Case of the Barfy Birthday

by Michele Torrey

  “Well,” said Drake. “Looks like it’s up to us.”

  “But what can we do?” asked Nell. “We can’t just lasso her and pull her up. She must weigh one hundred eighty pounds.”

  “Two hundred,” corrected Jessie.

  Both Drake and Nell gasped. Drake crunched a few numbers with his calculator. Meanwhile, Nell glanced around, searching for something to help them. There were a few things—a shovel, a tarp, an old rusty swing set—but not much.

  “We must return to the lab,” said Drake.

  “Agreed,” said Nell.

  “We’ll be back in an hour,” said Drake.

  “Please hurry,” said Jessie, wiping away a tear. “My heart’s about broke.”

  So off they rode, with Dr. Livingston racing ahead.

  As Jessie watched Drake and Nell ride away, the little lump in her throat became a big lump.

  “Don’t you worry none, Dolly,” cried Jessie into the pit. “Doyle and Fossey, Science Detectives, are gonna save you . . . at least I think they are.” She suddenly realized she didn’t know much about Doyle and Fossey. Maybe they could save Dolly, but maybe they couldn’t. Maybe . . . maybe . . .

  Jessie dug in her pocket and pulled out another business card. “Frisco,” the card read. She’d been warned that his prices were steep and that he wasn’t nearly so polite as Doyle and Fossey. But if he could save Dolly . . .

  Jessie ran into the house to make a quick phone call.

  • • •

  Meanwhile, back at the lab, Drake and Nell had already read the section in their handy reference book titled: “Porker Problems: What to Do When a Big Fat Pig Has Fallen into a Pit and Can’t Get Out.”

  “We need to formulate a plan,” said Drake, pushing his glasses up.

  “A foolproof plan.” Nell took a quick gulp of decaf. “Because if it fails . . . well, the possibilities are just too horrible to imagine.”

  “Here’s what I think we should do,” said Drake, and they put their heads together and formulated a foolproof plan.

  After gathering all the necessary equipment, they set out again, pedaling like mad. (With Nell’s decaf in a to-go mug.) But when they arrived in Jessie’s backyard, what they saw was shocking beyond words.

  They saw Frisco and Baloney tugging on a rope that led out of the pit.

  “Ugh!”

  “Grunt!”

  OINK!

  Now, in case you didn’t know, Baloney was Frisco’s best friend and easily the biggest kid at Seaview Elementary School. If anyone could pull one big fat pig from a pit, it was Baloney. Drake knew from experience just how big Baloney was, as he often sat on Drake if Drake came too close or if Baloney just happened to feel like sitting on something. (Having Baloney sit on you was rather like having a refrigerator sit on you, or a rhinoceros.)

  Drake was so shocked that he dropped his armload of equipment with a clatter. “Great Scott!”

  Nell dropped her decaf. “Oh my gosh!”

  Woof! said Dr. Livingston.

  “Hey, look who’s here,” said Baloney, stopping for a breather. “It’s those other guys.”

  Nell put her hands on her hips. “Better known as Doyle and Fossey, Science Detectives.”

  Frisco frowned. “What’re you doing here?”

  “We were hired by Ms. Simmons to handle this most difficult case,” said Drake.

  “Oh yeah?” said Frisco. “Well, so was I. And I was here first, so beat it, brainiacs.”

  Jessie broke in between them. “Y’all, please. It’s my fault, I reckon. You see, I hired all y’all. I—I just want someone to save Dolly. It don’t matter who. Please don’t make a fuss. Please save her. Please.”

  Frisco snorted. “Well, so long as they stay out of our way and let us men do our job.” And he and Baloney went back to pulling on their rope.

  “Ugh!”

  “Grunt!”

  OINK!

  Nell murmured to Drake. “Jessie must have lassoed Dolly for them. At this rate, not only will it take them all day, but Dolly will still be in the pit by the end of it and very sore, besides.”

  “Agreed,” said Drake. “They’re going about it all wrong.”

  “Shall we?” asked Nell.

  “Indeed,” replied Drake. “Let’s get to work.”

  And so they did.

