“That’s a great idea!” her brother shouted, interrupting.
He stood up and brushed some salt dust from his knees.
“I have a plan to stay home and get clean,” he added.
“Really? Since when?” Samantha asked.
“Bath not math!” Nipper began chanting, and he raised a fist in the air. “Bath not math!”
She didn’t believe her brother would actually go through with it and take a bath, but this was a new kind of super-annoying behavior, and it was very effective.
“Bath not math!” Nipper repeated.
“Fine,” said Samantha. “You stay here. Dad, come help find Uncle Paul.”
“This will be illuminating,” Mr. Spinner said cheerfully.
Samantha sighed. She wasn’t sure that her father was going to be more helpful or less annoying than her brother.
“You should bring Dennis with you, too,” said Nipper.
Samantha looked down at the pug. She couldn’t see his face anymore. His cone was pressed against Nipper’s leg. She heard the soft sandpaper sound of dog tongue on salty blue jeans.
“Why do you think I should bring Dennis?” Samantha asked.
“Haven’t you noticed, Sam?” replied Nipper. “He saves us all the time.”
He reached down and patted the dog’s plastic cone.
“Whenever we’re in big trouble, Dennis has a moment of greatness,” said Nipper. “I think he saves us because we’re his friends.”
Dennis began licking Nipper’s knuckles.
“Or maybe he’s just looking for snacks and…Hee-hee! Stop that!” Nipper laughed.
Samantha thought about it. He had a point, but she didn’t want to have to keep track of fathers, uncles, mathematicians, and pugs.
“He’s safer here with you and Mom,” she said.
Her father pushed his chair away from the table and stood up.
“Ready to solve this mystery?” he asked.
“Almost,” said Samantha. “There’s something I need to get first.”
Samantha and her father stood outside their garage in the backyard.
“Hold these for me,” she said, handing him her red umbrella and Nipper’s hand lens.
She grasped the garage door handle and yanked it upward, and the door rolled up and out of sight.
The space inside was filled with huge cardboard boxes, neatly labeled and stacked to the ceiling. In between were pinball machines, exercise equipment, and other loose items.
“I remember that popcorn popper,” said Mr. Spinner.
Samantha remembered it, too. When she and Nipper had stayed with Buffy in New York, her sister had made them sleep in bare stables on piles of shredded newspaper. Her parents had gotten to stay in a deluxe guest suite filled with arcade machines, massage chairs, and an old-fashioned popcorn popper.
Samantha searched until she located a box marked FASHION DISASTER. She tore off the tape and opened the top. Inside were a pair of greenish-gray rubber boots, a deck of Word Whammy! cards, a stack of travel brochures, and a black top hat.
“Here,” she told her father, picking up the hat and holding it out to him. “I need you to wear this.”
“A stovepipe topper?” he asked. “Why?”
“It’s too big for me, Dad,” she answered. “See?”
Samantha put the hat on her head. It slid down over her eyes and stopped at her nose. She took it off and pointed it away from both of them, holding the rim with both hands. She squeezed the rim of the top hat.
Zing-zing!
A red leather boxing glove shot out from the top of the hat on the end of a spring, then zipped back inside.
“This belonged to one of those clowns in the SUN,” she told him. “We might need it…for extra protection.”
“Sure,” said her father, taking it from her.
He handed back the umbrella and magnifier and adjusted the top hat on his head.
Samantha smiled. Buffy would not be happy to see this.
“Great,” she told him. “We’ll start by heading downtown to the kogelbaan.”
“Whatever that is, I’m ready,” said her father.
“Then we’ll ride through the salt mine and come out of The Thinker,” she said.
“I’m all for intellectual pursuits,” he replied.
“It’s a statue, Dad,” said Samantha.
He nodded.
“I’ll show you the monocycle pit along the way,” she told him. “But I don’t want to waste too much time before we go to the museum.”
“Good,” said Mr. Spinner. “And I’ll be there to keep track of any mathematical details…or illumination issues.”
He helped Samantha close the garage door, and then they walked down the driveway and headed downtown.
Along the way, they discussed magtrain mailboxes and slidewalk fire hydrants. She told him about the kogelbaan and the daredevils of the CLOUD, and how the SUN clowns had chased them from Mali to Seattle to Buffy’s theater in New York.
It felt weird traveling with her father instead of Nipper. But now she felt ready for any trouble the SNOW might throw her way.
“Your brother might have had a point,” Mr. Spinner said as they approached the car wash.
“What?” Samantha asked. “Bath not math?”
“No,” he answered. “It might have been a good idea to bring Dennis.”
Section 3, Detail tc0m4ndf1nd
The Fibonacci Sequence
The Fibonacci sequence is a famous mathematical pattern. To find the next number in the sequence, add the previous two numbers together.
It is named after the Italian mathematician Leonardo Pisano Bonacci, who lived in Italy from 1170 to 1250. His nickname was Fibonacci, which meant “son of Bonacci.”
The Fibonacci sequence is a fun way to explore patterns in math. It can also be used to explore patterns in nature.
