The Case of the Wilted Broccoli Read Online Free Page B

problem, but I can't braid hair."
    Willow was fascinated. She couldn't imagine Basil working that hard on a school project. "How much rope do you have?"
    "We don't have rope yet," Basil said. "We just have yarn."
    Willow was puzzled. "Now you're making yarn?" she said. "Did you turn this into a crochet project?"
    "No," Atlanta answered between bites of her mystery meat. "It takes several stages. Small bundles of hair have to be twisted together to make plies or singles. It's like thread or string. Then we take those singles and twisted them together to make three-ply rope."
    "Yeah, it's really fun," Basil said, with a fake smile planted on his face. "You want to work on it with us?" He made puppy-eyes at Willow.  
    "No thanks, I'm good with our drone."
    His face sagged and he turned to Atlanta. "You're going to help with the next part, right?"
    "Of course," she said. "I don't want to be sick, you know."
    But later that day, a bunch of kids, including Atlanta, asked to be excused to the office and didn't come back to class. By the end of the school day, the rumor was that thirty kids had gone home sick.
    Willow called her that night and her dad picked up. "Is Atlanta home?" she asked.
    "She's at the hospital with her mom," he said.
    "Hospital?" Willow's stomach dropped and her heart beat faster.
    "Yes, Willow. I don't know what's going on with this stomach flu she has, but every time we think she's better, she gets sick again."  
    Willow panicked. If Atlanta went to the hospital, it was serious. She didn't remember hanging up, but the next thing she knew, she was in her brothers' room, sitting on Elon's bed, crying.  
    "What's the matter?" Linden asked.
    "It's the food."
    Linden looked puzzled.
    "The food at school. It's why kids keep getting sick, I'm sure of it."
    Linden, who only ate spaghetti or rice from home, didn't know what Willow was talking about.
    "Come on, Elon, you've seen it, right?"
    Elon nodded. "The vegetables are soggy and the meat tastes funny."
    "But not all the time," Willow said. "Some days it's normal, and some days it's not." She looked them both in the eyes. "I need your help. We have to solve this mystery."
    Linden stared back at her. "Shouldn't we let adults handle this?"
    "Adults are clueless. They're always looking at their phones, reading email, or going on Facebook. They don't pay attention."
    "That's true," Elon said.
    Willow remember the lesson in Mrs. Dozen's class, the way the food came from farms, was received by distributors in one area, who then shipped the food to distributors in other areas. Their cafeteria food could be coming from anywhere! "We need to talk to Miss Berry in the cafeteria, and find out where the food is coming from. We need to trace the food step by step back to its source."
    "How are we going to do that?" Elon asked.  
    "I don't know, but we have to figure out a way. Otherwise kids might start to die."

CHAPTER EIGHT

    T UESDAY MORNING , THEY got to school early, shaking the water off their raincoats as they entered the cafeteria. Even in this rain, they passed Kazuki playing soccer outside.  
    "I want to play with Kazuki and Bobby!" Linden said.
    "Yeah, me too," Elon said. He could just imagine Bobby doing a drop-kick the length of the schoolyard.
    "We have to do this together," Willow said, her voice tight. "Besides, Bobby isn't --"  
    "But why?" Elon interrupted. "You could talk to Miss Berry by yourself."
    Willow shook her head.
    Elon guessed she was nervous, and it was easier to do stuff that makes you nervous when you're with a friend. Well, Willow was helping them with the drone, so he'd help her with this. "No problem. We'll come with you."
    They walked together into the kitchen. Normally they only came in for lunch. At this early hour, Miss Berry looked even busier than she did at lunchtime, rushing between unloading food, selling breakfast items, and reloading lunch cards for parents.
    They waited for a gap, then Willow called out, "Miss Berry."
    Miss