“That’s really hot, right?” Nina asked.
Joel nodded. “It’s been a hot September, but not that hot. We need to get those eggs some heat. I hope it’s not too late.”
“There was probably heat coming out the back of the machines, back when power was on,” Nina said. She flipped open her own penguin book and sounded out the captions under the photographs. “‘The parents take turns in… in… incubating the eggs.’ I guess the little chicks inside like the feeling of being sat on. We should sit on them, too.”
Joel snapped his fingers. “Hot-water bottles! We have some from when we were sick last winter.”
“‘Sometimes penguin parents wind up being two boys or two girls,’” Nina read out loud. “‘Other penguins will adopt eggs if the original parent goes missing.’ That’s so sweet.”
“Anything else? We should get back and warm those eggs. I wish we could bring the books with us, but of course they won’t give library cards to kids without an adult present.”
“I don’t know why Mom didn’t think of that,” Nina said.
“She’s an artiste,” Joel replied. “That means she doesn’t bother about small things.” Like having the power turned on before they arrived at their new home.
Joel started reshelving the books. “Get your coat on, Nina.”
“I didn’t even take mine off!” Nina said.
“Oh,” Joel said, patting his chest, “I didn’t, either!”
Back at the house, Joel rushed into the kitchen, while Nina went to rummage the hot-water bottles out of the moving truck. “How’s the toilet going, Mom?” Joel called.
“Good!” she replied from the bathroom. “All unclogged. I took a moment to set up the goldfish tank, and now I’m working on the shower drain.”
“Great. Say, I’m going to heat water… um, for tea. Do you want some?”
Mrs. Popper ducked into the kitchen, wiping her brow, a confused expression on her face. “You’re making tea? Since when have you liked tea?”
“Yeah, um, I heard all the kids here in Hillport and Stillwater like tea. So I thought I’d try it out. I’d have something to talk about in the cafeteria, you know, to make myself some friends on my first day.”
“Aww, honey,” his mom said, coming over to give him a hug. “You’ll make friends in no time. I’m sure of it. You’re just the loveliest boy.”
“So how does this work?” Joel asked, fiddling with the knobs on the stove top.
“It’s gas, which luckily wasn’t shut off,” his mother said. “Here.” The stove top clicked, and blue flames came out of a burner.
“Wow, fire,” Joel said. “Let’s make lots of hot water, because I want, um, lots and lots of tea!”
“Okay, okay,” his mother said distractedly, filling a kettle with water from the sink. “After you drink your tea and do your reading for Monday, I’ll need your and your sister’s help. I want to give that front hall a good scrub.”
“Sounds good,” Joel said, staring at the beads of water forming on the sides of the kettle.
Right then Nina came through the front door, an empty hot-water bottle in either hand. “Got ’em!”
“What did you unpack those for?” their mother asked.
“I just like the comforting feel,” Nina replied, pressing the rubber against her cheek.
Mrs. Popper narrowed her eyes.
“You know,” Joel added hastily, “must be new-school jitters.”
“You poor kids,” their mother said. “This will be the last new school you ever have to go to, I promise.”
“I can handle heating the water from here,” Joel said. “Then we’ll go do our reading.”
“I want to do my reading in the basement!” Nina said.
Joel nodded rapidly. “That’s a great idea, Nina.”
“Are you kids sure you’re okay?” their mother asked, pressing her hand against Joel’s forehead.
Nina bounded down the steps into the basement. “Yep, totally! We’re great! See you down here once you’re ready, Joel!”
“Study hall is in session!” Joel said a few minutes later as he raced down after her with two hot-water bottles in hand. He hoped they wouldn’t be too late.
OORK!
IT WAS THEIR first day of school, and Joel and Nina were taking a very long time getting their book bags ready. There were the usual folders and pencil cases and notebooks to color-code and arrange, of course, but there were also secret extra items: fleece blankets, hot-water bottles, and penguin eggs, one for each backpack.
“What’s taking you kids so long?” their mother asked from the front doorway. “You don’t want to be late on your first day!”
