propellers whirling into a blur, then lifted off the ground. It rose three feet into the air, and hovered motionless.

  They all whooped, then gathered around it. Using the ground-facing ultra-sonic range finder, the drone could see exactly how far it was from the ground. At least when it was below fifteen feet. Above that, it needed to use the GPS, which wasn't nearly as accurate. But the ultra-sonic range finder was good for within a few inches. And they could see it doing that now: maintaining a nearly perfect thirty-six inches off the ground, only gently moving and then coming back when there was a breeze.

  "We have to name it," Willow said. It felt like the right thing to do. Years ago they had named their dad's remote-control car Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, after the car from the movie.

  "The Buzzing Hornet," Linden said. "It sounds like one."

  "The Flying Wonder," Willow suggested.

  "It's got silver propellers," Elon said, "and it roars as it flies. Let's call it the Silver Dragon."

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  THE ALARM WENT off early Monday morning, too early. Willow's head swam as she shut off the buzzer. Why was it five a.m.? She sat on the edge of her bed, befuddled. Oh, right! It was Monday morning. They had to get to school early to watch the unloading of the supply truck.

  It was still pitch-black out. Willow jumped out of bed, and fell with a thud onto the floor. Her feet were still tangled up in her blankets.

  She distantly heard her parents calling to see if she was all right.

  "I'm fine," she yelled back, then slowly and more gracefully got back to her feet. She went to her brothers room, and woke them up. At least, she tried to. They slept like logs. She had to shake Linden back and forth a dozen times before he even started to respond. Finally, she had to pull all the covers off them.

  "Wake up!" she said in an urgent whisper. "We have to get to school early for the truck."

  "It's too early," Linden said, and pulled his pillow over his head.

  "Come on, if we don't solve this mystery, people will get sick. People could die. Atlanta could die."

  Finally they sat upright, and walked like groaning zombies into the bathroom.

  She dashed back into her own bedroom, threw on her clothes, and ran downstairs.

  She poured cereal and milk for everyone. When Linden and Elon came down, they all ate in silence.

  "Ten minutes till the bus. I'll go tell mom and dad we want to take the bus on our own."

  Everyone dashed up from their seats, cleared their places, and grabbed their backpacks. Willow ran upstairs and came back down a minute later.

  "Ready?" Willow asked as they assembled by the door.

  "What did mom and dad say?" Elon asked.

  "I think they seemed happy to sleep in. They said to be careful and take the right bus."

  On the way to the bus stop, Linden turned to Willow. "You owe us chocolate chip cookies for getting up this early."

  "I'll bake a double batch when we get home."

  When they arrived at school, the Bannon Foods truck was just backing up to the loading area. They ran the last half block and made it to the back of the truck before the driver got out.

  "What are we looking for again?" asked Linden.

  "This is the Monday delivery," Willow said. "So it'll have the local foods on it. We're checking to see if the food is good or bad."

  "Why?" asked Elon.

  "If the food is good, then it means that the problem is in our cafeteria. Probably Miss Berry is in on it. If the food is bad, then it means Miss Berry is innocent, and the problem is at Bannon Foods or before."

  "Then we have to hide somewhere," Elon said. "We can't hang around here and have the driver see us. What if he's in on it?"

  "Good point," Willow said. She glanced around. "Elon, you stay by the bicycle rack, pretend you're locking up your bicycle, and watch him unload. Linden, you go to the front counter and distract Miss Berry. I'll sneak into the kitchen, hide in a closet and watch them unload."

  "I'll have Bobby come with me!" Linden said.

  "Bobby's not..." Willow trailed off as Linden had already turned the corner.

  Linden ran around the school at top speed to the cafeteria entrance. It was so early he was the second kid in the school. He entered the kitchen from the front entrance, picked up a cinnamon breakfast bar, glanced at the ingredient list, and then called Miss Berry over.

  "I'm allergic to allow-allow nuts, Miss Berry. Does this have any in it?"

  Miss Berry grabbed the bar away. "Oh dear. I've never heard of an allow-allow nut. Let me check." She read through the list of ingredients. "No, it seems fine."

  Linden saw Willow enter the kitchen from the maintenance door, hunting for a hiding spot. He needed to delay longer.

  "Does it have pickleberries? That's a wild relative to the strawberry, and I'm not supposed to have that either."

  "A pickleberry? I've never heard of it." Miss Berry peered closely at him. "You've never mentioned food allergies before."

  "That's because I only eat brunch for lunch, and I know what's in the pancakes."

  Miss Berry nodded as though that made sense, and read through the ingredients. "No pickleberries." She handed it back.

  Willow was just crawling under a counter with a good view of the entrance, but the spot was so small it was taking a long time for her to squash herself in.

