A to Z Mysteries: The School Skeleton

by Ron Roy

  His eyes twinkled. “I grabbed the skeleton, came back through our connecting door, and hid it in Mrs. Waters’s closet. She leaves the key in the lock, so I just locked the door and kept the key.”

  “Then you changed your shoes, right?” Josh asked.

  Mr. Dillon nodded. “I didn’t realize I’d left a footprint. But when you told me that later, I decided to leave more footprints, and that’s when I borrowed Mrs. Waters’s powder.”

  “And I expect it back, please,” she said.

  Everyone laughed again.

  Mr. Dillon smiled. “Since you three kids were the first to find Mr. Bones, you get to make the announcement over the intercom.”

  “What announcement?” Dink asked.

  “Why, about the trip, of course! I’ve hired buses to take the entire school to the aquarium,” Mr. Dillon said.

  “Everyone is going?” asked Ruth Rose.

  “Everyone searched for Mr. Bones, so everyone gets the prize,” said Mr. Dillon.

  Suddenly Mr. Bones’s head popped through the connecting door.

  “Even me?” the skeleton asked.

  A to Z Mysteries

  Dear Readers,

  When I was growing up in Connecticut, my favorite place to be was in school. I liked my teachers, and I loved learning new things every day When I reached third grade, I attended a small school that had only two classrooms. The principal was also my teacher! She taught me to write in cursive, and she taught me to love reading.

  I used to look forward to Monday mornings. My mom would pack me a lunch, and off I’d go. When summer vacation came along, I’d play and read and hike and swim and go to camp, but I’d be thinking about September, when I could go back to school.

  A couple of years ago, we had a writing contest, and Andrew Stern was the winner. He wrote a terrific story about scary things happening where Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose go to school. Andrew’s story gave me some new ideas, and that’s how The School Skeleton was born.

  I was lucky to be able to visit Andrew in his school in California. The minute I walked into the school, I knew why Andrew was such a good writer. All the kids and teachers seemed so happy to be there! The principal bought pizza for the whole school to celebrate Andrew’s winning the writing contest.

  So thank you, Andrew, for your story and for reminding me why I loved school so much—and still do! You can see Andrew’s picture on this page.

  Happy reading!

  Sincerely,

  Collect clues with Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose

  in their next exciting adventure,

  THE TALKING T. REX

  “I don’t believe it!”

  Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose ran toward Tyrone the T. rex.

  “What happened?” Dink asked.

  Jud pointed to the floor inside Tyrone’s belly. The table and carpet had been moved. Where the table had stood was a square hole cut into the flooring. A hinged door was open, and the compartment was empty.

  “How much money was there?” Josh asked.

  Jud’s face was white. “All the money we’ve made so far,” he said in nearly a whisper. “Almost five thousand dollars.”

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  Text copyright © 2003 by Ron Roy

  Illustrations copyright © 2003 by John Steven Gurney

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright

  Conventions. Published in the United States by Random House

  Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

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  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Roy, Ron.

  The school skeleton / by Ron Roy ; illustrated by John Steven Gurney.

  p. cm. — (A to Z mysteries)

  SUMMARY: At Green Lawn Elementary, the entire school becomes involved in a mystery when Mr. Bones, the skeleton in the nurse’s office, disappears.

  eISBN: 978-0-307-54543-5

  [1. Skeleton—Fiction. 2. Lost and found possessions—Fiction. 3. Schools—Fiction. 4. April Fools’ Day—Fiction. 5. Mystery and detective stories.] I. Gurney, John, ill. II. Title.

  PZ7.R8139 Sc 2003 [Fic]—dc21 2002008918

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