Cam Jansen and the Valentine Baby Mystery (2 page)

Cam has an amazing photographic memory. It’s as if she has pictures of whatever she’s seen stored in her head. Whenever she wants to be sure she remembers something, she looks at it, blinks her eyes, and says,
“Click!”
Cam says that’s the sound her mental camera makes when it takes a picture. When Cam wants to remember something she’s seen, she says,
“Click!”
again.

Cam’s real name is Jennifer Jansen, but when people found out about her amazing memory they started calling her, “The Camera.” Soon “The Camera” became just “Cam.”

Danny said, “We can call your new sister
Film
Jansen or
Flash
Jansen or
Click
Jansen.”

Cam said, “I like the name Alice. It means ‘truth.’”

Cam, Eric, and Beth had finished eating their lunches. They put the wrappers from their sandwiches and their empty milk containers
in their lunch bags and threw them away.

“Hurry,” Beth told Danny. “Lunchtime is almost over.”

Danny took a big bite of his apple. Before he chewed it, he took a big bite of his heart-shaped cookie. His mouth was full. As he chewed the apple and cookie, crumbs fell onto the table.

Rrrr! Rrrr!

“That’s the bell,” Beth said. “Let’s go.”

Cam, Eric, and Beth started to leave the lunchroom.

“Wghmt aw we!” Danny said.

“What?” Beth asked.

Cam told her, “I think he said, ‘Wait for me.’”

Danny threw away his wrappers. He wiped the cream cheese and jelly off his face with his sleeve and said, “I’m ready.”

They left the lunchroom and walked toward their classroom.

The halls were decorated with large paper
hearts. In the middle of each heart was a message. Among them were,
I Love to Learn
,
I Love to Read,
and
I Love School.

The children turned the corner. Their classroom was straight ahead, at the very end of the hall.

“Hey,” Cam said. “Someone is talking to Ms. Benson.”

“Maybe it’s your mother,” Beth said to Danny. “Maybe you’re in trouble.”

“No,” Danny said as they got closer. “It’s Eric’s mother.”

Eric ran to his mother.

“Why are you here, Mom? Is something wrong?”

“I came for Cam,” Mrs. Shelton said. “Her mother is about to have the baby.”

Ms. Benson told Eric, “Your mother is taking Cam to the hospital, so she can be there when her sister is born.”

Cam, Beth, and Danny were by the door to the classroom now. Ms. Benson told Cam the good news. She told her to get her coat and books and go with Mrs. Shelton.

“I want to go, too,” Eric said.

“You know, Eric is Cam’s very best friend,” Mrs. Shelton said. “It would be nice for both of them if he could go, too.”

Ms. Benson smiled and said, “Eric may go.”

“What about me?” Danny asked. “I’m also Cam’s friend.”

“I can’t just let you leave school,” Ms. Benson said. “I’ll need a note from your mother or father.”

Cam and Eric put on their coats. They gathered their books. They were ready to leave the classroom when Danny called out, “Wait for me!”

He gave Ms. Benson a note.

“This must be one of your jokes,” Ms. Benson said after she read the note.

“It’s not a joke,” Danny said. “I want to go with Cam and Eric.”

Ms. Benson read the note aloud. “‘Please let me go to the
hapistal
.’ That’s what you wrote: ‘
hapistal.
’ And you signed it, ‘Danny’s dad.’”

Danny smiled at Ms. Benson. She smiled, too, and shook her head. She wouldn’t allow him to go with Cam and Eric.

Danny turned and started toward his seat, and children in the class laughed.

“What?” Danny asked. “I didn’t even tell a joke.”

Math worksheets from Ms. Benson’s desk were stuck to the cream cheese and jelly on Danny’s sleeve.

“That’s a good idea,” Ms. Benson said. “You can hand out the worksheets.”

Danny went back to Ms. Benson’s desk. He took the rest of the worksheets from her desk. He gave sheets to Cam and Eric. Then he walked through the room and gave one to each of his classmates.

Cam and Eric followed Mrs. Shelton to her car. “Buckle up,” Mrs. Shelton said as they got in.

Cam and Eric got into the backseat of the car and put on their seat belts.

“What’s the name of a triangle with all three sides the same length?” Eric asked. He was reading from the worksheet.

“I’m not thinking about triangles,” Cam answered. “I’m thinking about my sister.”

“That’s exactly what I’m thinking about,” Mrs. Shelton said. “Babies are so cute.”

“It’s equilateral,” Eric said. Then he folded the worksheet. He put it in his jacket pocket and said, “I’ll do this later.”

