Blatzo, Michael, Justine and Safdar arrived at the fallen log they had agreed to meet at before going back to find Savannah.
“Unbelievable,” Blatzo said. He grinned from ear to ear. “As we were counting flower buds, we found a fawn. It was so little. It didn’t move, it just curled up on the ground. I took video on my phone.”
“I googled baby fawns,” Michael said. He was just as proud as Blatzo. “Apparently, the mother deer leaves it there while she looks for food. I also read that you shouldn’t touch a fawn.”
“I’ve heard people say it’s because the mother will reject the baby if it smells like a human,” Blatzo said. “But that’s not true. It’s just that if the mother senses a predator has been nearby, it takes a lot longer for her to return.”
As they walked along the path, Blatzo showed the video to Safdar and Justine.
“Wow!” Safdar said. “And you should see the spider web on my iPod.”
Blatzo and Michael watched.
“Cooler than a video game !” Michael said. “Savannah doesn’t know what she’s missing.”
“Speaking of Savannah,” Justine said as they kept walking, “look ahead. She’s up in the tree, pretending she doesn’t see us.”
“She’s probably trying to play another trick on us,” Blatzo said. “Like dropping something on our heads. What should we do?”
“I have an idea,” Justine said. She explained it to Blatzo, Michael and Safdar.
“You sure you want to do that?” Michael asked.
“Yeah,” Safdar said. “She doesn’t deserve something like that.”
“Brilliant,” Blatzo said. “Let’s do it.”
Blatzo looked at Michael and Safdar.
“Yes,” Michael said. “Brilliant.”
“I like it,” Safdar said. “Let’s do it.”
When they reached the base of the tree, Justine said, “Hey, where’s Savannah?”
“I hope she’s okay,” Blatzo said. “I like her a lot. I wouldn’t want her to be lost.”
“Yeah,” Safdar said. “I like her too. She makes me laugh.”
“I’m glad she moved to our school,” Michael said. “I hope she’ll sit with us at lunch tomorrow.”
“You guys are right,” Justine said. “It would be nice if she became a friend.”
From a branch above them, Savannah said, “You guys are idiots. You think I don’t know that you know I’m up here?”
“Well,” Justine said, “it was worth a try. Really, it would be great if we were friends. You’re the person who helped me answer an important question.”
“I don’t really care,” Savannah said. “I’m too busy up here. You should see the nest in the branch below me. It has five little birds, and every time the mother shows up with a worm, they make a lot of noise and pop their mouths wide-open. It’s the coolest thing. I’ve been taking video on my iPad.”