CHAPTER ONE
THE MYSTERY GUEST
Theresa Brown never thought her solar-powered mechanical spider would win the Charleston County Middle School Science Fair, but it did. You could sit in its central rotating seat, move in any direction, carry an additional passenger, climb over any obstacle, and when you were ready to put it away, you could fold its eight double-jointed legs together so that it was no bigger than a suitcase.
All five judges gave it a try. It was really quite something.
Theresa’s spider even beat out Ashley Dean’s edible algae that provided you all your daily nutrients with a single serving but unfortunately tasted like dirt. Everyone had assumed Ashley would take first place. After all, she was the student body president of Daniel Island Middle School and a straight A student and very well-spoken. She had explained the benefits of her spirulina superfood to the five judges very clearly. But Ashley’s algae took second.
Third place went to Jon Cooper’s durable bubble maker. At first look, Jon seemed to have the laziest invention of all—a Hula-Hoop and an inflatable pool full of what appeared to be soapy water. But the solution was a biodegradable liquid plastic that clung to the hoop, and when Jon placed a fan in front of it, he could wave the hoop and make bubbles of all shapes and sizes that didn’t pop unless you really took a whack at them with a stick. They were fun to play with, and Jon certainly was enthusiastic about them. He even showed the science fair crowd that he could fully encase himself inside a bubble, despite his mother’s warnings that he would suffocate.
The five judges were science teachers from various middle schools throughout the county. They were all in a bit of a hurry, scrambling to organize the winners on the outdoor stage because dark and threatening storm clouds were brewing over the harbor. A tropical storm was expected to make landfall within hours, and a very important mystery guest had yet to arrive.
The first judge was a teacher representing Theresa’s school—James Island Middle. She handed Theresa, Ashley, and Jon their blue, red, and white ribbons respectively.
The second judge placed Theresa, Jon, and Ashley on a tiered podium like the ones at the Olympics ceremonies. Theresa, of course, stood in the middle for first place. She towered over Ashley and Jon as she looked out at the heads of all the people in the audience. She felt very awkward. She immediately wished she hadn’t worn her Aladdin T-shirt, blue jeans, and a plastic Princess Jasmine bow in her hair. She thought she must look like a little kid next to Ashley, who stood very tall with her chin up and not one hair out of place. Ashley had decided to wear a blue dress with smart white stripes like she knew she was going to win.
To Theresa, Ashley seemed smarter and cooler than her. She guessed Ashley was really popular at her school. Theresa certainly didn’t feel like she belonged on the stage next to her, momentarily forgetting that she was the one holding the blue ribbon, not Ashley.
Jon was less intimidating. He was wearing his yellow T-shirt inside out. She wondered if he had done that on purpose. And what was he doing with his tongue? He seemed to have just discovered he had one. He darted it in and out of his mouth like an iguana.
The third judge tested the stage microphone for reverb. She said, “Testing, testing. One, two, three. Hello, everybody!”
The fourth judge asked all family and friends of the contestants to take their seats. Then Theresa was really embarrassed. Her father hadn’t come. Of course, he hadn’t for a very good reason—he had no idea she was here.
The fifth judge went behind the purple backdrop curtain of the stage in hopes of finding the mystery guest, who was now indisputably late.
Theresa stared at the tops of all the heads, trying to stand as still as she could. There must have been more than two hundred parents, grandparents, and teachers there, all looking at her.
Everyone began to murmur.
Who is the mystery guest? Who cares if the guest is found or not? Can’t the kids give their thank-you speeches now so we can just go home? It’s sure to rain any minute!
Theresa really needed to scratch her back, but she didn’t dare. Jon, on the other hand, kept giggling, sticking out his tongue, and waving to his older brothers and sisters in the third row. Jon was the youngest of eight.
Three large news cameras for Channels 2, 4, and 5 appeared right in front of the podium. A reporter hurried up next to Theresa and asked if she was excited. She was too petrified to say anything, so Ashley leaned into the microphone and said, “I’m very honored to be here. Thank you to Charleston’s outstanding science teachers for making this event possible. It’s a such wonderful day for all of us.”
Theresa wished she had said that.
Finally, the remaining four judges huddled together and agreed they couldn’t wait any longer. The wind was picking up, and the clouds above them were growing increasingly black. The third judge turned to speak into the microphone.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we apologize for the delay. We are so proud of this year’s young scientists. There were so many wonderful inventions on display, we found it quite difficult to pick only three. But somehow, scoring for ingenuity, uniqueness, and display, we picked the very best of the best. We wanted to wait for our special guest, who was going to make an incredible, amazing, once-in-a-lifetime offer to our first-place winner, Theresa Brown, but I guess—Oh, wonderful! He’s here!”
Theresa didn’t have time to think. What offer? No one had said anything about an offer. She probably shouldn’t have signed up for this science fair in the first place. An offer might get her in deep trouble.
Suddenly, the purple backstage curtain flew open in a flurry, and the news cameras immediately turned in that direction.
A tall, broad-shouldered man with wild brown eyes and a rebellious mop of black-and-white curls on his head strode past the fifth judge onto the stage in a huff, as if he believed that he wasn’t late but everyone else was. He was wearing a pink T-shirt, rubber wading boots that went past his knees, and a pair of white overalls with many more pockets sewn onto them than the designer originally intended. His boots were caked in pluff mud—the sticky, gooey, almost-like-quicksand black mud of South Carolina’s marshes. He must have been out collecting oysters or bugs or who knows what.
But his clothes were certainly not as arresting as the metal headband he wore.
Three glowing tubes connected to the headband writhed atop his head like cobras, each seeming to probe the air for something. One was blue, one was green, and one was red. Theresa felt hypnotized by them and for good reason—all three tubes were slowly turning toward her.
Text copyright © 2023 by George Brewington
Illustrations copyright © 2023 by Flavia Sorrentino