When I woke up the next morning, I could hear Mom in the kitchen.
I sniffed the air. Mmm . . .
Pancakes! Tate was already at the table, eating breakfast.
"Hey," I said. "Save some pancakes for me!"
Tate made a face at me.
"Iggy," said Mom with a frown.
"Please say good morning to your brother."
"But Mom," I started to argue. "He made a face–"
Before I could finish telling her, the telephone rang.
Then the doorbell rang.
My mom answered the telephone.
"What?" she said, sounding surprised.
"Really? How wonderful!"
I answered the door.
It was Josh and Jenny.
"You'll never guess what happened!" Jenny cried.
I could hear Mom in the kitchen.
"Wait until I tell Iggy!" she said.
"He'll be so excited!"
So much was happening at once.
"Bunch's ticket won the raffle!" said Josh.
"We got a telephone call this morning from a hotel—the Shadow Lake Lodge," added Jenny.
"We're all going to the mountain getaway!"
I was so surprised, my mouth fell open.
"Oh boy!" I whooped.
"Molly and Caswell can come too," said Josh.
"That makes six.
Plus Bunch because he's the winner!"
"The Lodge said we have to keep him in a dog cage in our room," said Jenny.
Josh, Jenny, and I ran into the kitchen.
"Thank you for calling," my mom was saying.
"The kids will be so excited."
She hung up the telephone.
"That was Mr. Chen," she said. "You're all going–"
"To the mountain getaway!"
Josh, Jenny, and I cried at the same time.
"Yes," said Mom, laughing.
"Bunch's raffle ticket was chosen, so he's the winner!"
"Which means we're the winners!" I said.
"My dad says we can go next weekend," said Jenny.
At that moment the wheels in my head started to turn.
I needed an idea for a new invention.
I wanted it to be a special invention for our mountain getaway.
"Mom, Iggy's getting weird again," said Tate.
"He's got that look on his face."
"What look?" asked Josh.
"The look that means he's about to make a huge mess," said Tate.
Mom laughed. "Iggy's probably thinking up a new invention."
"Which means he's about to make a mess, just like I said!" said Tate.
He grinned and punched me in the arm.
I punched him back playfully.
"Tate really isn't such a bad brother," I thought.
Maybe we wouldn't fight as much now that we didn't share a room anymore.
Josh, Jenny, and I ran over to Molly and Caswell's apartment.
We wanted to tell them the big news.
"Wow!" said Molly.
"I'm going to bring my new sleeping bag!"
"I'm going to bring my backpack," said Caswell.
"And my flashlight.
We might get lost in the woods in the middle of the night."
We all laughed.
"I don't think we're going to get lost in the woods," said Josh.
"Especially in the middle of the night."
Suddenly the wheels in my head started spinning again.
But this time my mind went click!
Now I had an idea for my new invention!
I didn't tell anyone about it—not yet.
First I had to see how it was going to work.
I started by borrowing hamster pellets from Josh.
Next I asked Mom for some food coloring.
She gave me red, green, blue, and yellow.
Then I went into my room and closed the door.
I, Iggy, was about to invent something that would amaze the world.
And it would keep people from getting stranded in the mountains!