Marion and the Secret Letter Read online

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1 A Secret Surprise

  Chapter 2 The New Classmate!

  Chapter 3 Marion Puzzles It Out

  Chapter 4 A Very Close Call

  Chapter 5 Teddy’s on a Roll

  Chapter 6 Hamster Hunt

  Chapter 7 Two Mysterious Clues

  Chapter 8 Unexpected Treasure

  Chapter 9 The Principal’s Office

  Chapter 10 Teddy’s Return

  ‘Amy on Park Patrol’ Excerpt

  About Callie Barkley and Tracy Bishop

  A Secret Surprise

  Marion, Ellie, Amy, and Liz stood watching their guest Dalmatian at The Critter Club. The dog hadn’t eaten all day. She just stood by her full food bowl, not interested.

  Marion went to a filing cabinet. She pulled open the drawer labeled Critter Files. She flipped through the files inside. There was one for every animal the girls had taken care of—ever since they’d opened the rescue shelter in Ms. Sullivan’s barn.

  Marion flipped past files for Digit the turtle, Lulu the French bulldog, Ollie the kitten . . . Marion smiled at the sight of Ollie’s name. He was the kitten her family had adopted!

  “Penny!” Marion called out, finding the file she needed.

  Earlier that day, Penny’s owner had dropped her off. She was going away for a week, so the girls had agreed to pet sit.

  The last time Penny was at The Critter Club, it was because Amy had found her as a stray in a park. But the girls hadn’t seen her since they found her a home. It was so good to have her back.

  If only she would eat!

  Marion pulled a fact sheet out of the Penny file.

  “Here!” said Marion. “Penny’s favorite dog food is Blue Ribbon.”

  “We have some of that in the storage closet!” cried Liz. She hurried off to get some. The girls changed the food in Penny’s bowl, and she dug right in.

  “Good thing you’re so organized, Marion,” Ellie said.

  Marion smiled. The Critter Files had been her idea. She made sure they were kept up to date.

  Problem solved. The girls watched Penny eat as they talked about the weekend.

  Liz had worked on the set for a play at the youth theater. Ellie had gone to the beach with her brother, Toby, and their nana Gloria. And Marion and her horse Coco had taken first place in their jumping competition.

  “Wow!” Amy cried. “Congratulations!” The girls gave Marion hugs and high fives.

  “Thanks,” said Marion. “Coco did all the hard work.”

  Then Marion looked at Amy. “What about you? How was your weekend?”

  Amy shrugged. “Oh, fine,” she said.

  Marion, Liz, and Ellie were quiet, waiting for more. But Amy was quiet too.

  “That’s it?” said Ellie.

  Amy nodded. “I helped out at the clinic.” Amy’s mom was a veterinarian. “Nothing exciting happened,” Amy added.

  But Marion noticed a flush of pink on Amy’s cheeks.

  “Hold on,” said Marion. “You’re blushing.” It was usually a sign that Amy was feeling shy or embarrassed—or hiding something!

  Amy’s cheeks blushed a little redder. “No, I’m not,” she argued.

  Ellie eyed Amy suspiciously. “What are you not telling us?” she said slyly.

  “Okay,” Amy said. “I do know some exciting news. But I promised I wouldn’t ruin the surprise.”

  “Surprise?” Marion cried excitedly. “Surprise for whom?”

  Amy shook her head. “I really can’t say.”

  “Are we getting a new Critter Club guest?” Liz asked. “Is it a lemur? Oh, I hope it’s a lemur.”

  “Did someone famous bring in their pet?” Ellie asked.

  Amy took a deep breath. “I think I can tell you this,” she said.

  Marion, Ellie, and Liz leaned in closer to hear what Amy would say.

  “You’ll find out about it . . . ,” said Amy, “in school tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow?” Marion moaned.

  How could she wait that long to find out?

  The New Classmate!

  At school the next morning, Marion hurried to unpack her backpack. She figured that the sooner she got to her desk, the sooner she’d find out what the surprise was!

