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“Maybe we can run and ask them where the puzzle is,” said Jake.

Mr. Garvey laughed. “They’re not going to help us.”

“Why not?”

“Would you lend a helping hand to your competition?”

Jake looked on the spot. “I wouldn’t tell them the answer, but I might tell them where the puzzle could be found. I mean, if they were really stuck.”

Mr. Garvey shook his head. He patted Jake on the shoulder like a game-show host consoling a foolish contestant. “That’s very admirable,” he said. “You stick close to me, Jake, so I can stop you from doing things like that.”

Jake looked like he had something to say in response to this, but then a voice from behind them said, “Have you found it yet?”

They turned around yet again. This time, one of the Greater Oaks girls was standing there, watching them. She cocked her head. “You’re part of the potato chip thing, right?” she said. “Have you found the puzzle in here?”

Winston shook his head. “No, we haven’t. Have you?”

She shrugged, with an ironic little smile. “If we had, I wouldn’t be asking you about it. Do you want to look together?”

All three boys looked to Mr. Garvey. Winston guessed he would have strong feelings about joining up with other teams.

The math teacher cleared his throat. To Winston’s surprise, he said, “Well, I guess the more eyes, the merrier, right? Where’s the rest of your team, young lady?”

She waved generally. “We split up. They’re all around here somewhere. Where are you guys from?”

They began to walk, and there were introductions all around. The girl was Bethany Seymour. Winston was more than a little aware of how pretty she was, with her shining brown eyes and long, straight hair. He found himself simultaneously trying to walk next to her and not walk next to her, and cursed himself for his awkwardness.

Mr. Garvey said as they continued to look around the planetarium, “You’re from Greater Oaks, is that right? That’s rather far away.”

“Yeah, it was a long drive to get here,” said Bethany. “And then getting from the potato chip factory to here, Miss Norris made a wrong turn and we wound up somewhere with railroad tracks and a garbage dump. It took forever.”

“Miss Norris is your teacher?”

“Yeah, my English teacher. There she is, right there.”

Indeed, the nervous woman with the thick sproing of curly red hair was marching over to them. She wore a wide-eyed expression that may as well have been a sign reading, I AM FRAZZLED.

“Bethany,” she said, voice shaking with agitation, “where did you go?”

“We said we were all going to split up, remember?”

“But I said to stay close by! Didn’t I?”

“I’m right here,” Bethany said, rolling her eyes.

“Where are the others?”

“I don’t know. They’re somewhere. They didn’t leave.”

Mr. Garvey jumped in. “Miss Norris, is it?” She looked at him, startled. “I’m Greg Garvey. I’m the math teacher at Walter Fredericks Junior High in Glenville. These are my boys.”

Miss Norris recovered. “Nice to meet you. I don’t suppose you know where the puzzle is?”

“No, I’m afraid not. But this young lady suggested we all look together, which sounds like a fine idea.”

So they started moving again. “Where have you looked already?” Miss Norris said.

Jake said, “All over.”

Mal said, “Those machines around the corner there . . . all that interactive stuff.”

“Oh,” said Miss Norris. “It didn’t occur to me that the puzzle might be in there.”

“That’s for the best,” said Mr. Garvey, “since it wasn’t.”

“Well, we already looked around this part,” said Bethany, waving to the exhibits around them. They stood by a gigantic replica of a lunar exchange module. “Where else is there to go in this place?”

“Bethany! Miss Norris!” A voice called out, and a girl came running toward them. She was wearing a floaty pale-blue dress and sandals that flapped loudly. “We found it!”

“Giselle! Where?”

Giselle came up short when she saw Winston and his team standing there. “Uh,” she said.

Miss Norris understood why she had turned mute. “It’s okay,