Elke Bell took the lion and studied it. “This is handmade,” she said, “and very well sculpted. It’s a work of art.” She looked carefully at the others and said, “It’s obvious Miriam admires form. I’ll leave her my Ode to the Foot as a gift to thank her for letting me stay in her house.”
Andy wondered where the Perlmans would put Elke Bell’s orange boot.
“Two of the animals are for you,” Tamika told Andy.
He studied them all and chose the giraffe and the walrus.
It was time for dessert and Elke Bell asked for a cup of tea. “I like green tea,” she told Mrs. Russell. “It’s good for me.”
“We don’t have green tea,” Mrs. Russell said, “but we have pistachio ice cream. That’s green.”
“Green tea, green ice cream—whatever,” Elke Bell said, and she ate two scoops of pistachio ice cream.
Andy had two scoops, too. He wasn’t sure green ice cream was good for him, but he knew it tasted good.
Chapter 14
A Really Good Day
The next morning Rachel packed a bag of raisins and cheese. Andy put wood chips in the bottom of his father’s old metal toolbox. Then he put Blue and Red in. (Rachel’s teacher only wanted her to use two gerbils to demonstrate the experiment.) There were small holes in the sides of the box, so the gerbils could breathe. Andy carried the toolbox and Rachel took the maze, and they went outside.
When Andy got on the bus, he sat next to Bruce. Andy gave him the papers that had fallen out of his backpack the day before. “I shouldn’t have looked at them,” he said, “but I did. I didn’t do so well, either. Let’s study together for the next science test, OK?”
“OK,” Bruce said.
Then Andy told him about Elke Bell.
“She sounds like fun,” Bruce said.
“She is,” Andy told him.
When they got to school, Andy and Tamika went first to their class. They told Ms. Roman about Rachel’s experiment and asked if they could go to Rachel’s class to help out.
“Yes, you may, but hurry back. There’s something special I plan to do today, but I’ll wait for both of you—especially for Andy.”
“Something special? You’ll wait for me?”
Ms. Roman smiled.
Andy and Tamika walked past the elementary school’s office to the middle school side of the building. The walls there were lined with lockers, and the halls were crowded with middle school students. Andy felt very small among all those older, much bigger children. A very tall, very strong-looking boy walked past.
“I better start growing,” Andy whispered to Tamika.
Ms. Jackson, Rachel’s science teacher, was in the hall, by the door to Rachel’s classroom. Andy and Tamika introduced themselves to her.
“Welcome. I’ve heard such nice things about both of you,” Ms. Jackson said. “I’m happy to meet you.”
“About me?” Andy asked.
Ms. Jackson smiled.
Andy looked in the room. He saw Rachel. I wonder what she told Ms. Jackson. And he wondered what Rachel had told her classmates.
“Hey, Andy! Hey, Tamika!” Rachel said as she put the maze on the teacher’s desk. Then she said really loud, “Everyone, I’d like you to meet my brother, Andy, and our friend Tamika.”
Lots of Rachel’s classmates shouted their greetings.
“So, you’re the famous Andy Russell,” one boy said. “How are you? How are Sylvia and Slither? How are your gerbils? And how is fourth grade?”
“I’m good. They’re good. And it’s good. How come you know so much about me?”
“Rachel talks about you all the time. She says you’re funny.”
“Rachel said that?” Andy turned to his sister and asked, “How come you said nice stuff about me?”
“Because you’re my brother.”
“Then how come you fight with me all the time?”
“Because you’re my brother.”
“Hmm. So that’s your answer to everything. Tell me, why did the chicken cross the road?”
“Because it parked its car behind the bakery.”
“Good. As long as that’s not because I’m your brother. I don’t want to be responsible for chickens crossing roads and parking cars.”
The bell rang and Ms. Jackson told the class about Rachel’s experiment. She had the whole class gather around her desk.
Tamika put raisins and cheese at the end of the maze. Andy opened the toolbox and took out Blue. Then he put the gerbil at the beginning of the maze.
“Go!” Rachel said, and clicked the stopwatch. Blue twitched its nose. It smelled the raisins and cheese and tried to find its way through the maze. It bumped into the walls lots of times and made a few wrong turns. Then, at last, it found its way to FINISH.
Rachel clicked the stopwatch again and announced the time: “One minute and thirty-seven seconds.”
Blue ate some raisins and cheese. Then Tamika held Blue while Red went through the maze. It took Red longer to get to FINISH. Rachel timed the two gerbils a few more times through the maze, and each time Blue was faster.
When they were done, Rachel stroked Blue’s fur and said, “Good, Blue. You’re the winner.” Then she stroked Red’s fur and said, “You’re good, too.”
“You touch them?” one of Rachel’s classmates asked her.
“Sure I do,” Rachel said. “Andy and Tamika taught me how to handle the gerbils. You have to be gentle and not make any loud noises, and most of all you have to be careful not to drop them.”
Andy put Blue and Red into the toolbox again. Ms. Jackson thanked him and Tamika for coming to their class and helping. Rachel thanked them, too.
Andy took the toolbox, and he and Tamika returned to their class.
“That was a surprise,” Andy told Tamika as they walked through the halls. “I didn’t know Rachel likes me.”
“But I did,” Tamika said.
“I’ve been waiting for you,” Ms. Roman said when they entered the class.
Andy wondered if he was in trouble again.
“I wanted you to be here when I discussed the stories you wrote yesterday.” Ms. Roman took a pile of papers from her desk and said, “They are all very good.”
Except mine, Andy thought.
“I’ll read to you one that was especially well written. When I read it I identified with the main character in the story. It felt to me that I was in real trouble. The story is called, ‘I’m a Criminal—Wanted by the Police.’”
“Hey, that’s mine!” Andy called out.
“I know it’s yours,” Ms. Roman said. “And it’s very well done.”
“It is?”
Ms. Roman smiled and read Andy’s story.
Rachel likes me, Andy thought. Ms. Roman likes my story. This is the beginning of what might be a good day for me—a really good day.
Andy listened as Ms. Roman read his story, and he thought, Maybe from now on I’ll be a great student, like Tamika and Stacy Ann Jackson. Maybe from now on, I’ll have only good days.
He listened some more, as Ms. Roman continued reading his story. No, he decided. I’m still Andy Russell. I’ll still get in lots of trouble, so I may as well enjoy today. Who knows when I’ll have another good day?
Bruce clapped when Ms. Roman finished reading Andy’s story. Soon everyone in class was clapping. Andy stood and bowed.
Maybe I’ll become a writer, Andy thought, and write bestsellers and live in a great big house and be on television! Imagine that! Andy Russell, bestselling author!
Andy imagined what it would be like to be a writer. He stood there and imagined owning a large boat and meeting the president.
“ANDY RUSSELL,” Ms. Roman said, “are you planning to sit down?”
Andy looked at Ms. Roman. Then he looked at his classmates. How long have I been standing here? he wondered.
Andy quickly got in his seat. I’m in trouble again, he thought. This good day didn’t last long. It didn’t even last one hour.
The
n Andy opened his notebook, looked at Ms. Roman, and pretended to listen to everything she said.
About the Author
DAVID A. ADLER is the award-winning author of more than a hundred and fifty books for young people, including his popular Cam Jansen series. He lives on Long Island, New York.
About the Illustrator
LEANNE FRANSON has illlustrated numerous children's books, including Andy Russell, NOT Wanted by the Police by David A. Adler. She lives in Montreal, Canada.
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