The Case of the Astronaut Duck

Encyclopedia and his pal Charlie Stewart had a watermelon-seed spitting contest after lunch. Sally used a tape measure to determine the winner. Encyclopedia was ahead by three inches.

Suddenly, Moonboy Webster ran by wearing his astronaut helmet.

Moonboy Webster, whose real name was Austin, was Idaville’s astronaut-in-training. He’d been talking about rocketing to the stars ever since he witnessed his first space shuttle launch. He walked, talked, ate, and dreamed about nothing but outer space.

“Did you hear?” he called excitedly from the end of the driveway. “There’s a real NASA astronaut right here in Idaville!”

That got Encyclopedia’s attention. He liked to learn about outer space, too.

“He’s raising money for a space mission,” Moonboy said. “He’s going to talk at the town hall about being an astronaut!”

Sally’s eyes lit up. “Let’s go hear him speak,” she said.

“He’s charging fifty cents,” Moonboy told them. “I just ran home to get my money. The talk starts in ten minutes.”

Encyclopedia kept the money he earned from his detective business in a shoe box. He hid the shoe box behind an old tire in the garage. Every Friday, he and Sally took the week’s earnings to the bank.

Luckily, today was Thursday. There was enough money in the shoe box for the two detectives and Charlie to attend the talk without having to stop at the bank. They walked downtown with Moonboy, who chattered about space.

“This is more popular than a free trip to the circus,” Sally said, eyeing the long line in front of the town hall.

The detectives and their friends shuffled forward as one by one kids from all over Idaville handed their coins to a man wearing a NASA T-shirt.

As soon as the man had collected everyone’s money, he walked to the front of the auditorium and climbed to the stage.

Moonboy fired questions like rocket boosters from his front-row seat. He was too excited to even wait for the answers.

“Did you work on the Mars mission?

“Are moon rocks heavy?

“Have you ever been to the space station?

“Is zero gravity really cool?”

Finally, the astronaut jumped in. “I’ll take questions after my talk,” he said. “But now I want to tell you all about a new space mission. It’s top secret, so I’m only sharing it with you. And you have to promise to keep it that way.” He swept his eyes over all the children in the audience. “Top secret,” he said gravely.

Moonboy’s eyes got wide. “Top secret,” he whispered.

Encyclopedia watched the kids around him nod yes as they waited for the astronaut to share his secret.

Pictures of men in space were projected onto the screen behind him as the astronaut spoke.

“I’ve gone on many missions for NASA,” he said. “I’ve traveled through space. I’ve conducted experiments on the International Space Station. I’ve even walked in space.

“Now I’m ready,” he announced solemnly, “to travel to another galaxy. To find planets that no human has ever seen, even through a telescope.”

A diagram of a spaceship unlike anything the kids had ever seen was shown on the screen. It was round and flat, like a flying saucer, and it had a small pool next to the pilot’s seat.

“And I will take just one companion as I travel through space.”

The astronaut took a dramatic pause and reached behind a curtain. A duck wearing a little space helmet waddled onto the stage. There were gasps from the audience. Encyclopedia heard a muffled quack from behind the helmet.

“An astronaut duck!” Moonboy said, jumping to his feet.

Other kids in the audience laughed and clapped. No one had ever heard of a duck in space.

“I could go into a lot of details about aerodynamics and space and how many years of my life will be devoted to this great mission,” the astronaut said, “but I know you all really want to know about this wonderful duck.”

Encyclopedia raised his eyebrows. “I’ve got to hear this,” he said.

Moonboy bit his lips to keep from asking the astronaut a million questions.

A series of pictures continued to flash behind the astronaut as he talked about the duck. “This astronaut duck has been to the moon. He’s been to the space station. He’s even walked in space!”

Other kids in the audience laughed and clapped. No one had ever heard of a duck in space.

The astronaut took the duck’s helmet off and a loud quack echoed through the auditorium.

“I need a volunteer to take care of this brave astronaut duck while I raise money for my mission,” the astronaut said. “There must be one child here who would do this for his country.”

Moonboy jumped to his feet. But he was surrounded by a chorus of other kids volunteering to take the duck.

“And, of course, I’ll need a small fee of fifty dollars,” the astronaut said.

“Fifty dollars!” the kids cried. Most of them sat right back down. But Moonboy stayed on his feet.

“It’ll take every penny I have saved, but I’ll get the money,” Moonboy said.

The astronaut seemed relieved and happy, until Encyclopedia got to his feet.

“Save your money, Moonboy,” he said. “And, you,” he said to the man, “better give us back our fifty cents. You’re not an astronaut. You’re a fake.”

 

HOW DID ENCYCLOPEDIA KNOW?

 

(Click here for the solution to “The Case of the Astronaut Duck.”)