Chapter 9

9 "Welcome to Newburg Orchard," Dr. Crisp said. Pablo and Violet had been here many times with their families. They saw the familiar big red barn and silo. But the rest of the place didn't look anything like they remembered. In fact, it didn't look like much of an orchard at all. "Is something wrong?" Deepak asked. Pablo scratched his cheek. "It's normally full of colorful fruit trees." But these fields were dusty brown and covered in wheat.

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Violet turned to Dr. Crisp. "Last year some of the trees in Newburg Forest got infected with nasty bacteria. My dad called it a yellow disease. I wanted to try to cure them." Violet crossed her arms and frowned. "But he didn't let me. Did the trees get some kind of disease?" "Not this time," said Dr. Crisp. She took her pencil and pointed toward the wheat fields. "An important member of the Newburg Orchard ecosystem has vanished. And I'm not talking about the trees. It's up to you, Makers, to figure out who's missing." Pablo, Violet, and Deepak set off to explore. "Well," began Pablo, "fruit trees are plants." "Maybe whatever is missing helps plants live," said Deepak. "But not all plants are gone," observed Violet. The orchard was full of wheat. "Look over there!" Pablo pointed behind the barn. There was a small plot of land with a few trees that were full of flowers. The trio ran over to investigate.

As they got closer, they could see people up in the trees. Each person was holding a paintbrush. "What are they doing? Are they painting the flowers?" asked Pablo. "That's weird," said Violet. There was also a fruit stand near one of the trees with some pears on it. "These must be pear trees," said Pablo. He turned to the people working in the trees. "Excuse

me," he said. No one responded. "Maybe they can't hear you," said Violet. She moved closer to the tree. "Excuse me!" she shouted. Silence. Pablo saw a man coming down from one of the trees on a ladder. He walked over to him. "Excuse me, can you…?" Pablo tried to tap the man on his arm. BIZZAP! His finger went straight through him! "Violet, Deepak, check this out!" Pablo shouted. He waved his hand through the man again. BIZZAP! "They're just holograms."

"That's kind of creepy," said Deepak. Violet laughed. "Wow! Maybe that's why they can't talk." She took a few steps back, then started to run. "Out of my way!" she said. She ran past Pablo and Deepak and straight through the hologram. BIZZAP! The man shivered and looked around. Deepak gasped. "Look what you did," whispered Pablo. But the man continued on his way.