Doodlebug & Dandelion - The Jellybean Machine

“Where’s Dandelion?”

- By Pamela Dell

Izzy Wishbones asked the minute Doodlebug opened the front door.

“Not sure,” Doodlebug replied. He hadn’t seen his sister all morning. He’d been too busy playing Mr. Q, a game meant to teach you detective skills.

“She told me she and Tomiko had made some jellybean machine,” Izzy said. “I’d like to see that. She said there’s a secret to it.”

Doodlebug’s head came up. “Really?” He’d heard about the jellybean machine but not about anything secret. Tomiko, Dandelion’s best friend, lived across the street. Her dad, an inventor, always helped them with bizarre inventions. “Let’s go see.”

If something secret was going on, Doodlebug could figure it out using his detective skills.

Minutes later, Doodlebug and Izzy crept into Tomiko’s garage. Nobody was inside, but there was the machine. It looked weird.

The thing’s main feature was a glass bubble, like a gumball machine. A few colorful jellybeans lay at the bottom of the bubble.

“Follow the ‘look sharp’ rule,” Doodlebug said quietly to Izzy. It was the number-one detective skill: notice details. He pulled his detective notebook from a pocket. He’d need to write down anything important.

“You’re my sidekick now.” A sidekick, Doodlebug had learned, was the detective’s helper. You always needed one, so Izzy had showed up at just the right time.