The Skeleton in the Smithsonian by Ron Roy

1
Pizza with the President
    “Why do I have to watch a bunch of disgusting bugs eat their supper?” KC asked. She and Marshall were in the O. Orkin Insect Zoo at the National Museum of Natural History.
    “Because,” Marshall explained, “Spike has stopped eating, and I want to find out why.” Spike was Marshall’s pet tarantula. Marshall was crazy about anything with more than four legs.
    “Okay, okay,” KC said. “But we can only stay for a few minutes. We have to be at the White House at five-thirty.”
    They passed a beehive behind glass,then an African termite mound. Some little kids were petting a huge cockroach held by a museum scientist. KC unzipped her backpack, pulled out her camera, and snapped a picture.
    Marshall headed right for the tarantulas. A woman was dropping food into a glass-sided container. About ten people were watching. Marshall wriggled his way to the front. He saw two tarantulas pounce on the food. The black spiders were the size of Marshall’s hands.
    “Gross,” KC muttered.
    “My tarantula isn’t eating,” Marshall told the woman. “What can I do?”
    “What have you been feeding it?” the woman asked.
    “Mostly flies,” Marshall said. “And crickets, when I can find them.”
    “It may be bored with that food,” the woman said. “Tarantulas like variety.” She put her hand on the tarantula tank. “These guys get beetles, grubs, crickets, cockroaches, moths, and other insects.” The woman wrote something on a piece of paper and handed it to Marshall. “Try this place in Florida. They sell live insects online,” she said. “They’ll send them right to your door.”
    Marshall thanked the woman. “Good luck,” she called as he and KC walked toward the exit.
    “Well, that was just super,” KC said in the elevator. “I may
never
eat again.”
    Marshall grinned. “Spiders have to live, too,” he said. “What would the world be like without them?”
    “Much better!” KC said. She gave hima friendly bump with her shoulder.
    Marshall returned the nudge as the elevator door opened. When they reached the exit, a family of tourists was staggering in. “It must be a hundred degrees out there,” the woman said, wiping her face with a hankie. The man smiled when he felt the air-conditioning.
    “I wanna see the bugs!” their little boy said.
    KC and Marshall stepped out into the heat. It was five o’clock, but the sun was still beating down on Washington.
    A red-faced man in shorts walked up to the museum’s entrance. “Hope you’re not planning to go to the Smithsonian Castle,” he said to KC and Marshall. He tilted his head toward the red building across the Mall lawn. “The hottest day of the yearand the air-conditioning breaks down!”
    KC glanced over at the stone building that looked like a castle. A stream of people hurried outside. Two guards stood at the exit, making sure everyone left. Near the entrance was parked a white van with ACE AIR-CONDITIONING on the side.
    “They sure don’t look happy,” KC said as they headed for Pennsylvania Avenue. President Zachary Thornton was waiting for them at the White House. Ever since KC and Marshall had saved him from evil scientists, he’d been their friend.
    “Is your mom coming tonight, too?” Marshall asked KC.
    She nodded. “The president is sending a car to pick her up at work.”
    Marshall smiled at KC. “President Thornton really likes her.”
    KC blushed. “So? They just hang out together,” she said.
    Marshall rolled his eyes. “KC, you and I hang out together. When adults hang out, it’s called dating,” he said.
    KC was quiet for the rest of the walk to the White House.
    They went to the special entrance where a marine guard stood on duty. He smiled when he saw the kids.
    “Hi, KC. Hi, Marshall,” the marine said. “The president is expecting you.”
    “Hi, Arnold,” KC said. “We’re having pizza with him and my mom.”
    The marine winked. “Yeah, I know. She got here a little while