Chapter 4
A Hopeless Cause
"Let me get this straight, MK," Aviva said, "you missed a landing, fell right on top of somebody's head and now your suit's jammed?"
Martin sighed, folding his arms. "That's right." He was standing on one of Chris's shoulders so Aviva could get a good look at the activation button on his suit through a large magnifier attached to a headband.
"It was my head he landed on," piped up the girl with frizzy hair. Chris and Martin had brought the trio back to the Tortuga with them to sort things out.
"And it's a good thing," said Chris, "otherwise 'Martin the Squirrel' would've turned into 'Martin the Splat'."
Tess, the blonde who had been spinning around and around in Jimmy's vacant seat, stopped and wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Ewww!"
Aviva sighed with relief. "This shouldn't be too hard to fix." She pulled out a tiny screwdriver and got straight to work. "This jam isn't the worst thing you two have managed to do to the suits. There! Good as new!"
"Alright!" Martin put his hand up to push the button.
"Wait!" blurted Chris. "Get off my shoulder before you—"
There was a flash of blue light and suddenly Martin was back to normal and Chris was sprawled flat on his stomach with him standing on top of his back.
"—deactivate," Chris finished. "Get off!"
"Ahh," Martin let out a satisfied breath. "I don't think I've ever been so happy not to be an animal anymore—whoa!" He wobbled and hopped to solid ground as Chris started getting up.
"Wow!" said frizz-girl. "That's so cool!"
"Told you I'm really a human," said Martin, aiming a thumb at himself.
Tess's face reddened with embarrassment. "Sorry we thought you were a were-squirrel and almost took you to a lab…"
Martin waved her off. "It's all good."
Aviva pushed the magnifier away from her eyes and turned to the girls. "What are you three doing here in the woods anyway?"
Tess shrugged. "Oh, all the kids from town know about this place. Everybody comes here to hang out at the lake, climb trees, and look at the birds and animals. It's fun!"
"We were earning our bird-watching badges today!" frizz-girl said excitedly.
"Bird-watching badges?" Chris asked. "Sounds cool!"
"Yeah!" chimed in the redhead, puffing out her chest importantly. "We're the Clover Scouts of local Cluster 309!" She saluted as the other girls joined her, nodding.
"Well, that explains the sash," Martin said.
"What, this?" Redhead held out the green sash she was wearing over one shoulder. Nearly every inch of it was covered with colored, circular patches. "I hold the current record for the highest number of consecutive badges earned in one week."
"She wears them everywhere," Tess whispered behind a hand and rolled her eyes.
Chris, Martin and Aviva exchanged amused looks.
"So how about telling us your names?" Aviva said, smiling.
"Oh! This is Tess," the redhead pointed at the blonde, who waved, "Jenna," frizz-girl grinned, "and I'm Beatrice."
"Well, it's good to meet you all! I'm Aviva and this is Chris and Martin. Oh, and by the way, thanks for being under the right tree at the right time to save Martin from a nasty fall. You've got a pretty special place here, you know."
The happy smiles on the girls' faces faded a little.
"It's our favorite woods," Jenna said. "We're here almost every day…" she looked back at her friends, "but there's this crazy guy who wants to bulldoze all the trees and build a fancy hotel and golf course around the lake."
"What?!" exclaimed Chris, Martin and Aviva all at the same time.
Tess shook her head. "We've been trying to get the city council to change their minds, but they say it'll bring in tourists and money for the town or something like that. We think it's a lame idea."
"It is lame!" said Martin.
"Where will all the animals go when the trees are gone?" Jenna asked.
"And where will we swim in the summer?" added Tess.
"And when the forest is cleared away, how will we earn our tree-climbing and hiking badges?" finished Beatrice.
"You're absolutely right," agreed Chris. "This is bogus!"
"Is there anything we can do to help?" Aviva asked.
"Sure!" Beatrice's eyes brightened as she fished around in her pink backpack for a few seconds before pulling out a wrinkled piece of paper and a pen. "You can sign our petition! The mayor said we might have a chance of saving the woods if we get one hundred fifty signatures and raise enough money by this Thursday when they hold the public meeting in City Hall."
"Great! We'll definitely sign it!" Martin held out a hand. Beatrice gave him the paper, but his stomach sank as he smoothed it out. There were only about fifteen names on the entire list. He swallowed. "Uh…ah-hem…looks like you three are off to a pretty good start here." He signed it quickly and passed it along to Chris and Aviva, whose expressions reflected a similar hopelessness.
"This is an awesome idea, kids," Chris started, "but I don't think—oomp!"
Martin and Aviva each gave him a hasty jab in the ribs to shut him up.
Aviva laughed nervously. "What he meant to say is that he doesn't think you can—"
"—possibly not get enough signatures," Martin finished, forcing an encouraging smile.
The girls looked ecstatic.
"You really think so?" asked Tess, turning to Chris.
"Mm-hmm," he mumbled, glaring at Martin and Aviva and rubbing his sides.
"Alright, then," Martin quickly began herding the trio toward the entrance. "You guys better go earn that badge so you can start collecting more signatures."
The girls were just about to exit when the doors slid open and in came Koki and Jimmy. They looked much less soaked than they had earlier, but no less grumpy.
"Oh there you two are!" said Koki, folding her arms and scowling. "We've been looking for you."
Chris and Martin gulped, but relaxed as Jimmy's face suddenly broke into a wide grin.
"Sweet!" he said. "Girl scouts! You don't happen to have a spare box of cookies, do ya?"
"Naturally!" Beatrice reached into her backpack once more and pulled out a box. "I always pack one or two cartons just in case. You never know when somebody will ask. Here you go."
Licking his lips, Jimmy took the box and tore into it immediately. "Yum! I love these! Thanks!"
"That'll be six bucks, please." Beatrice held out a hand expectantly.
The pilot stopped stuffing his face as Koki giggled. "Wha…?" A few crumbs dropped out of his open mouth.
"Cough it up," demanded Tess.
Looking somewhat surprised, Jimmy handed the box to Koki and dug around in his pocket, pulling out a couple crumpled bills and dropping them into Beatrice's waiting palm.
"Thaaank you!" she said. "All proceeds from the sale of this item go to the 'Save the Woods' fund. Your donation is much appreciated."
"Oh, and if you're still around tomorrow," said Tess, "make sure to drop by our lemonade stand on the corner of Seventh and Clark Street!"
"Have a fabulous day!" added Jenna.
The three waved cheerfully and practically skipped past Koki and Jimmy on their way out the door.