Soaring success, p.1
Soaring Success, page 1
This book is dedicated to YOU, the reader;
for you are the future—PL
To my nearest and dearest—love you all—AD
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data is on file with the publisher.
Text copyright © 2022 by Patricia Lakin
Illustrations copyright © 2022 by Albert Whitman & Company
Illustrations by Anastasiia Drakova
First published in the United States of America in 2022 by Albert Whitman & Company
ISBN 978-0-8075-7957-2 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-0-8075-7958-9 (ebook)
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Printed in the United States of America
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CONTENTS
1. Signs of Fall
2. A Call for Help
3. No Way Down
4. Up, Up, and Away
5. A Smashing Failure
6. A New Trick
7. Taking Flight
8. C Is for Courage
9. Air Delivery
10. Good Luck and Good Night
CHAPTER 1
SIGNS OF FALL
“Wow! Look at all the food we’ve grown.” Roscoe the raccoon picked an ear of corn from the garden. Next to him, a wagon was already piled high with food.
“Quit daydreaming, and keep picking,” said Bart. “We need to harvest our crop.”
Soon Bart would go into hibernation for the winter. The bear needed to eat plenty of food before his long winter sleep.
“I was just thinking how lucky we are to have this garden,” Roscoe said.
“It’s due to a little luck and lots of hard work,” said Wanda, picking a high-up ear of corn.
“True,” said Roscoe. Secretly he knew how lucky he was to have found his three friends, Bart, Wanda the woodpecker, and Luna the badger. Just a short while ago, Roscoe had been living in Big River Junkyard all by himself. Now they all lived side by side and worked as a team—using supplies from the junkyard to build things.
Roscoe gazed behind him. Not all of their projects were meant to fix big problems. They’d used their engineering skills to construct a beautiful wood-and-magnet sculpture. And they’d also built the garden, where they could grow whatever food they liked.
“Bart, I don’t know if even you can eat all this corn,” Roscoe said as he went back to picking.
Bart gave one of his giant yawns, adjusted his suspenders, and took a good, long look at the pile. “Hmm. There sure are lots of kernels to consume. There may be a kernel of truth in what you say, Roscoe.” Bart chuckled.
“Ugh!” said Wanda. “Will you be sleeping during hibernation or dreaming up more bad jokes?”
“Dreaming up jokes?” Bart laughed. “That’s a good one, Wanda.”
“But if there is a kernel of truth, that means you can’t eat all this corn,” said Luna. “And with all the other things we’ve grown, we can’t eat it all either.”
“We don’t want to be wasteful,” said Roscoe. “Remember when we first met? How desperate we all were to find food?”
“I certainly do,” said Luna. “We encountered rain, mudslides, and a raging river. We had to build a bridge just so we could cross and get to the food Roscoe told us about.”
“Now we have too much good food,” said Bart. “What do we do with the extra?”
“I have an idea,” said Wanda. “On my morning flight, I spotted something I think will solve our problem.”
“What’s that?” asked Bart. “An automatic eating machine?”
“No, Bart.” Wanda gently tapped the top of his head. “An old sign. We can make signs and offer any hungry critters our supply of corn.”
“What good will a sign do?” Bart asked. “Who will see it? Or do you suggest we wear the signs and parade up and down the road?”
“Bart, I must say you’re getting cranky these days,” said Wanda. “Just when do you start your hibernation?”
Luna took out one of the books from her backpack. “It says in this guidebook that hibernation should begin in approximately one week.”
“I’m counting the days,” said Wanda. “And I hope you wake up with a cheerier attitude.”
“Okay,” said Bart. “How can we cheerfully give away our food?”
“I have an idea for that too,” said Wanda. She flew to a pile of junk near the fence, where a box sat next to a big metal tank. She dug in the box and pulled out a round piece of rubber. “I found these balloons when we were clearing out space for our garden.”
Luna read the word on the metal tank. “Helium,” she said. “I was just reading about that in one of my science books. It’s a gas that is lighter than air. A helium-filled balloon will float.”
“Exactly,” said Wanda. “Roscoe can make signs with his extra-thick marker. They could say FREE CORN. We can tie the balloons along our fence. Any critter flying overhead or walking by will be able to see our offer.”
“Wonderful thinking,” said Luna.
Wanda pulled out six balloons, and Luna filled them with helium. Roscoe unzipped one of the many pockets on his vest and dug out his thick magic marker. He wrote FREE on three of the balloons and CORN on the other three. That made three signs total.
They used string to attach the balloons along the fence. Then they got back to harvesting their corn, carrots, and a few pumpkins.
“Keep a watch out for any hungry critters,” said Bart.
Thunk! Boom! Crash!
“What was that?” said Roscoe.
“It sounded like a herd of elephants all wanting corn,” said Bart.
“It came from Bart’s cave,” said Luna.
The four friends hurried over to the metal hut Bart called home.
“It is certainly not a herd of elephants,” said Luna. “It looks like a lump of feathers.”
Luna, Bart, Roscoe, and Wanda approached the grayish-brown heap on the ground.
“That’s no lump,” said Wanda. “It’s a bird!”
