Chapter 3

3 The ground became still. The grass and flowers didn't budge. The three friends slowly wandered around the silent meadow. Each time they opened the portal to the Maker Maze, everyone and everything else froze in place! "Whoa…," Violet said. "Look at that!" She pointed up. A bat was upside down and frozen midflight! Its mouth was open.

"Must have been chasing after a bug!" said Pablo. "Oh no!" Deepak shouted. "What's wrong?" asked Violet. "My mom's binoculars! I lost them!" Deepak replied. "Didn't you set them down—" Violet began. "Over there!" Pablo exclaimed. They ran over to the pair of binoculars. They were glowing in a circle of purple light. Deepak knelt to pick them up. He felt a tickle on his fingertips as they passed through the light. BIZZAP! He giggled as he pulled his hand back. "I'm sure they'll be fine here," said Violet. She looked around at all the frozen faces. Then she reached one hand down to Deepak and the other to Pablo. "Ready?" The trio leaned in close to the beaming binoculars.

"Here we go!" Pablo called into the evening sky. One by one, they were squeezed through the portal. BIZZAP! They landed feetfirst on the floor of the Maker Maze. The room was huge and filled with all kinds of fun science equipment. The Makers

wandered along the lab tables that held odd plants and flasks of mysterious, bubbling liquids. "It's even cooler than I remember," said Deepak. "I think it gets cooler each time we come back," said Violet. The trio passed by large jars with buzzing bugs and a line of zero gravity chambers that held floating crystals. Next to the never-ending hallway were two robots sitting at a giant microscope. They were taking turns looking through the lens. Across the room, a screen showed that everyone was still frozen in the Newburg Meadow. "Well, howdy, Makers!" a voice boomed from behind. Pablo, Violet, and Deepak turned and smiled at the tall woman with wild rainbow hair. "It's magnificent to see you again!" Dr. Crisp continued, clapping her hands. "Hey, stranger! Glad you're back," she said to Deepak. "Me too! I've missed this place," he replied. "Dr. Crisp! Dr. Crisp!" Pablo shouted as he jumped up and down. "We have to learn about

space on this challenge. We were just about to watch a meteor shower before we got your riddle!" Dr. Crisp smiled and pulled a large umbrella out of the front pocket of her lab coat. She opened it and said, "I'm always prepared for bad weather!" The Makers laughed. "It's not that kind of shower, Dr. Crisp," said Pablo.

"Yeah," added Deepak. "It's more like fireworks!" Dr. Crisp winked. "Just teasing!" She set the umbrella on the floor. "Well, let's get this show on the road!" She went to grab the Maker Manual off a lab table. But it wasn't there. "Uh-oh." Dr. Crisp removed a pencil from behind her ear and rubbed her chin with the eraser. She snapped her head in one direction, then in the other. She darted up and down along each lab table. Suddenly, she dropped to her hands and knees and squinted at the floor. Finally, she stood up and shrugged. "What are we going to do?" asked Pablo, scratching his cheek. He really didn't want anything to go wrong today. "Wait a minute!" said Dr. Crisp. She reached up and dug around in her hair with both hands. She pulled and tugged a bit before removing a glittering lab notebook. "Well, flip my flask! Forgot that I stuck it up there while I was cleaning. Now, did someone say