  With Jessie’s help, they moved the old rusty swing set into position. They suspended ropes. They hung pulleys. They tied knots. They scratched Dr. Livingston behind his ears.

  Finally, Jessie climbed a rope ladder down into the pit and attached a harness to Dolly. Then Jessie climbed back up. (But not before she gave Dolly a few hugs and whispered some sweet nothin’s.) “Ready,” she said.

  “All systems go!” cried Drake.

  “Stand back, Frisco and Baloney,” cried Nell, “and let the real scientists do their work!”

  And with some gentle tugging, Drake and Nell drew in the rope a foot at a time, while the pulleys turned. It was easy work, really. They scarcely broke a sweat. And Dolly rose up out of the pit, lickety-split. Oink!

  “Hey!” cried Frisco and Baloney. “No fair!”

  Then, with a quick lasso from Jessie, Dolly was hauled to the side and released. “Oh, Dolly!” Jessie wrapped her arms around Dolly.

  Oink! oinked Dolly, wagging her little piggy tail.

  It was quite a tender moment, really. (Drake dabbed his eyes with a hankie.)

  Jessie said, “You done saved my little pig’s life, Drake and Nell. How were you able to do it when Frisco and Baloney couldn’t?”

  “Simple,” said Frisco, scowling. “They were cheating.”

  Drake adjusted his glasses. “Frisco is right. It was simple. But it wasn’t cheating. Allow Scientist Nell to explain.”

  “Thank you, Detective Doyle. To begin with, moving a pig out of a pit requires a lot of work.”

  “Tell me about it,” mumbled Baloney.

  “However, simple machines help make work simple,” said Nell.

  “Hence the name ‘simple machines,’” added Drake.

  Nell continued, “With the help of simple machines—pulleys in this case—Detective Doyle and I were able to do the work using less force. You see, pulleys are like miniature wheels.”

  “Quite handy, really,” said Drake.

  “The first thing pulleys can do for us is change the direction of the force.” Nell drew a quick sketch in her notebook. “Instead of having to pull a load upward, one pulley and a rope can let you pull downward.”

  “Which,” mentioned Drake, “makes the work easier.”

  “Blah, blah,” said Frisco. “Easier, schmeasier.”

  “The second thing pulleys do for us,” said Drake, “is divide the load, again making the work easier. Scientist Nell?”

  “Thank you, Detective Doyle. You see, work is defined as the force, or weight of an object, multiplied by the distance to be moved. In our case, we had to lift a two-hundred-pound pig out of a twenty-foot pit.”

  “But by using a multiple pulley system—” said Drake.

  “Dolly’s weight, or force, was divided between each of the pulleys.” Nell drew another sketch. “Now, let’s say, instead of pulling a rope with a force of two hundred pounds, we pull a rope with a force of, say, fifty pounds, or twenty. It just depends on how many pulleys we use.”

  “All we have to do is pull more rope,” added Drake.

  “Again, far easier. Force is traded for distance,” said Nell. “It takes more rope and a little more time to set up, but it’s not nearly so hard.”

  “Simple, if I do say so myself,” remarked Drake.

  “I just can’t thank y’all enough,” said Jessie. “Doyle and Fossey, you’re everything everyone said you’d be.”

  “Hey, what about me?” asked Frisco.

  Jessie scuffed the dirt with her cowgirl boot. “Well, you’re everything everyone said you’d be, too, I reckon.”

  Nell handed her their business card. “Call us. Anytime.”


  Back in the lab once again, Drake wrote in his lab notebook:

  For a hard day’s work, it was a snap.

  Jessie and Dolly reunited at last.

  Received free lasso lessons.

  Paid in full.

  Contents

  Your Own Lab

  Yakkity-Yak

  Brainteasers for Bacteria Busters:

  Epidemiology

  Be a Bird Buddy: Wildlife Habitats

  Send a Secret Message: Codes

  Dry-Ice Blaster: Phases of Matter

  Trouble in the Tree House:

  Simple Machines

  Every good scientist needs a laboratory. It’s quite simple, really. All you need is a work space, like a desk or a card table. Add a lamp, stir in some supplies, stick a pencil behind your ear, and presto! Here are some tips for creating your own lab:

  1. Start out by collecting some odds and ends, such as glass bottles, jars, string, balloons, a magnifying glass, or rubber bands. You never know when these might come in handy. Safety glasses are a must for any well-stocked lab.

