Adventure According to Humphrey (12 page)

From the cheers and smiles, I could tell that no one was disappointed. Seth and Tabitha did a funny victory dance. Heidi and Gail joined in.

Then Mrs. Morgenstern came over to congratulate the girls. “You did a great job!” she said. “I was so focused on you winning the Most Beautiful award, I didn’t think of you actually winning the race. But you did it!”

Gail and Heidi beamed.

“And the sail was spectacular! That white sail on the blue water—it was a classic. Gail, you were right all along. I’m very proud of you.”

Gail and her mom hugged. Then Heidi and Gail’s mom hugged. Then Heidi and Gail hugged. I wished there was someone for me to hug, although hugging might be a little dangerous for a small hamster.

It was almost time to get back to school. As everyone else was busy packing up, I spotted Kirk and Richie wading into the water to retrieve their tall ship, which was half submerged near the edge of the pond. Luckily, the water only came up to their knees. Sayeh and Miranda watched onshore as a few of their colorful feathers floated by. Garth and A.J. looked for their boat, too, but all they could find was the flag. Art and Mandy waded in the water, but the Viking ship was totally gone.

On the edge of the pond, Mr. Morales cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, “If you see an old raft down there, let me know!”

When Kirk and Richie finally pulled the remains of the tall ship out of the water, it was muddy and mucky, but they cleaned it up, working together.

I was happy to stay in my basket on the bus ride back. I sat between Mrs. Brisbane and Ms. Mac—the best seat in the house. If I grabbed onto the inside of the basket, I could lift the top with my head just enough to see them both.

“You certainly picked an interesting day to return,” Mrs. Brisbane said.

“Every day is interesting for the kids in Room Twenty-six,” Ms. Mac replied.

Mrs. Brisbane reached in her jacket and pulled out a piece of paper. “In all the excitement, I forgot to check my list.”

Ms. Mac and I could both see it.

 

“You didn’t forget anything,” Ms. Mac said.

Mrs. Brisbane folded up her paper. “No, but a few things happened that weren’t on the list. You know what they say: the best-laid plans of mice and men often go astray.”

The best-laid Plans of hamsters go astray, too. But that’s what makes life interesting.

Soon, Mrs. Wright led us all in singing a boat song that was very interesting because different groups started it and ended it at different times. I squeaked up the loudest of all.

 

It was a fun song to sing, and I thought, maybe someday I’d like to row
gently
down a stream. Even though today’s trip had almost turned into a nightmare, seeing Ms. Mac again was definitely a dream come true.

When we got back to Room 26, I was almost too tired to squeak, but I managed to tell Og I’d had a great adventure, nearly drowned, but lived to tell the tale.

“BOING!” At least he sounded interested.

I didn’t get to tell him more because the bell rang for recess and my classmates streamed out of the room. The room wasn’t empty for long, though, because Mrs. Wright, Mr. Morales and Ms. Mac all joined Mrs. Brisbane in the classroom.

“Do you have a minute, Sue?” the principal asked. He was still wearing his red shirt with the bright blue sash. He’d taken off his earring and eye patch, though.

“Of course,” she said. “Please sit down.”

It’s always funny to see grown-ups sitting on the kid-size chairs in the classroom. I tried to imagine them as students. Mr. Morales would be a good student with a playful streak. Mrs. Brisbane would be an excellent student, like Sayeh. Of course, Ms. Mac would be an almost perfect human, like Miranda.

But try as I did, I couldn’t imagine Mrs. Wright as a child.

“Did any of the students admit to smuggling Humphrey on the boat?” Mr. Morales asked.

Mrs. Brisbane shook her head. “No. I think Kirk and Richie felt so terrible, they would have confessed to it. But they didn’t.”

“Maybe someone was jealous of their boat and did it to get them into trouble,” Mrs. Wright suggested.

“Maybe,” said Mrs. Brisbane. “But I just can’t imagine any of my students doing that.”

Mrs. Wright sniffed loudly. “I know you think all your students are perfect,” she said. “But someone had to do it. He certainly couldn’t have gotten there all by himself.”

Suddenly, everyone turned to look at me.

“I didn’t plan on going along,” I squeaked in self-defense. “It just happened.”

Ms. Mac laughed her lovely, tinkling laugh.

“He’s been known to get out of his cage before,” Mrs. Brisbane said. “But Bert fixed the door so he can’t get out.”

Mrs. Wright stood up and clomped over to my cage. “Even if he could open the cage, you can’t tell me this little rat or guinea pig or whatever he is could possibly get down from the table, run all across the room and get in the boat by himself. Impossible! Simply impossible!”

“I’m a hamster!” I squeaked back at her. “And it’s NOT-NOT-NOT impossible!”

“BOING-BOING-BOING!” Og chimed in.

This time everyone laughed, except Mrs. Wright.

I guess Mr. Morales was sorry he’d laughed. “You have a point, Ruth.”

Mrs. Wright sniffed again. Maybe she was allergic to hamsters. “We can’t have animals running willy-nilly around the school and the buses and on picnics.”

“It was only one animal,” Mrs. Brisbane said softly.

The bell rang again, and Mr. Morales stood up. “Look, Mrs. Brisbane has been handling her students and their problems for thirty years. I think she can handle this one. Let’s move on.”

He left, along with Ms. Mac and Mrs. Wright. Just before my friends returned from recess, Mrs. Brisbane came over to my cage and jiggled the door. It was fastened tightly, of course.

“Humphrey, I must say, life is never dull with you around.”

“Thanks,” I squeaked. “That’s what a classroom hamster is for.”

