CHAPTER ONE
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Macy Lang had always felt that the atrium of Clearwater City Hall was at its best as it was right now, with the summer sun streaming down through the glass ceiling and the gracious open space filled with people of all ages. The racket of the middle school science fair filled the large room, and even with the main doors thrown open and a brisk breeze sweeping through, it was warm enough to make Macy glad she had opted for a sleeveless silk blouse and linen shorts that morning.
She’d been hopping ever since, showing up early to make sure that every team got in and got set up, ensuring that this group had access to an electrical outlet and that one had enough space for their model soybean water cleaning experiment. There was a slightly hairy moment when they’d realized that the team doing a project on the insulating qualities of wool had actually brought their sheep along, but Devon Parsley, Macy’s loyal assistant, had figured it out, and now Woolly Parton the Sheep was settled at the bike rack outside in the shade and provided with water and food.
“Didn’t think being the mayor’s assistant would mean so much livestock,” Devon muttered, but Macy punched her in the arm and handed her a sports drink.
“Half the reason to get into public service is to deal with problems no one ever dreamed up before. And stay hydrated, it’s hot.”
Honestly, despite the sheep, Macy thought that this year’s science fair was going to be a home run. Things were ticking along, and now the community judges were moving through the exhibits, listening to young scientists explain exactly why they thought that fixing electrodes to a potato was going to change the world. Speaking of, that meant her break was probably over. She sighed, straightening her laminated badge, and finishing off her sandwich before she pitched the wrapper into the recycling bin. She walked over to Devon, who was holding court at the information booth.
“Hi, I’m back. Got my list of booths to judge for the afternoon?”
Devon handed her a clipboard with her judging sheets attached as well as a granola bar.
“Just four more entries for you, and then you’re done for the day, boss,” Devon said encouragingly. “The granola bar will keep your energy up if you need it.”
Macy eyed the granola bar with a wry smile before pocketing it.
“I’m rubbing off on you.”
“Nah, it’s not a cup of soup and two hours helping out at the quilting bee,” Devon retorted, which was how they’d gotten to know each other a year ago.
“Fair enough. Okay, I’m off to judge…The Effects of Taiko on the Intelligence of Mice? “
“Oh, yeah, that’s the Lincoln sisters’ project. Just follow the drumming.”
Now that she listened, Macy could hear it, a low and insistent rhythm that rumbled underneath the general clamor of the science fair. Once she noticed it, she couldn’t figure out how she’d missed it, and as Devon had suggested, she followed the sound to one of the cooler parts of the atrium, close to the back and with a little bit of shade.
The Lincoln sisters consisted of nine-year old twins, Alika and Adeola, and their serious eleven-year old sister Odera, who was wearing a blazer and shorts combination that Macy wondered if she could pull off for the next city council meeting. She gave them a big smile as she walked up.
“Heya, folks, we having fun today?”
Odera gave her a stern look.
“This isscience,”she said over the sound of the drumming coming from the Bluetooth speakers. “We are doingresearch.”
“Correct,” said Macy, a little chastened. “So what do we have here?”
“Mice!” exclaimed Alika. “This is One, and Two, and Michael, and Four…”
“She doesn’t need to know their names,” said Odera impatiently. “We’ve been running them through different mazes, two a night, for the last three weeks. Half of the mice run through without any sound–”
“That’s One and Four,” offered Adeola.
“They’re thecontrol group,which means that they don’t get any music played for them. The experimental group runs through while we play recordings of taiko, which is called kumi-daiko in Japan, that is, the art of ensemble drumming.”
Odera stepped aside to let Macy see an impressively large maze made of balsa wood, and a plastic travel cage where four admittedly adorable mice were being held. She frowned slightly at the mice, who were all huddled in one corner of the cage, piled up on top of each other like a quartet of nervous cotton balls.
“Oh, um, are they doing all right?”
“They’re stressed out from all the people,” said Alika. “Mom’s going to take them home after the judging.”
“Mice are prey animals, and they get stressed out if they see anything that even looks like a predator. Cats, birds, and snakes are all animals that eat mice,” provided Adeola, and Macy smiled, because it was clear the Lincoln girls had been doing their reading.
“That’s very right. As a matter of fact, I bet this banner hanging here looks enough like a snake that it’s bugging the heck out of your little guys. I’m just going to move it up out of the way so maybe they’ll–”
