A Case of the Clones Read online

  CONTENTS

  Chapter 1 The Ultimate Pick-Me-Up

  Chapter 2 Nuttier Than a Nut Bar

  Chapter 3 100 Percent Confused

  Chapter 4 Playing Tricks

  Chapter 5 Strange Encounters of the DATA Set Kind

  Chapter 6 Double Trouble

  Chapter 7 Catch the Clones

  Chapter 8 Don’t Touch Those Snacks!

  Chapter 9 Questions Answered

  Chapter 10 Always Time for Team Time

  About Ada Hopper and Sam Ricks

  Chapter 1

  The Ultimate Pick-Me-Up

  * * *

  “Mmmmm. I taste cranberry and pumpkin . . . ,” Cesar said as he took another gulp of juice. “With a hint of turkey gravy.”

  “No way. Something’s wrong with your taste buds,” said Laura. “It tastes like peach cobbler.”

  “You’re both wrong,” said Gabriel. “This is totally a banana milk shake.”

  “Oh, excellent!” Dr. Gustav Bunsen clapped his hands. “My Juice-o-Tronic 2000 works perfectly!”

  Gabe, Laura, and Cesar were in Dr. Bunsen’s laboratory, helping him test his newest invention, when they should have been doing their homework. But Dr. Bunsen insisted that they try his perfect “pick-me-up” drinks to boost their energy. It was going to be a busy day.

  Cesar tasted his juice again. “I don’t get it,” he said. “Mine tastes like Thanksgiving dinner.”

  “Precisely!” Bunsen said. “The Juice-o-Tronic 2000 makes juice that tastes like whatever you are craving. Mine, for example, tastes like grilled salmon and brussels sprouts!” The doctor took a big gulp.

  “Yuck!” cried Laura.

  The boys and Dr. Bunsen laughed.

  “Well, thanks for the refreshing but weird drink, Dr. B.,” said Gabe. “Now we need to go to Olive’s house.”

  “Ah, yes, Olive Thompson. Where is the newest member of the DATA Set?” Dr. Bunsen asked.

  “She’s sick,” Laura explained. “Cesar took notes for her.”

  Cesar tapped his head. “Yep. “Photographic memory. Come on, guys. After Olive’s, I have to do homework and clean my room. It’s so messy, I can’t even find my emergency brain-food snacks in there anymore.”

  “That’s nothing,” said Laura. “I have to do my homework and finish building my latest invention and patch up the tree house roof. You may not be able to find your snacks at home, Cesar, but the squirrels sure found your snacks at the tree house. They chewed a hole right through the roof!”

  “Oh no!” Cesar gasped. “Don’t tell me my homemade fruit and nut bars are—”

  “Gone,” Laura finished for him. “Reduced to crumbs.”

  Cesar groaned. “Aw, now I need to make more.” He sighed. “Add another thing to my to-do list!”

  “Well, I’ve got you both beat,” bragged Gabe. “I have to do my homework, clean my room, finish my chores, and paint posters for the bake sale and the Science Quiz Bowl.”

  “My, my, what three busy DATA Set squirrels you are!” Dr. Bunsen said. “Speaking of which, I have one more invention to show you. I’ve tested it on, well, squirrels, and the results—”

  “Sorry, Dr. B.,” Gabe interrupted. “But we really do have to go.”

  “Maybe next time,” said Cesar as he took the last sip of his juice.

  The doctor waved good-bye disappointedly as the DATA Set hurried out the door. Then he eyed their empty juice glasses.

  Chapter 2

  Nuttier Than a Nut Bar

  * * *

  “Thanks for bringing me my homework,” Olive said as her friends walked into her room. She was sitting in her pajamas. A pile of tissues filled the wastebasket next to her bed.

  “How are you feeling?” Cesar asked.

  Olive blew her nose. “Better. It’s just a cold now. I’ll be back at school tomorrow.”

  “That’s good,” said Cesar. “It’s been crazy in class. Mrs. Bell is on a homework rampage.”

