Grand Canyon Grab

by Ron Roy

  DINK, JOSH, AND RUTH ROSE AREN’T THE ONLY KID DETECTIVES!

  CAN YOU FIND THE HIDDEN MESSAGE INSIDE THIS BOOK?

  There are 26 illustrations in this book, not counting the one on the title page, the map at the beginning, and the picture of the cabin that repeats at the start of many of the chapters. In each of the 26 illustrations, there’s a hidden letter. If you can find all the letters, you will spell out a secret message!

  If you’re stumped, the answer is on the bottom of this page.

  This one is for Parker Roy, man’s best friend.

  —R.R.

  To all the national park rangers

  —J.S.G.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Text copyright © 2019 by Ron Roy

  Cover art copyright © 2019 by Stephen Gilpin

  Interior illustrations copyright © 2019 by John Steven Gurney

  All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.

  Random House and the colophon and A to Z Mysteries are registered trademarks and A Stepping Stone Book and the colophon and the A to Z Mysteries colophon are trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.

  Visit us on the Web!

  SteppingStonesBooks.com

  rhcbooks.com

  Educators and librarians, for a variety of teaching tools, visit us at RHTeachersLibrarians.com

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Roy, Ron, author. | Gurney, John Steven, illustrator.

  Title: Grand Canyon grab / by Ron Roy ; illustrated by John Steven Gurney.

  Description: New York : Random House, [2019] | Series: A to Z mysteries. Super edition ; 11 | “A Stepping Stone book.” | Summary: The star of their favorite television show is kidnapped at the Grand Canyon, and it is up to Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose to find him.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2017048672 | ISBN 978-0-525-57886-4 (trade) | ISBN 978-0-525-57887-1 (lib. bdg.) | ISBN 978-0-525-57888-8 (ebook)

  Subjects: CYAC: Kidnapping—Fiction. | Grand Canyon (Ariz.)—Fiction. | Mystery and detective stories.

  Classification: LCC PZ7.R8139 Gp 2019 | DDC [Fic]—dc23

  Ebook ISBN 9780525578888

  This book has been officially leveled by using the F&P Text Level Gradient™ Leveling System.

  Random House Children’s Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read.

  v5.4

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  Contents

  Cover

  Dedication

  Copyright

  Title Page

  Map

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  “Josh, what are you doing?” Dink asked. He watched Josh slide five or six energy bars into his cargo pants pocket.

  “I might get hungry,” Josh answered.

  “But we just ate breakfast!” Ruth Rose said, slipping her binoculars into her backpack. Ruth Rose liked her clothes to match. Today she was wearing red from her headband to her sneakers.

  Josh grinned. “We did?” he asked. “Gee, I don’t remember!”

  “And we’re having a picnic with my uncle in about two hours,” Dink reminded his friend.

  “Okay, Donny,” Josh teased.

  Dink’s full name was Donald David Duncan, but most people called him by his nickname, Dink. His uncle had always called him Donny.

  The kids were on their spring vacation in Arizona. Dink’s uncle Warren Duncan had invited them to join him on a trip to the Grand Canyon. They were staying at Bright Angel Lodge. When Dink looked out his window, he could see the rim of the Grand Canyon.

  Josh sat on his bed. “Actually, I’m a little nervous,” he admitted. “And when I get nervous—”

  “You eat!” Dink interrupted.

  “Why are you nervous?” Ruth Rose asked.

  Josh threw himself back on his pillow. “Well, let’s see,” he said, gazing up at the ceiling. “This morning, I go up a hundred miles in a hot-air balloon. Tomorrow I ride a donkey a hundred miles to the bottom of the Grand Canyon!”

  Dink grinned. “It’ll be a blast!” he said. “And it’s not a hundred miles. The balloon only goes up about three miles, tops.”

  “Three miles!” Josh croaked. He closed his eyes and pretended to faint.

  Ruth Rose opened her guidebook and read. “We’ll be riding mules tomorrow, not donkeys,” she said, pointing to a picture. “They look cute!”

  Josh sighed. “Mules, donkeys, elephants…what’s the difference?” He looked at Ruth Rose. “How far is it to the bottom?”

  “Well, the canyon is a mile deep,” she said, reading from her book. “But the ride is a little over nine miles, which will take about five hours.”

  “I have to sit on a mule for five hours?” Josh asked. “Do they bite?”

  “Yeah,” Dink said. “They bite nervous boys.”

  Ruth Rose checked the clock next to Dink’s bed. “It’s time for Roger to the Rescue,” she said, turning on the TV. “That should relax you, Josh.”

  Josh sat up. “Cool! Roger’s at the North Pole this week,” he said.

  Roger to the Rescue was their favorite TV show. It was about a kid named Roger Good and his pet parrot, Tommy. In each show, Roger visited a different part of the world. He met people who were trying to help animals and the environment. The week before, Roger and Tommy had been in India, helping a scientist save a baby tiger trapped in quicksand.

