hall about being an astronaut!â
Sallyâs eyes lit up. âLetâs go hear him speak,â she said.
âHeâs charging fifty cents,â Moonboy told them. âI just ran home to get my money. The talk starts in ten minutes.â
Encyclopedia kept the money he earned from his detective business in a shoe box. He hid the shoe box behind an old tire in the garage. Every Friday, he and Sally took the weekâs earnings to the bank.
Luckily, today was Thursday. There was enough money in the shoe box for the two detectives and Charlie to attend the talk without having to stop at the bank. They walked downtown with Moonboy, who chattered about space.
âThis is more popular than a free trip to the circus,â Sally said, eyeing the long line in front of the town hall.
The detectives and their friends shuffled forward as one by one kids from all over Idaville handed their coins to a man wearing a NASA T-shirt.
As soon as the man had collected everyoneâs money, he walked to the front of the auditorium and climbed to the stage.
Moonboy fired questions like rocket boosters from his front-row seat. He was too excited to even wait for the answers.
âDid you work on the Mars mission?
âAre moon rocks heavy?
âHave you ever been to the space station?
âIs zero gravity really cool?â
Finally, the astronaut jumped in. âIâll take questions after my talk,â he said. âBut now I want to tell you all about a new space mission. Itâs top secret, so Iâm only sharing it with you. And you have to promise to keep it that way.â He swept his eyes over all the children in the audience. âTop secret,â he said gravely.
Moonboyâs eyes got wide. âTop secret,â he whispered.
Encyclopedia watched the kids around him nod yes as they waited for the astronaut to share his secret.
Pictures of men in space were projected onto the screen behind him as the astronaut spoke.
âIâve gone on many missions for NASA,â he said. âIâve traveled through space. Iâve conducted experiments on the International Space Station. Iâve even walked in space.
âNow Iâm ready,â he announced solemnly, âto travel to another galaxy. To find planets that no human has ever seen, even through a telescope.â
A diagram of a spaceship unlike anything the kids had ever seen was shown on the screen. It was round and flat, like a flying saucer, and it had a small pool next to the pilotâs seat.
âAnd I will take just one companion as I travel through space.â
The astronaut took a dramatic pause and reached behind a curtain. A duck wearing a little space helmet waddled onto the stage. There were gasps from the audience. Encyclopedia heard a muffled quack from behind the helmet.
âAn astronaut duck!â Moonboy said, jumping to his feet.
Other kids in the audience laughed and clapped. No one had ever heard of a duck in space.
âI could go into a lot of details about aerodynamics and space and how many years of my life will be devoted to this great mission,â the astronaut said, âbut I know you all really want to know about this wonderful duck.â
Encyclopedia raised his eyebrows. âIâve got to hear this,â he said.
Moonboy bit his lips to keep from asking the astronaut a million questions.
A series of pictures continued to flash behind the astronaut as he talked about the duck. âThis astronaut duck has been to the moon. Heâs been to the space station. Heâs even walked in space!â
Other kids in the audience laughed and clapped. No one had ever heard of a duck in space.
The astronaut took the duckâs helmet off and a loud quack echoed through the auditorium.
âI need a volunteer to take care of this brave astronaut duck while I raise money for my mission,â the astronaut said. âThere must be one child here who would do this
Carole E. Barrowman, John Barrowman