  "And the wheat. Do you know if it's GMO? My mom says not to eat genetically modified foods."

  Miss Berry grabbed the bar back from him, and gripped it a little tightly. Cream cheese oozed out of the ends. He hated cream cheese. She finished looking at the ingredients. "It doesn't say whether the wheat is GMO or not."

  Willow was fully under the counter, and he could quit stalling. "Oh, that probably means it is. I'd better not get it. Thanks for your help, Miss Berry!"

  On the other side of the kitchen, Willow wed
ged tightly under the counter. The space was so small she had to fold up into a square, like that time when a big package had been delivered to their house, and they all took turns folding up to fit into the cardboard box. But she had an excellent view of the floor, and unless someone looked directly under the counter, they wouldn't spot her.

  The hand truck rolled into view, and Willow realized her first mistake. She couldn't see the driver's face, because the counter blocked her view.

  "How are you, Ada?" the driver called.

  "Just fine? And you?" Miss Berry replied.

  Willow had no idea Miss Berry's first name was Ada. She tried to reach for something to write this down, but she couldn't move her arms she was so squished in.

  The hand truck had three cardboard boxes covered in frost.

  "Hamburgers, hamburgers, and more hamburgers," the driver said.

  Willow saw Miss Berry's legs walk over to a giant stainless steel freezer and open the door. The driver carried two boxes and Miss Berry one. The driver disappeared for a few minutes, until he came back with three more boxes. "Breakfast bars, chicken patties. Stir-fry beef."

  The boxes were put into a different refrigerator and the driver went away. He came back a few minutes later with black plastic crates, with greens sticking out. "Two crates local broccoli, one crate local Brussels sprouts."

  Willow was ten feet away, but as the hand truck went by, she could smell a slight off odor.

  "Oh, not again," Miss Berry called. "Come on, look at this broccoli. This isn't fresh!"

  "Sorry, Ada. I just drive the truck."

  "But every week it comes in like this. The kids paid extra money for this stuff."

  The driver walked over to Miss Berry's side.

  "It does look a little funny."

  Willow breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Miss Berry was in the clear. The food was coming into the school in this rotten state, so it definitely wasn't the fault of Miss Berry or the school kitchen.

  This meant they'd have to pay another visit to Bannon Foods.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  ELON'S TEACHER PASSED around a paper handout.

  "I'd like you all to read this poem composed by Bobby for last week's homework assignment."

  There was a slight chuckle from the class, and Elon and Linden smiled at each other. They'd turned in the poem for Bobby.

  "Now, looking at Bobby's work, I want to ask you, what's makes it a poem?"

  Linden's hand shot up to answer "rhyming," but just then there was a knock at the door. It was Mr. Henry, the vice principal. "Elon, Linden, can I talk to you?"

  Oh, snap. Linden and Elon glanced at each other and went to the door.

  Mr. Henry closed the door, and they stood in the hallway looking at each other.

  "Did Willow come to school today?"

  Linden's eyes went big. It was fifteen minutes since school had started, and he hadn't seen Willow since she'd hidden under the kitchen counter. He glanced over at Elon, but Elon just shrugged his shoulders slightly.

  "Yes, Mr. Henry," Elon said. "But she stopped to get some food."

  "Maybe she's still in the cafeteria!" Linden said. "We'll go get her!"

  Linden and Elon raced off, knowing their only chance was to get to the cafeteria before Mr. Henry and extract Willow from the kitchen. Miss Berry must still be there and would need distracting again.

  "Come back," Mr. Henry called, but Linden and Elon put on extra speed, and ran so fast the posters in the hallway rattled with their passing.

  They peeled into the cafeteria so hard their sneakers squeaked and skidded on the wax floor. They ran for the kitchen. They probably had less than a minute before Mr. Henry caught up.

  "We're gonna be in so much trouble," Linden gasped.

  "We're saving lives," Elon said as they slammed up against the kitchen doorway with an oof.

  Miss Berry was nowhere to be seen.

  "Willow?" Elon called.

  "Help, I'm stuck under here. Hurry before Miss Berry comes back!"

  They ran into the kitchen, found Willow still under the counter.

  "I can't move. The space is too tight. Yank me out!"

  They each grabbed an arm and pulled. After a moment, Willow dislodged, and they all flew backwards.

  Willow stood on shaky legs.

  "We gotta hurry, Mr. Henry is looking for you," Linden said. "We have to get back to class."

  They ran out, Willow hobbling along behind on pins-and-needles feet. They met Mr. Henry in the hallway outside the cafeteria.

  "What's going on?" Mr. Henry said.

  "We found Willow," Elon said. "Just like we said we would. You're welcome, Mr. Henry." He moved to walk back to class.

