Nancy was glad Katie was on the other side of the school yard. She was practicing the Bunny Hop with Mrs. Reynolds.
“That’s mean, Brenda,” Nancy said. “Why would we want to sign that?”
“I know Katie is your friend, Nancy,” Brenda said. “But you have to think of the Bunny Hop. You don’t want our class to lose on Friday, do you?”
Nancy folded her arms across her chest. “I’d rather lose than be mean.”
“Me too!” George said.
“Me three!” Bess said.
Brenda narrowed her eyes. But then she forced a smile. “Everyone knows that I’m the best person to lead the Bunny Hop!” she said. “I’m a great dancer—”
Brenda did a little dance step.
“And I’m very helpful,” Brenda added. “I watered the plants and cleaned the blackboard!”
“And let Bun Franklin out of his cage,” Bess murmured.
“What?” Brenda demanded.
“Nothing,” Bess said coolly.
Brenda flipped her hair and walked away. Nancy narrowed her eyes and said, “That proves something.”
“What does it prove?” George asked.
“That Brenda wants Katie’s job so badly, she’ll do anything to get it,” Nancy said. “Like starting that mean petition!”
The bell rang and recess was over. The kids filed back inside the classroom. Suddenly Jason stopped in his tracks and pointed at the blackboard.
“Cheese and crackers!” he cried.
Nancy gasped. This time all of the chalk had been knocked off the blackboard. And another stalk of celery lay on the floor!
“Bun couldn’t have done it!” Katie wailed. “His new hutch has a lock!”
Nancy glanced at Brenda. She couldn’t have let Bun Franklin out either. She’d stayed in the school yard during recess!
What if Bun Franklin really is escaping? Nancy wondered. What if he is like Hannah’s rabbit, Houdini? Or what if he really is . . . Super Bunny?
“I don’t like our new class pet,” Rebecca said.
“Me neither,” Jason said.
“I hate to say this, Katie,” Mrs. Reynolds said. “But I think you should take Bun Franklin home. At least until we find out who’s been messing up our room.”
“I can’t!” Katie cried. “My parrot, Lester, doesn’t like bunnies!”
“Maybe someone else can take Bun Franklin home,” Mrs. Reynolds said. “Until he has a new place to live.”
“I already have a dog,” Mari said.
“I have a cat,” Peter said.
“I have two little brothers,” Orson grumbled.
“What about you, Nancy?” Katie asked eagerly. “You like Bun Franklin!”
Nancy gulped. What if Bun escaped from his hutch and messed up her house?
“I’ll have to ask my father first,” Nancy said. “And Hannah—”
“You can call them from the school office during lunch,” Mrs. Reynolds said.
“I’m sure they’ll say yes,” Katie said excitedly. “Thanks, Nancy.”
Nancy smiled. Maybe having a bunny for a few days would be fun. She reached into the hutch and gently pulled Bun Franklin out. Pieces of hay fell from his feet onto the floor.
“Bun always has hay stuck on his feet,” Katie said. “You should have seen my room after Lester chased him.”
Nancy stared at Bun Franklin’s feet. If he had been running around the classroom, wouldn’t he have left hay all over it too?
So that’s what Daddy meant when he said no clues could be a clue too!
Nancy placed Bun back in his hutch. As they tidied up the classroom, Nancy whispered to her friends, “I don’t think anybody took Bun Franklin out of his hutch. I think somebody is messing up our classroom on his or her own!”
“Why would somebody do that?” George whispered.
“And what if he or she comes back?” Bess squeaked.
“If only we could hide a secret video camera in the classroom,” Nancy said. “Or a tape recorder.”
Katie smiled and said, “I have something better than a tape recorder.”
“What is it?” Nancy asked.
“It’s a surprise,” Katie whispered. “You’ll see what I mean tomorrow morning!”
At lunch, Nancy ate her egg-salad sandwich and drank her grape juice. Then she hurried to the school office to call her father and Hannah.
Nancy got permission to take Bun Franklin home. At three o’clock, Hannah drove to school to pick up Nancy and Bun Franklin.
Hannah knew how to set up the hutch in the Drews’ basement. She also knew what food rabbits liked to eat.