  “Scoot over!” Dink said. He and Ruth Rose jumped on Josh’s bed as the show came on. First the kids saw a T-shirt with a circle on the front. Inside the circle were the letters RTTR, which stood for Roger to the Rescue.

  The camera moved up to show Roger Good’s face. He was played by Parker Stone, a teen actor. Roger put two fingers in his mouth and whistled. A gray parrot with a bright red tail flew to his shoulder.

  In this episode, Roger and Tommy found two lost polar bear cubs and returned them to their mother. The final scene showed Roger sipping hot chocolate. Tommy was eating raisins out of a little purple box.

  Then these words appeared on the TV screen: PLEASE VISIT ROGER AND TOMMY AT THEIR WEBSITE!

  As the show ended, Josh let out a whistle.

  “You sound just like Roger!” Ruth Rose said. She shut off the TV and grabbed her backpack. “Come on, we have to be in the lobby in two minutes!”

  The lobby of Bright Angel Lodge was busy and noisy. Guests were checking in and out. Hikers with backpacks stood around, drinking from water bottles and texting on cell phones.

  Dink spotted his uncle talking to a tall man in shorts and a red shirt. The man’s brown hair was tied in a ponytail. Uncle Warren waved, and the three kids hurried over.

  “Kids, this is Randy Cane, your pilot,” Uncle Warren said. “Ready to go up?”

  “We’re ready!” Dink told his uncle. The kids all sh
ook hands with Randy.

  “Does the balloon really go up a m-mile?” Josh asked.

  Randy shook his head. “Not today,” he said. “We’ll only be up about three thousand feet.”

  “That’s still pretty high, isn’t it?” Josh asked.

  “It’s a little more than half a mile,” Randy said. He smiled at Josh. “Are you afraid of heights, buddy?”

  Josh gulped. “I’m just a little nervous,” he admitted.

  “Actually, I’m pretty nervous, too,” Ruth Rose said. She nudged Dink and gave him a look.

  “Yeah, I’m nervous, too!” Dink said, catching on. “I’ve never been in a hot-air balloon before.”

  Uncle Warren patted Josh’s shoulder. “And I’m the most nervous because I’m the oldest!”

  “I was plenty scared my first time, too,” Randy said. “Let’s get going, and I’ll give you a balloon lesson while we drive.”

  They followed Randy outside, where it was sunny and mild. Dink stepped over a puddle near the lodge door.

  “Thanks, you guys,” Josh whispered.

  “No problem,” Dink said. “We can’t let you be nervous all by yourself!”

  Randy’s van was sky blue. Both sides had been painted with pictures of hot-air balloons floating in the clouds.

  Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose slid into the seats behind Randy and Dink’s uncle. They all clicked their seat belts. Randy drove out of the parking lot and headed away from the lodge.

  “The balloon itself is just a giant bag,” he began. “We call it the envelope, and it’s made of real strong nylon. My balloon is shaped like an upside-down teardrop, with an opening at the bottom called the mouth. You’ll be riding in a basket that hangs beneath the balloon.”

  “We’re sitting in a basket half a mile up in the sky?” Josh moaned.

  “These are special baskets, my friend,” Randy said. “They’re made with super-strong steel. Very safe!”

  “It must be a big basket, to fit all five of us,” Uncle Warren commented.

  Randy nodded. “Mine will hold us comfortably,” he said. “But I’ve seen other baskets that carry eight people or more.”

  “How do you make the balloon go up?” Dink asked.

  “We fill it with hot air,” Randy said. “Since hot air is lighter than the air that surrounds the envelope, the balloon rises.”

  “Where do you get the hot air?” Josh asked.

  “Great question,” Randy said. “First I use a big fan to blow air into the envelope. Then I turn on my burner, which makes flames that heat the air. As the air gets warmer, the balloon floats up.”

  Randy pulled off the main road onto a bumpy one. He steered his van across a broad field of grass and wildflowers. In the distance, the kids could see more hot-air balloons. Some were in the air with their baskets still on the ground. Other balloons were being filled with air by huge fans. The generators that operated the fans created a loud roar.

  Randy parked next to a yellow balloon with blue stripes. Everyone climbed out of the van and stood near the balloon. The basket was on the ground, tied to wooden stakes. The envelope was already filled with air.

  “This is mine,” Randy said. He pulled a set of folding steps from inside the basket and set it on the ground. Then he helped Uncle Warren and the kids climb aboard. Uncle Warren snapped pictures of the other balloons.

  They were standing in a square basket about ten feet on each side. The sides came up to Dink’s chin, so nobody could fall out. Dink saw a coil of rope, a white food cooler, a toolbox, and a lumpy duffel bag. Tall metal tanks with PROPANE GAS stenciled on the surface stood against one side of the basket. Lying near the tanks was a rolled-up rug.

  Randy’s head appeared over the edge of the basket. “You folks all ready?” he asked.

  “I guess so,” Josh said.

  Randy untied the cables from the stakes, quickly scrambled into the basket, and removed the steps. He yanked a valve on the burner, and flames shot up into the balloon’s mouth.

  “Hang on to the sides!” Randy shouted over the noise of the burner. “There are hats in that duffel if your ears get cold!”

