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Chapter 1

A Leading Question

Rissa Quinnell grimaced at the noises coming from the Question Lab’s engine. The RV’s clunking didn’t bode well for her savings account. She wasn’t sure if the timing belt was wearing out or if the engine bearings needed lubrication, but she’d check it out before she took to the highway after her current contract job was complete.

With a sigh at the thought of the repair cost, Rissa turned out of the school’s parking lot and headed toward the nearby town of Phail.

Who named a town Phail? She didn’t remember ever hearing the name when she grew up across the state in Burlington. Hopefully, the town was big enough to have a car parts store or a mechanic.

She hadn’t been back to Vermont in years. Although there were some good memories here, the tough ones overwhelmed her, and she didn’t want to return. Then the school had offered her a week-long contract to teach science, so here she was, facing memories.

Rissa’s earliest memory was standing by her mother’s coffin. The next dozen involved watching her father change from a distant but decent man into one who lost himself and his heart in a bottle. A man who didn’t notice if his daughter was there or not, unless there was no food on the table or his clothes weren’t clean.

She shuddered along with her Q Lab and shoved those memories away. There were good memories in Vermont, so she forced her brain to remember them. Otherwise, she’d hightail it out of the state and break her current contract. Not happening. She’d never risk her reputation or her bank account.

Teaching kids to love science and the outdoors was the best job she’d ever had. The fact that she’d created it herself made it even better.

She’d learned to build and host a website and run an online shop. Then she’d reached out to schools and homeschooling groups, offering lessons in everything from bubbles to plant cycles to robotics.

The natural world was full of puzzles, questions, and mysteries to solve. Far easier than the ones posed by people. They were too unpredictable. Mother Nature was far more reliable.

Sap always runs when temperatures reach a certain point. You can solve coding problems with logic and determination. If you fold paper in a certain way, it will glide long distances. Levers always reduce the effort required to lift a load.

Adults weren’t nearly as easy to figure out, but kids were fun. They were open to questions and exploring ideas. Kids didn’t think they could control her and were eager to learn. Give her kids over adults any day.

A sharp bark made Rissa grin. “Are you awake, Frizzle? The kids wore you out this morning, didn’t they? Come on up here and keep me company.”

Dogs were also better than adults. “You’re the best friend I’ve ever had, Frizzle.”

She’d once had a friend almost as good. A boy who thought she was interesting and that her love of science, mysteries, and crosswords didn’t make her weird. They’d competed to complete the puzzles first, but neither minded losing. He’d introduced her to his family, where she’d found acceptance and a warmth she hadn’t known existed. They’d also shared a first, fumbling kiss.

The following day, his parents died in a car accident. He and his siblings left Burlington to move in with their grandfather, who lived in a small town north of the Burlington.

Their friendship had faded as he poured himself into helping their grandfather raise his siblings. Last she’d heard from him, he’d been working three jobs in his senior year while he achieved high enough grades to earn full-ride scholarships from several colleges. More than a decade later, she still thought of him often, even though he obviously didn’t do the same. She shoved away the familiar ache that she hadn’t been enough.

Frizzle hopped up the makeshift stairs Rissa had built for her to sit in the Q Lab’s passenger seat, where she’d rigged a raised bed so her Yorkshire terrier could see the road. Frizzle wanted to be a part of whatever Rissa was doing.

Once in the seat, Frizzle barked in delight at the scenery.

“I wonder if your namesake loved winter, too. As far as I know, Miss Frizzle didn’t spend a lot of time exploring winter climates, but she loved the sciences, just like we do.”

All the sciences pulled at Rissa, and she’d spent many of her free hours at the library. Unlike most of her peers, she hadn’t grown up with a cell phone. That limited her online learning to when the library was open and a computer was free. The rest she got from the books she’d checked out.

Botany. Biology. Chemistry. Astronomy. Physics. Earth sciences. From the bottom of the Marianas Trench to the Andromeda Galaxy, she wanted to explore it all.

Finding answers to her questions had taken Rissa’s mind off her home life. Between that and the years she’d spent challenging her mind with Burke and their puzzles, she had all the education she needed.

After her father’s death days before her eighteenth birthday, there’d been nothing left. Almost literally. Thankfully, Mrs. Anwar allowed Rissa to stay in the apartment rent-free for two months, then helped her find a single room with an attached bathroom to rent.

None of her scholarship offers included room and board, so Rissa gave them up and took any job she could. Bakeries, retail stores, tutoring, office administration, and custodial work. She’d done a lot, taking on as much as she could to pay for her room and necessities. She’d grown her savings account until she could afford a used car. Then she’d left Burlington and moved to warmer climates where she wouldn’t need more than one season’s worth of clothing. She missed the full range of seasons, but practicality won out. Instead of replacing her worn boots and jacket, she’d driven to North Carolina and found more jobs.

For a while, she’d lived in her car. Then she’d landed a custodial job in a science center. After a while, she’d been hired to work in the gift shop as well.

She loved the building, the people, and the kids’ joy. Volunteering with several school groups led to her being hired for part of the educational team.

Rissa figured she’d still be there if a tornado hadn’t wiped out half the building and some of the surrounding town. No, that wasn’t true. Dan had entered her life and changed everything. She would never return because of him, although maybe he’d finally forgotten about her. His last angry text from yet another new number had been a few months before.

After leaving the Carolinas, Rissa took more jobs, better-paying ones now that she had reference letters from her bosses.