  "Not so fast. " Mr. Henry said. "Where were you?" he asked Willow.

  Willow stared up at Mr. Henry. She didn't really want to say what she was doing until she had solid evidence so people would believe her. But lying to Mr. Henry would be wrong. "I was in the kitchen. Mr. Henry, kids keep getting sick. I think it's the school lunches that are making kids sick. I wanted to inspect the food."

  Mr. Henry stared at Willow for a second. "You're friends with Atlanta, aren't you?"

  Willow nodded.

  "Is this about her going to the hospital?"

  "Yes."

  Mr. Henry turned to Linden and Elon. "You can go. I'll talk to your sister."

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  WILLOW SANK GRATEFULLY into a seat at the lunch table next to Atlanta, and hugged her.

  "Where's my hug?" Basil asked.

  Willow turned to Atlanta. "You're okay."

  "Of course I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be?"

  "You weren't available this weekend, again."

  Atlanta said something under her breath, too quiet for Willow to hear.

  "She was sick," Basil said. "Couldn't help with the science-fair project, again."

  Willow couldn't help but notice the bitterness in Basil's voice. It didn't sound like kidding around anymore.

  "Are you two okay?" Willow asked.

  "I don't want to do this project by myself," Basil said, loud enough that people looked at them.

  "And it was my idea, so of course I want to work on it," Atlanta said through clenched teeth. "How about you spend all weekend in bed, and I'll braid hair? Excuse me." Atlanta ran off to the bathroom.

  Willow went with her.

  "You're not really okay," Willow said.

  Atlanta's eyes were red like she wanted to cry. "No, I'm tired of being sick. But tell me about this morning. I heard you went to the counselor's office."

  "Yeah, Mr. Henry found out I was hiding in the cafeteria kitchen. I was watching the food delivery, to find out whether the food arrived bad, or got that way afterwards."

  "And?"

  "The food is bad when it gets here. So the problem is with Bannon Foods."

  "No, no," Atlanta said. "What happened with Vice Principal Henry?"

  "Oh. He and the counselor and I got together, and they made me talk about my feelings" --Willow rolled her eyes-- "and then they concluded I was just worried about you, and took pity on me, and I didn't get in any more trouble."

  "Did they believe you about the food?"

  "No," Willow said, "they ignored that part."

  "It's like my dad says."

  "What?"

  "Just because you're paranoid," Atlanta said, "doesn't mean people aren't out to get you."

  "What does that even mean?" Willow asked.

  "I think it means that you can be scared of something and something might be real, or it might not, but just because you're scared doesn't tell you whether it's actually risky," said Atlanta. Then she changed the subject. "Why do your parents let you take the bus all over town?"

  "My dad grew up in New York City," Willow said, "and kids there always took the buses and subways by themselves."

  "Aren't you afraid? What if you get lost?"

  "I'd stop someone and ask them for help."

  "Aren't you afraid--"


  "No," Willow said. "Google 'free range kids'. It's about this nine-year-old kid who wanted to see if he could get home on his own if his mom dropped him off in a strange part of town."

  "What happened?"

  "He got home. I think it's like you said. People get scared of kids going around by themselves, but it's safer than most people think."

  On the way out of the bathroom, they ran into Elon and Linden. Willow explained what happened after they'd gotten her out of the kitchen.

  "You know what this means?" Willow asked. "We're going to have to get up way earlier. We have to get to Bannon Foods to see who loads the truck, and whether the food is good or bad then."

  "Why?" asked Atlanta at the same time that Elon and Linden said "No way!"

  "Because if good food goes onto the truck," Willow said, "and bad food comes off, then we know it's the truck driver swapping out the food before he gets here. He could be selling the local food we've paid for, and then getting cheap food somewhere else, and keeping the profits."

  "We already got up at five this morning!" Elon said. "We're not getting up earlier."

  "How else are we going to learn if it's the driver?"

  "Oh, man," Elon said. "We have to do it, don't we?"

  "If we want to solve this mystery, we do."

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  LINDEN AND BOBBY crested the sand dune and found a pirate ship washed up on the beach at Manzanita. The massive ship listed to one side in the sand, exposing the gaping hole where it had been struck by cannon fire, while part of the deck had burned, and the torn sails suggested it had been through the mother of all storms. But the Jolly Roger, the skull and crossbones flag used by all pirates good and evil, still hung in tatters from the mast.

  There would be treasure in the ship! Linden took off running across the sand, followed close behind by Bobby. They drew their swords in case pirates were still aboard. They crossed through the hole in the hull and it grew dark inside, but even so, they could see the glint of gold in the gloom. The rattle of chains or maybe skeletons came from farther up in the ship and --