  The balloon began to float up. Dink looked over the side and watched the basket leave the ground. They rose higher and higher. Things below them grew smaller. Other balloons were in the sky around them. Some of the passengers waved to each other.

  “This is so exciting!” Dink’s uncle said. “I didn’t think there would be so many other balloons!”

  “There are thousands in the sky on a nice day,” Randy said. “Three of my best friends own balloon companies.”

  “How are you feeling?” Dink asked Josh.

  “I’m not sick yet!” Josh said.

  Dink grinned. “Good. If you need to throw up, do it over the side!”

  The three kids were thrilled to see birds flying past their balloon. Other balloons floated above and below them. Randy pulled on ropes that hung from the sides. “I’m opening vents to release a little hot air,” he explained. “That lets me turn the balloon so you can see stuff all around us.”

  “Hey, there’s the Grand Canyon!” Josh yelled.

  “Yup. We’re only a mile from the South Rim,” Randy said.

  The kids looked over the sides of the basket. Below them, the ground looked like a brown, green, and yellow patchwork quilt. Cars and trucks moved around like bugs.

  It got cold, so Uncle Warren pulled ski hats from the duffel bag.

  “See that red balloon?” Randy yelled, pointing over Dink’s head. “That’s my buddy Miguel. He has two passengers today. One of them is a kid a little older than you guys. When we stop for lunch, maybe you can say howdy.”

  “Where are we going for lunch?” Josh asked.

  “I’m taking us to Blue Meadow for a picnic,” Randy said. “Real pretty place. Most of the balloon pilots stop there.”

  Ruth Rose trained her binoculars on the red balloon in the distance. At first, she saw only blue sky around it, but then she spotted the basket. She saw two men and a kid.

  “Oh my gosh!” she yelled.

  “What?” Dink asked.

  “You’re not going to believe who’s in that basket!” Ruth Rose said.

  “Who?” Josh asked.

  Ruth Rose handed him the binoculars. “Who do you think it is?” she asked.

  Josh peered through the glasses. “Jumping jackrabbits!” he said.

  “Is it a rabbit?” Dink teased Josh.

  Josh passed the binoculars to Dink. “Take a peek, Zeke,” he said.

  Dink looked, aiming the binoculars at the red balloon. “It’s Roger Good!” he cried.

  “Who’s Roger Good?” Randy asked the kids.

  Dink handed the binoculars back to Ruth Rose. “He’s the star of a TV show,” he told Randy. “He has a parrot named Tommy. They rescue people and animals. It’s a cool show!”

  “I think it really is Parker!” Ruth Rose said, peering through the binoculars.

  Uncle Warren laughed. “Now I’m confused. Who’s Parker?” he asked.

  “Parker Stone is the actor who plays Roger Good,” Josh explained. “He knows a lot of awesome karate moves!”

  “Lucky Miguel,” Randy said. “He’s got a TV star for a customer!”

  The red balloon went higher, so Ruth Rose put away her binoculars.

  Josh shared his energy bars. They all munched and enjoyed the sun, the sky, and the view.

  “I’m taking us close to the edge of the Grand Canyon,” Randy said, pointing.

  The kids and Dink’s uncle could see partway down into the canyon. The rock walls were red, yellow, and brown.

  “I’m going down there tomorrow?” Josh gulped. “On a mule?”

  “You’ll have an awesome time,” Randy said. “A lot of my custo
mers like to hike or ride mules down there after their balloon ride. And a couple of miles from here, there’s a spot where a truck or jeep can drive right to the banks of the Colorado River. Then you can get in a rubber raft and float down the river.”

  “That sounds really cool!” Dink said.

  “Yeah, and there’s a great place for staying overnight,” Randy said. “It’s called Phantom Ranch. You sleep in cabins built a hundred years ago.”

  “Phantom Ranch is where we’re staying tomorrow night,” Uncle Warren said. “I reserved two of those cabins.”

  “You’ll love it,” Randy said. “But watch out for scorpions and rattlesnakes!”

  “Oh no!” Josh said.

  “Just kidding, Josh. Those critters are afraid of humans,” Randy said. “They run away when they hear you coming.”

  “I hope they run fast,” Josh muttered.

  Two hundred yards away, the red balloon was floating toward the ground.

  “We’re almost at Blue Meadow,” Randy said. “When I tell you to, I want you to hold on and bend your knees. You’ll feel a bump when the basket touches the ground.”

  He reached up and pulled on a metal ring. The kids heard a hissing noise above their heads.

  “Now I’m letting out more hot air so we can float down,” Randy explained. “We’ll be on the ground in a few minutes!”

  The kids looked over the side of the basket. They watched the land get closer and closer. Blue Meadow got its name from the millions of blue wildflowers that grew there. The meadow was at least a mile across, with a gravel road going through the middle.

  The meadow stopped at the edge of the Grand Canyon. There was a fence so people wouldn’t fall into the canyon.

  “This is lovely,” Uncle Warren said. “I can’t wait to photograph all these wildflowers!”