  I hope we find out first thing this morning! Marion thought.

  She left her library books in her locker out in the hallway. She brought her homework to Mrs. Sienna’s desk. At her own desk, she got organized.

  Then, finally, Marion looked around the room. Amy, Ellie, and Liz were already at their desks too. They traded smiles and knowing looks.

  “Okay, everyone,” Mrs. Sienna said from her desk. “Before we have our morning meeting, I have a surprise for you.”

  Marion sat up straight. She tapped her pencil on her desk in excitement.

  Mrs. Sienna went on. “First of all, we have a guest.” She looked toward the classroom door. “Please, come in, Dr. Purvis.”

  Marion shot another look at Amy. Her mom was here? Amy smiled at Marion and nodded.

  Dr. Purvis came in, wheeling a cart with something on top. Marion craned her neck to see. She gasped. It looked like a pet cage. The right size for a gerbil, or a guinea pig, or—

  “A hamster!” Liz cried out in the first row.

  Yes! Now Marion could see a furry brown hamster running in the exercise wheel inside the cage.

  “Awwwww,” the class cooed.

  “Class, this is Amy’s mom, Dr. Purvis,” Mrs. Sienna said. “She’s a veterinarian.”

  Dr. Purvis gave a wave. Then she pointed at the hamster. “And let me introduce you to . . . your new class pet!”

  The room erupted in cheers.

  Marion noticed the hamster jump at the noise. He darted into a corner.

  “I think we’re scaring him,” Marion said gently. Everyone quieted down.

  Dr. Purvis told the class she had given the hamster a full checkup over the weekend.

  Aha! thought Marion. So that’s how Amy had known about the big secret!

  “I’m happy to report that he is a very healthy little hamster,” said Dr. Purvis.

  “And it will be up to us to help keep him that way,” said Mrs. Sienna. “Each day our pet is in the classroom, someone will be assigned as the Hamster Helper. Dr. Purvis is going to tell us how to take care of him.”

  Amy’s mom went over the basics.

  Their hamster needed fresh water each day, plus one scoop of his special food pellets—no more, no less!

  His cage had to be cleaned every few days.

  “Don’t worry,” Mrs. Sienna told the class. “I’ll handle that job.”

  Finally, Dr. Purvis showed them all how to safely hold a hamster. “Always use two hands,” she said.

  Then Dr. Purvis wished them good luck, and headed out the door. “Call me with any questions!” she said as she went.

  “Thank you, Dr. Purvis!” Mrs. Sienna called. Turning to the class, Mrs. Sienna smiled. “Now, I think we’d better give this little guy a name!”

  Hands flew up all around the room. Mrs. Sienna called on students one by one. She wrote their name suggestions on the whiteboard.

  Students laughed as the suggestions got sillier and sillier.

  Then Marion raised her hand. Mrs. Sienna called on her. “He’s so cute and cuddly. How about Teddy?”

  “Awwwwww,” the whole class said together.

  Mrs. Sienna clapped. “I think we have a winner!” she said. “Teddy it is!”

  Marion Puzzles It Out

  Marion waited her turn to go across the monkey bars.

  Ellie had just gone. Amy was swinging her way across now. And Liz was up next.

  It was reces
s. The girls were playing and talking about the events of the morning.

  “I can’t believe you were able to keep it a secret!” Ellie said to Amy. “A class pet!”

  Amy got across the last few rungs. “It was so hard not to tell you guys!” Amy admitted.

  Liz started across the bars. “Teddy’s pretty adorable,” she said.

  Marion agreed. “I really, really, really hope Mrs. Sienna draws my name today!” she exclaimed.

  Mrs. Sienna had saved the best news for last. Every Friday, she would draw a different student’s name out of a bowl. That student got to take Teddy home for the weekend!

  But today, this very afternoon, someone would get to take him home for three days! Dr. Purvis had suggested that Teddy only spend one or two days in the noisy classroom during his first week.

