Chapter 1 A Shooting Star My vision was blurry I was trying to keep the sweat from getting into my eyes but it wasn’t working The houses faded behind me with each turn of my bike pedals The brilliant oranges and reds of the trees blurred as I sped by I could see my breath as I rode the bike up the hill Fake skeletons and cotton spider webs were all over the houses Soon youngsters in costumes would come out to collect candy This year would be the first year in my ten-year-old life that I wouldn’t be joining them 8
My bike passenger was squeezing my stomach a little too tightly It was hard to keep going But I had to push on faster and faster The Battle of the Bands and the fate of everyone involved depended on it See I had decided to try my detective work at a new school for a while I moved my operation to Edwin East But they didn’t really like the idea of a student detective there They thought I was out to get them But really I was out to help them That’s what got me where I was on my bike I turned onto Jugg Street and pedaled through crowds of people strolling along the sidewalk I weaved and screamed trying to get them out of my way I rode off the sidewalk and pedaled harder across the street Huffing and puffing I felt the burn in my chest become more and more intense My legs were tensing up and I felt like they would go up in flames I reached the main gate and a poster by the entrance read Edwin East’s Battle of 9
the Bands Featuring Hearts Not Farts Tonight only Past the sign I saw a large crowd Wait not crowd it was a mob They were waiting by the entrance wild with excitement But I was headed for the Dumpster I expertly avoided the crowd through the side entrance We skidded to a stop by the Dumpster without anyone seeing us Next we had to climb into the Dumpster and wait MacGuffin my partner and best pal was going to give the all clear Now a Dumpster isn’t my idea of a great place to spend some time But it was all part of the plan the plan to deliver Edwin East’s shooting star 11