“Fresh celery for Bun Franklin!” Hannah said as she slipped the green stalk through the bars. “Bun appétit!”
Bun Franklin sniffed at the celery. Then he hopped to the corner of his hutch.
“Maybe he’s not hungry,” Nancy said.
But then Bun hopped over to a leaf of lettuce and chewed it hungrily.
“I guess Bun Franklin doesn’t like celery!” Hannah said.
“Huh?” Nancy asked. She thought about all the chewed-up celery stalks on the classroom floor.
“Now I know that Bun Franklin never left his cage, Hannah!” Nancy said. “He doesn’t even like celery!”
7
Hide and Creak
Ta-daaa!” Katie sang. “Meet our new class pet of the day!”
It was Thursday morning. Katie had just walked into the classroom with her pet parrot, Lester, perched on her shoulder.
“I don’t know,” Mrs. Reynolds said. “We’ve never had a class pet for the day—”
“Arrrk!” Lester screeched. “Pretty lady! Pretty lady! Arrrk!”
Mrs. Reynolds smiled. “I suppose Lester can stay for the day,” she said.
“Awesome!” Katie said. “He doesn’t need a cage. Just something to perch on.”
The kids followed Katie to the back of the room. As they walked, Katie spoke to Nancy, Bess, and George out of the corner of her mouth.
“Parrots repeat what they hear,” Katie murmured. “Just like a tape recorder. Get it?”
“I get it!” Nancy said. “So if the creep comes back to mess up our classroom, Lester will tell us what he heard!”
“Creep! Creep!” Lester squawked.
“Who’s he calling a creep?” Jason demanded.
“Chill out,” Katie sighed. She carefully perched Lester on the easel.
“Chill, chill! Raak!”
“By the way, Nancy,” Katie said. “My mom said she’d take Bun Franklin to the Cottontail Bunny Ranch today. So you don’t have to keep him at your house anymore.”
“Oh,” Nancy said. She was just starting to like having a pet bunny.
Nancy’s thoughts were interrupted by Brenda’s voice.
“Mrs. Reynolds?” Brenda asked. “I have a petition I’d like to show you. It’s about Katie and the Bunny Hop!”
“What petition?” Katie asked.
“I don’t believe it!” George whispered to Nancy. “Miss Snooty Pants is still trying to be the lead bunny!”
“Snooty Pants!” Lester squawked loudly. “Snooty Pants! Raaak!”
Brenda glared at Lester. “Put a sock in it, cracker-breath!” she shouted.
“That wasn’t nice, Brenda!” Mrs. Reynolds scolded. “And neither is a petition against someone in your class.”
Brenda plopped down in her seat and folded her arms.
Good, Nancy thought. Now Brenda’s petition against Katie will never work.
When everyone was seated, Mrs. Reynolds spoke about the Spring Festival. She told everyone to come in the next morning bright and early, at eight o’clock. Next she told everyone to wear colorful and comfy clothes.
“And now we’ll have our very last Bunny-Hop practice,” Mrs. Reynolds said.
“Bye, Lester!” Nancy said softly as they left the classroom. “I hope you’re all ears. And beak!”
Outside in the school yard a fourth grade class was practicing to
o. It was Mr. Kaplan’s class, dancing around a maypole.
“I heard they built it all by themselves,” Brenda groaned. “We’re going to lose!”
During practice Katie kicked her right foot when it should have been her left. She hopped forward when she should have hopped backward.
“Practice at home tonight, Katie,” Mrs. Reynolds said when practice was over. “Yes, Mrs. Reynolds.” Katie sighed.
But as the class walked inside, Katie turned to Nancy, Bess, and George. “I think I’m going to quit leading the Bunny Hop,” she said.
“Why?” Nancy asked.
“I only got the job because I brought in Bun Franklin,” Katie said. “And that didn’t even work out. Maybe Brenda should be the lead bunny.”
“Don’t, Katie!” Bess said.
“Now Miss Snooty Pants will get her way!” George said. “And she always—”
“Hey!” Kyle’s voice cut in. “Who ate my Gooey Chewy bar?”
Everyone stared at Kyle. He was pulling a candy bar out of his jacket pocket. The top part of the wrapper was shredded. A chunk of candy had been bitten off.
