Chapter Four
“What do we do now?” Eric asked.
“We do what Cam suggested,” Mrs. Shelton said. “We tell the security people what happened. Maybe the boy didn’t take Grandpa’s bag, and someone found it. Maybe his mother realized it wasn’t his bag and gave it to one of the guards.”
Cam and the Sheltons went to the gate at one end of the field. A man and woman in green and yellow uniforms were sitting behind a table. Grandpa told them what happened. Eric showed them the bag they had—the wrong bag.
“It sounds like a simple mistake,” one of the guards said. “Hopefully the woman and the little boy who took your bag will come back here with it.”
Grandpa told the guards what was in his bag.
“My camera is digital. When you find it, look at the pictures and you’ll know it’s mine. Almost all of the ones I took today are of my son.”
“That’s me,” Mr. Shelton told the guards.
“Give us your cell phone number,” the first guard said. “We’ll call you if the woman and her son come back.”
“What about this bag?” Grandpa asked.
“Leave it here.”
Grandpa left the bag on the table. Then he wrote his cell phone number on a small piece of paper. The guards gave him a card with their number.
“I’m Janet Jones,” the woman guard said.
“I’m Paul Cogan,” the other guard said. “I hope we find your things.”
Cam and the Sheltons walked away from the table.
“What do we do now?” Grandpa Shelton asked.
“Dad is a college graduate,” Mrs. Shelton said. “We will still go to Green Stripes Restaurant and celebrate. We can walk there. It’s just a few blocks away.”
Mr. Shelton held Donna and Diane’s hands. Mrs. Shelton put Howie in a stroller.
The cat followed them as they walked through two large stone columns at the entrance to the campus.
Mr. Shelton stopped.
“Good-bye,” he said to the columns and to the college. “And thank you.”
He started walking toward the restaurant.
Mrs. Shelton stood by the entrance to the college.
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” she asked.
Mr. Shelton looked at Donna and Diane. He looked at Howie in his stroller. He looked at Grandpa, Eric, and Cam.
“No,” he said. “Everyone is here.”
“What about your cap and gown?” Mrs. Shelton asked.
“Oh! Am I still wearing them?”
Mr. Shelton took off his cap and gown. He put them in a zippered bag strapped to the back of Howie’s stroller. Then the Sheltons and Cam walked to Green Stripes Restaurant.
“Look at the line,” Grandpa Shelton said.
“I called. They’re expecting us,” Eric’s mother told him. “We shouldn’t have to wait.”
Mrs. Shelton went to the front of the line. She spoke to a woman in a green striped dress. Mrs. Shelton waved to her family and Cam.
Eric told the cat, “You can’t come in with us.”
Meow!
The cat sat on the sidewalk. She watched as Cam and the Sheltons followed the woman in the green striped dress into the restaurant.
“Wow!” Cam whispered to Eric. “This is a fancy place.”
The tables were covered with green striped cloths. The waiters wore green striped bow ties and jackets. The woman in the green striped dress led the Sheltons and Cam past lots of tables and lots of people. She led them down a few steps to the lower level of the restaurant.
“Please be seated,” she said when they came to a long empty table. “Your waiter will be here soon.”
She brought a high chair for Howie.
“Look at the walls. Look at all the pictures,” Eric whispered. “This place is like a museum.”
Cam and Eric sat on one side of the table. Grandpa sat next to Cam.
A tall man in a green striped jacket came to the table. He gave everyone a menu.
“My name is Roger,” the waiter told everyone at the table. “Our brunch specials today are orange-glazed tuna and old country French toast.”
“I don’t want old toast,” Diane said. “I want it to be new.”
Roger smiled.
“The French toast is fresh,” he said. “It’s the recipe that’s old.”
The children each ordered French toast. Eric’s parents and grandfather ordered the fish.
“It’s not just my surprise for Ben that’s gone,” Grandpa said while he waited for his meal. “All the pictures I took are gone, too.”
“I have a camera,” Eric’s mom said. “Ben still has his cap and gown. When we get home we’ll take new pictures.”
“We could do that,” Grandpa said sadly, “but it won’t be the same. I took a picture of Ben getting his diploma. He had such a great big smile.”
“Look at all the people here,” Eric whispered to Cam. “I bet lots of them were at the graduation.”
Cam looked around.
“I think you’re right,” she said.
Eric whispered, “Maybe Harry and his mother are here. Maybe he doesn’t even know he took the wrong bag.”
“Let’s look,” Cam said.