  “I can tell!” Olive glanced over Cesar’s notes. “There must be thirty pages here. You sure this isn’t the teacher’s edition?”

  Cesar grinned proudly.

  Meanwhile, Laura was walking around Olive’s room. “You’ve got a lot of cool stuff in here.”

  “Yeah, what’s that fancy award for?” Gabe pointed to a framed certificate.

  “Oh, I competed in the Teslaville Prep Mathematics Bowl,” Olive said.

  Gabe looked closer at the award. “Olive, you didn’t just compete. You won first place!”

  Olive coughed. “Yeah, kind of.”

  “More like kind of great!” Cesar was impressed. “You’re a math genius!”

  Olive blushed.

  “We should hang out in your room more often,” Laura said, admiring an antique radio on Olive’s bookshelf. “You have good taste. I built a radio not too long ago. It led me to an alien. I’ll tell you about it sometime.”

  “Speaking of taste . . .” Cesar hurried over to Olive’s desk. “Energy nut bars! All right!”

  Olive giggled as Cesar helped himself to one. She looked at the stack of notes again and was suddenly overwhelmed. “I don’t know how I’m going to catch up on all this homework.”

  “Don’t worry,” said Cesar, munching away. “We’re all behind. I’m telling you, Mrs. Bell has gone nuts. Nuttier than this nut bar!”

  “Speaking of which, we should head home,” said Laura.

  “Here.” Cesar handed Olive one of her snacks. “You need an energy boost more than any of us. See you at school tomorrow?”

  Olive smiled. “You can count on it.”

  Chapter 3

  100 Percent Confused

  * * *

  The next morning Olive arrived at school early. When she bounded into the classroom, Cesar was sitting at one of the desks.

  “Hey!” Olive waved to her friend. “How come you’re here already?”

  “I am not programmed to be late,” Cesar replied.

  Olive paused. Cesar was acting very strange. “But aren’t you always late because your mom cooks you a big breakfast?”

  Cesar didn’t reply. He stared at the blackboard instead.

  Olive followed his gaze. “Oh, you must be memorizing the homework assignment for tonight! Thanks again for your notes. They were a huge help.” She searched through her backpack and pulled out an energy nut bar. “Here, I brought this to say thank you.”

  “I do not need that,” he said.

  “Wow! Are you okay?” Olive asked disappointedly. “I’ve never heard you say no to a snack before.”

  “I am not hungry.”

  Olive’s mouth dropped open. “Cesar Garcia Moreno? Not hungry? Are you joking? I mean, first, you are never early to school and second . . .”

  Before she could finish, Cesar stood up. “Lesson learned. I am never early to school,” he said in a flat voice. Then he marched out of the classroom.

  “Gee,” she said, looking down at the nut bar. “I really thought he would like this.”

  Just then students began filing through the door. Mrs. Bell came in too, and clunked down extra-thick assignment packets on her desk.

  “Hey, Olive!” Gabe called as he and Laura walked inside. “How are you feeling?”

  “Okay,” said Olive. “Have you guys seen Cesar this morning?”

  “That’s my name; don’t wear it out,” Cesar interrupted as he entered the classroom holding a half-eaten banana.

  Olive looked at him in surprise. “I thought you weren’t hungry.” Then she noticed his blue shirt. “And why did you change?”

  Cesar raised an eyebrow.

  “Oh, Olive, you know me. I’ll never change.”

  “Seriously.” Gabe chuckled. “Cesar’s
always hungry!”

  “It’s true,” Cesar said with his mouth full. “Oh, are you going to eat that energy bar?”

  “But I just saw you sitting over there.” Olive pointed to Cesar’s empty desk. “You were wearing a green shirt. And you said you weren’t hungry.”

  Laura looked at Olive. “Hey, are you sure you’re feeling better?” She felt Olive’s forehead and compared it to hers.

  Did I really just imagine talking to Cesar? thought Olive. “Hmmm, maybe I’m not one hundred percent better yet,” she said. Olive asked Mrs. Bell if she could go see the school nurse. As she left the classroom, Olive was certain about one thing. She may not be 100 percent better, but she sure was 100 percent confused.

