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pavement clicking his heels together to salute Sarge.
    “Maybe if I have my new sleeve, you can teach me a step or two.”
    “Maybe.” Razi didn’t seem sure. “But I don’t know how to dance with a pirate leg.”

Chapter 4
    As soon as they got to the Baxter Community Center that evening for their 4-H Wild 4-Ever meeting, Razi yanked his hand out of Keisha’s and ran to find Big Bob. Big Bob was the leader of the Grand River 4-H Club, devoted to learning about the wild animals that lived in the city. He was also Grandma’s boyfriend, but she hadn’t decided yet if he was “the one.”

    Keisha searched the room for Savannah and found her standing alone near the dessert table. Though sheusually sat on the big comfy couch with her friends and Grandma, Keisha went over to join Savannah. Big Bob had called that afternoon to ask if Keisha would introduce their newest member to the group.
    Razi was the first to draw attention to the big box of wood scraps sitting on the front table. “Is that new business, Big Bob?” he asked, pointing.
    “Why, yes it is,” Big Bob responded.
    “We’re going to use it to build birdhouses,” Zack Sanders informed Razi as he bounced on the big couch.

    “I call the hammer!” Zeke started bouncing, too.
    Razi was between them on the couch. Pretty soon, they looked like the row of mechanical ducks that popped up and down at the shooting gallery of the Green County Fair. Mama said the Sanders twins were good at getting Razi going.
    “
And
it’s not our only new business,” Big Bob reminded the boys. “We need to welcome a new member all the way from Alabama—Savannah Dernier—plus, we need to discuss a perplexing squirrel dilemma at the Mt. Mercy campus.”
    “And we need to eat my Grandma Alice’s dessert!” Razi called out without raising his hand at all.
    “I call the meeting to order, please.” Big Bob smacked a hammer on a block of wood. “Old business comes first. Aaliyah needs to report on the public-information campaign we just wrapped up. Aaliyah?”
    Big Bob scootched his seat over to the whiteboard.
    Aaliyah stood up and tugged down her hoodie. She went to the front of the group. “On November twenty-second, we had tables outside the Nantucket Bakery, Kingma’s Market and Family Video,” she said. “We also put flyers on people’s doors. In case you weren’t there, Jorge is passing around the flyers now.”
    Keisha glanced down at her flyer. Marcus had drawn a picture of the young deer with the plastic pumpkinthat got stuck on its head at Halloween time. He had also drawn a few other pictures from sources he got on the Internet. They included a raccoon with its head trapped in a peanut butter jar, a cat with its head stuck in a hubcap and a baby skunk with its head wedged in a soft-drink cup. Keisha had thought up the title of the flyer: “Is your trash a trap? Think about it!” Underneath, the Wild 4-Ever kids had listed three ways to avoid these problems. 1) Keep the lid on your trash. 2) Keep your recycling indoors until recycling day. And 3) Keep an eye out for potential wildlife hazards in your neighborhood—like six-pack rings, jars and disposable cups—and throw them away!
    “So, in conclusion,” Aaliyah continued, “our public-information campaign was a capital B-I-G success. We educated seventy-two citizens face-to-face and put doorknob flyers on 136 houses. Marcus and I are creating an info sheet for ‘Trash Trackers’ to put on the 4-H Web site. If you want to hear what we’ve written so far—”
    “Wow, that’s impressive.” Big Bob jumped up and clapped. So did the rest of the Wild 4-Evers. Zeke whistled. Razi hooted. Zack pounded the armrest of the couch.
    Aaliyah seemed surprised that her report was alreadyat an end, but she was a good sport about it. “I will entertain your further questions during cinnamon twist time,” she said, and walked tall back to her seat. Obviously, Aaliyah had peeked under the aluminum foil on