Fly to the Rescue Page 5

  “Actually, it’s today,” Sir Isaac interrupted him.

  “Rise and shine!” Miss Earhart added, sounding entirely too cheerful.

  Jake squinted as he tried to read the clock. It read 7:35. That was all it took for his eyes to pop wide open. He flung back the blankets. Ready or not, the science fair was today!

  Jake pulled on his favorite green T-shirt and his lucky baseball socks. Ordinarily, Jake would only wear them on game day—but he wasn’t taking any chances. He scribbled a cover page for the report and packed his paper airplanes in a shoe box. He was about to head downstairs when, at the last minute, he decided to take the stack of extra printer paper with him.

  Before he left the room, Jake paused in the doorway. It seemed rude to leave for the science fair without inviting Miss Earhart and Sir Isaac, after all they’d done for him. “Do you want—” he began.

  Behind Sir Isaac, Miss Earhart started waving her arms wildly to get Jake’s attention. She shook her head “no” so hard that her short curls flew back and forth as she pointed at Sir Isaac. Suddenly, Jake could just picture how Sir Isaac would react to a science fair with dozens and dozens of experiments—some of them containing technology he’d never seen, or information he’d never dreamed could be true. Jake could almost see Sir Isaac bounding from display to display …

  And hear the shrieks from Franklin Elementary School’s students and teachers …

  “—me to leave the light on?” Jake finished.

  “Yes, yes, that will be fine,” Sir Isaac said. “I do have a few more experiments I’d like to conduct.”

  “Good luck, Jake!” Miss Earhart said as she waved.

  Just then, Mom appeared at the foot of the stairs. “Ready to go?” she asked, jingling her car keys. “I thought you could use a ride to school today.”

  “Thanks,” Jake replied gratefully.

  Instead of dropping Jake off in front of the school, Mom drove him to the side entrance so Jake would be closer to the gym. Out of the corner of his eye, Jake could see the janitor unlocking the gate at Franklin Fields. Just beyond, he knew, was the storm drain that had started it all.

  “Good luck today,” Mom said. “Dad and Julia and I will be there!”

  Jake smiled in response, even though the thought of an audience only made him more nervous. He was halfway to the gym when he heard Mom yell, “Jake! Wait!”

  “I’m so proud of you,” she called through the open car window. “I know you’ll do great!”

  “Thanks, Mom,” Jake replied.

  Then he continued on to the gym.

  When Jake stepped into the gym, his mouth dropped open. It had been transformed! An enormous banner read FRANKLIN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL SCIENCE FAIR. The gym buzzed with activity as students set up their science fair projects.

  “Jake!”

  It was Emerson. He ran up to Jake with a huge grin on his face. “Isn’t this awesome? Clara did a project about stuff that glows in the dark, and Aiden, it’s so crazy, he made an actual working model of the human digestive system!”

  “Wow,” Jake said. “Those projects sound cool.”

  But what he thought was, A lot cooler than my paper airplane project.

  Jake glanced behind him just in time to see Mom’s car disappear—along with every wild, last-ditch hope he had of disappearing with it.

  “Come on,” Emerson said. “Our class has a bunch of tables together. I saved one for you, right next to me.”

  Jake followed Emerson to an empty table and unfolded his poster. Then the warning bell rang. Jake knew he had to move fast. He tucked the extra paper and the shoe box of airplanes behind his poster so no one would mess with them. Without his planes on display, Jake’s table looked especially bare.

  After Jake got to class, it was even harder to concentrate than usual. At least, sitting in the front row, he didn’t have to see Aiden’s smug face smirking at him. The red numbers on the clock kept moving, just like always. At 2:59:30:01, Principal Barron’s voice crackled over the loudspeaker. “Greetings, teachers and students,” he announced. “It’s my pleasure to invite all of you to the Franklin Elementary School Science Fair, starting … now!”

  At that moment, the bell echoed through the classroom. The school day was over … and the science fair was about to begin!

