Maybelle Goes to School (2 page)

While Henry hid on Ramona's belly, Mr. Peabody brushed the cat's black stripes. “Ramona must surely be the prettiest, shiniest tabby cat anywhere,” he said. He tied a red bow around her neck JUST SO to make it official. She did not look pleased.

Mrs. Peabody set her cake on a platter and arranged candied fruit on top in a little pile, JUST SO.

“My cake will be the grandest one at the elementary school bake sale this year,” she said to Mr. Peabody. Mrs. Peabody never passed up a chance to show off. “The Tower of Taste will put Mildred Snodgrass's cake to shame.”

“ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY!” the Peabodys said together.

Right then, Maybelle woke up where she had no business being and knew she was in Trouble.

 

3

On the Road

At the same moment, the doorbell rang.
Ding-dong!
It was Samuel and Samantha, the Snerdly twins from next door.

“Can I borrow a flea?” Samuel asked.

“He's starting a flea circus,” Samantha said. “All he has so far is a pair of pants.”

Samuel opened his hand. The Peabodys leaned down to see what looked like a tiny ball of thread.

“Very nice, dear,” Mrs. Peabody said. “But you cannot borrow a flea from this house. There are Absolutely, Positively NO BUGS at Number 10 Grand Street.”

“May I please borrow Ramona?” Samantha said. “My hamster went under the clothes dryer.”

“It's her turn to show Something Interesting at lunch today,” Samuel said.

“Why, certainly not!” Mr. Peabody said. “Ramona could not stand the excitement of going to school.”

“On the other hand, dear Herbert, she looks so pretty. It would be a shame if no one but us admired her.”

Mr. Peabody had to agree. “We'll bring her over to school when we bring the cake for the bake sale,” Mr. Peabody said.

So the Peabodys put the cake and the cat on the back seat of their car.

Mr. Peabody started the engine,
VROOOM!
And off they went.

Maybelle's heart pounded. She peeked out of the cake through the tiny hole in the icing where she'd crawled in. “
Psst!
Henry, where are we going?”

Henry parted Ramona's fur. He didn't remind Maybelle that he'd warned her not to fall asleep in her food. “I don't know,” he said. “But maybe there will be a Golden Retriever there for me to bite. I never give up hope, kiddo. As for you, you'd better stay out of sight. Wherever we're going, cockroaches aren't welcome.”

And that was something Maybelle already knew.

 

4

Nobody Home

When Maybelle peeked out of the cake again, what she saw through her hole in the icing made her want to go straight home. She was on the bake sale table in the lunchroom of Interesting Times Elementary School. The Peabodys and other large humans stood close by.

Across the room the Lunch Lady marched up and down the cafeteria line, clattering pots and pans.
Bang! Clang!
She wore a hairnet and big, squeaky shoes.
Squeak, squeak! Bang! Clang!
It was all very alarming.

Henry had told Maybelle to stay hidden. But she needed to ask him how to get home again. That meant she had to find Ramona. And to find Ramona, she had to see above the crowd.

She
slipped out of the safe, dark, blueberry jam. She scurried up, up, up the side of the Tower of Taste as fast as she could. She dove into the candied fruit Mrs. Peabody had arranged on top JUST SO. Then she looked around from behind a cherry.

Maybelle saw Ramona in her carrying case on a chair nearby. She was staring at Maybelle. She did not look friendly.

“Henry! Are you there?” Maybelle called. “I want to go home!”

Ramona laid her ears back. “
Hisssss!
” she said.

Not a sound from Henry.

Maybelle's heart sank. Henry wasn't on his cat.

He must have moved on to something Golden and Delicious.

 

5

A Friend Flies By

“BZZZRRRT! Coming down! Coming down!” A very large housefly landed next to Maybelle. He rubbed his legs together. “ZZZZRT!”

The fly looked familiar. He had bug eyes and hairy legs. His feet smelled.

“Maurice?”

“Hey there, Missy! BRRZZZT! Got yourself a nice cake there.”

Maybelle had seldom been happier to see a friend. She didn't even mind that Maurice was noisy and irritating. “I don't want this cake. I want to go home. I want to find Henry. Have you seen any Golden Retrievers?”

“Nope. I'm waiting for lunch. Today is Mystery Meat.” Maurice rubbed his legs together faster and faster. “Catch you later, Missy! Going up! Going up! BRZZZRT!” He was gone again.

Maurice wasn't likely to be much help. Maybelle would have to find Henry by herself.

While the Peabodys waited for Samantha Snerdly to present Ramona to the Lower School, Mildred Snodgrass placed her cake next to Mrs. Peabody's Ten-Layer Tower of Taste.

“Look, Herbert! My cake is taller and prettier than Mildred's Mocha Majesty,” Mrs. Peabody said.

“And Ramona has the finest and shiniest coat any tabby cat could have.”