She looked up. “I’m trying to see what happens when I mix colors together.”
“They’re mixing together on the floor with Mitchell’s typhoon,” Charlie said.
“It looks like my Rainbow Gooper-Upper,” Destiny said.
“Good work,” Mr. Redfern said.
Yolanda’s wall painting was covered with cloth. “I’ll show it tomorrow,” she said.
“I can’t find my bugs,” Clifton said. “I’ve looked all over the room.”
“I’ll help find them,” Charlie said.
He went out to the hall with Clifton.
They crawled along the floor.
It was a little dusty.
“Hey,” Clifton said. “Here’s the beetle father hiding in the corner. And the beetle mother.”
Charlie scurried after some ants.
He and Clifton took the bugs back into the lab.
Charlie set up the lunch lady’s fish tank.
He added dirt.
And leaves.
He put in a pipe for a bug tunnel.
“Neat,” Clifton said.
But now Charlie was looking around for the Zinger-Winger.
He found it on Mr. Redfern’s desk.
He tied on the new wings he’d painted last night.
Mr. Redfern watched over his shoulder. “Go ahead, Conrad. Let it fly,” he said.
Charlie wound up the Zinger-Winger.
He twirled it over his head.
He twirled until he was dizzy.
“Duck, everyone!” Mitchell called.
Clifton crawled under the desk.
Mr. Redfern backed up against the window.
Beebe and Angel hid in the closet.
“Here we go,” Mr. Redfern called. “Off to the planet Commodore!”
Charlie let go.
The Zinger-Winger zinged across the room.…
It didn’t go high.
But it went fast.
The new wings were better than the old ones.
“Hoo-hoo!” Charlie yelled.
It shot straight toward the door.
At the same moment, the door opened.
A man stood there.
Oh, no.
The man tried to jump out of the way.
Too late.
The Zinger-Winger landed on his head.
The man grinned.
Charlie closed his eyes.
How did he know that man?
Had he seen him before?
“Come back tomorrow,” Mr. Redfern told the man. “You’re a day early for the Great Happening.”
CHAPTER 10
SATURDAY
Today was the day!
Charlie was early.
He slid into the lab.
Mr. Redfern was there, too. “You’ll be surprised at the Great Happening,” he said.
Near the sink was the stem Charlie had saved. He gave it a little water.
“Too bad,” he told Mr. Redfern. “My Sink-to-Drink isn’t ready yet.”
“That’s the best thing about inventing,” Mr. Redfern said. “There’s always something to look forward to.”
Now the room was filling with kids.
Parents came, too.
Nana was wearing her pilot boots.
The lunch lady bustled into the lab. She was carrying a tray filled with cups.
“Try one,” she told Charlie.
He reached for a cup. There were raisins, he could see that, and Rice Krispies.
What else?
He took a taste.
“It’s my secret snack invention,” the lunch lady told him.
“Call it the Sweeter-Treater,” Charlie said.
Everyone walked around the room.
Charlie could hear them crunching on the snack.
“It’s a terrific fair,” everyone was saying.
They all wanted to see Habib’s juggling machine.
“It doesn’t really juggle yet,” Habib said. “I’m still working on it.”
“That’s what inventing is all about,” said Mr. Redfern.
The door opened again.
And there he was. The man from yesterday.
“Here comes the Great Happening,” Mr. Redfern said.
The man smiled with beaver teeth.
He looked like Mr. Redfern.
“It’s my son, the former astronaut,”
Mr. Redfern said. He waved his arms around.
“My name is Jackson,” the man said. “Sometimes my father calls me James. Or Jonathan. Or even Jimbo.”
Mr. Redfern smiled, too. “He works at the science museum.”
“I have to pick an inventor for next weekend,” Jackson said. “It’s Kids’ Time at the museum.”
He looked around. “Who should it be?”
Charlie thought.
Maybe it would be Habib, with his juggling machine.
Or Destiny, with her Gooper-Upper.
Maybe it would be Mitchell. Even though his typhoon didn’t have any waves.
Charlie swallowed.
That kid would be the luckiest kid in the world.
He knew it wouldn’t be him.
He looked up.
Everyone was pointing.
Jake pointed out the window. “Charlie made a Stringer-Ringer for my garden.”
“Don’t forget the Bug Bedroom,” Clifton called, pointing to the fish tank.
“Wait,” Yolanda said.
She pulled the cloth off her painting.
“Stupendous!” Mr. Redfern said.
“Wow,” Charlie said.
It was a painting of the Zinger-Winger … heading sky-high.
Jackson Redfern was looking at the real Zinger-Winger.
Mr. Redfern had hung it from the ceiling.
“Neat.” Jackson Redfern nodded. “What do you say?” he asked everyone.
Charlie could see they were pointing at him now.
“A Stringer-Ringer, a Bug Bedroom, and most of all, the Zinger-Winger,” Jackson said.
“That’s an inventor,” said Mr. Redfern.
“Read all about it in the Zigzag News,” Peter Petway said. “Charlie the inventor goes to the science museum.”
And Nana said, “Reach for the sky, Charlie.”
It was the best thing that had ever happened to him.
“Hoo-hoo!” he said.
PATRICIA REILLY GIFF is the author of many beloved books for children, including the Kids of the Polk Street School books, the Friends and Amigos books, and the Polka Dot Private Eye books. Several of her novels for older readers have been chosen as ALA-ALSC Notable Books and ALA-YALSA Best Books for Young Adults. They include The Gift of the Pirate Queen; All the Way Home; Water Street; Nory Ryan’s Song, a Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Golden Kite Honor Book for Fiction; and the Newbery Honor Books Lily’s Crossing and Pictures of Hollis Woods. Lily’s Crossing was also chosen as a Boston Globe–Horn Book Honor Book. Her most recent books are R My Name Is Rachel, Storyteller, and Wild Girl, as well as the first six books in the ZigZag Kids series. Patricia Reilly Giff lives in Connecticut.
Patricia Reilly Giff is available for select readings and lectures. To inquire about a possible appearance, please contact the Random House Speakers Bureau at
[email protected].
ALASDAIR BRIGHT is a freelance illustrator who has worked on numerous books and advertising projects. He loves drawing and is never without his sketchbook. He lives in Bedford, England.
Patricia Reilly Giff, Sky High
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