“Hey, B-Buds,” Amirah called. “I’ve searched and searched the map, but I can’t find a clear way across the river. But I do have some ideas.”
“Hit it,” Elvis said, still drumming.
“We can change course a little,” Amirah began. “Instead of sticking to the path, we’ll walk along the riverbank. I figure there’s a pretty good chance of one of two things happening. First, we’ll either stumble on a way to cross the river—a bridge or maybe even a boat. Something that’s not marked on the map.”
“What’s your other idea?” Mei asked. She leaped up to grab the branch above her and climbed up.
“Well . . . maybe the river isn’t so deep and fast everywhere,” Amirah said. “Just because it’s rushing rapids here doesn’t mean it isn’t a calm little stream elsewhere. Know what I mean?”
“Yeah,” Mei said. “But, we still don’t know if either one of those will happen.”
“That’s true,” Amirah said. “I could be wrong on both counts. If only there was a way to see . . .”
When Amirah’s voice trailed off unexpectedly, Elvis stopped drumming midbeat.
“What is it?” he asked. “Is something wrong?”
“No, I just had another idea,” Amirah said. “Mei, how high can you climb?”
“Not as high as I want to,” Mei replied. “There’s too many balloons! I can’t see which branch to grab next.”
“Hmm,” Amirah said, frowning. “I was thinking that maybe if you could climb all the way to the top of the tree, you could see how the river flows. And you could tell us if there’s an area that doesn’t look so rough, or even better, if there’s a bridge—”
Mei gasped.
“You okay?” Amirah asked.
“My birthday glasses!” Mei exclaimed. “I forgot I was wearing them on my head—then I looked down to see you and they slipped off my head, over my eyes—and now I can see the branches perfectly!”
“What? How?” Elvis asked.
“I think it’s birthday magic,” Mei said. “Instead of the whole balloon, I only see the outlines. It’s amazing!”
Mei started to climb the tree, higher and higher, until she disappeared behind the thick canopy of colorful balloons. Amirah and Elvis stood at the base of the tree, trying to catch a glimpse of Mei.
“There must be thousands of balloons up here.” Mei’s voice floated down to them.
“What else can you see?” Amirah called back.
“Still balloon outlines,” Mei replied. “Bunches and bunches of balloons.”
Amirah and Elvis exchanged a worried glance. Amirah hadn’t expected the balloon tree to be so big that it got in their way.
“Don’t worry—I have a plan,” Mei said. “Once I get a little higher, I’ll push some of these balloons out of the way and then, hopefully, I’ll have a pretty clear view of—oh! Oh! Oh no!”
“Mei!” Amirah shrieked. “What happened? Are you okay?”
There was no response.
“Mei!” Amirah and Elvis yelled at the same time.
“Something happened,” Amirah said. “Something’s wrong.”
“Maybe not,” Elvis said. He pointed at the ground under the tree. “She didn’t fall.”
“Mei! Can you hear us?” Amirah yelled at the top of her voice.
“I’m okay,” Mei said. She sounded even farther away. “I’m—”
“What happened? Can you see anything?” Elvis yelled.
Amirah and Elvis stared up at the sky, completely speechless. A purple balloon had broken free from the balloon tree and was floating into the sky . . .
And it was carrying Mei with it!
“B-Buds!” Mei cried. Her voice was faint and far away, but if Amirah strained, she could still hear her. “I found a way across the river!”
“Of course!” Elvis exclaimed, smacking his forehead. “We thought of traveling by land, by sea—”
“But we never thought of traveling by air!” Amirah finished for him.
“Quick! Grab a balloon and come with me!” Mei said.
She was floating farther and farther away. Amirah knew there wasn’t a moment to lose. She and Elvis jumped up as high as they could. Amirah grabbed a golden string and yanked—hard!
The string snapped off the branch. With her heart pounding, Amirah squeezed her hand even tighter around the balloon’s string. She felt a gentle tug at her wrist as the string pulled taut. She looked up and saw that the balloon was pink.
Then, suddenly, the balloon lifted her into the air!
Amirah’s nerves soon gave way to a dizzying exhilaration. Traveling by floating balloon was more fun than she ever could’ve imagined. High in the clear blue sky, she could see Mei bobbing along in front of her. Elvis, dangling from a green balloon, wasn’t far behind.
“Look! Look at the river!” Mei called as they floated over it.
Amirah glanced down at the roaring river and saw that the water was even clearer than she had expected. She could see the bottom of the riverbed, which glittered with more rock candy. There was even a school of gummy fish darting back and forth, their fins glinting in the sunlight that sliced through the water.
“Incredible,” Amirah breathed.
“Hey, B-Buds?” Elvis called. “I have a question. How are we going to get down—whoaaaaaaaaa!”
Without warning, Elvis’s balloon suddenly plunged several feet. Amirah and Mei screamed.
“I’m okay! I’m okay!” Elvis said, breathing hard. “Wow. That was, uh, that was a surprise. I don’t know what’s up with—ahhhhhhhhhhh!”
Just as unexpectedly, Elvis’s balloon suddenly rocketed several feet into the air. Amirah and Mei screamed again.
Elvis, looking a little pale, opened his mouth—but this time, no words came out.
With her free hand, Amirah rummaged in her pocket for her sprinkles and shook a few into her mouth to help herself calm down. Calm down, she thought suddenly. Calm down! Of course! That’s it!
“Elvis!” Amirah yelled. “You’re a genius!”
“I’m a what?” he asked, confused.
“You figured out how to control the balloons!” Amirah continued. “Just say up and—wheeeee!”
Since Amirah was expecting it, she didn’t panic when her balloon suddenly soared upward. “And then you can always go dowwwwwwwnnnnnnnn!” she said, giggling as her balloon swooped toward the ground. It felt like riding on a flying roller coaster!
Soon all the B-Buds were laughing as they made their balloons go up and down through the sky. At last, though, Amirah knew it was time to continue