CHAPTER 2
A CALL FOR HELP
Wanda stood near the lump of feathers, which were now slowly fluttering. “Are you okay?” she asked gently.
“I…I think so,” said a very soft voice.
“Were you looking for our free corn?” asked Roscoe.
“No,” said the injured bird. “I was looking to deliver a message.”
“A message?” asked Bart. “Are you a carrier pigeon?”
“No,” the bird said. “Maybe that was the problem. I don’t usually carry notes. The envelope flew up and blocked my view. That’s why I crashed.”
“Oh, my goodness,” said Wanda. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
“Let me see if I can spread my wings.”
Bart, Wanda, Luna, and Roscoe backed away to give the bird some room.
“Wings? They work,” said the bird slowly. Then she tried to stand. “Ow!” she screeched and tumbled down. “I must have twisted my leg on the landing.”
The others could now see that the bird was a young goose. She sat down and introduced herself. “My name is Lucy, and I’m looking for Bart.”
“That’s me,” said Bart.
“Here,” said Lucy the goose. She used her beak to hold the note out to Bart, who took it. “At least I did one thing right. I delivered this letter, like I said I would.”
“Let’s see how we can help your sprained leg,” said Luna. “Let me consult one of my resources to see what’s best.” She got a book from a nearby bookshelf and thumbed through it.
“Let’s not forget my note,” said Bart. “But first I’ll get my toasty blanket to wrap your leg. Heat should help.”
“Not heat,” said Roscoe. “Ice is what Lucy needs for her leg. I’ll go fetch a bag of ice.”
“Heat? Cold? I know exactly what Lucy needs,” said Wanda as she flew off.
“Ice! That always works,” argued Roscoe.
“Heat,” argued Bart. “That’s what she needs.”
“I can’t find an answer,” said Luna, slamming the book shut.
“Here’s what Lucy needs,” said Wanda. “A glass of water and time to heal.”
“Oh, thank you so much,” said Lucy. She drank the water in a flash.
“Sometimes common sense is all that’s needed,” said Wanda. “Or maybe it’s because we’re both birds. We know what we need.”
“What I really need,” said Lucy, “is a way to get back to my family. We’re heading south soon. I have to join them. If I can’t stand on my leg, I can’t fly. And then…well, I can’t even think about it.”
“We will get you back to your family,” said Luna. “In the meantime, we need to make you comfortable. Let’s make a place for Lucy on our flatbed wagon. That way she can rest her leg. Ready, friends?” Wanda looked to Bart, Roscoe, and Luna. “At the count of three, let’s get Lucy up and onto the wagon. One, two, three—go!”
“Thank you so much,” Lucy said as she rested against the piles of freshly picked corn. “I’ll use the blanket and ice just in case.”
“And now I will read my note,” said Bart, ripping open the envelope. “It’s from my friend, Ralph! I haven’t seen that old bear
“What’s wrong?” they all asked.
“Ralph needs help. Those mudslides made it hard to find food in the valley. He and his family need plenty to eat before they go into hibernation.”
“If only I could fly, I could try to bring your friend some food,” said Lucy. “Then I could fly home to my family.”
“We will get you back in the air,” said Wanda.
“And while you rest your leg, we’ll figure out another way to get food to Ralph and his family,” said Luna.
Bart added, “Ralph said he’s camping just over the ridge, in Evergreen Valley. It’s not far. We can use the wagon to carry the food. There’s a steep cliff on the other side, but there should be a staircase we can use to reach Ralph.”
“May I come along and help?” asked Lucy. “I can unload some ears of corn.” She adjusted her legs. “Oh, and these bunches of carrots.”
“Of course you can,” said Luna. “What a great plan, Bart.”
Bart smiled broadly. Then he, Luna, and Roscoe bent over the wagon and began to push.
“Uh-oh,” said Roscoe. “I might be out of shape, but this wagon is too heavy to push.”
“Is it my weight?” asked Lucy. “I could get off and wait here.”
“It’s not you,” said Bart. He stood up tall and flexed his muscles. “It’s not my lack of strength either. This wagon is like a ton of cement. We can push, but it won’t budge.”
“Oh dear,” sighed Lucy. “If only I could fly, I could help.”
“Well, I can fly,” said Wanda. “But there’s no way I could carry all this food to Ralph.”
Roscoe could tell that Lucy was feeling down. “Don’t be upset,” he said. “We’re the Tinkerers. We fix problems all the time. We will get you back to your family and deliver Ralph the food he needs. We just need a plan.”
What Roscoe did not say is that he had no idea what their plan might be. After all, they couldn’t even move a simple wagon.
CHAPTER 3
NO WAY DOWN
“Should I take out my drawing pad and pencil?” Roscoe asked Luna. “They always help me come up with plans.”
“Not another plan,” yawned Bart. He wasn’t carrying his walking stick that doubled as a folding chair. So he simply plopped himself down on the wagon.
Luna didn’t answer Roscoe at first. Then she said, “This reminds of the time you and Bart wanted to push over that tree.”
When they were building their bridge, the Tinkerers had tried to use an old, dead tree, which had ended up washing down the river.