Nautilus shells, pine cone points, some cacti, and many other living things grow with patterns that match the Fibonacci sequence.
* * *
• • •
Find the secret number wall hidden in the Detroit Institute of Arts. Press all the buttons that have numbers that are part of the Fibonacci sequence. When you’ve made all the correct numbers light up, the whole wall will slide open.
You’ll be able to enter the headquarters of the SNOW.
“Hi, Mom,” said Nipper as he stomped into the living room.
His mom sat on the sofa, holding a book open. The cover said, Discover Your Inner Pangolin. She watched him carefully.
“Whatcha doing?” he asked.
“Reading,” she said. “And keeping an eye on you.”
He saw her glance over at the big box of markers on top of the bookshelf. Then she looked at the vacuum cleaner on the floor beside it.
“The last time you were here without your sister, you tried to launch those markers using—”
“I don’t have any time for experiments,” he interrupted. “Because I have some questions for you to answer.”
His mom looked him up and down. She seemed to be inspecting his clothes.
“I thought I heard you chanting about taking a bath,” she said.
He slapped his chest with one hand. A cloud of salty dust rose from his shirt.
“I took a dust bath,” he said. “You know. Like a chinchilla.”
His mom coughed softly and fanned the air with her book.
“Speaking of rodents,” Nipper said quickly, “did you know there are rodents with poop shaped like cubes?”
“Of course,” she answered. “Wombats.”
Nipper glanced down at the note cards he’d brought with him, and then looked up at his mom.
“Right,” he said. “And did you know that a chameleon’s
tongue can be three feet long?”
“I do,” said his mother. “But it would have to be a large species, like the Malagasy giant chameleon.”
Nipper began to pace back and forth in front of the couch.
“You really know a lot of facts, Mom,” he said.
“I know a lot of rodent and lizard facts,” she said. “I’m a veterinarian, and that’s my specialty. Why are you suddenly so interested in rodents and lizards?”
Nipper stopped in front of the couch.
“I’ve been thinking,” he said. “You’re always asking me and Dad about WRUF, the Worldwide Reciters of Useless Facts.”
“Well…,” she said. “The two of you do always seem to be spouting strange bits of information, and I—”
“It’s not fair to leave you out,” Nipper interrupted. “I mean, why should the Spinner boys have all the fun?”
“ ‘Spinner boys’?” she asked. “Does that include Dennis and your uncle?”
“I think you have what it takes, Mom,” Nipper continued. “I mean…maybe.”
He scratched his chin thoughtfully.
“Not everyone is qualified, though,” he added.
Nipper pulled several pages of paper from his back pocket.
“A lot of people think they’re experts on things like science or nature,” he said, waving the papers at her. “This application is meant to screen out people who don’t know as much as they think they do.”
“Let me see that,” said Dr. Spinner taking the papers quickly.
Nipper watched her read through the first page of the application. He handed her a pencil.
“Biggest fish?” she read out loud. “That’s easy. Blue whale.”
Nipper shook his head.
“Wait,” she said quickly. “A whale’s not a fish. It’s a mammal. The biggest fish is…some kind of a shark.”
“Whale shark,” said Nipper.
“Yes. I knew that,” said Mrs. Spinner.
She looked at him. Then looked over to the door.
“Listen,” she told him. “I could do a lot better on this if I had no distractions.”
“Fine with me, Mom,” said Nipper. “I’ll go make myself useful. Maybe I’ll check on Dennis.”
“Dentist? No,” said his mother. “A tooth and jaw expert is an orthodontist.”
Nipper could tell she was on page two of the application.
He grabbed his backpack from the floor and headed up to his room.
Nipper walked around his bedroom, collecting things.
He picked up an old baseball glove that Uncle Paul had given him and put it into his backpack.
“Extra protection,” he said.
Nipper found an old deck of playing cards and an old board game.
“Entertainment,” he said, stuffing them into the backpack, too.
He looked over at his desk and saw a bobblehead. It was Mickey Mantle, one of the greatest New York Yankees of all time. He stuffed that into the backpack, for good luck. Then he headed back downstairs.
He passed his mom in the living room.
She was still on the couch, reading through the WRUF application.
“The Nile?” he heard her say to herself. “I could have sworn the Amazon was the longest river in the world.”
Nipper didn’t say anything to her. He headed around the corner to his dad’s office. He went inside and spotted a headlamp hanging from a hook by the door. He took it down and flipped a switch, and the light came on.
“Illumination,” said Nipper, stowing the headlamp in his backpack.
He spotted an empty tote bag hanging on the hook. It had the letters EPE printed on it.
The Exotic Pet Expo was the pet convention where Mr. Spinner had bought Dennis his Blinky Barker automatic light-up dog collar a few months ago.
“That reminds me,” said Nipper.
He went to his dad’s desk, opened the drawer, and took out one of the experimental high-power lightbulbs Mr. Spinner often brought home from work.
“Extra illumination,” said Nipper. “Just in case.”
He rolled up the tote bag and stuffed it into his backpack, too. Then he slipped the lightbulb into his pocket, left the office, and headed to the kitchen.