“My jacket was in the closet all morning!” Kyle said. “So who ate it?”
“Don’t blame Bun Franklin,” Katie said. “He’s not here anymore.”
“And don’t blame me,” David added. “I haven’t been the closet monitor for weeks!”
This is too weird, Nancy thought. But so is everything else lately!
Nancy and her classmates walked inside the building, then into their room.
“Oh, no!” Mrs. Reynolds cried. “Not again!”
The pencil sharpener on Mrs. Reynolds’s desk had been knocked down. A pile of pencil shavings lay on the floor.
“Raaak!” a voice squawked.
“Lester!” Nancy remembered. She and her friends hurried over to the parrot.
“Okay, Lester,” Nancy said, “tell us what you heard. Every word!”
Lester blinked. He stretched his neck and squawked, “Creak . . . creak!”
“‘Creak?’ ” George asked. “What’s he talking about?”
“Lester probably heard something that creaks,” Katie said with a shrug.
“The only thing that creaks is Nibbles’s old hamster wheel,” Nancy said.
Suddenly it clicked!
“Nibbles!” Nancy said to herself. “Chewed-up celery . . . tiny teeth marks . . . that’s it!”
Nancy ran to grab the hamster wheel. She examined it closely. Inside the wheel were small pieces of green stuff.
Celery! Nancy thought.
“The wheel was clean when I put it away,” Nancy said. “Now look at it!”
The others had gathered in the back to listen.
“Bun Franklin doesn’t eat celery,” Nancy went on. “But Nibbles did. He also loved running around in his wheel. And he had teeny-tiny teeth too!”
“Nancy?” Mrs. Reynolds asked slowly. “What are you saying?”
Nancy smiled at Mrs. Reynolds and said, “I’m saying that I think I know who’s been messing up our classroom!”
8
Spring Surprise
Go head, Nancy,” Mrs. Reynolds urged. “Tell us who did it.”
“It was Nibbles!” Nancy declared.
“Nibbles?” the kids cried together.
Nancy told the class what she knew. She could see the kids getting excited.
“So that’s who ate my candy bar!” Kyle laughed.
“And tickled my ankle!” Molly said.
“Let’s look for Nibbles again!” Rebecca said. “Maybe he’s still hiding!”
The kids walked around the classroom calling the hamster’s name.
“Nibbles!” Nancy called. “Come out, come out, wherever you are!”
They looked behind books, inside desks, and even in the class garbage can.
Nancy opened the closet door and peeked inside. “Nibbles!” she called. “Are you in there?”
George crawled inside the closet on her hands and knees. “No hamster in here!” she shouted.
“Go back to your seats, boys and girls,” Mrs. Reynolds said. “We can’t look for Nibbles all day.”
“Especially when he’s not here.” Brenda sniffed.
“I knew it was too good to be true.” Rebecca sighed. “Nibbles is gone forever.”
Nancy, Bess, George and Katie walked slowly back to their desks.
“I’m pretty sure it was Nibbles,” Nancy said. “But how can I prove it if we can’t find him?”
Katie was still wearing the bunny suit. She walked past her desk.
“Where are you going?” Bess asked.
“To tell Mrs. Reynolds I’m quitting being lead bunny,” Katie said.
Nancy, Bess, and George watched as Katie spoke quietly to Mrs. Reynolds. Mrs. Reynolds then called Brenda to the front of the classroom. The three of them spoke together until—
“Yes!” Brenda cheered. She began jumping up and down. “I’m Number One Bun!”
Nancy felt bad for Katie. But she felt bad for herself, too.
This case will never be solved, Nancy thought. Not until I find Nibbles!
• • •
“Wow!” George cried. “Do you believe this is our school yard?”
“It’s so . . . springy!” Nancy said.
Nancy and Bess were wearing hats decorated with paper flower petals around their heads. George had on pink paper bunny ears. It was Friday, the day of the Spring Festival!
An arch of yellow, white, and purple balloons curved over the school yard. Huge cardboard flowers were pasted on the brick walls of the school. Mrs. Reynolds’s students stood in line. They were so excited, they could hardly stand still!