  The hallway that led to the gym was crowded with parents who had to wait outside until after the students presented their projects to the judges. In the gym, Jake watched nervously as Principal Barron and the judges walked down the aisle, stopping at each project. Elizabeth’s volcano … Marco’s ant farm … Hannah’s seedlings … Aiden’s model of the digestive system … Jake watched out of the corner of his eye as Aiden poured a cup of gloppy liquid into the model’s mouth. Suddenly, there was a gasp of surprise—the judges all jumped back—

  Emerson doubled over with laughter. “Did you see that?” he howled. “Aiden’s project just puked on the judges’ shoes!”

  Jake tried to smile, but he felt like he might puke if he opened his mouth.

  Emerson quickly stopped laughing as the judges approached his table. “My name is Emerson Lewis, and my project is about the weather,” he began.

  Jake could barely concentrate on Emerson’s presentation, knowing that in just moments, the judges would approach him. They seemed to like Emerson’s project. Jake saw them smiling and nodding their heads. Principal Barron wrote a few notes in his notebook.

  Then the judges started moving again—right toward Jake.

  Jake took a deep breath.

  “My name is Jake Everdale, and my project is called Fly or Fall,” he said. “Flight is something we take for granted. But for thousands of years, people used to dream of the day when it would be possible for humans to fly. Sir Isaac Newton came up with the theory of gravity and figured out the three laws of motion. Pioneers like Amelia Earhart took the big risks that helped us learn more about how planes could fly. But how, exactly, do planes stay in the air?”

  Jake paused to take another deep breath. The judges were listening to him with friendly smiles.

  “There are four things that really affect how a plane flies,” Jake continued. “Weight pulls the plane downward with a little help from our friend, gravity—a force that was first described by the one and only Sir Isaac Newton. Lift, on the other hand, does the opposite. As air currents move over and under the plane’s wings, they pull the plane up, up, up and away!”

  Jake made some funny sound effects as he demonstrated. Emerson cracked up, just like Jake knew he would. But the judges chuckled, too—and not in a bad way. That made Jake feel even more encouraged.

  “Drag is the force that pulls the plane backward—or slows it down—as it flies through the air,” Jake told the crowd. “And thrust is what moves the plane forward. In a real one, that’s the engine’s job. But for a paper airplane”—Jake paused to clench his arm into a muscle, making everyone laugh again—“that’s my job.

  “These forces don’t just affect jumbo jets and space shuttles,” Jake explained. “They affect paper airplanes, too. Which means that different folds and designs can change how paper airplanes fly. Adding fins to the wings or the tail helps a paper airplane not crash. A little weight to the nose of the plane makes it more stable. If the wings are weak, you can make them stronger by adding an extra fold or two. Like this.”

  The judges leaned forward to watch Jake’s paper airplane demonstration—and so did the kids. He had everyone’s complete attention.

  The first plane Jake made was simple—just five basic folds. The other plane started the same way, but then Jake made a few adjustments. A couple of extra folds gave the wings fins, and with a square of paper and a piece of tape, Jake added one more fin to the tail of his plane. Finally, he added a shiny silver paper clip to the plane’s nose. At last, his planes were ready.

  But would they work?

  As Jake stepped into the aisle, the crowd parted. He took a deep breath—

  Aimed the planes—

/>   And launched them!

  The first plane veered to the left and crashed into Emerson’s poster. But the second plane soared effortlessly through the air before gliding to a landing several feet away. Jake pumped his fist in the air. He’d done it! He’d proved his hypothesis!

  The whole crowd started to clap.

  “Well done, Jake,” Principal Barron said. “Do you mind if I give it a try? I haven’t flown a paper airplane in years.”

  “Of course,” Jake replied. Then he gestured to the printer paper from Dad’s office. “You could even make your own, if you want. I brought enough for everybody.”

  “Well … maybe just one,” Principal Barron said as he eagerly reached for a piece of paper. That was all it took for a line to form—the other judges, the students, even the cafeteria lady took a turn, until every single page had been turned into a plane. Soon the air was filled with paper airplanes!

  Jake grinned so hard his face hurt while he watched. The entire school was flying paper planes, laughing and shrieking as the planes catapulted through the gym.

  And the best part?

  Jake’s science project was the reason for it all!