  Chapter 4

  Playing Tricks

  * * *

  As Olive walked to the nurse’s office, students rushed past her to get to class on time. Everyone darted left and right into open classroom doors until, finally, there was only one other student left in the hall. He was tacking up posters.

  Olive blinked. It was Gabe!

  “Gabe?” she asked, coming up behind him. “Why aren’t you back in class?”

  Gabe didn’t turn around. “I am supposed to hang bake sale posters,” he said.

  Olive studied his outfit. “I could have sworn you were wearing a red sweatshirt,” she murmured.

  Two straggling students raced by. “We’re gonna be late!” one of them cried.

  “Wait,” the other student, Ben, said. “Hey, Gabe, I need your help with the extra-credit question from Mrs. Bell’s homework. Are dinosaurs related to chickens? What’s the answer?”

  Gabe tacked up another poster. “I am not supposed to know this,” he said.

  The boys and Olive stood there, shocked.

  “Dude, Mrs. Bell’s homework stumped Gabe from the DATA Set!” Ben exclaimed as he and his friend sprinted off to class.

  Olive turned to Gabe. “You know the answer, but you didn’t want to cheat, right?” she said. “I mean, you know everything about dinosaurs, right?”

  “I know the posters need to be hung,” Gabe said stiffly. “Please do not interrupt.”

  “Oh—I . . . ,” Olive stammered. She didn’t mean to bother him. “Sorry,” she said quietly.

  Gabe picked up a new stack of posters and walked away.

  Olive frowned. Now two of her friends were acting really strange.

  At the nurse’s office, Ms. Phillips took Olive’s temperature. After a few more tests, the nurse told her everything seemed normal, and sent Olive back to class.

  “I don’t think anything seems normal today,” Olive mumbled as she left.

  When Olive returned, Mrs. Bell was going over the extra-credit question on the homework assignment.

  “And finally,” Mrs. Bell said. She looked at Gabe. “I’m assuming you’d like to answer this one, Mr. Martinez?”

  Gabe grinned. “You bet! Dinosaurs are related to chickens.”

  “That’s correct,” said Mrs. Bell. “Well done!”

  Olive glanced at Ben. He was giving Gabe an odd look.

  “Gabe,” Olive whispered. “Why did you pretend to not know the answer before?”

  “What are you talking about?” Gabe asked.

  “The dinosaurs and chickens,” Olive said. “You said you didn’t know the answer.”

  Gabe made a funny face. “Me? Not know an answer about dinosaurs? Not to brag, but I know everything about dinosaurs.”

  “I think even the dinosaurs know that,” whispered Laura. “And they’re extinct!”

  Gabe, Laura, and Cesar laughed, but Olive’s face fell. She didn’t think the joke was funny at all.

  So much for a warm welcome back, thought Olive.

  Chapter 5

  Strange Encounters of the DATA Set Kind

  * * *

  After school Olive hid under the jungle gym—alone. She had avoided her friends for the rest of the day. It wasn’t nice of them to play a trick on her—pretending they hadn’t seen her or talked to her when they clearly had. She suddenly missed her old friends back in Teslaville.

  Then another kid appeared in front of her.

  Olive yelped. It was Laura!

  “You shouldn’t sneak up on people like that,” Olive exclaimed.

  Laura ignored her. She opened a toolbox and began tinkering with the jungle gym.

  “I guess you’re pretending you don’t see me too,” Olive said shortly.

  Laura still didn’t reply. She unbolted a bar from the jungle gym.

  “What are you doing?” Olive asked.

  “I must remove the support beams,” Laura answered.

  “Why?”

  “I must repair the tree house,” she responded.

  Olive looked up at the towering jungle gym full of kids. “Wait! What if that’s part of a load-bearing slide? This whole playground could collapse without it!”

  Laura paused and said, “Negative.” Then she took apart the bars and carried them away.

  “Hold up!” Olive called, but Laura ran around the school out of sight. Olive was in shock. Playing a trick on her was one thing, but this was going too far. “Something’s not right. I need to get help.”