Joel and Nina gingerly noodled their arms into their shoulder straps, one at a time. “Gently, gently,” Joel said as they tiptoed toward the front door.
“What is wrong with you two?” their mother asked, concern on her face as her children crept toward her.
“Oh, you know, first-day jitters,” Nina said.
“My dear little ones,” Mrs. Popper said. “You’ll have friends in no time. I’ll walk you there and make sure you get in okay, too.”
“No, thanks, Mom,” Joel said quickly. “It’s only a few blocks away. You took us on that practice run last night. We’ll be fine.”
“Okay then,” she replied, her expression turning wistful. “I’ll be right here once the school day’s over. I’ll want to hear every detail.”
“Sounds good, bye, Mom!” Joel said as he and Nina tiptoed out the door. Their mother raised an eyebrow at them, then they were on the sidewalk.
Did Joel feel a nudge inside his backpack? Was that possible?
After arriving at school, they parted ways to go to their separate homerooms, Joel to fifth grade and Nina to third. Joel moved so carefully through the hallways that he was the last kid to arrive in his room. After greeting him, Mrs. Mosedale placed him in the back row. “I’m seating you next to Michael,” she said. “He’ll be your guide for the day. Michael, you’ll take good care of our new classmate, won’t you?”
“Of course I will,” Michael said, his face beaming a little too much. He patted Joel on the shoulder, as if they were already friends. “I’ll make sure our new buddy knows exactly where he belongs.”
For some reason, Joel didn’t get a good feeling about Michael. Not at all.
The day started with math, and while Mrs. Mosedale demonstrated how to multiply decimals, Joel’s mind wandered. How were Nina and her egg faring in her class? Then he started thinking about the penguin egg in his own backpack. He’d checked on it all weekend. It was almost killing him now not to be able to look at it.
“Mrs. Mosedale?” he asked, raising his hand once she’d assigned them a set of exercises. “Could I go use the bathroom?”
“Of course. Take the hall pass,” she said. “Michael, please show Joel the way.”
“Sure, Mrs. Mosedale!” Michael said, beaming again. “I’ll take him right there.” His brightness felt cold, like a fluorescent bulb.
Joel gripped the straps of his backpack and stood.
“You don’t need to bring your bag to the bathroom, new kid,” Michael said sharply.
“I’d like to,” Joel said, and hurried out of the classroom.
“You’re weird,” Michael said flatly as soon as the door closed. “No one brings their bag to the bathroom.”
“I do,” Joel said.
“Okay, whatever,” Michael said. “The bathroom is down that hall. I’ll wait here. I’m not going in with you.” Joel could feel Michael’s eyes against his back as he cautiously made his way down the hallway.
As soon as he was in the bathroom, Joel dipped into a stall and opened the backpack. The egg was still there, nestled safely in a fleece blanket and warmed by the hot-water bottle. He pulled the egg out. It was so perfect. He knew from his reading that its shape made it almost indestructible, even though it was protected by only a thin layer of calcium. It could survive the worst storms of Antar
ctica yet could also be opened from the inside by a weak baby chick. How amazing!
He flushed the toilet, even though he hadn’t done anything. Egg in his hand, he opened the stall door—and ran right into Michael.
“What is that?” Michael said, blocking the exit. “Give it to me, I want to see.”
“No way,” Joel said.
Joel went to put the egg back in the backpack, but before he could, Michael snatched it from his hands. “What is this? Is it from a dinosaur or something?”
“Give it back!” Joel said, lunging for it.
“No way. This is awesome. Everyone’s going to love it!” Michael said. With that, he turned and ran.
“No, you’ll hurt it! And it needs to stay warm!” Joel cried as he ran after Michael. The thought of the poor baby chick jostling inside, a defenseless little animal that had already been through so much, brought tears to his eyes. Joel ran out of the bathroom and down the hallway.
Michael was fast. It was all Joel could do to keep him in view as he raced down the school’s unfamiliar corridors. Startled kids peered out of the windows of the classrooms they passed. All it would take was one teacher coming out into the hallway, and it would all be over. The egg would be confiscated.