Brenda was dressed in the fuzzy, white bunny costume. Pinned on it was a button that read, SUPERSTAR.
“This is it, you guys!” Brenda said. “Think of those seventy-five computer games, and don’t blow it!”
Mrs. Oshida, the school principal, welcomed everyone to the festival. Then she introduced the first class: Mrs. Fox’s kindergarten.
The kindergartners held flowers and sang “The Lazy Daisy.” Lenny sniffed his flowers and began to sneeze.
Nancy tried to pay attention, but she couldn’t stop thinking about Nibbles.
I know Nibbles messed up the classroom, Nancy thought. So why can’t we find him?
The first and second graders performed. Then it was time for the third grade. Mrs. Apple’s class danced to “Singing in the Rain.” One girl’s umbrella got stuck as she tried to open it.
“Are we lucky or what?” Brenda said. “Now we have a better chance to win!”
When Mrs. Apple’s class was finished, Mrs. Oshida said, “Mrs. Reynolds’s class will now dance the Bunny Hop.”
“That’s us!” Nancy said.
“Remember,” Mrs. Reynolds told them. “The most important thing is to have fun.”
“And to win,” Brenda said as they marched to the middle of the school yard. “Keep thinking about those seventy-five games, you guys!”
“Since when is she the boss of us?” George whispered.
“Since she became Number One Bun,” Bess whispered back.
Everyone lined up behind Brenda. Nancy stood right behind her, and Bess and George were right behind Nancy. Katie chose to stand all the way in the back.
The class waited quietly until Mrs. Reynolds started the music. Then they began the dance.
Right foot, left foot, Nancy thought. Hop, hop, hop!
Suddenly Brenda stopped short. Everyone shouted as they bumped into each other.
“Hey!” Orson complained. “What’s with the traffic jam?”
Brenda ran out of the line. She began jumping up and down and shaking.
“Eek! Eek!” Brenda cried. “Get it out! Get it out!”
Mrs. Reynolds rushed over. “Get what out, Brenda?” she asked.
“Something is in my pocket!” Brenda cried. “I can feel it moving!”
Nancy looked at the poc
ket on the side of the bunny suit. A little brown furry head popped out of it!
“A mouse!” Brenda shouted. The creature jumped out of the pocket. Then it scurried into a crowd of teachers. Mrs. Fox shrieked as it darted around her legs.
Nancy couldn’t take her eyes off the little creature. It wasn’t a mouse at all. “Nibbles!” Nancy cried.
Nancy ran to pick up the hamster. She held him up for everyone to see. Her classmates looked glad to see their class pet. But they also looked confused.
“How did Nibbles get inside the bunny suit?” Mari asked.
Nancy put the pieces together.
“He must have crawled into the pocket while it was hanging in the closet last night,” Nancy explained. “He had nowhere to go since we put away his cage.”
“Why didn’t Nibbles come out when we were in the classroom?” Molly asked.
“Nibbles was probably scared to be out of his cage,” Nancy said. “And hungry and thirsty. That’s why he drank from Mrs. Reynolds’s water bottle. And ate the celery.”
“And my Gooey Chewy bar!” Kyle said.
“I think we owe Katie an apology,” Mrs. Reynolds said. “Bun Franklin never messed up our room.”
“Apology accepted,” Katie said with a smile. “Now let’s dance the Bunny Hop!”
“No way!” Brenda said. She peeled off the bunny suit and stepped out of it. “I’m not wearing this icky suit. Not after that rat was in it!”
“Hamster,” Nancy corrected.
“Why don’t we let Nancy lead the Bunny Hop?” Bess asked. “She solved the mystery for us!”
Nancy grinned. Leading the Bunny Hop would be an honor—and a lot of fun!
“What do you say, Nancy?” Mrs. Reynolds asked.
“I say—let’s get hoppin’!” Nancy answered. She handed Nibbles gently to Mrs. Reynolds. Then she put on the bunny suit.
“You’ll make a good lead bunny, Nancy,” Brenda said.
“Thanks, Brenda!” Nancy asked.
“Sure,” Brenda said. She reached out and yanked the superstar button off the suit. “But this belongs to me.”
Everyone lined up behind Nancy. They waited until the music played. Then they began to dance!