Authors: Nancy Krulik
No Bones About It (3 page)
“Why did I ever get out of bed this morning?” Mr. Weir groaned as the flash went off right in his eyes.
Seeing all those fake bugs on top of her students was worse than any nightmare Mrs. Derkman had ever had. “I was just thinking the same thing,” she murmured.
The exhibit in the next room was of Native Americans. There was a wooden canoe in the middle of the room. Inside the canoe were four statues of Native Americans. They looked like they were paddling across a river.
“Here are some examples of Native American weaving,” Mr. Weir told the class. He pointed to a glass cabinet filled with baskets and rugs.
Katie studied the baskets. They were all very pretty, with interesting patterns woven into the straw. Suddenly, she heard some of the kids behind her laughing hysterically. Katie turned around to see what was so funny. She couldn’t believe her eyes!
George Brennan was sitting in the back of the big canoe! He was pretending to be one of the statues. When George saw the class looking at him, he moved his arms back and forth, like he was paddling the canoe. “Hey, Kevin,” George shouted out. “Can you canoe?”
“Sure,” Kevin answered. “Canoe? Get it?”
The class laughed even harder. Jeremy took a picture of George paddling in the canoe.
“Mrs. Derkman!” Katie pointed to the canoe. “Look what George is doing.”
The teacher turned around quickly. “George Brennan, you will be up the creek without a paddle if you don’t get down from there right now!” Mrs. Derkman ordered sternly.
George had heard Mrs. Derkman sound like that before. He knew she meant business. Quickly, he climbed out of the canoe. Then he strutted proudly over to where Manny and Kevin were standing.
“That was classic, dude!” Manny said, giving George a high five.
Mr. Weir wiped another bead of sweat from off his forehead. “Kids,” he muttered angrily under his breath.
After that, George had to walk beside Mrs. Derkman. “Thanks a lot, goodie-goodie,” he whispered to Katie as the class entered the mineral and gemstone room.
“It’s not my fault,” Katie told him. “You were the one who climbed in the canoe.”
“But you’re the one who told on me,” George snapped back.
“Mrs. Derkman would have seen you, anyway. Everyone saw you,” Katie told him.
“This room is filled with precious and semiprecious gems. We also have ordinary minerals from all over the world,” Mr. Weir told the class.
“Do you have rubies?” Miriam asked him. “That’s my birthstone.”
“How about diamonds?” Mandy asked.
“I know where you can find the biggest diamonds,” George interrupted. “On a baseball field!”
The kids laughed.
Mr. Weir rolled his eyes and looked at his watch.
“Are there any star sapphires in your collection?” Suzanne asked. “I love them. My mother has a dark blue one that she wears on a chain around her neck. My grandmother . . .”
“How about charcoal?” Kevin interrupted. He made his voice high and squeaky to sound like a girl’s. “I adore charcoal. Look at my charcoal ring.” He held out his hand to show everyone his imaginary ring.
Some of the boys started to laugh.
“Don’t make fun of Suzanne,” Katie said, standing up for her best friend.
“Oh, what a goodie-goodie,” Kevin told her.
“I am not,” Katie insisted.
“If I could actually say something . . .” Mr. Weir began.
But before Mr. Weir could finish his sentence, Manny shouted out from across the room. “Hey, you guys. Check this out!”
Everyone turned around. Manny was sitting on top of a huge slab of polished jade.
“Get down from there!” Mr. Weir shouted.
“Okay,” Manny agreed. “Wheeeeeeeeee!” He slid down the slab of jade like it was the slide in the playground.
Mr. Weir took out a handkerchief and wiped the back of his neck. “Is it getting warm in here?” he asked nervously.
“Perhaps we should try the North American Wildlife room,” Mrs. Derkman suggested. She began to lead the class away from the rock and mineral room.
“I’m so mad at Manny,” Miriam moaned as the class left the mineral and gemstone room. “I wanted to see a real ruby.”
Katie frowned. “You were right, Suzanne,” she said. “Boys can be real pains. I can’t believe Manny did that.”
Suzanne shrugged. “Actually, I thought he was pretty funny. But I can see why you’d be upset by it, seeing as you’re a goodie-goodie and all.”
Chapter 5
Suzanne’s comment upset Katie. But she was even more upset about what was in the North American Wildlife room. There, the kids came face to face with bears, mountain lions, and buffalo. Unfortunately, all of the animals were dead and stuffed. They were part of giant dioramas. And, unlike the mummies, these were all real. Or, at least, they once were!