  2. Of course, every good scientist keeps a lab notebook. A spiral notebook is perfect. Record everything, such as: hypothesis, procedure, observations, results, and conclusions. (Don’t forget to record your mistakes, too!)

  3. No top-notch scientist would feel quite right without a lab coat. Make your own lab coat by using an old button-down shirt. (Ask first!) Write your name on it with a permanent marker.

  4. Keep masking tape and a marker handy for labeling. All good scientists label what they are working on so they won’t mix things up.

  5. Sometimes real scientists are exposed to dangerous chemicals or harmful bacteria. Good scientists can reduce the risk of exposure by wearing protective gear and by washing their hands frequently. What does this mean for you? Wear safety glasses or gloves if required. Wash your hands and clean up your work space when you are finished with an experiment. Never put your hands near your eyes or mouth until after you have washed them with soap and water. If you’re unsure about anything, ask an adult.

  Scientists from all over the world talk with one another. They hold conferences and publish their findings in scientific journals. In a way, no matter what country they’re from, scientists speak the same language. They all use the scientific method.

  Drake and Nell do, too. (Frisco doesn’t.) Drake and Nell observe carefully, and jot their observations in their lab notebooks. (Frisco, however, doesn’t even own a lab notebook. Or a sharpened pencil.) Based upon their observations, Drake and Nell then develop a hypothesis, as they did in Chapter Three. A hypothesis is a scientist’s best guess as to what is happening and why. (Frisco, on the other hand, plugs his ears and hums loudly whenever anyone mentions a hypothesis.)

  The barfy birthday hypothesis might have sounded something like this: Based upon our observations, we believe something at the birthday party made people barf. Like all good scientists, Drake and Nell tested their hypothesis. In this case, they called everyone who’d attended the party and asked questions about what they did, what they ate, etc.

  Did you know?

  In 1976, over 200 people became mysteriously ill while attending an American Legion Convention in a Philadelphia hotel. Epidemiologists sprang into action. They investigated everything: the food, the rest rooms, the water, you name it. The culprit? The water in the air-conditioning system was loaded with deadly bacteria. People became sick just by breathing the cooled air. The new disease was named Legionnaires’ disease.

  Imagine it. Mossy Lake. Present day. Everything is peachy until, suddenly, choke! gasp! barf! . . half the town becomes sick. And not just sick, but sick sick.

  Enter the bacteria busters. Known in the scientific world as epidemiologists. (Rather like ghost busters, except they walk around in lab coats, carry clipboards, and ask lots of questions.)

  Their job? To find out what is making some people sick but not others. In other words, to find the common factor, or source, and then to take steps to keep the sickness from spreading. Drake and Nell found the common factor in the Case of the Barfy Birthday. It was the chicken salad.

  Here’s part of their master chart:

  Enter you—Bacteria Buster. Your mission is to bend your brain around the following questions. Grab a clipboard, paper, and pencil. Copy down the chart. Scratch your head. Jot down notes. Whatever you do, don’t give up. The town depends upon you. For each question, start over again using the original chart:

  1. Suppose that:

  (1) Chloe, Lilly, Nell, and Baloney are sick, and

  (2) Zoe, Mrs. Jackson, and Drake are not sick.

  What is the common factor?

  2. Suppose that:

  (1) Zoe, Mrs. Jackson, Lilly, and Baloney are sick, and

  (2) Chloe, Drake, and Nell are not sick.

  Now what is the common factor?

  3. What if:

  (1) Zoe, Chloe, and Baloney are sick, and

  (2) Mrs. Jackson, Lilly, Drake, and Nell are not sick

  (3) Everyone ate cake.

  (4) Everyone swung at the piñata.

  (5) No one ate chicken salad.

  (6) Everyone took a dip in the pool.

  (7) Everyone drank punch.

