9. Why You Should Never Eat an Apple with a Hole in It

Chapter 9 Why You Should Never Eat an Apple with a Hole in It Abe led us to a wide, long building. An apple tree was painted on its front door. Emma and Gus carried our almost-but-not-quite-full basket. I carried our picking poles. Wyatt carried the Amazing Apple.

The building smelled yummy inside. Like cinnamon applesauce and taffy apples. We set our baskets by the door. Abe gathered up our poles. "This is where we clean our apples," he said. "We sort them here too. Some of the apples are too little to sell. We use those to make applesauce." "Do we get to eat some free applesauce?" I asked. "You sure do," said Abe. "We make applesauce in the room next to this one." Abe waved for us to follow him. He paused in front of a big glass window. On the other side we could see giant pots of gooey appley-looking stuff. "That's the applesauce mixture after it's been cooked. It's cooled off, and sugar and cinnamon

have been added. Next it will go into containers to be sold," Abe explained. He led us to a huge tub of bubbly water. It was as big as a wading pool. And as high as my belly button. Apples floated in the water like little boats.

It looked like we were going to have a giant dunking-for-apples Halloween party. Next to the tub was another one filled with plain water. After that came a long moving belt.

It looked just like the conveyor belts at the grocery store checkout line. This one was covered with apples, though, instead of milk cartons and dog food and toilet paper. I felt in my pocket. The magic fortune-telling ball was still there, safe and sound. So far, it had been right about whether this would be a good field trip. I was definitely having fun. "This tub is where the apples get washed," Abe explained. "Think of it as a big apple bathtub." "Can I wash my Amazing Apple, Abe?" Wyatt asked. "Our Amazing Apple," I corrected. Wyatt held up the apple so Abe could see it. "Whoa, that is a big fella," said Abe.

Ms. Diz said, "Boys, every child will take home a bag of apples. Your moms and dads can wash them when you get home, and then you can eat them." "Here's an idea," Abe said. "Why don't we run this big ol' apple through the wash? It's so huge, the kids might be able to keep track of it. Go ahead, young man. Throw it in the vat with all the bubbles." Wyatt tossed the apple into the bubbly tub. Plop! It disappeared, then floated to the surface. "Boys and girls," Abe said, "keep your eye on the apple. First it will be washed in this tub. Then it will move on to be rinsed." The apple disappeared into a metal tube. Abe led us to the second huge tub. This one didn't have any bubbles.