Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15 Michael's bedroom window slid open, and Merle sailed outside. He zipped high above the houses and treetops, looking down on the world below. He had never been this high up! "Whoa— this is amazing!" he shouted. Bob, Mary, and Larry heard the buzz of the drone and Merle's shout and came out of their tree houses to investigate.

"I didn't know you were a flying squirrel, Merle!" Larry hollered. "My cousin can fly too!" Larry did, in fact, have a flying squirrel cousin in North Carolina. "Technically, that's more of a glide! This is flying!" Merle boasted as he performed a giant loop the loop, followed by a climbing corkscrew and a two-point roll. The three Tennessee squirrels cheered and applauded Merle's aerobatics. Pearl popped her head out of the window. "Merle! Be careful!" she called out. "Don't worry, Pearl!" Merle called back. "I'm fine! This couldn't get any better!"

It turns out that Merle was only partly correct. He was right that things couldn't get any better— because they got immediately worse! But he was very wrong about being fine! Merle suddenly lost control over the drone. When he tried to zip left, he somehow moved right. "Huh?" he uttered as he tried to move left again but kept going straight. "Where you goin', Merle?!" Bob yelled. "I'm trying to—" Merle paused in horror at the sight below him. About a half mile in the distance stood the man in the suit and sunglasses beside his white car. He was operating a remote that seemed to be overriding Merle's, controlling the drone! Merle was like a helpless fish being reeled in to shore after taking the bait!

Because she was close to the ground, Pearl couldn't see what Merle saw. "What's happening?!" she called up to Bob. "HELP!!!" Merle cried.