The next day after school, Justine led the way down a path through the woods. The hill was steep, and at the bottom was a marshy area.
“Frogs and toads are very important to the wetlands,” Justine explained as they walked. “They are predators who eat lots of bugs. But they are also prey for animals like herons, lizards, snakes, fish and even bigger frogs.”
“Ewww,” said Savannah. She was carrying her iPad at the end of the line. Michael and Jimmy Blatzo were in the middle. Safdar had run ahead earlier. He was going to drop chocolate-covered raisins on the ground at the meeting spot under a large tree. “I don’t know what’s grosser. Eating bugs or eating frogs. Give me a chocolate milkshake any day.”
“Flies eat milkshakes,” Justine said.
“Really?” Savannah sounded interested.
“Really?” Blatzo said. “I didn’t know that.”
“Flies don’t have teeth,” Justine said. “So if they want to eat sugar, they throw up on the sugar to make it a liquid. Then they suck up the mess that has melted in the sugar. That’s like a milkshake, right?”
“You are disgusting,” Savannah told Justine. “If I wasn’t afraid of getting lost, I’d make sure I stayed so far back that I couldn’t hear a word you said.”
“Maybe Safdar is lost,” Michael said. “I haven’t seen him in a while. But I’m not worried. He’ll show up. He knows where to meet us.”
Michael chuckled, like he was thinking of how he was going to gross out Savannah even more.
“Like I care,” Savannah said. “Just get me to a place where I can sit and wait for this to be over.”
“Tell me more about frogs,” Blatzo said to Justine. He wore one of his Bird Nerd T-shirts. He had been given the nickname after rescuing some birds.
“When frog populations drop,” Justine said, “it tells scientists that things are going wrong. Like too much ultraviolet light getting into the atmosphere because of air pollution. Or too many pesticides from agriculture. Scientists can use our help tallying frog numbers to track what’s happening.”
“How do you look for them?” Blatzo asked. “It seems like my job of counting flower buds is a lot easier.”
“It’s easier to listen for frogs than look for them,” Justine answered. “Frogs are experts at hiding, and as long as I don’t step into the swampy areas, it will be safe.”
“Right,” Savannah said. “Like we can tell the difference between types of frogs just by listening.”
“I went to a training session at the zoo,” Justine said. “It’s part of something called Frogwatch. It was very helpful.”
“Wasted time,” Savannah said. “You could have been playing Minecraft. Let me tell you, that’s something worth doing.”
“Don’t worry,” Justine said. She stopped. “I get the hint. Here’s a spot where you can sit and play on your iPad. We won’t make you help us find frogs. Or spiders. Or flower buds. After all, you did win the challenge with Blatzo.”
“Look!” Michael said. He pointed at some dark pellets on the ground. “Deer poop!”
“Ewww,” Savannah said. “Deer poop! We are walking through a toilet. In fact, the whole woods is just a big toilet for all the animals. Really, we should just go back to a place that has a television. And air-conditioning.”
“Are you sure it’s deer poop?” Blatzo asked Michael. Just like they had planned.
“Only one way to find out if it’s deer poop,” Michael said. He reached down and grabbed a few of the dark pellets. “You taste them.”
He popped them in his mouth.
Then his eyes grew very wide, and he began to spit and spit.
That’s when Safdar stepped out from some bushes.
“Hey, guys,” Safdar said. “I heard voices so I came back here. But aren’t we supposed to be meeting up ahead farther? I’ve been waiting for you.”
Michael couldn’t speak. He was too busy spitting and coughing and wiping his tongue with his hands.
“Hey,” Safdar said. “What’s the matter with him?”
Blatzo pointed at the dark pellets on the ground. Blatzo said, “He ate some of those.”
“Those?” Safdar said. “Those?”
Safdar took a closer look.
“Wow,” Safdar said. “So that’s what deer poop looks like in real life. I guess I went to the wrong spot.”
That’s when Michael screamed and began to chase him.