  After the last paper airplane landed, the judges continued their tour of the science projects. Jake was only partly relieved. His presentation was over—thank goodness—but the judging, and his grade, were still to come.

  At last, Principal Barron walked back to the microphone. The chatter in the gym immediately stopped. “Every year, this job gets harder and harder,” he announced. “What an outstanding display of projects! Now, I must ask all the students to join your parents in the hall so that the judges can confer and award this year’s prizes.”

  Mom, Dad, and Julia were waiting right outside the door. “Hey, champ!” Dad said as he clapped his hand on Jake’s shoulder. “How did it go?”

  Jake shrugged. “Pretty good, I guess. Principal Barron made his own paper airplane.”

  Mom and Dad looked surprised. “Did he?” Mom asked. “It sounds like your project was very inspiring.”

  “Aunt Margaret is so sorry she couldn’t make it,” Dad told Jake. “She said she knows you’ll make the family proud.”

  I sure hope so, Jake thought.

  After a few more minutes, the doors to the gym opened wide once more. The judges had finished evaluating the projects. Now it was time to find out who had won first, second, and third prize. Of course, Jake didn’t really care about the ribbons. He never expected to win one. That’s why he didn’t understand, at first, why there was a shiny red ribbon stuck on the corner of his poster. He blinked—stared at it—blinked again—

  “Dude! You won second place! You won!” Emerson yelled excitedly. Then Mom and Dad were hugging Jake, and Julia was tugging on his hand, and Principal Barron was trying to shake his other hand. But Jake could only stare at the ribbon with a great big openmouthed grin.

  I did it, Jake thought. I passed!

  Now he could stay on the baseball team. Now he could tell Sir Isaac and Miss Earhart the best news ever. And now he knew that with a lot of hard work—and a little extra help—anything was possible!

  * * *

  “We’re going out for dinner,” Dad announced when Jake and his family got home later. “And then we’ll go to Frosty’s for dessert! But first, we have to tell Aunt Margaret. She’ll be so excited to hear there’s a budding scientist in the family!”

  That reminded Jake about the geniuses upstairs. They would be excited to hear the news, too.

  “Be right back,” Jake murmured as he slipped away. He took the stairs two at a time and burst into his room—

  “Look!” he said, holding out the shiny red ribbon. “I got second place!”

  Miss Earhart and Sir Isaac were huddled together, deep in conversation. At the sound of Jake’s voice, they both jumped up.

  “I knew you could do it!” Miss Earhart said joyfully.

  Sir Isaac’s stern features softened for the first time. “Well done, boy,” he said stiffly—but the gleam in his eyes gave away his pride.

  “I couldn’t have done it without you,” Jake said. “You reminded me what the science fair was really about. I’m sorry that I couldn’t show everyone the plane you built, though. I know they would’ve been so impressed.”

  Miss Earhart smiled brightly. “That’s no matter,” she replied. “We’ve had an idea for what to do with it.”

  “It seemed quite a shame to let the aircraft go to waste,” Sir Isaac spoke up.

  “What’s your plan?” Jake asked.

  Miss Earhart flung her arms wide, gesturing to the window. “We thought we’d set off on an adventure!”

  Jake blinked. “You’re … leaving?” he asked.

  “That’s right,” Miss Earhart replied. She bent over the engine of the little plane, adjusting it with a pin. “We’ve just been doing the final calibrations. We should be ready to take off momentarily.”

  Jake could hardly believe that Sir Isaac and Miss Earhart would be gone soon. The geniuses had disrupted his life in just about every way imaginable. It will be good for things to go back to normal, Jake tried to tell himself. Baseball and homework and all the regular stuff.

  The truth was, though, that Jake was going to miss them more than he could admit.

  “How can I help?” he said suddenly.

  Sir Isaac and Miss Earhart turned around to look at him.

  “I know!” Jake exclaimed. “Batteries!”

  He raced around his room, taking the batteries out of every toy he owned until there was a small mountain of them on the table.

  “Take as many as you want,” Jake told the geniuses. “They can be your backup power source.”

  “What will this modern world think of next?” Sir Isaac said, impressed. “Thank you, boy.”