“Wruf!” Dennis barked when he saw Nipper coming.
Nipper opened a cabinet and grabbed a box of granola bars. He took one out and waved it at Dennis as he stuffed the box into his pack.
“Wruf!” the dog barked excitedly.
“Yes,” said Nipper. “This is for you.”
He dropped the bar onto the floor.
Dennis trotted over to the bar and sniffed it happily. He opened his mouth and moved toward the bar. Then he stopped and looked up at Nipper suspiciously.
“No, old pal,” said Nipper. “This isn’t a trick.”
Nipper reached out to pat the pug on his head, but Dennis pulled back. Nipper patted the rim of his plastic cone.
He was pretty sure he knew what Dennis was thinking. They were best friends, but a big part of their relationship revolved around fighting each other over crackers, waffles, and granola bars.
“Yes, yes. It’s a present,” Nipper reassured him.
While Dennis munched away, Nipper reached for the plastic Blinky Barker collar around the dog’s neck. He removed the lightbulb, set it on the kitchen counter, and replaced it with the one he’d taken from his father’s office.
He peeked through the doorway into the living room. His mother was busy studying the WRUF application. Good. While she was distracted, it gave him time to sneak out and set things right.
Nipper patted the dog one more time on his cone. Then he opened the back door.
“Come on,” he said. “We’ve got a team to save.”
Four months ago, Nipper’s uncle had disappeared for the first time. Uncle Paul had left some money to Nipper’s sister Buffy, and an umbrella to his sister Sam. But Nipper had gotten the most special, most precious gift of all: the New York Yankees.
And then…he lost them!
While he was showing off the contracts to his neighbor Missy Snoddgrass, she asked him for a trade. He didn’t pay attention and agreed to swap his Yankees for an old hand lens. By the time he realized his mistake, it was too late. His Yankees were gone, and every time he tried to get them back, he failed miserably.
But that was only half of the horrible story.
After Nipper traveled with Sam to a secret tomb in Edfu, Egypt, he brought back an emerald scorpion ring. His sister didn’t believe in evil magical curses, but she was completely wrong about a lot of things. The ring had an ancient Egyptian curse.
Nipper gave it to Missy as a “present,” to get revenge on her for stealing his Yankees…and it backfired completely. Missy was so evil that the curse had no effect on her. His Yankees, however, began to lose, and lose and lose.
Now they were on the edge of disaster, just one game away from doom. It was time to set things right.
Nipper Spinner had a plan.
Standing beside Dennis at the corner of Thirteenth Avenue and Aloha, he opened and closed the metal mailbox drawer three times. The steel chamber rose from the street. When the staircase locked into place, Nipper led Dennis down the stairs with him into the magtrain station. Minutes later, they were on the high-speed magnetic train cruising toward Edfu, Egypt.
As he sat in the center seat of the magtrain, racing along at ten thousand miles per hour, Nipper took the emerald scorpion ring from his pocket and studied it. The rear six legs of the figurine curved to form the hole, waiting for an unlucky finger to go through it. The tiny green pincers twinkled with the passing light of the tunnel.
“Wruf! Wruf!” Dennis barked from the train bench behind him.
“Don’t worry, pal,” Nipper replied. “I’m no
t going to put this on again. It’s evil…and dangerous…and a destroyer of Major League Baseball teams.”
Samantha said the curse was all in his mind, and that his Yankees were just having a bad season. But she was too distracted about their missing uncle to understand the record-breaking sports tragedy. It was exactly the kind of thing that comes from ancient curses. The team was facing ultimate doom, and it would be all his fault.
It was up to Nipper Spinner to save his team…and he had a plan.
“Yankees are the best. The best. The best,” Nipper chanted quietly as the magtrain motors hummed.
Dennis stared at him, his ears flapping in the breeze from the tunnel.
Nipper set the ring beside him on the seat and reached over his shoulder. He pulled the deck of old playing cards from a side pocket of his backpack.
“I’ve got twenty minutes to kill,” he said. “I might as well have some fun and…”
Just as he fanned the cards out on the dashboard of the train, a sudden gust of air rushed over the train’s windshield and swept the cards away. They fluttered into the air like a swarm of mad butterflies, and he watched them disappear into the tunnel behind him.
He looked down at the ring.
“See that,” he said to Dennis. “Just being close to the ring might have made that happen.”
He unzipped the top of his backpack and looked at the old board game.
“Nah,” said Nipper. “It takes too long to set up that game.”
He closed his pack and faced forward as the wind whipped at his hair. It felt odd to be headed back to Edfu, Egypt, without Samantha. The last time he’d been there, she’d saved him from sliding into a horrible bottomless pit. She’d also tried to stop him from taking the evil scorpion ring home with him. He should have listened, but that was ancient history.
The train began to slow. He shoved the ring back into his pocket and peeked into the backpack again.
“Headlamp…check,” he said. “Granola bars…check.”
“Wruf! Wruf!” barked Dennis, causing his collar light to turn on and off quickly.
Samantha Spinner and the Perplexing Pants Page 10