Michael tossed the egg in the air as he ran, shouting taunts behind him. “You want it back? How much do you want it back?”
“Stop it!” Joel yelled.
Michael slammed through some double doors, and suddenly they were out on the playground, running across the stretch of open asphalt between two basketball hoops. Not too far away, a group of little kids was playing four square. Their teacher was busy taking roll call. No one had noticed the egg—yet.
Michael tossed the egg high in the air and barely caught it, diving for it with both hands extended. Then he tossed the egg right into the air again.
“Give it back!” Joel called as he rushed toward Michael, reaching his arms out to beat him to the falling egg. Like outfielders after a fly ball, they stared up at the sky at the egg turning end over end. It passed in front of the sun, and they were both blinded. The boys knocked into each other. Seeing purple, Joel flailed his hands through the air, hoping to make contact with the egg.
But he didn’t. All he heard was a loud crack.
Furious, he shoved Michael away. “No!”
At Joel’s feet were ruins of eggshell, gray on the outside and brilliant white on the inside. In the middle was a wet little bird, no bigger than a fist. It was on its side, but then it righted itself and looked directly at Joel. It flapped its miniscule wings, opened and closed its beak. Then it made a sound. “Oork!”
A POP QUIZ
NINA’S QUIZ WAS not going well. If only they had started with math, then she would have been right on top of it. Spelling was unfortunately not her strong suit. It wasn’t fair—she was new, which meant she hadn’t had a chance to study any of these words! Mr. Prendergast said just to do her best, and the grade wouldn’t count, but even so, Nina took an extra moment to curse being the new kid again. It was the absolute worst.
How did anyone know how to spell wrinkle? Nina had an r down on her paper, but it already didn’t look right.
She spared a moment to glance down at her bag, which she’d left open at the side of her desk—quite cleverly, she thought. She could check on the egg all through class. It was nestled snugly in its fleece blanket, heat radiating up from the hot-water bottle, enough to turn Nina’s forehead sweaty.
Wait—did the egg have a crack in it?
“Eyes on your paper, Nina,” Mr. Prendergast said.
“Sorry,” Nina said, returning to wrinkle. Her face flushed even more. He thought she’d been cheating! This was not going to be a good first impression.
“The next word,” Mr. Prendergast said, “is ‘content,’ as in ‘satisfied.’ ‘Content.’”
Nina spent a long time penciling a c, sneaking glances at her bag. The egg was definitely shaking, and the crack was getting bigger. She could hear a tapping sound. She scratched her pencil harder along her paper, hoping that sound would cover the ones coming from the egg.
Oh my! There was a hole in the egg now, and from the other side of the hole emerged a little beak, hard and black and with a hook on the end. Nina knew from her library research that that was called an egg tooth. The chick was coming out! She wished Joel were here to see. Some situations just called for a big brother.
She had only one letter down again when Mr. Prendergast called out the next word. Highway. This one Nina had a better chance on.
She just let her pencil make random movements on the paper, though, while she stared down at the chick. It was fully out of its shell now. A real live baby penguin! Oh my gosh!
Then it made its first noise: A very small oork! The student on Nina’s right looked up and around, confused.
Uh-oh. This was going to get out of hand very quickly.
“Oork, oork!”
Before Nina could stop it, the chick picked its way out of the shell, then up and out of her backpack and onto the classroom floor. “No, stop!” she whispered as the bird started toddling under her desk, holding out its flippers. It was very cute, a dark gray ball of fuzz with a white belly and sleepy black eyes. But cuteness wouldn’t be enough to keep the bird from getting both of them into trouble very quickly.
“‘Nectar,’” Mr. Prendergast called out as the chick gave the leg of Nina’s desk an experimental peck.
Nina slunk down in her desk, slipped onto the floor, and got up on her hands and knees.
What are you doing? the girl next to her mouthed.