 

 

After school, when we were alone, I told Og the whole story. When I finished, I remembered something else.

“I have to say, Og, that as I was about to sink, I thought of you.” It was strange to remember seeing his goofy face flash before me.

“I know if you’d been there, you would have saved me because you can swim. And because you’re my friend.”

I was surprised at how quickly Og responded with a BOING-BOING-BOING-BOING-BOING!

“I’d do the same for you,” I continued. “I can’t swim, but I’d think of something. I guess we make a pretty good team after all. Maybe Kirk and Richie will, too.”

Og dived into the water with an impressive splash.

And with that, I crawled into my sleeping hut and slept soundly, dreaming about the high seas, pirates, best friends and yes, Ms. Mac.

 

No more boat building. No more pirate talk. No more contests. The very next day, we were back to regular old school again, but after my close call with Davy Jones’s locker, I didn’t mind.

Not that the subject of the boat race didn’t come up. Mrs. Brisbane began the day with a very serious look on her face. “Boys and girls, we still don’t know who sneaked Humphrey into that boat and onto the bus. If the guilty party would like to confess now, it would make all our lives a little easier.”

There were some shuffling feet and a few cleared throats, but no one confessed. There was no one
to
confess, except for me.

“I hate to punish the whole class . . .” Mrs. Brisbane began.

I couldn’t take it any longer. “I did it! It was ME-ME-ME!” I squeaked as loudly as I could.

Everyone laughed. Even Mrs. Brisbane.

“I guess Humphrey has the last word for now,” she said. “If anyone would like to confess to me in private, I’d appreciate it. Meanwhile, we’re moving on.”

Over the next few days, there were a few changes in Room 26.

First of all, Richie and Kirk had to write letters of apology to each other. Then each of them had to give a speech to the class, apologizing for almost ruining the boat race.

In his speech, Kirk said that teamwork was more important than winning and the team that works together always comes out ahead in the end. As usual, he ended with a joke. This time, it was one I’d already heard, about the scarecrow winning the award for being outstanding in his field.

Richie made the point that two wrongs don’t make a
right.
At first I thought he was talking about
Mrs. Wright,
and I shivered a little just thinking about her whistle, though she’s a very good song leader.

But then I realized that he meant just because Kirk treated Richie the wrong way didn’t make it right for Richie to break the rules and bring along the submarine.

I cheered loudly for both speeches.

Aldo changed back to his regular non-pirate ways of talking and cleaning, thank goodness. But every once in a while, he’d do a little hornpipe dance while he was dusting.

The other change in Room 26 was something—or someone—wonderful. Ms. Mac came in to help Mrs. Brisbane for two hours every day. Then she would go to the library and help Mr. Fitch for another hour or two.

She smelled so good, and she always remembered to bring me yummy treats like apple slices and strawberries. Having her around was a dream come true.

One day, she asked Mrs. Brisbane if she could have lunch with her. They sat across from each other at Mrs. Brisbane’s desk and took out sandwiches and water and yummy-looking fruit and they talked.

“I’m so glad it worked out with Humphrey,” Ms. Mac said. “When I left here, I wasn’t sure you’d like having a classroom hamster.”

“I wasn’t sure myself,” Mrs. Brisbane admitted. “But he’s added a lot to the class.”

“Good,” said Ms. Mac. She chewed on her sandwich a little more and then said, “I’m a little worried about what I’m going to do now that I’m back. I need to make some money.”

“Funny, I’ve been worrying about that, too,” Mrs. Brisbane replied. She didn’t look worried, though. In fact, she was grinning. “And I have some ideas.”

Ms. Mac’s big brown eyes got even bigger. “What?”

“I don’t want to say yet, but you are a very talented young teacher, and I know of several opportunities coming up.” Mrs. Brisbane was being awfully mysterious. “You’ll find out soon.”

“WHAT-WHAT-WHAT?” I shouted.

The two women chuckled. “It sounds like Humphrey has a few ideas, too,” Ms. Mac said.

“He always does,” Mrs. Brisbane agreed.

“Speaking of Humphrey, has anyone confessed to smuggling him into the boat?”

“Well, yes. You actually heard him confess.” So Mrs. Brisbane had understood me!!

Ms. Mac glanced over at my cage. “Could Humphrey really do that?”

Mrs. Brisbane looked my way, too. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned this year, when it comes to Humphrey,
anything
is possible.”

“BOING-BOING!” Og twanged, splashing in his tank.

The two teachers burst out laughing.

When they finished their lunches, they each gave me a treat. From Mrs. Brisbane, it was a small and crunchy carrot. From Ms. Mac, it was a soft, sweet slice of banana.

I crossed my paws and hoped they have lunch in Room 26 more often!

 

And then something really wonderful happened. Ms. Mac brought Mr. Fitch to Room 26 one day. He said that due to my bravery during the boat race and my contributions to the class, he was presenting me with my very own library card!

And there it was: a lovely little rectangle that read,
This card grants full library privileges at Longfellow School to HUMPHREY
. He taped it to the outside of my cage.

Everyone applauded. Then Miranda Golden, my special friend, raised her hand. “But how is Humphrey going to check out books? He can’t get to the library by himself!”

Oh, humans! There’s so much they don’t know. In fact, I was already planning to stroll down to the library later that night to see if there was a good movie I could watch.

“We’ll just have to help him out,” Mrs. Brisbane answered. “Just like he’s always helped us.”

“Hooray for Humphrey Dumpty!” A.J. suddenly shouted. My friends all joined in, and I even heard Og say, “BOING!” in agreement.