“Oh, and look!” Maddie reached into the recycling bin and pulled out two oatmeal containers. “What could we use these for?”
“Drums!” said Sam instantly.
They carried their cookies and found materials out to the craft clubhouse and got to work. Maddie was still excited about the idea of band outfits, so she dug through the boxes of sewing supplies in search of just the right things.
“What about these?” she asked, pulling out a bag of shiny silver balls.
“Jingle bells?” asked Emily. “Won’t we look a little silly, like jesters or elves, if we wear those?”
Maddie laughed. “Not for our outfits,” she said. “For an instrument!”
“Ohhhh!” Emily took the bag and shook it. “Right! These remind me of the bell shakers in the music room!”
Emily grabbed two long wooden dowels. “I can drill holes and attach the bells!” she said excitedly.
She took the supplies over to the woodworking bench and put on her safety goggles.
“I guess that just leaves me,” said Maddie.
Bella looked up from her work. “There are lots of things you can make, Maddie. You’re so talented!”
“I’m sure something will come to you,” added Sam. “Inspiration can strike when you least expect it!”
“You guys are probably right,” said Maddie. “I’ll just keep working on our outfits until I think of something. It would be terrible if we didn’t look as great as we sounded!”
Chapter 6
A Leaky Disaster
By Friday the friends had created an amazing assortment of instruments. Bella had built a guitar out of a cereal box and two pasta boxes. It had rubber-band strings and cork knobs. It also had paperclip frets, so it actually could be played! Sam had a complete oatmeal-canister drum set, plus cymbals made out of paper plates. In typical Sam fashion, he had painted the drum set with all sorts of patterns and designs in every color imaginable. Emily had made several percussion pieces, including her bell shakers and shakers made out of paper cups filled with dried beans.
“We’re going to rock!” said Sam, and the others cheered in agreement.
The only band member who was still instrumentless was Maddie. She kept busy sewing while waiting for inspiration to strike.
• • •
On Saturday morning Bella woke up early. She looked outside and noticed that the grass was wet. Really wet. The sun was shining, but it looked like it had probably rained all night.
I’ll go see if the glue on my guitar is dry, she thought.
She slipped on her rain boots and sloshed out to the clubhouse. She flung open the door and—
“Oh no!” she cried.
The clubhouse was . . . a disaster. It seemed that the roof had leaked overnight during the rainstorm. Almost everything in the shed was completely drenched! And that included all their instruments. Bella’s guitar was a soggy mess, as were Sam’s drums. Emily’s noisemakers had fared a little bit better, but not by much. Luckily, Bella’s beloved computer seemed fine.
A little while later the other three kids arrived at the clubhouse.
They all gasped when they saw the damage.
“What are we going to do?” asked Bella.
“Well, I say we start by cleaning up,” said Emily.
The others agreed. They got to work inspecting the contents of the clubhouse. They threw out what was damaged and set other things out to dry in the sun. Emily grabbed a ladder and a flashlight and climbed up to examine the roof.
“Be careful!” said Bella. “It’s probably slippery up there.”
“I don’t have to actually go on the roof,” Emily reassured her. “I just need to stand on the ladder so I can reach the spot that needs patching.”
“I’ll help you,” offered Maddie. She held the ladder steady, handed up tools, and accepted items that Emily handed down. Emily passed down a big square of corrugated metal that was filled with holes. Clearly that was the cause of the leak.
Throughout the morning, the team worked hard on cleaning and repairs. At lunchtime Bella’s father brought out a tray of sandwiches, plus tortilla chips and delicious homemade salsa. He also brought something else.
“A can of coffee?” Bella looked confused.
“It’s empty,” her father said. “I thought it might make a good metal drum? You know, a waterproof one.”
“Awesome!” said Sam. “Do you have any other waterproof cans?”
Bella’s dad smiled. “Of course! I’m a chef, remember? I have tomato cans, jalapeño pepper cans, and olive oil drums, plus huge plastic containers from the restaurant supply store.”
Sam followed Mr. Diaz to the kitchen. When he returned, his arms were full. “These are going to be even better drums than the ones I made before!” he exclaimed.
Seeing Sam with the metal cans, Maddie suddenly had an idea.
“Mr. Diaz?” she asked. “Can I have the piece of metal that came off the roof?”
“What for?” asked Bella.
“Oh, you’ll see,” said Maddie mysteriously.
Chapter 7
Starting All Over
The next week was a busy one as the four friends struggled to repair and replace their damaged instruments. Bella was pleased to find a jumbo-size cereal box in the recycling bin, which made a better guitar body. She found more pasta boxes too. However, she ran into a new problem.
Boing! Boing!
“Ow!” said Sam. A rubber band had popped off Bella’s guitar and flown across the room, striking him on the elbow.
“Sorry!” said Bella. Twang! Another rubber band broke off her guitar. “I don’t know if I can make this work. These rubber bands keep popping off or breaking.”
“Have you tried using bigger ones?” asked Sam. “I can bring some in tomorrow. My dad has a whole bunch for rolling up his architectural drawings.”
“That would be great!”
“Meanwhile,” said Emily, “some of my shakers survived the rain, but listen.” She shook her bell shakers while the others listened. “I made the holes too close