Nina reached her hands around the chick. It was so fragile and light, bits of egg still stuck to its feathers. The chick disappeared entirely in Nina’s hands. It felt like holding a Christmas ornament. Nina eased back into her chair, hands cupping the baby penguin. It pecked at Nina’s palms. It tickled.
“Is everything okay, Nina?” Mr. Prendergast asked, looking over at her.
Nina nodded emphatically.
As Mr. Prendergast called out “‘Adapt,’” Nina delicately lowered her hands into her backpack and released the chick. Before it could get out again, she zipped the bag shut.
She could still hear the chick making its squeaky oork sounds inside. The girl next to her had given up on her quiz and was staring at Nina’s shaking backpack with astonishment. This situation was soon going to… what was the word…
“‘Escalate,’” Mr. Prendergast called.
Yep! That was it!
Nina had just written an e down on her paper when Joel appeared at the classroom door. He looked sweaty and out of breath, wearing his backpack on his front. If Nina wasn’t mistaken, Joel’s bag was shaking, too.
“Can I help you, young man?” asked Mr. Prendergast, clearly irritated at the interruption.
“I’m sorry,” Joel said. “My name is Joel Popper. Nina is my sister, and I have to go home sick. Our mother is on the way. The front office said I could come get Nina, so we could go home together.”
“Are you sure? That’s most unusual,” Mr. Prendergast said, folding his arms over his sweater vest.
Nina looked from her brother to Mr. Prendergast, her mind racing. Then she coughed. Her hand was already reaching for her backpack. “Yes, I’m feeling sick, too!”
ERNEST AND MAE
“KIIIIDS,” MRS. POPPER said as she walked them home, “are you sure that you’re both sick?”
“Yes, of course we are,” Joel said quickly.
Nina coughed pointedly.
Their mother was carrying their backpacks for them, which she always did when they weren’t feeling well. Joel watched the bags to see if the chicks were moving. But they weren’t, and he couldn’t hear any oorks. Maybe the chicks had fallen asleep.
Mrs. Popper chose her words carefully. “I wonder if maybe you two were overwhelmed by your first day, and you called out sick because you wanted to come home.”
Nina coughed again, shaking her head at the same time.
Joel always felt terrible whenever he lied, so he took the opportunity to clear his conscience. “Yeah, that might have been it, Mom. We just wanted to come home.”
Nina stopped coughing.
“I wish you had told me the truth from the start.”
Nina took their mother’s hand in hers and squeezed. “Sorry, Mom. They might not have called you if we didn’t say we were sick.”
Mrs. Popper ruffled Nina’s hair. “I know this move is hard on you both. None of us expected your father to leave, that I’d have to find a way to get by on one income. But we have a house we can call ours now. We own it. Everything is going to be different from here on out.”
“I bet you’re right, Mom,” Joel said. “That sounds nice.”
“I love you two,” Mrs. Popper said.
“Do we have any tuna fish?” Joel asked.
“Oh!” Mrs. Popper said, surprised. “We… do have tuna fish.”
As soon as they were inside, Joel and Nina dashed upstairs and huddled in Nina’s room, where they unzipped their backpacks and peered in.
“Oh, thank God,” Joel said as he pulled his chick out. It sat on his palm quietly, peering up at him with its deep, dark eyes.
“Mine’s okay, too!” Nina cried. Her chick was far more energetic, hopping out of her hand and wandering around the room, checking out the corners, oorking away. Nina sighed. “It’s so cute!”
“It is. They both are,” Joel said, lowering his chick to the ground. It chased after Nina’s, and once it’d caught up, it huddled against the other penguin, little fuzzy wing reaching out for comfort. They both kept oorking. “I bet they’re hungry.”
“I’ll go get the tuna fish,” Nina said, and ran downstairs.
Joel kneeled on the floor. Tears of joy filled his eyes while he watched the chicks. They were so perfect. Then he leaped to his feet. The penguins were heading right out of the bedroom! Joel shut the door just in time, before the chicks wandered out into the hallway. They hit the wood and turned around. The startled chicks oorked even louder. Two baby penguins were going to be a lot of work.
The Popper Penguin Rescue Page 2