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Episode 2
- An A-Mazing Afternoon
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- The Maloneys found out that one of the nearby maze sites offered two identical mazes, situated side by side to allow teams to compete against each other. When they arrived, Agnes insisted that they buy sandwiches and water to take with them on the maze. "Don't you remember how hungry and thirsty we were on Rock Island? It's been awfully dry lately and I'm sure the cornfield is really dusty as the stalks are turning brown. We should take advantage of what's available to us now."
- Mal was quite sure that he wouldn't need food or water - the maze couldn't be THAT big. Plus, taking the time to eat a sandwich would delay the "men's" team and he wanted to be sure to find the way out faster than his mother and sister. Everyone else agreed, though, that having a supply of food and water was a good idea.
- There were ten stations with stamps to mark their "passports" to show they stayed on the path and didn't take short cuts through the corn stalks. Not only was that cheating, they were told by the attendant, it would damage the maze. Each station also had a small wastebasket where they could discard any trash they may have.
- So Mort, Mal and Mike started out on one maze and Agnes and Mel on the other. Mal and Mel were in charge of stamping their team's passport, while the adults would read the clues that would give hint for finding each station. The day was sunny, so they had the additional advantage of knowing - more or less - which way they were heading, although they did not know which direction the exit was.
- Both teams quickly reached each of the first three stations, with Mal and Mel each encouraging the adults to hurry.
- Different Clues, Useful Discoveries
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- Station 4 was a little harder to find. Many of the paths were dead ends and both teams had to turn back and retrace their steps to the main path.
- "Slow down, Mel," Agnes advised. "We should use our brains and instincts, not just rush down the first turn we come to."
- "How do you mean, Mom," Mel asked.
- "This passport does have clues. We didn't need them at the beginning, but we should make use of them now. That's the brains part. For the instincts part, let's see if we can find clues from the maze itself," Agnes suggested.
- "How can the maze give us clues, Mom?"
- "We're not the first people to come here, right?"
- Mel was confused. "Ok. How does that help us?"
- "Look down at the path. Now follow it to where it branches off over there," Agnes pointed.
- Mel looked to where her mother was pointing, but she didn't see anything at first. She slowly walked down the path and then noticed that the path to the right looked more worn than the path that went straight ahead.
- "I see it!" Mel exclaimed. "More people went that way."
- "It looks like it," Agnes said. "Following the way everyone else goes doesn't necessarily lead to success in other areas of life, but I think we're safe in following the 'beaten path' in this case."
- "It almost seems to be cheating," said Mel.
- "Not at all," Agnes explained. "If you discover a special insight into something, you should be grateful for the chance to use it. Just don't get fooled into thinking it's the only thing you should use. Keep your eye on the 'big picture' as they say. Keep looking around for other hints too."
- Meanwhile, Mal, Mort and Mike nearly duplicated Agnes and Mel's experience in easily finding the first three stations. When the fourth station proved longer to locate than the first three, Mal started getting frustrated.
- "We can't slow down. Mom and Mel are going to beat us."
- "We also can't go around running around like a chicken with our heads cut off. You know wht kind of hot water they got into," said Mike with a grin, reminding Mal of their farm experience.
- "How can we find the next passport place?" Mal asked.
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- Clues in the Sky
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- "I didn't bring my compass, but we could try navigating by the sun," Mike suggested, figuring that his experience as a pilot in the military would come in handy here.
- "Neat! How do we do that?" Mal asked, wanting to learn how to be an explorer.
- "I don't think that will help us, Dad," Mort said. "These mazes go every which way...forward, backward, to the side. We eventually need to make it back to the north entrance, but it's not going to be in a straight line."
- "That's true, but we need to keep the final destination in mind," Mike replied. "Do you remember, Bioloney? They told us that there were 10 passport stations and that we'd eventually come out by meeting up with the path where we came in, only by a different route. It may not be entirely accurate for this maze, but it seems to me that after we reach station 5 we'll be heading back in the direction we came."
- "That logic may not apply here, Dad," Mort observed. "The people who made up this maze might have put the first seven or eight stations going out and only two or three going back."
- "That's certainly possible, Mort, but I don't think they'd want to get their guests all frustrated, like Bioloney here, by having extra-long paths between stations at the end," Mike reasoned.
- "That makes sense, Dad. That means we've got two more stations to find before it turns around. Then what? Tell by the sun which way is north?"
- "We'll have more than the sun," Mike replied. "Let's find Station 5 and then see what we can see."
- They looked at the clues, then at the sun to get a general idea of where south, and therfore the fifth station, might be.
- Mike was right, and they quickly found Station 5. Mal was all energized at their success and immediately turned around to start looking for Station 6.
- "Hold your horses. How about some water and a bite of your sandwich," Mort asked.
- "No time, Dad. We've got to beat Mom and Mel!"
- Mort and Mike laughed, shaking their heads, as they both sipped some water and nibbled on their sandwiches as they walked behind Mal.
- Mal soon got turned around. It had gotten hazy and it wasn't quite apparent where the sun was in the sky.
- "Well, now. Isn't it time to stop and smell the roses...or rather, corn stalks, Bioloney?" Mike asked.
- "Mom and Mel will get there before us, Grandpa. But the sun's gone. How do we know which way to go?"
