Everything was there.
The art easel, the fish tank, the puppet theater, Miss B.’s rocking chair, everything.
All the kids were there, too.
Plus Violet and a couple of parents, who were moving furniture.
We saw Regina and Alison nestled under the reading tree.
They were flipping through a book under its shady leaves. “There’s a the, and there’s a the, and there’s a the,” Alison announced.
We saw Lil Mikey spinning the globe and stopping it with his finger any old place, saying, “This is France. And this is France. And this is France —”
“How did you do all of this?” asked Kelly.
The boy named Henri turned from the art easel. “Miss Becker said she’d miss the old classroom. So we saved it in here.”
“We took one thing,” said Langston. “Then another thing. Pretty soon it was all in here.”
“So goofy, yet so awesome!” Brian said.
Scarlet twirled over to us. “My daddy found this room last week when they took out the old elevator. They were going to close it up, but he saved it for us.”
“I’ll be right down,” said a low voice. Mr. Boggs peeked over from some kind of upper level. He winked at us. “I’m just heating up my coffee in the microwave.”
“Microwave?” said Mara.
Then I got it. “Scarlet’s hot lunch. And the stairs you used to get to the microwave!”
“That’s right, Mr. Jeff,” Scarlet said.
All at once, there was a scream from the classroom behind us. “Ohhhhh! Nooooo!”
“That’s Miss Becker!” Scarlet said, jumping up and down. “She’s seen the empty classroom! Everybody hush!”
Two seconds later, Miss Becker crawled through the opening with Principal Higgins, who was still clutching his papers.
“Surprise!” everyone yelled.
“My classroom!” Miss B. said when she looked around. “How in the world …?”
“France!” said Lil Mikey.
“We saved Wonderland as a surprise for you,” said Scarlet.
Then she gave her teacher a big hug. “It was my idea, and everyone helped, even parents.”
“I don’t understand,” Miss Becker said.
Scarlet took her hand. “You said you would miss the room when we move upstairs. We didn’t want to see you sad. When my daddy found this room, we moved everything in here. So you don’t have to miss it. Ever!”
Miss Becker’s eyes began to water.
Principal Higgins looked ready to explode or faint or both. “I’m flabbergasted!”
“That’s a bad word,” said Truman. “I’m telling Miss Kelly.”
“You told us it was okay, Principal Higgins,” said Scarlet. “You even said Daddy could help.”
“I told you that?” the principal asked.
“When I gave you my note yesterday morning,” she said. “Miss Kelly was there.”
Mr. Boggs climbed down some stairs to us. He sorted through the principal’s papers and found a yellow piece of construction paper.
“This note?” the principal said. “But I couldn’t understand a word of it. Look.”
Miss Becker frowned. “May I?” She took the note, read it over, and burst out laughing. “I can read this, of course.”
“Principal?”
“Miss B. loves our room.”
“Can we keep her furniture”
“and Wonderland in the new room?”
“Daddy can help.”
Principal Higgins frowned a big frown. “And you’re saying I agreed to this?”
Kelly jumped in. “You did! Principal Higgins, I saw you.
“Yesterday morning you were racing through the hall when Scarlet handed you her note. You frowned. You squinted. You turned the page upside down.”
“Well, I couldn’t read it,” he said.
“But do you remember what you said about it?” said Kelly. “Because I do.”
Principal Higgins closed one eye, then the other eye. Then he scratched his chin. Then he shook his head. Then he started to laugh.
“Actually, I do remember! I said, ‘Wonderful. I love it!’ ”
“So you did agree to it,” said Miss Becker. “Well, I love it, too. More than anything!”
“Yay!” the class cheered.
“I’m terribly sorry, Principal Higgins,” said Mr. Boggs. “I know Scarlet’s writing. When you said you loved her note, I thought you could read it and that it was a good idea. It does make sense to empty Miss B.’s old classroom, because we’re starting work on it tomorrow.”
Principal Higgins laughed and laughed and only stopped laughing to say, “This old elevator room is now Badger Point Elementary’s special Wonderland.”
The class cheered even louder.
That’s when Sparky galloped in, dangling a blue sock and a blue mitten from his mouth.
Brian jumped. “Our missing stuff!”
“They were behind the cubbies,” said Mr. Boggs.
“The thumb is still switched!” I said.
“So the mystery lives on!” said Brian.
“And so do the Goofballs!” said Mara and Kelly together.
Everyone cheered loudest of all for that.
Proving one thing I always knew.