  (8) Everyone ate a hamburger except Nell, because she’s a vegetarian.

  Now what is the common factor?

  Like many wild animals, birds are losing their wild habitats at a fast pace. You can learn more about birds and even help them by becoming a bird buddy. Here are some tips:

  1. What kinds of birds live where you do?

  • Check out a bird-identification book from your local library or use one of these online bird books:

  • www.blitzworld.com/backyard/

  • www.enature.com (Complete with birdsongs!)

  • http://www.birdwatchersdigest.com/site/backyard_birds/bird_id/species_index.aspx

  • You’ll need a pair of binoculars, a lab notebook, and colored pencils. Make a table of your bird sightings. It could look something like this:

  2. Create a bird-friendly backyard:

  • Build a bird feeder: Mix ¼ cup creamy peanut butter with ¼ cup cornmeal. Smear the mixture over a pinecone with a butter knife, then roll the pinecone in birdseed. Use a piece of string to hang the pinecone from a tree branch. Recoat the pinecone as needed.

  • Provide plenty of shrubs, trees, or nesting boxes for birds to nest in.

  3. If you find a baby bird, leave it alone. Many baby birds leave the nest before they are ready to fly. This is natural. The parent is almost always nearby, protecting it and feeding it until the chick finds its wings.

  4. For more information on birds and backyard birding, check out these bird-buddy Web sites:

  • www.birding.com

  • www.wildbirds.com

  • www.birdwatching.com

  • www.birdwatchersdigest.com

  Did you know?

  As the human population grows, it needs more land to survive. Every day a natural habitat as large as New York City is being harvested, turned into farmland, or developed for housing. Habitat destruction is the leading cause of extinction. Extinction occurs when a species of plant or animal, such as a jaguar, no longer exists. Extinction is forever. Today, animal and plant species are becoming extinct at a greater rate than ever before. Scientists say that 137 species become extinct every day.

  How Can I Help?

  “Take nothing but pictures . . . leave nothing but footsteps” is good advice when visiting a wild habitat. Don’t pick any wildflowers or berries, and don’t take anything that you didn’t bring with you in the first place. Stay on the trail provided.

  When watching wildlife, only watch.

  Stay a safe distance away and respect their territory.

  Don’t litter. Trash looks terrible and can harm wildlife. Six-pack plastic soda rings can strangle wildlife. (Snip the rings apart, including the center.) Also, don’t release balloons into the air, as sea turtles and seabirds could mistake th
em for food and then choke.

  When a species is “endangered,” it is on the brink of extinction. Check out this Web site to learn more about endangered species and how you can help protect wildlife habitats:

  http://www.nrdc.org/reference/kids.asp

  What was that gibberish that Nell sent to Drake? Martian? Plutonian? It’s quite simple, once you crack the code. Here’s the code breaking grid Drake and Nell used:

  (You can put the letters of the alphabet wherever you want.) Using the grid to the right, if you want to write the letter J—first find which Y row contains J, then which X column. J is found at Y2 and X3. To make it harder for your enemies to read, put the Y and X numbers together: Y2X3. Here are some other examples:

  To practice, decipher the following message:

  Imagine it. You’re the frozen dead. Fresh from the grave—the frozen grave . . .

  Or you’re just hot and need to cool off.

  Anyway, here’s how to build your own dry-ice blaster, just like Sloane did to scare the Snob Club.

  MATERIALS

  • heavy gloves

  • safety glasses

  • 5 lbs. dry ice cut into 1-lb. pieces (See box dry-ice safety info)

  • newspaper

  • hammer

  • scissors

  • 2 large balloons

  • PVC pipe, at least 10" long, with about 1½" diameter (dimensions not critical)

  • rubber bands

  • tablespoon

  • funnel

  • measuring cup

  • water

  • plastic or Styrofoam cooler

  PROCEDURE

  1. Read and follow the notes on dry-ice safety with an adult. Don’t be a Frisco!

  2. Put on heavy gloves and safety glasses.

  3. Fold 1 pound of dry ice into a newspaper and pound with a hammer until the dry ice is a powder. (Best done outdoors on a sidewalk.)