  Marion crossed the monkey bars, then dropped down to the ground. She glanced around the playground. Some kids were playing touch football. Others were jumping rope. A few were swinging on the swings. Joey, a boy from Mrs. Sienna’s class, was off by himself near the cafeteria door.

  Marion looked again. Joey was walking slowly with his head down. He was looking around on the ground.

  Curious, Marion jogged over.

  “Did you lose something?” she asked Joey.

  Joey looked up. “Not exactly,” he said with a smile. “I just can’t find something.”

  Marion must have looked puzzled, because Joey laughed, then explained.

  “I started a scavenger club,” Joey said. “Michael, Jamil, and Abby are in it too.” They were all second graders, except Michael, who was in third.

  Joey unfolded a piece of paper he was clutching in one hand. “We take turns making up scavenger hunts for one another. You start with one clue. If you can figure it out, it leads you to another clue. Then that one leads you to another and . . . you get the idea.”

  Joey showed Marion the clue.

  “I can’t figure this one out,” Joey said. “I’ve been looking all around these red flowers.” Joey pointed to some petunias growing next to the building. “But I can’t find the next clue anywhere.” Joey sighed.

  Marion thought it over. Red flowers . . . Blue sky . . .

  Suddenly, she had an idea. “Follow me!” she told Joey.

  Marion ran over to the jungle gym. It had a ladder on one side, and two slides on the other side. A bridge connected the two sides.

  Underneath the bridge was a play area. Marion ducked inside it.

  “Look!” Marion pointed at some flower decorations on the jungle gym posts.

  Joey gasped. “Red flowers!”

  Marion looked up at the underside of the bridge. It was painted a light blue color. “And a blue sky!” Marion said.

  Joey looked around on the ground. He spotted a folded piece of paper half buried in the wood chips. He picked it up. Someone had written Clue #2 on the outside.

  “Wow, Marion!” cried Joey. “You’re good at this! I never would have solved that one.”

  Marion beamed proudly. “Scavenger Club does seem like fun!” she said.

  “Want to help me with this next clue?” Joey asked her.

  Just then, the principal blew the whistle. Recess was over. It was time to go back to class.

  “Oh well,” Marion said to Joey as they ran to line up. “Maybe another time!”

  A Very Close Call

  The school day dragged on. After recess, there was math, then library, then a science unit on plants. Marion was measuring a bean sprout growing out of a wet paper towel. But she kept forgetting the number before she wrote it down. All she could think of was the number of minutes until the end of the day. That’s when they’d find out who would take Teddy home!

  Finally, at pack-up time, Mrs. Sienna picked up the bowl on her desk. “Remember,” Mrs. Sienna said. “Everyone who wants a turn will get a turn to take Teddy home. But the first person to host Teddy at their house will be . . .”

  Mrs. Sienna reached into the bowl of names. She mixed the pieces of paper with her hand. Then she pulled one out.

  “Marion Ballard!”

  Marion jumped out of her seat. She could not believe her luck!

  “Congratulations, Marion,” said Mrs. Sienna. She asked Marion to go out at pickup time to check with her mom or dad. “If it’s okay with them, you can come back in to get Teddy and his things.”

  “Okay,” Marion replied.

  Right away, Marion started making a list in her head. It was a list of reasons why her mom just couldn’t say no.

  Whether it was Marion’s reasons, or Teddy’s cute little face, Mrs. Ballard had agreed. Teddy was their houseguest!

  Marion had placed Teddy’s cage in her bedroom, on top of the dresser. She had washed and refilled Teddy’s water bottle. But she was waiting to feed him his pellets until the morning.

  Marion and her little sister, Gabby, sat on Marion’s bed, keeping an eye on Teddy. It was so much fun just to watch him scamper around his cage.

  Teddy peeked out at them, his whiskers twitching.

  “Can’t we take him out?” Gabby asked Marion. “Can I hold him? Please, please, please?”

