When the 'all clear' bell sounded, which was just one very short ring of the bell, Mrs. Pangle led the cla.s.s back inside. But they didn't stay inside for long. As soon as they had finished the worksheets, Mrs. s...o...b..chner stood at the front of the room and announced, "This is a fire drill. Everyone line up quickly at the back door."

They all lined up and practiced the fire drill, and because Bobby Miller was talking, they had to practice it another time.

This time, except for the noise the chairs made, sc.r.a.ping the floor as the children got up, there wasn't a sound in the cla.s.sroom. Mrs.

s...o...b..chner was finally satisfied.

"Now that's the way I want you to behave the next time we have a fire drill," she said.

The cla.s.s had a very short recess, because they had taken so long practicing the fire drill. They didn't get to play dodge ball, and they mostly sat around talking. Except no-one would talk to Bobby Miller, and he sat by himself on a swing, not even swinging.

"What's dodge ball?" asked Baartock. He wanted to know, even if they weren't going to do it.

"You've never played dodge ball?" Jason exclaimed. "It's sort-of like tag, except it takes a lot of kids. Some kids make a circle and throw the ball at the kids in the middle. And if they hit you, you're out.

You're fast, so you should be good at it."

Jason's saying that made Baartock feel really good. He had been unhappy ever since he had fallen over when the fire drill bell sounded.

When he fell in the woods, there were always rocks or sharp sticks to land on and that hurt. He hadn't hurt himself, but the floor was hard.

He decided that he didn't like the school bell. It always surprised him and made him jump.

When recess was over, they all went back into the cla.s.sroom and Baartock finally got to use his crayons on the new worksheets. It didn't seem very long before Mrs. Jackson was at the door.

"Mrs. s...o...b..chner, can I have Baartock now?" she asked.

"Baartock, would you please put away your things and go with Mrs.

Jackson."

Jason helped him put his papers in the drawer of the table. But Baartock didn't put his pencil box in with them. He held on to it tightly as he and Mrs. Jackson walked out of the cla.s.sroom.

"You're taking your pencil box home?" she asked.

"Show mother," was his answer.

"Just remember to bring it back tomorrow. You'll be riding the school bus tomorrow, so I want you to meet your school bus driver."

They went out to the parking lot and there were a lot of yellow school busses waiting in a line.

"You'll be riding bus number 62," she said as they went down the sidewalk. They stopped at one of the busses. "This is the bus you'll be riding. See, number 62. Mr. Barnes is the driver, and when you're on his bus, you have to sit quietly and do just what he tells you."

They walked over to the door of the bus and the man sitting inside pulled on a lever and the door opened.

"Hi," he said with a big grin. "What can I do for you, Mrs. Jackson?"

"Mr. Barnes, this is Baartock."

"Hi Baartock. Are you going to be on my bus?"

"Yes," Mrs. Jackson answered, before Baartock could say anything. "I'm taking him home today, because I need to talk to his mother. He'll be riding with you, starting tomorrow morning. He'll be just down from where the Howards used to live."

"OK. That would put you between Bobby Gill and Laura Robinson. No problem."

"Thank you," said Mrs. Jackson. Baartock hadn't seen Mr. Barnes give her anything, and he wondered why she said 'thank you'.

"I have to gather up a few things before I take you home," said Mrs.

Jackson. "Let's go back to the office."

"See you tomorrow," called Mr. Barnes, as they walked away. Baartock had wanted to stay and look at the school bus, but he followed her back inside the school.

"Please wait here," she said, when they were in the office, and she went behind the counter and into another room. Ms. Laurence was busy at her desk. He heard her say something, but she wasn't looking at him.

"What?" he asked.

"I'll be with you in a minute, Baartock," she said, looking over at him. "I'm talking on the phone."

He watched her carefully. She was sitting in a chair and she kept looking at some papers on the desk, and it seemed as though she was talking to the thing she was holding in her hand.

Baartock walked over to the door and looked out. There wasn't anyone in the hall, and he could look out the open front doors at the line of school busses.

"Now, what can I do for you?" asked Ms. Laurence.

Baartock turned around. Ms. Laurence was standing at the counter. He was about to ask what a phone was, when the bell went off and Baartock jumped. Ms. Laurence smiled at him. "I used to hate that bell," she said, "but you do get used to it."

Suddenly, there was a lot of noise in the hall, and cries of 'No running!' The hall was rapidly filling with talking, pushing, hurrying children. Lots of them were bigger than Baartock. Some were carrying books. And all of them were trying to get out the front doors.

Mrs. Jackson came rushing out of the other room. "I'll be right with you Baartock," she said as she hurried out of the office and down the hall to the front of the building. He could hear her voice calling, "No running, Carlos!" and "The bus won't leave without you, Helen."

Baartock watched some of the kids from his cla.s.s go out the door. Then there was Jason, going right past the office door.

"Hey Baartock! You'll miss the bus!" he said as he kept hurrying down the hall.

"Bus tomorrow," Baartock said. "Mrs. Jackson drive today."

"OK. See you tomorrow," he yelled as he turned and ran out the door.

"Slow down, Jason," he heard Mrs. Jackson call. Then he had to get out of the doorway, because several teachers were pushing past him to get into the office. He went over to the bench and sat down to wait.

"h.e.l.lo Baartock." Mr. Fennis was standing just inside the doorway, with an arm-load of books and papers. "How do you like school?" He didn't wait for an answer, but went behind the counter, and started getting more papers out of a cubby.

In a little while, Mrs. Jackson came back into the office. "We'll be going in just a minute," she said, as she went back into the other room. Baartock sat and watched the teachers and Mrs. Jackson wasn't gone very long this time. She came out with her briefcase in her hand.

"I'm ready to go now," she said. They went out to the parking lot and got into her car. She checked to make sure he had fastened his seat-belt properly, and then started the engine.

"Is there anything you'd like to see?" she asked, as she backed the car out of the parking place.

Baartock didn't have to think about it. "Bridge," he said.

"Of course you'd want to see a bridge." She had almost forgotten that he was a troll. "We were almost there this morning."

"Where bridge?" Baartock asked excitedly. He had decided there just weren't any bridges near-by.