The Green School Mystery (2 page)

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Authors: David A. Adler

BOOK: The Green School Mystery

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Danny was wearing a green shirt and green pants. He had even painted his sneakers green.

Cam and Eric waited for Danny at the corner.

“Green Day doesn’t mean we should
wear
green,” Eric told Danny. “It means we should help keep our
world
green.”

“Oh, he knows,” Cam said. “He’s just trying to be funny.”

Danny stood real straight. He smiled and told Cam, “Take a picture of me. I want you to remember how great I look in green. You don’t use film, so that’s good for the environment.”

Cam looked at Danny. She blinked her eyes and said,
“Click!”

Cam has an amazing memory. People call it a photographic memory because it’s as if she has a picture in her head of everything she’s seen. When Cam wants to remember something, she just looks at the pictures she has in her head.

Cam says,
“Click!”
when she wants to remember something. She says
“click!”
is the sound her mental camera makes.

Eric said, “I’ll also take your picture.”

Eric looked at Danny. He blinked his eyes and said,
“Click!”

“Now close your eyes and turn around,” Danny said.

Cam and Eric closed their eyes and turned.

“What’s for lunch today?” Danny asked.

“Hey, that’s not fair,” Eric said. “I looked at you and your clothes. Today’s lunch is not on your clothes.”

Danny laughed. “It will be,” he said. “We’re having sloppy Joes. Before I’m done, tomato sauce will be everywhere.”

“Well, I know what color your shirt is,” Eric said. “It’s green.”

“How many buttons does it have?”

Eric thought for a moment. Then he shook his head and said, “I don’t know.”

“I know,” Cam said. “There are six buttons down the front of your shirt and one on the pocket. You also have button-down collars, so that’s two more. Altogether, your shirt has nine buttons.”

“Yeah,” Danny said. “Nine.”

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

“Go on,” Eric said. “Ask us something else.”

Cam and Eric waited, but Danny didn’t ask another question.

“Go on, Danny,” Eric said again. “I know what color your pants and your sneakers are. And you’re not carrying your book bag.”

Cam and Eric waited, but Danny still didn’t ask another question.

Cam opened her eyes and turned around.

“Hey,” Cam said. “Danny is gone! I’ll bet he went into school. It’s late. We’d better hurry.”

Chapter Two

Cam and Eric hurried into school. Their classroom was near the end of the hall, close to the gym and the cafeteria.

“Look,” Eric said as they walked down the hall. “Mr. Day is taking out the dimes.”

The display case near the gym was open. Mr. Day was putting the rolls of dimes into a large wooden box.

Eric told Mr. Day, “I brought in six more cans. Cam brought in four.”

“Great!” Mr. Day said. “That’s fifty cents.”

Cam asked, “How much money did we raise?”

“Take a look,” Mr. Day said. “Every roll has fifty dimes. That’s five dollars.”

Lots of rolls were neatly lined up in the box.

“There’s enough here to help pay for the skylights,” Mr. Day said. “At the assembly, I’ll announce how much we raised. Later today, I’ll take all the dimes to the bank.”

Cam and Eric went to their classroom. The shades were up. The lights were off. Their teacher, Ms. Benson, was using sunlight instead of electric light.

Cam and Eric gave Ms. Benson their soda cans. Then they went to their seats.

Green Hints: What you can do to help the environment
was written on the board.

“Copy the Green Hints into your notebooks,” Ms. Benson said. “And please use both sides of the paper. Saving paper is saving the environment.”

Eric opened his notebook. He started to copy Ms. Benson’s Green Hints.

During the day, use sunlight instead of lightbulbs.

Whenever you can, walk don’t ride.

Don’t waste water.

Whenever you can, use cold water instead of hot water.

Cam didn’t copy the hints. She just looked at the board, blinked her eyes, an said,
“Click!

“I’m saving paper,” she whispered to Eric. “I can remember the hints without writing them.”

“I can’t,” Eric said, and he continued to copy from the board.

Recycle bottles, cans, and newspapers.

Don’t waste food. Take only as much as you think you can eat.

Plant a tree.

“Please close your notebooks,” Ms. Benson told the class. “It’s time to go outside.”

The children followed Ms. Benson.

The hall was crowded. Every class in the school was on its way to the assembly.

“Hey,” Danny asked, “who knows what’s yellow and green?”

Eric looked at Danny’s green shirt, pants, and sneakers and answered, “You eating a banana.”

“Hey, that’s good,” Danny said. “But it’s wrong.”

Ms. Benson turned and faced her class. “Please,” she called to the children, “stay in a straight line and walk quietly.”

The children followed Ms. Benson. When they reached the front door of the school, Ms. Benson held up her hand and the children stopped.

Outside, next to the flagpole, were a table, a few chairs, and a microphone. Dr. Prell waited there and watched as Mr. Day told the teachers where their classes should stand.

Danny whispered to Eric, “You still didn’t tell me what’s yellow and green.”

“Shh,” Eric said.

Mr. Day waved to Ms. Benson, who led her class to the right of the flagpole.

“A moldy chicken,” Danny whispered. “That’s what’s yellow and green.”

“That’s not even funny,” Eric told him. “And we should be quiet.”

“Good morning,” Dr. Prell said. “This is a great day for our school. It’s a
green
day, and we’re a
green
school. I am proud to raise this flag.”

Dr. Prell pulled a rope and raised a large green flag. Children cheered as it moved up the flagpole. It stopped just beneath the red, white, and blue American flag.

“We’re a green school because we care about the environment.”

Children cheered.

“I have an award for the four students who brought in the most soda cans and bottles. They are Ashanti Stevens, Michael Teller, Jennifer Jansen, and Eric Shelton. Please step forward.”

Cam, Eric, and the other two children stood by the flagpole. Dr. Prell pinned a large gold-and-green button on each of the children’s shirts.

“And now,” Dr. Prell said, “Mr. Day will wheel out all those dimes and tell us how much money we raised.”

Mr. Day walked into the school.

Dr. Prell smiled. “We raised a lot,” she said. “We have enough dimes to help pay for two skylights and a recycling bin.”

Children cheered.

“I hope you will continue to bring cans and bottles for recycling. The money we raise now will be used to buy solar panels.”

Mr. Day came back outside, pulling a wagon toward the flagpole. On the wagon was the large wooden box. Mr. Day and another teacher lifted the box onto the table.

“Let’s see those dimes,” Dr. Prell said.

Mr. Day took the lid off the box and looked in. He seemed surprised.

“Look,” he whispered to Dr. Prell.

Dr. Prell looked in the box. Cam and Eric looked in, too. Several bricks were in the box. But the dimes were gone.