  Marion nodded. “I guess so,” she said. “But we have to be careful. Okay?”

  Gabby agreed. So Marion reached in and gently scooped Teddy up. “See how I’m holding him with two hands? Cup your hands just like I am.”

  Gabby cupped her hands, and Marion placed Teddy inside.

  Gabby smiled a huge smile. “Hello there, Teddy,” Gabby said in a sugary-sweet tone.

  Keeping her hands wrapped around him gently, Gabby rubbed Teddy’s fur with her thumb. “He’s soooo soft,” Gabby said.

  She shifted one of her hands to pet the top of Teddy’s head.

  In a flash, Teddy wriggled out. He scurried away across the bedspread.

  “Oh!” Gabby cried.

  “Oh, no!” Marion exclaimed. “Teddy!”

  Marion lunged across the bed after him. Teddy darted out of her reach. He ran all the way to the end of the bed. Then Teddy paused, peering over the side.

  It was just enough time for Marion to catch up. She closed her hands gently around Teddy.

  Marion quickly put him back into his cage, safe and sound.

  Gabby wrapped her arms around Marion. “I’m sorry,” Gabby said quietly. “I didn’t mean to—”

  “It wasn’t your fault, Gabby,” Marion interrupted. “Teddy’s just super quick!”

  It wasn’t Gabby’s fault, but still, Marion was really relieved.

  What if she’d had to tell the class that Teddy had run away?

  Teddy’s on a Roll

  On Tuesday, Marion told her friends how Teddy had jumped out of Gabby’s hands. Amy suggested getting him a hamster ball.

  “You know,” said Amy, “the hamster goes inside, starts running, and the ball rolls around. In one of those, Teddy could play outside his cage without getting lost.”

  “Good idea!” Marion cried.

  So after school, Mr. Ballard drove Marion and Amy to Santa Vista Pet Supply.

  The store was huge. There was a whole aisle for all the different dog and cat foods. They had a reptile department with big glass tanks and heat lamps. They had a fish section with bags of aquarium gravel, swim-through castles, and water filters.

  Marion and Amy quickly found the aisle for hamster, gerbils, and guinea pigs. There were exercise wheels, hideaways, tunnels, ladders, and other things to make a hamster home super fun.

  Marion and Amy picked out a blue-tinted hamster ball for Teddy.

  On their way to the checkout, they ducked into the dog aisle. Amy couldn’t resist getting a hot dog chew toy for Penny. Then she picked up another. “I better get one for Rufus, too,” Amy said with a smile.

  On their way out of the store, they passed a bulletin board covered in flyers. A few with animal photos on them caught Marion’s eye.

  Marion reached into her pocket and took out a tiny notebook. She carried it with her wherever she wen
t.

  Marion wrote down the information from each flyer. Names, breeds, phone numbers—everything.

  “I’ll write it all up in a neat list,” Marion told Amy. “I’ll make copies for you, Ellie, and Liz. Don’t you think we could help find homes for these critters?”

  Amy nodded. “That’s why we call it The Critter Club!”

  Back at Marion’s house, the girls went upstairs to see Teddy.

  “We got something for you!” Marion told him through the side of the cage.

  They took Teddy out, and placed him gently inside the hamster ball. Then they closed the lid and put it down on the rug.

  Teddy took a few steps. The ball inched forward. He started to run. The ball rolled across the floor.

  Marion and Amy laughed as they watched him explore. They sat down at opposite ends of the rug. Teddy rolled himself back and forth between them.

  “What do you think, Teddy?” Amy asked him.

  Marion answered for him. “I think he likes it!”

  Hamster Hunt

  “Good morning, Teddy!” Marion said, rolling out of bed the next day.

  She went over to her dresser. She peered inside the cage.

  “Where are you hiding, Teddy?” Marion said playfully. “In the tunnel again?”

  But the tunnel was empty. Marion peered at the cage from all sides.

  “Teddy?” Marion said, growing worried. “Gabby!” she called to her sister in the next bedroom.