Connecting the Dots

Henry Alden traced his fingers over the colorful patterns painted on the boomerang. He sat with his two sisters, Violet and Jessie, in the comfortable cabin of the Reddimus Society's private jet. The children had just received the boomerang in a package, and they knew it held a clue that would lead them to the next stop on their journey. But none of their clues had been as beautiful and detailed as the boomerang.

Benny, the youngest Alden, was interested in the boomerang, but he couldn't stop looking out the plane window. Below, Bangkok, Thailand, grew smaller and smaller in the distance. He watched the city as it disappeared behind a layer of puffy clouds. Then he turned in his seat to look at the boomerang too.

"There are so many dots," he said.

There really were. Black and white dots formed wavy lines. Other dots were the colors of the sunset, orange and red. The bright red reminded Benny of the Alden's boxcar. Benny knew the boxcar, Grandfather, and their dog, Watch, would all be waiting for them when the children were done returning the seven artifacts for the Reddimus Society. But he missed seeing them. And it had been nice to have Cousin Joe, Cousin Alice, and Soo Lee with them as they traveled through China and Thailand — especially with the archrival Argents constantly trying to throw them off course.

Violet noticed Benny's quietness. As if she knew what he was thinking, she said, "Don't be too homesick, Benny. Cousin Alice told us someone will be waiting for us at our next stop. I wonder who it could be."

The idea that someone familiar would be waiting for them — wherever they were going — gave Benny a warm feeling of relief. He nodded. "Maybe Grandfather?"

Jessie ruffled Benny's hair. "Maybe! We have plenty of friends and family who might be there to pick us up. Think of it as a surprise!"

Benny imagined Grandfather and Watch waiting for them at the airport when they arrived at their next stop. His worries about the Argents faded.

"I can't wait to see who it is," he said. "Let's think about our clue, so we can find out!"

They all looked at it closely to see if there was a hidden message like the previous clues they had received. Violet noticed the figure of a wiggly snake and a fish among the painted shapes. She pointed at one of the animals.

"That looks like a kangaroo. See the long feet and the tail?" she said. "I learned about this style of painting in art class. It looks like Aboriginal art."

"What's Aboriginal?" Benny asked.

"Aboriginal Australians were the first people to live in Australia," Jessie explained. "There are many Aboriginal groups in Australia, like there are many groups of Native Americans in the United States."

"So that means —" Violet began.

"We're going to Australia!" Benny exclaimed. He had learned in school about the animals that live on the continent. Some are so special they can't be found anywhere else in the world. "I want to see kangaroos. And koalas!"

"But where in Australia?" Henry asked. As the oldest, he was not quite as excited as Benny. When he saw the boomerang, he had thought the Aldens might be going to Australia. But he hadn't wanted to say too much around their pilots, Emilio and Mr. Ganert. When the children had been in Thailand, they had figured out one of the pilots was working for the Argents.

The Aldens' friend from the Reddimus Society, Tricia Silverton, had worried someone was giving information to their rivals. That's why she hid all her instructions in riddles and clues. It was like a code only the Aldens could crack. Henry knew they would need to tell their pilots where they were going, but he didn't want to give them any more information than he needed to.

"Isn't Australia an island?" Benny asked.

"Yes, but it's a very big island," Jessie explained. "It's almost the size of the continental United States."

Violet was still looking at the boomerang. It wasn't long before she noticed something.

"Look," she said. "Some of the dots in the pattern have smaller dots inside them."

They all looked closer. Inside some of the red dots were tiny yellow dots. They were hard to see unless the children looked closely.

"Good eyes, Violet," Henry said.

Together, they found all the red dots with yellow centers. Violet drew an invisible line with her finger. The invisible line made letters, which she spelled out loud so she wouldn't forget.

"S ... Y ... D ... N ... E ... Y," she spelled. "Sydney!"

"Just like connect the dots!" Benny said. "Is Sydney a place in Australia?"

"Not just a place, but one of Australia's most exciting places!" came a jolly voice from behind them. "It's the capital of New South Wales and one of Australia's largest cities."

The Aldens looked up. Emilio walked into the cabin. He and the other pilot, Mr. Ganert, took turns flying the plane.

"Ready for a great joke about Australia?" Emilio asked.

"Not right now," Henry said politely. In the beginning, he had enjoyed Emilio's silly jokes. But now that they knew Emilio might be working for the Argents, they wondered if maybe his jokes were part of his disguise. "It does look like we're headed to Sydney, though. Is it a long flight from here?"

"Hmm, from here it's about nine hours. I'll tell Mr. Ganert to set a course right away. I'm glad you figured out the clue, even if you all seem very serious right now ...We'll save the joke for another time."

Emilio winked before he went back to the cockpit. Benny sighed.

"I kind of wanted to hear the joke," he said.

"I've got a joke that has to do with Australia," Jessie said. "What do you call a lazy baby kangaroo?" She paused and looked at her siblings. "A pouch potato!"

Benny imagined a baby kangaroo lazing about in its mother's pouch, and it made him laugh.

"A pouch potato! That's a good one, Jessie."

The four children were getting used to long flights, so the trip to Australia was not bad at all. Jessie spent the flight reading about Sydney on her laptop. Henry played checkers with Benny while Violet drew dot animals like the ones on the boomerang. She drew animals they had seen in their travels: a camel from Egypt, a giraffe from Kenya, and an elephant from Thailand.

By the time the Reddimus plane began to descend, all four Aldens went to the windows. Sydney looked like a big city, and it stretched right up to the coast. There were many little islands in the bay and a big arched bridge. The children could see boats going back and forth between the ports.

"What's that?" asked Benny, pointing to a building that looked like a white seashell.

"That must be the Sydney Opera House," Jessie exclaimed. "I was reading about it. It's a very famous building where all sorts of performances take place."

"Operas? Like singing?" Benny asked.

"Yes. They also have a ballet, a theater company, and an orchestra."

"It would be so wonderful if we could listen to...