  Then she turned and ran—right smack into Gabe, Laura, and Cesar!

  “Whoa, Olive, slow down!” exclaimed Laura.

  Olive stared at Laura. She felt like her head was spinning. “How are you here? I just saw you under the jungle gym.”

  “What are you talking about?” Laura asked. “We came to find you.”

  “We’ve barely seen you all day,” said Cesar. “Is something going on?”

  Olive had had it with their jokes. “This isn’t funny anymore. First off, when I saw Cesar early this morning, I offered him an energy nut bar, but he didn’t want it.”

  “I WHAT?” cried Cesar. “I would never do that! I actually dreamed about those bars last night. Dreamed about them!”

  “And then I saw Gabe putting up bake sale posters in the hallway,” Olive continued. “Ben saw you there too. He asked you about the dinosaur extra-credit question, but you didn’t know the answer.”

  Gabe scratched his head. “Whoever you saw in the hallway definitely wasn’t me. I wondered who put up those posters—they stole my job!”

  Olive shook her head. “I’m sure it was you. And then just now—”

  Laura interrupted her. “Let me guess. You saw me.”

  Olive nodded. “You took the jungle gym apart!”

  “Hmmm,” said Laura. “So Cesar refused food, Gabe didn’t know the answer to a dinosaur question, and I apparently took apart the jungle gym? Guys, are you picking up on a pattern here?”

  “Bunsen!” the friends moaned.

  Chapter 6

  Double Trouble

  * * *

  “Well, of course it was me!” The doctor rummaged around his lab while the DATA Set watched.

  “But how did you make doubles of us?” Laura asked.

  “And why?” added Gabe.

  Dr. Bunsen searched through a delivery crate as he explained. “It was quite simple! My other latest invention, which I wanted to show you yesterday, is the Clone-o-Matic. It can instantly replicate anything. I—shoo, Oscar!” The doctor batted away a curious squirrel nosing into the crate.

  Dr. Bunsen adjusted his goggles. “I used the DNA from your juice glasses to make exact replicas of you. You were so busy, I thought extra hands might do the trick.”

  “Oh, it did the trick all right,” said Olive. “It tricked me into thinking Gabe, Laura, and Cesar were making fun of me!”

  “Making fun?” the doctor asked, puzzled. “But that seems unlike—OSCAR, I TOLD YOU TO WAIT!”

  The squirrel scurried away as the doctor closed his oversized pantry doors.

  Dr. Bunsen sighed. “Since I’ve tested my Clone-o-Matic on squirrels, I’m afraid I’ve created some extra-hungry friends.”

  “Here, try these.” Olive held out her box of energy nut bars. Oscar the squirrel
leaped up and snatched a bar away before Dr. Bunsen could even take it.

  “Aw,” said Cesar. “Those were mine.”

  “So is there a way to un-clone the clones?” asked Gabe.

  “Of course!” said the doctor. “I simply need to hit the reverse button. Though, we must find the clones first.”

  Laura grinned. “If they’re our doubles, there’s only one place we’d be.”

  The DATA Set and Dr. Bunsen went to Laura’s superawesome tree house. Sure enough, there were the clones! Clone-Cesar was doing homework. Clone-Gabe was painting more signs. And Clone-Laura was patching the hole in the roof.

  “All right, my young friends,” said Dr. Bunsen as he lifted the Clone-o-Matic. “Huzzah!”

  There was a bright flash as the doctor set off the device. When the light faded, everyone looked around.

  “Did it work?” asked Olive.

  “Oh, dear, oh, dear, oh, double dear,” said Dr. Bunsen as he shook his head. Across the room there were six clones instead of three!

  “Um, maybe my math is off, but why are there even more of us now?” cried Cesar.

  “The Clone-o-Matic was set to Double the Trouble instead of—”

  Before Bunsen could finish, the clones scattered away!

  “Quick, Dr. B.!” cried Gabe. “Undouble them!”

  “I’m afraid my invention can’t handle this many clones at once,” Dr. Bunsen said. “I’ll need to recharge it.”