Picture's Worth a Thousand Clues

Picture's Worth a Thousand Clues — page 5 — Liv counted the cameras There are twenty of them in the bag What are we going to do with twenty cameras Leo asked Each camera was a small rectangular box plastic covered with cardboard At the top was a small plastic viewfinder Liv took a picture of Leo Hey I wasn’t ready Leo complained He ran a hand over his sandy brown hair pushing his bangs off his eyes and sucked in his belly I want to pose It was a candid shot Liv replied She wound the film and fired off two more pictures before Leo could complain again She took two shots of Michael And then they gathered around the dumpster for a group selfie When the roll was done Liv asked Michael I know there’s film inside but how do you see the pictures in one of these things We need a store to develop the film Michael said He wondered if there was a place that did that in the neighborhood If not maybe he could learn to develop film That would be fun He thought that Grandpa Henry might know how He was eighty years old and knew pretty much everything Michael was excited to show Grandpa the cameras Grandpa Henry lived with Michael and his parents in their old purple Victorian house The house was at the top of the hill and Grandpa’s glass windows overlooked the whole street I wonder what Grandpa would do with a bag of cameras Michael considered as he packed them into his backpack for the trip home It was an old blue pack he’d picked up from the trash at school Liv had fixed the holes in the bottom with shiny silver duct tape and written Maker Sack on it with extra strips of tape Grandpa would probably use them to make a spaceship to the moon Liv said chuckling Michael and Liv’s moms were sisters and Grandpa Henry was Michael’s grandpa on his dad’s side So Liv wasn’t related to Henry by blood Still she and Leo

Picture's Worth a Thousand Clues — page 6 — called him Grandpa Henry All the kids on Shaker Street did If there was a way to do that I bet he would figure it out Leo agreed Now we have fabric and cameras Liv said as Michael hefted the Maker Sack onto his shoulders And these dowels and a ball of twine Michael said Liv was carrying the things from the art store dumpster And the clothespins you found yesterday Leo added Plus everything else in the Maker Shack The shelves of the shack were filled with things that Michael and his friends had found at yard sales and in other dumpsters around town The trio trudged up Shaker Street It was a big hill and Leo liked to walk slowly As they walked Michael looked up at his house There was a large bird circling Grandpa’s glass tower room Its wings were stretched out as it soared through the sky Michael wondered what the bird could see from way up there Then suddenly he had a brilliant idea

Picture's Worth a Thousand Clues — page 7 — CHAPTER TWO We need scissors and ribbon Michael told his friends Liv was busy emptying the Maker Sack onto the clubhouse’s long workbench The bench was made of an old door sitting on top of fruit crates She put the camera she’d used at the dumpster to the side so it wouldn’t get mixed into Michael’s project What are we making Liv asked Well I saw a bird on the way home Michael started A bird Leo cut in Where When On the way to Michael’s they’d stopped at the house where Leo and his dad rented the top floor Leo had picked up his computer Now he booted it up Was it a bird of prey I don’t think so Michael said He stretched out his arms It soared like a kite Liv finished She lifted the wedding dress fabric that Michael had found in the dumpster This’ll be perfect We’re making a kite Leo asked He leaned back in the plastic chair Michael had bought for two dollars at a garage sale Leo’s desk space was an unfinished piece of wood on two piles of bricks Uh why Cause it’s fun Liv said rushing around the clubhouse looking for supplies Plastic bins and cardboard boxes were stacked on shelves She found the scissors and gave them to Michael Ever heard of a bird’s-eye view Michael asked I thought we’d attach one of the cameras to the kite and see what a bird sees Leo’s fingers clicked across his keyboard A GPS satellite can show you exactly what’s out there he said Let me But don’t you want to make something Michael asked He pointed to a big sign

Picture's Worth a Thousand Clues — page 8 — on the wall The rules were written on cardboard in black permanent marker Couldn’t we just buy a drone Leo asked He was looking at shopping websites The mall has drones you can try The new ones all have cameras Making things is better Michael said pointing again at the Makers rules And I don’t have any money do you No not that much Liv said shaking her head Leo patted his empty pockets and said I changed my mind It’s cool to make our own drone Wanting to research something online Leo suggested How about if I look

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