It was a short ride to the hospital. Mrs. Shelton drove to the entrance of the parking garage. The gate was down. Mrs. Shelton
stopped the car and pulled a ticket from the machine, and the gate went up.

“Here,” Mrs. Shelton said, and gave Eric the ticket. “Please hold this.”

It was a large garage with several levels. Mrs. Shelton drove along the ramps from one level to the next. The first empty spot she found was on the fifth level. Mrs. Shelton parked her car. When she, Cam, and Eric got out, she pushed the car clicker on her key ring. The car lights blinked as the doors locked.

“Let’s go,” Mrs. Shelton said.

The front lobby of the hospital was decorated with pink ribbons and lots of paper hearts.

“Hey,” Eric told Cam. “Your sister’s birthday will be February fourteenth, Valentine’s Day. That’s so great!”

Mrs. Shelton told the man at the front desk, “We’re here to see Mrs. Jane Jansen.”

“Maternity, fourth floor,” the man said after he checked on the computer. Then he
looked at Cam and Eric. “Are these Jane Jansen’s children?”

“She’s Mrs. Jansen’s daughter, and he’s my son.”

The man smiled and said, “Go ahead upstairs.”

Cam, Eric, and Mrs. Shelton went to the elevator. They got off at the fourth floor and followed signs to the maternity ward.

“Look, Cam,” Mrs. Shelton said, and pointed down the hall. “There’s your dad.”

Cam ran to him.

He hugged Cam. “Mom is waiting to go to the delivery room,” he said. “I’ll tell her you’re here.” Then he hurried off.

“Babies have their own schedules,” Mrs. Shelton said as she, Cam, and Eric went to the waiting room. “It may be a few minutes or a few hours before your sister is born.”

In a large chair in the corner of the room was a man. His legs were stretched out onto a small table. His coat was over his legs, and he was asleep. A white-haired old woman and one with blonde hair were also in the room. They were sitting together and reading magazines. In the back of the room were vending machines, one with coffee and one with juice.

“It’s hot here,” Mrs. Shelton said, and took off her coat. She put the coat and her purse on a couch near the sleeping man. Cam and Eric also took off their coats.

Eric said, “Let’s play a game while we wait. Let’s play Geography. I’ll name a place, like ‘Texas.’ That ends with an ‘S.’ Then you’ll name a place that starts with an ‘S,’ like ‘South Dakota.’”

“Let’s do it with babies’ names,” Cam suggested, “and I’ll go first.” Then Cam smiled and said, “Alice.”

“That ends with an ‘E,’” Eric said. “Etain.”

“Hey, that’s a boy’s name. I’m not having a brother.”

“‘Etain’ is a name,” Eric said, “and it ends with an ‘N.’”

“‘Nancy.’”

“‘Y,’” Eric said. He thought for a moment and then said, “‘Yale.’”

“‘Ellen.’”

“‘Nathan.’”

“‘Naomi.’”

A man in a white doctor’s jacket walked into the room.

“Maybe he’s your mother’s doctor,” Mrs. Shelton said to Cam.

Mrs. Shelton quickly walked to the man. Cam and Eric followed her.

“Excuse me, Doctor,” Mrs. Shelton said. “Can you tell me about Jane Jansen? How is she? Was she taken to the delivery room?”

“Jane Jansen,” the man said, and rubbed his chin. “I don’t think she’s one of my patients.”

“She has red hair,” Mrs. Shelton said. “She’s about to have a baby.”

Just then a woman in a white doctor’s coat walked into the waiting room.

“Maybe she can help you,” the man said, and walked toward the coffee machine.

Cam, Eric, and Mrs. Shelton went to the woman.

The woman wore a name tag. Her name was Judith Berger.

“Please, Dr. Berger,” Mrs. Shelton said, “can you tell us about Jane Jansen? How is she? Did she have her baby?”

Dr. Berger smiled. “I was just with Mrs. Jansen,” she said, “and she’s doing very well. It will be a while before I can tell you any more than that.”

Dr. Berger went to the coffee machine.

Cam, Eric, and Mrs. Shelton went back to their seats.

“It’s your turn,” Cam told Eric. “I said ‘Naomi’ and that ends with an ‘I.’”

“‘Ian.’”

“‘Nellie.’”

“I’m getting a cup of coffee,” Mrs. Shelton told Cam and Eric. “Are you thirsty? Would you like some juice?”

Cam and Eric wanted orange juice.

Mrs. Shelton looked on the couch. She lifted her coat. Then she lifted Cam’s and Eric’s coats. “Hey,” she said. “Where’s my purse?”