  “No,” Jake said. “Thank you. I learned so much from you—about being curious and asking questions and taking chances and looking for adventures. I won’t forget it. Ever.”

  Miss Earhart reached out, took hold of Jake’s finger, and shook. “And neither will we,” she told him.

  Then she turned to Sir Isaac. “Ready, Isaac?” she asked. “Would you like to give her a spin?”

  Sir Isaac strode across the desk to the little plane. Just as he was about to climb into the pilot’s seat, though, he hesitated. Then he turned back to Miss Earhart with a small bow. “Perhaps you should take the controls,” he said. “I expect I still have a lot to learn.”

  Miss Earhart looked surprised, but only for a moment. Then she grinned, climbed into the cockpit, and snapped her goggles over her eyes. Sir Isaac settled into the seat next to her and fastened his safety harness.

  The engine rumbled.

  The Popsicle-stick propeller started spinning.

  The airplane began to inch across Jake’s desk, picking up speed—

  “Wait!” Jake exclaimed. “Where will you go?”

  Miss Earhart could barely hear him over the roar of the engine. “Go?” she repeated. “Wherever the wild winds take us, I suppose.”

  The plane lurched off the edge of the desk. It wobbled in midair for just a moment; then Miss Earhart pulled hard on the controls. The plane zoomed into the air, higher, faster, faster—

  Jake ran across the room and opened the window just in time. The plane sailed outside into the clear blue sky.

  “Good-bye, Jake!” Miss Earhart called, her white scarf fluttering in the wind. “Good-bye!”

  Jake watched at the window until the tiny plane disappeared from sight. Just like that, the geniuses were gone, as suddenly and unexpectedly as they’d arrived. For a long moment, Jake stared at the empty sky. Had it really happened? It was almost too impossible to believe.

  Then Jake turned around. He saw Julia’s dollhouse with the toilet-paper curtains … the paper-clip chains of crystal beads … the melted crayons. The miniature workshop was still under his bed. And best of all, the satiny red SECOND PLACE ribbon was on his desk.

  Yes. It had
definitely happened.

  But how?

  “I wish—” Jake began, but quickly stopped himself. He wasn’t quite ready to find out what would happen if he finished that sentence!

  Sir Isaac Newton was born on January 4, 1643, in Lincolnshire, England. He was born prematurely, so small that no one expected him to live more than a few hours. Amazingly, he did survive, and grew up to change our understanding of the world in ways that no one could have predicted. His astonishing survival was just a hint of the incredible things to come.

  Sir Isaac didn’t have an easy childhood. He was deeply lonely and got into fights with other boys at school. His mother hoped that her son would become a farmer, but he neglected his chores and got into even more trouble. All the while, young Isaac was keenly observing the world, preparing himself to answer questions that few people dared to even ask. His lifelong search for those answers led him to create the reflecting telescope, discover gravity, and develop the three laws of motion—scientific advancements that still benefit us today.

  Not all of Sir Isaac’s endeavors were successful, though. In his later years, he spent a tremendous amount of time on the study of alchemy, or how to turn ordinary substances into gold. After he died in 1727, his fellow scientists were embarrassed to find Sir Isaac’s extensive notes on alchemy, and his writings were kept hidden for centuries. But scientific advancement depends on the desire to investigate new ideas, take risks, make mistakes, and believe in the impossible. We owe Sir Isaac Newton a great debt for his willingness to do just that.

  Amelia Earhart was born on July 24, 1897, in Atchison, Kansas. Even as a child, her daring and love of adventure were on full display. Amelia was born in a time when very strict rules dictated what women should and should not do. She challenged those rules at every turn, making it possible not just for herself to live her dreams, but for other women as well.

  During World War I, Amelia was so moved by the suffering of wounded soldiers that she left college to work as a nurse’s aide. After the war, she had her first airplane ride in 1920. Amelia was immediately captivated by the thrilling freedom of flight. She knew at once that becoming a pilot was what she wanted more than anything in the world. Amelia worked tirelessly to achieve her dream, even when others tried to stand in her way. She proved them all wrong by setting or breaking several records, including being the first woman to fly solo across the country.