Amelia Bedelia waddled as fast as she could down the hall. When she was sure that no one was looking, she started running. By the time she got to the office, she was out of breath.

“My goodness, Amelia Bedelia,” said Ms. Hotchkiss. “Even I can walk to your classroom without getting winded.”

Mrs. Roman’s eyes narrowed to slits. “Amelia Bedelia, you did walk here, correct?” she said.

Amelia Bedelia couldn’t catch her breath. Finally she nodded and handed Mrs. Roman the piece of paper that Mrs. Shauk had given her.

Mrs. Roman opened the attendance report. She turned it around and around and finally turned it upside down. Frowning, she looked at Amelia Bedelia.

“Is this a joke, Amelia Bedelia?” asked Mrs. Roman. “What kind of number is this?”

Uh-oh, thought Amelia Bedelia. It looked like when Mrs. Roman was unhappy, her bad side was her front! Mrs. Roman was still squinting at Amelia Bedelia and shaking her head back and forth when Ms. Hotchkiss took the piece of paper from her.

Ms. Hotchkiss laughed. “Would you read this for Mrs. Roman, Amelia Bedelia?” she asked.

“XX is twenty, plus V is five, and II is two, which equals twenty-seven,” said Amelia Bedelia.

“Perfect,” said Ms. Hotchkiss. “And perfect attendance. You should study your Roman numerals, Mrs. Roman.”

“Mrs. Shauk wondered if you would live up to your name,” said Amelia Bedelia.

“Oh, she did, did she?” said Mrs. Roman.

“Yup! And Clay said you had invented Roman numerals and named them after yourself,” said Amelia Bedelia.

Ms. Hotchkiss laughed again.

“Sounds like Clay is trying to get on my bad side,” said Mrs. Roman.

Oh, no, thought Amelia Bedelia. She had wanted to stay on Mrs. Roman’s good side. Now she was on her bad side, dragging Mrs. Shauk and Clay along with her. If she made Mrs. Roman mad at Clay, Amelia Bedelia would not be a lucky duck in his eyes. She would be a dead duck.

“Oh, Clay never wants to be on your bad side,” said Amelia Bedelia. “But I don’t think you have a bad side. Your front, back, and both sides all look good to me.”

“Thank you so much,” said Mrs. Roman, smiling. “That’s very nice of you.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” said Mr. Jack, the school’s custodian, as he walked into the office. Mr. Jack went by his first name because he said he was a jack-of-all-trades. “Wait until I finish your job. I put the easel in the lobby. Now, which picture do you want moved out there?”

“The one on the wall behind the counter,” said Ms. Hotchkiss. “It was the first photograph of the students and teachers of Oak Tree Elementary, taken in 1920.” She pointed at a large, framed black-and-white photograph.

Amelia Bedelia had always wondered who the people in the photograph were. She had been in the office lots of times but had never had the chance to ask. “Is that really our school?” she said.

“You bet, Amelia Bedelia. Look right here,” said Mrs. Roman, pointing to a little tree in the foreground. “This little sapling grew up to be the giant oak tree out front.”

“It’s a really big picture,” said Amelia Bedelia. “They must have used a huge camera.”

“The original picture was small. I’m sure they blew it up,” said Ms. Hotchkiss.

“Really?” said Amelia Bedelia. “They blew it up?”

“They enlarged it as much as possible,” said Mrs. Roman. “Need any help, Mr. Jack?”

“I’ll try it single-handedly, but this thing is heavier than it looks,” Mr. Jack said.

It must be heavy, thought Amelia Bedelia. Mr. Jack was using both of his hands to lift it, carrying it double-handedly. She was standing between Mr. Jack and the office door. She was about to move out of the way when Mr. Jack asked for her help.

“Watch it . . . watch it!” said Mr. Jack, walking toward Amelia Bedelia with the huge framed photo. He seemed to be having some trouble seeing where he was going. “Watch it!” he said to Amelia Bedelia again.

As usual, Amelia Bedelia did what she was told. She watched the framed picture. She did not move at all.

BAMMMM! The frame crashed into the counter. Mr. Jack set the photograph down on the floor, leaning it against the front of the counter.

“I was asking Amelia Bedelia to be careful and move out of my way,” he explained, looking embarrassed.

“That’s okay. It was an accident,” said Ms. Hotchkiss.

“Accidents happen,” said Mrs. Roman.

Amelia Bedelia was relieved. She must be on Mrs. Roman’s good side after all. That was when Amelia Bedelia spied the envelope that had fallen to the floor when the framed photograph hit the counter. She picked it up. It was addressed to “The Principal” in beautiful cursive handwriting. She handed it to Ms. Hotchkiss.

“What’s this for?” said Ms. Hotchkiss.

“It’s for the principal. That’s you,” said Amelia Bedelia. “It’s written in cursive writing.”

“Cursive writing is becoming a lost art, like Roman numerals,” said Mrs. Roman.

“But where did this envelope come from?” asked Ms. Hotchkiss.

“From the photo,” said Amelia Bedelia. “Mr. Jack was telling me to ‘Watch it, watch it,’ and I was watching it, and I saw the envelope fall onto the floor when the picture frame banged the counter.”

Mrs. Roman took the envelope from Ms. Hotchkiss. She used a sharp letter opener to slit open the top edge. “It would be a shame to tear into an envelope this pretty,” she said. “Someone took a lot of trouble to make it look so nice.” She handed it back to Ms. Hotchkiss, who just kept staring down at it.

“I can’t stand the suspense!” said Mrs. Roman. “Would you like me to read it for you?”

“Thank you, but I can do it. It’s addressed to me, after all,” said Ms. Hotchkiss. “I’m just surprised! And I do love a mystery.”

She pulled the letter out of the envelope and unfolded it. It was written in the same fancy cursive writing.

Amelia Bedelia noticed that Ms. Hotchkiss was moving her lips as she read silently.

“Oh, my,” Ms. Hotchkiss said, looking up at them. Then she kept reading.

“What does it say?” asked Mrs. Roman.

“My, my,” said Ms. Hotchkiss.

“Is that all it says?” asked Amelia Bedelia.

After she’d read a little bit more, Ms. Hotchkiss looked up again. “Oh, my goodness,” she said, then went back to reading.

“Is it a bill? Is something broken? Did something flood?” asked Mr. Jack.

“Oh, my goodness gracious,” said Ms. Hotchkiss. She handed the note to Mrs. Roman. “Read it yourself. Read it to everyone. That picture hitting the counter was no accident!”