That made Katie very sad. She loved animals. She had a cocker spaniel, Pepper, who she’d raised ever since he was a pup. Katie and Pepper were always together—except when she was in school or at the mall. Dogs weren’t allowed there.
Katie was also a vegetarian. She would never eat anything that had once had a face. Now, here she was in a room full of animals that had been hunted and put on display. It was awful!
Suzanne noticed that Katie was upset. “You should just walk right out of here,” she told her. “It could be your way of protesting the killing of innocent animals.”
Kevin overheard Suzanne. “Katie couldn’t do that,” he said. “She’s too much of a goodie-goodie to break the rules.”
Suzanne nodded. “You’re right,” she agreed. Then she turned to Katie. “Maybe you should just close your eyes until we leave.”
Katie wasn’t sure what made her angrier—the dead animals or the way her friends were teasing her about being a goodie-goodie. She had to do something.
But what?
But what?
The class stopped in front of a stuffed brown bear. Mr. Weir began to speak. “This is the grizzly bear. It lives . . .”
Suddenly, the bear seemed to speak. “Let me out!”
Mr. Weir jumped back. “Who said that?” he demanded.
“Animals have feelings!” the bear bellowed angrily. “How would you like to be stuffed and put in here?
ROAR!
”
ROAR!
”
Just then, a little girl looking up at the bear burst into tears. “Mommy, that bear roared at me!” she cried.
The girl wasn’t the only toddler in the room. Once she started crying, a pair of twin boys in a double stroller joined in. “No like bears!” one of them sobbed.
“Me, neither,” cried his brother.
“WAAAAHHHHH!” The girl was really wailing now.
The sound of the shrieking toddlers really upset Mr. Weir. With each cry, his face turned redder and redder. More sweat built up on his forehead. A thick blue vein popped out on his neck.
Flash!
Jeremy took a picture of Mr. Weir. “That one’s a classic!” he laughed.
Jeremy took a picture of Mr. Weir. “That one’s a classic!” he laughed.
Mr. Weir glared at Jeremy. Then he eyed the rest of the kids in class 3A suspiciously. “Which of you
wild animals
made that bear speak?” he demanded.
wild animals
made that bear speak?” he demanded.
George burst out laughing. “Good one, Katie Kazoo!” he cheered.
Everyone turned toward Katie. She smiled proudly.
“Katie, was that you?” Mrs. Derkman asked, surprised.
“Sure it was,” George said. “She was using ventriloquism to make the bear talk. Katie’s great at ventriloquism. She doesn’t move her lips one bit.” He turned to Manny. “Remember the time she made your backpack talk? Boy, were you freaked out!”
Manny blushed.
“I guess you’re not a goodie-goodie, after all,” George told Katie.
Katie smiled. Coming from George, that was a big compliment.
“Roar!”
Katie made the bear say.
Katie made the bear say.
“WAAAAHHHH!” cried the two-year-old girl.
“EEEYAAHHH!” screamed the twins.
Mr. Weir stuck his fingers in his ears to block out the noise.
“That’s it!” he shouted angrily. “Young lady, leave this room right now.”
“But, Mr. Weir,” Mrs. Derkman interrupted. “I don’t want to send one of my students off on her own in the museum.”
“She’ll be fine,” Mr. Weir assured the teacher. “There are plenty of guards around. Any one of them can help her if she’s got a problem.”
“But . . .” Mrs. Derkman began.
“If she doesn’t leave, I won’t continue this tour,” Mr. Weir said. “I’m tired of dealing with your students. They’re acting like children.”
“They
are
children,” Mrs. Derkman reminded him.
are
children,” Mrs. Derkman reminded him.
“Either she leaves, or I do,” Mr. Weir said angrily.
Mrs. Derkman sighed. “Katie, there’s a library right down the hall. Instead of looking at the bears, you can do a small report on grizzlies. I’m sure the librarian can help you find information.”
The kids all felt bad for Katie. An extra report. That really stunk!
Katie was a little sad that she would be missing the rest of the field trip. And she felt bad about scaring the little kids. But she was also proud of herself. She’d let everyone know that she thought killing animals was wrong. And she’d proved to her friends that she wasn’t a goodie-goodie.
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