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.