5 NOW WHAT

CHAPTER 5 NOW WHAT? Mom patted Tiny's hurt leg and shook her head. "You're right, Zoey. The cut is definitely infected. And the antibacterial cream isn't working. What do you think we should do?" "I don't know." Every time I looked at the horrible cut on Tiny's leg, I felt like crying. It must hurt so much! I wished there was something I could do to fix it. "Wait! Can I go get my Thinking Goggles?" Mom nodded and I dashed off. I found them, put them on, adjusted them so they were just right, and headed back to Mom and Tiny. About fifteen seconds after putting on the Thinking Goggles, I figured it out. "An experiment!" I shouted. Mom smiled.

"I need to get rid of the infection. The antibacterial cream didn't stop the bacteria. I've got to find something that will." "Good thinking," Mom said, and gestured for me to continue. "But if I try something else on Tiny's cut, I'll have to wait a day or two to see if it's working. That would take too long." I paced around. "I need to find a way to grow a bunch of the bacteria on my own so I can test different things at the same time. And I also need to figure out a bunch of things that might stop bacteria." I stopped pacing and turned to Mom. "Ummm… how do you grow bacteria? And, uhhh, are there other kinds of creams that get rid of it?"

"How about I help you grow the bacteria, and you research other things that will stop it?" Mom suggested. I nodded. That seemed like it could work. I called up to Tiny, "I need to set up an experiment to figure out how to help your cut. Could you maybe lie down out here? I don't want to make you stand for that long. It'll take a while." I grabbed my Thinking Goggles just before Tiny

started nodding, and I managed to keep them on this time. Mom fixed her hair and then gestured for me to follow her into the barn. "I need your help carrying a few things into the house, and then we'll start cooking." "Cooking?" Mom grinned. "You'll see. For now, can you carry this and this?" She handed me a tall bag of stacked clear and very flat… jars? The bag was labeled Petri Dishes. Then she handed me a bag of powder labeled Agar Powder. Finally she tucked one of her old science journals under her arm. "Back to the house to get the rest!" she said and waved for me to follow her. When we got into the house, I set the petri dishes and agar powder on the kitchen counter, and Mom put out the container of sugar, a big carton of beef broth, and a container of salt. Sassafras, who'd missed most of the action by staying inside, paced at our feet and meowed loudly.

I grabbed a chair for him. Mom flipped open her science journal and slid it toward me. I read the recipe out loud:

"This kind of seems like making yogurt." I skimmed the list of ingredients again. "But way