“That tree was a tree-mendous bust,” said Bart.
“Ugh!” sighed Wanda. “A bad pun.”
“Pun or not,” Luna continued, “you and Roscoe pushed at opposite sides of that tree. You worked against each other.”
“We are not working against each other now, though,” said Roscoe. “This wagon is so heavy we can’t push it even an inch.” He took off his vest and wiped his brow.
“I think I know how to solve this problem,” said Luna, taking out a blue-and-green book from her backpack. “Hmm,” she said as she leafed through the pages. “This is what I was looking for. Even though the wagon has wheels, it’s close to the ground. When we push on it, a lot of our force is going down, pushing the wagon’s wheels into the ground. That makes it harder to move. We need to lift the wagon up. Then it will be easier to move.”
Bart got up and grabbed the edge of the wagon. “But I can’t lift this at all!”
“None of us need to lift it,” said Luna. “Instead of pushing, we need to pull the wagon. We can attach a handle to the front. With the three of us pulling, it will lift the wagon instead of pushing it down into the ground.”
“What do you suggest we use as a handle?” said Bart.
Wanda pecked at a corner of the wagon. “Just as I suspected. It’s wood. We need to attach something strong for our handle.” Wanda flew off and brought back a piece of thick rope in her beak. “I will peck holes in each corner. Roscoe, you and Bart can use nails and a hammer. Ready?” she asked them. “First we nail one end of the rope to the right side of the wagon. Then we nail the other end to the left side of the wagon.”
In minutes, thanks to teamwork, they had a sturdy rope handle. Bart, Luna, and Roscoe pulled Lucy, the wagon, and their vegetables out of the junkyard and onto the road.
“See, Lucy?” said Roscoe. “I told you that we Tinkerers work together to find solutions.”
Lucy tried hard to smile.
Slowly and steadily, they pulled the wagon ever so carefully from the road onto the narrow path that led up a small hill to the edge of the cliff.
“Where is the start of that stairway?” asked Roscoe. “Pulling is easier than pushing, but I’m still getting tired.”
“There it is!” Luna pointed to the top of the hill. “But why is there yellow-and-black tape blocking the stairway?”
Wanda flew ahead, read the sign, and reported back. “The tape says ‘CAUTION! This stairway is closed.’ It must have been damaged by the mudslides.”
Bart gingerly leaned over the edge of the cliff. “Ralph! Ralph!” Bart turned to the others. “I can see where Ralph is staying down below, but he can’t hear me. I am sad to say we’ll need to come up with a different plan to get food to him.”
“Aha!” said Wanda. “So now you think making a plan is a good idea.”
“As for making plans, I do think our first order of business is to get Lucy airborne,” said Luna. “Do you all agree?”
Bart, Roscoe, and Wanda nodded yes.
“We don’t have any other choice,” said Roscoe. “Lucy needs to get home to her family—and fast.”
“Right,” said Bart. “How about this? We get Lucy to fly, give her a basket, and fill it with food for Ralph. Isn’t that what storks do?”
Lucy began to laugh. “Bart, I’m a goose, not a stork. And even storks don’t fly with baskets in their beaks.”
“Basket or not, Lucy, we will come up with a plan to get you back in the air in no time,” said Luna.
Lucy gave a small smile. “That sounds wonderful.”
It sounded wonderful to Roscoe as well. But all the things they’d done in the past sounded simple compared to this. Making an injured bird fly sounded…well, it sounded impossible.
CHAPTER 4
UP, UP, AND AWAY
“I’ve got it!” cheered Bart as he helped steer the wagon back to the junkyard. “I’ve got it! I’ve got it!”
“What have you got?” asked Luna.
“A brilliant idea to get Lucy to fly.” Bart smiled. “It came to me without creating a plan or making a drawing. It was just my sharp brain and sharp eyes that put two and two together.”
“Please tell us!” Luna said.
Bart went to one of their balloon signs tied to the fence. The bright purple balloon bobbed high in the wind. “We use helium balloons and attach them to Lucy. Helium, as Luna told us, is lighter than air. We use enough balloons, and…” Bart looked up at the blue sky. “We watch Lucy take flight—with her holding a bag of food for Ralph, of course.”
“I don’t know,” said Lucy. “The balloon idea sounds good. But I’m not sure I can also carry food. Just holding your simple note caused my crash.”
“It will be fine,” said Bart. “Well, who is ready to help me blow up some more balloons?”
“We are ready to help,” said Luna, Roscoe, and Wanda.
“But on one condition,” added Wanda. “We need to focus on getting Lucy to fly.” Wanda impatiently tapped her red-booted foot. “We can find a way to help Ralph after Lucy flies home.”
“Thanks, Wanda,” said Lucy. “As much as I want to help Ralph—well, I’m not sure if I will be able.”
“Say no more,” said Bart. “I agree. We will help Ralph after we get you airborne.” He fetched the box of balloons along with a big ball of string.
Everyone got to work. Wanda, Luna, and Roscoe handed Bart one balloon after another. He filled each with helium. Then Roscoe and Luna tied the neck of each balloon securely with a long piece of string.
