9 Frisbee Time

CHAPTER NINE FRISBEE TIME AT RECESS THE next day, Thursday, we launched our plan to get the greenhouse keys. We hurried toward the back of the playground near the woods. That's where the school garden was. We had figured out our roles at lunch. I would throw the Frisbee.

Rosie would negotiate with Mr. Willow. Simon would dig the holes. Rosie and Simon watched Mr. Willow. He was the teacher on the playground with us that day. He was shooting baskets with some of the girls in my class— including Katie. "He's not looking, Molly," Rosie said. "Go ahead and throw it. Try to get it in the middle of the roof." I was pretty nervous. I'm not, like, totally athletic or anything. I took a deep breath—and threw the Frisbee. It was a perfect shot. Whew. It landed near the center of the greenhouse's screen roof. We could all see it sag a little in the middle. "Perfect throw!" Simon exclaimed.

"Okay," Rosie said. "My turn. Let's hope this works." Simon and I watched as Rosie ran over to Mr. Willow. We couldn't hear her, but we watched as she talked and motioned with her hands. She pretended to throw a Frisbee. She pointed up in the air—and at the greenhouse. She made a poking motion up toward the sky. And then Mr. Willow did exactly what we wanted him to do. He reached into his pocket, retrieved his keys, and pointed to the one that opened the greenhouse door.

Rosie ran back. "How fast can you dig ten holes?" Rosie asked Simon as she unlocked the glass door to the greenhouse. "Super fast," he answered and pulled the little shovel from his back pocket. "Great," Rosie said. She opened the door. "I told Mr. Willow that I was going to poke and nudge the Frisbee with a tomato stake to get it off the roof. I'm going to look busy, but I'm not actually going to knock it off until you're done."

Simon nodded. "And Molly," Rosie explained further. "You stand outside and do a lot of pointing and gesturing. Act like you're going to catch it. And spy on Mr. Willow. But don't look like you're spying." "How do I do that?" Simon said, "Just spy casually." He didn't see the puzzled look on my face. He was already gone. Rosie went into the greenhouse right after him. Simon started to dig frantically. And Rosie started poking the Frisbee closer to the edge of the roof so it would eventually topple over toward me. I could tell she was missing on purpose a lot.

After a few minutes, Simon called, "Five done! Five to go!" The Frisbee was about three feet from the edge. I glanced over my shoulder as casually as I could. Mr. Willow wasn't shooting baskets anymore. His arms were crossed against his chest. He stared in our direction. And so did Katie. "You guys," I called and turned back around. "I think we're running out of time."