- "Take a look up there in the sky, Bioloney. What do you see?" Mike asked.
- "I can't see the sun anymore," Mal replied.
- "So, what CAN you see?"
- "Just some birds."
- "They're not just ordinary birds. They are pointer birds," Mike said.
- "Pointer birds? Is that like pointer dogs, Grandpa?"
- "Exactly! And they come in all shapes, sizes and colors. They could be crows, pigeons, gulls or just about any other kind of birds."
- "How do they point, Grandpa?"
- "Take a look, Bioloney. What are the birds doing?"
- "They're just flying around."
- "Look closer. Is there a certain direction that groups of them seem to be going to or coming from?"
- Mal looked intently, turning completely around, and then noticed what his grandfather prompted him to observe. He pointed to where most of the bird's activity was and said, "There."
- "Right! Do you have any idea why the birds are so interested in that area?"
- "I don't think so," Mal said.
- "Me neither," said Mort.
- "Do you remember the place where we got the sandwiches near the maze's entrance? Some people were eating at picnic benches and the birds became accustomed to picking up food that was accidentally - or maybe even purposely - dropped. Birds go where food is easiest to find. That's why they flock to bird feeders," Mike explained. "So now we know which direction to head toward, even though the sun isn't out."v Mal was excited to discover this valuable clue and started running to find the next station. "Yay! Now I know we'll beat Mom and Mel back."
- "Hold your horses, son. Part of the fun of mazes is not knowing where you are," Mort called after him.
- But it was no use. Mal was super intent on getting out of the maze as quickly as possible. Mort and Mike sighed, reluctantly following Mal as he quickly discovered the remaining passport stations and the exit from the maze.
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- Discovery on the Ground
- Meanwhile, Mel was enjoying using her newly-developed observational skill. She kept her eyes on the ground, intently looking for clues that would lead them to the next passport station.
- "Look all around you," Agnes repeated, "not just at the ground. Clues could be anywhere."
- Mel noticed something between the stalks of corn, off the walking path. At first it seemed to be a stone have buried in the dirt, but it was pointier. She stooped to pick up the object and the loose soil fell off, revealing to Agnes what it was.
- "Mel, you've just found yourself an arrowhead. An Indian arrowhead," Agnes told her daughter. "I wonder what tribe it came from," she wondered aloud.
- "Wow. A real arrowhead. How can you tell, Mom? Can I keep it?"
- "Look here. It's chipped all around the edges. That had to be made by human hands, not forces of nature such as scraping from other stones. The government protects arrowheads and other cultural things found on public lands. Let's take this with us and show the owner. Maybe the owner will let you keep it, since this is private property."
- Fascinated, Mel wanted to find more arrowheads so every few steps she stooped down to get a closer look at anything in the dirt that might be another arrowhead. She soon got tired and very thirsty from the effort and suggested that they stop and sip some water.
- "Aren't you afraid your brother, Dad and Grandpa will get to the exit first?"
- "It's ok," Mel responded "I found an arrowhead. That's better than being fastest."
- Agnes and Mel took their time going around the rest of the maze, even stopping to munch on the sandwiches. Mel asked a lot of questions about corn plants, such as how they can grow so fast when it takes a long time for trees to grow that big. Agnes did her best to answer, but realized how little she knew herself. She resolved to talk with Mort about her cousin's offer to have the twins spend a week at their farm next summer. There, Mal and Mel could learn first-hand about corn and cows and even arrowheads, as she knew that her cousin, like most farmers who have lived on their land for a long time, find arrowheads when they plow their fields.
- Mal looked around as he found the maze's exit. His mom and sister hadn't arrived yet. "Hooray!" he shouted, jumping up and down. "We did it! We beat them!"
- "I suspect they'll be awhile in coming. Let's sit down at that picnic table and eat our sandwiches while we're waiting," Mort suggested.
- "Good idea," said Mike. "And we can thank some of our 'pointer birds' by giving them a bit of our bread. I'm sure the owners prefer that the birds eat our crumbs rather than the corn in their field."
- Agnes and Mel completed the maze about 20 minutes later. Mal was ecstatic. "We won! We won!"
- "Bet you didn't find what I did," Mel retorted, showing her brother her discovery.
- "What's that?" Mal wanted to know.
- "It's an Indian arrowhead, silly. Can't you tell? Mom and I are going to find out if I can keep it."
- Agnes and Mel found the owner and showed him the arrowhead.
- "Sure, you can keep it. This is our private property and we've got a whole box of arrowheads that turned up. We've got a lot just like yours. Some people want to keep them, others don't. Do you want to see them? I've got them right here under the counter."
- Mel was a little disappointed that her arrowhead did indeed look like many of the others, so the owner took out a piece of paper and wrote the date found and Mel's name. Mel was so proud of her "certificate" and couldn't wait to show it to her brother.
- It was getting time to head back to the pumpkin coloring contest to find out the winners, so the family walked over to the judging area, with Mel clutching her arrowhead and the document declaring that it was officially hers.
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Maps of Native Americans by State
 - LINKS: BOOK 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS
iNTRODUCTION TO BOOK 2
INTRODUCTION TO THE BIOFABLES SERIES
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