"Don't bother to send it," Alan shot back. "You can hand it to me, because I'll be there before you." The way Alan and Logan talked, you'd think they were the only two students in the compet.i.tion. Someone needed to explain the meaning of teamwork to them. I hoped it wouldn't have to be me.

That afternoon, I met with my team (Alan and Howie) on the front steps of SMS. It was a short meeting. We didn't discuss the zoo or how much fun the project was going to be. All we talked about was how important it was to win.

"We better get this extra credit or it's - " (Alan drew his finger across his neck making a cutting sound) "for me." Howie nodded. "Me too." I got the distinct impression that their grades were in big trouble.

Chapter 4.

I tried to rea.s.sure Alan and Howie that things would be okay.

"I'm going to do my best and work really hard on this project - "I began.

"But I wouldn't count on winning," Logan said, joining us on the steps. He was grinning, but staring straight at Alan.

This was very weird. Logan seemed determined to beat Alan, which of course meant he was determined to beat me.

"Want to make a bet?" Alan challenged him. "How much?"

Logan's jaw tensed for a second, ready to take the challenge. Then he reverted to his friendly, polite self. "I'm sorry, Alan," Logan said with a smile. "But I don't make bets. I think we should just do our project and may the best man - uh, group - win."

A slow smile spread across Alan's face. "Right."

I had been looking forward to the project and spending time at Bedford Zoo, but this rivalry between Logan and Alan added a new, unpleasant twist to things.

That afternoon, during the BSC meeting, I was reminded that I wasn't the only one distressed about the group arrangement.

"I can't ride on the bus with Stacey and spend every afternoon staring at giraffes with her," Kristy moaned to the group. "I mean, that would be totally awful."

"What are you going to do about it?" Claudia asked, pa.s.sing a bag of pretzels around the room. Everyone took one and chewed intently, thinking about our dilemmas.

"I think we shouldn't go to the zoo," Kristy said with a shrug. "Lauren agrees with me.

"What?" Dawn said. "But that's the fun of the project."

Kristy shook her head. "I can't get on a bus with Stacey and work that closely with her. I'm just not ready to do that."

"But how will you be able to study your animal?" I asked.

"We'll study the everyday habits of dogs," Kristy said. "Separately. Mrs. Gonzalez said we could study our pets. I'll spend my afternoons watching my dog, Shannon. Lauren will study her retriever."

"But Stacey doesn't have a dog," I pointed out. "She doesn't have a pet of any kind."

"Too bad," Kristy replied stubbornly. "She'll just have to go find one."

Mallory had been quietly listening to all of us complain. "I guess she could study Pow," she said. (Pow is the Pikes' ba.s.sett hound.) "He does some amazingly silly things. And since Stacey lives right behind us, it would be easy for her to observe him."

"Good idea, Mal," Kristy said, softening a little. "Maybe Lauren can suggest it to her."

"That solves Kristy's problem," Dawn said, turning to face me. "But what about Mary Anne's?"

I sighed and shook my head. "Mine is more complicated, especially since it involves you and Claudia."

Claudia, who had just shoved a handful of pretzels in her mouth, mumbled, "Pwoblem? Me?"

I explained the Alan Gray versus Logan rivalry that had sprung up that day. "It's weird because, let's face it, we all want to win. But now Alan wants to beat Logan. And Logan really wants to cream Alan. But if Alan gets creamed, so do I."

Claudia listened wide-eyed to what I was saying and then collapsed back against the headboard of her bed. "Whoa." Then Dawn changed the subject a little. "As long as we're discussing this project, I have to say that I am not a fan of zoos. I feel terrible for the animals, no matter how dean their cages look."

Claudia gulped down the last of her pretzel and turned to Dawn. "You're not suggesting we study house cats like Tigger, are you?"

"Well, uh, no," Dawn stammered. "It's just that . . . well, I just wanted you to know that I'm not crazy about zoos."

"You'll get over it," Claudia said with a wave of her hand. "Especially after you meet Mojo and James."

Dawn squinted one eye shut. "Mojo? The gorilla?"

"That's right," I answered. "I showed you her picture in the paper. Remember?"

"I still think Mojo is a weird name," Dawn remarked, shaking her head. "So who's James?"

Claudia grinned. "Mojo's mate. They're on loan from the San Diego Zoo. And - are you ready for this? Mojo communicates by using American Sign Language."

That excited everyone. Especially Jessi, who was the first of us to learn American Sign Language when she baby-sat for Matt Braddock, who's deaf. The rest of us know enough sign language to sit for Matt, but Jessi's really good at it.

"You could come along as our interpreter," I said to Jessi. "You could ask Mojo questions about her life and what she does in a day."

"Hold it!" Claudia put her hands on her hips. "Jessi will be our interpreter. I was the one who mentioned the gorillas first."

My eyes widened. Claudia was sounding as compet.i.tive as Logan and Alan. She saw the expression on my face and softened her tone. "I guess Jessi could translate for all of us."

Jessi grinned and made the sign for "okay."

Before we could talk about the project anymore, the phone started ringing. And it rang. And rang. And rang. We were swamped.

Dawn took a sitting job with the Gianellis on Tuesday. Shannon accepted one with the Papadakises. I scheduled Kristy and Jessi for Thursday afternoon with the Pike kids, and Mallory took a job with the Hobarts on Friday.

When we finally had a spare second to chat again, the subject turned to the Free Babar campaign.

"I mentioned it to Karen and Andrew and they're really interested," Kristy said.

"You can count the entire Pike family in on this project," Mallory said. "The triplets had a great idea. They suggested we make campaign b.u.t.tons."

"The kids could design them," Claudia added, inspired. "They could draw elephants on them and maybe put our Babar behind bars."

"Then we could sell them," I suggested. "And donate the proceeds to help find Babar a new home."

Dawn had been quiet during the meeting, except for when she mentioned that she wasn't crazy about zoos. Now she spoke up. "The b.u.t.tons are a great idea but we need to think bigger in terms of fund-raising. You know, plan something that gets all of Stoneybrook involved."

"Like a bake sale?" I asked.

Dawn shook her head. "Bigger."

"A walkathon," Kristy whispered, staring intently at a spot on Claud's wall. We could practically see the gears turning inside her head. "That would involve everyone. The mayor, the chamber of commerce, the YMCA. We could make the course wind all over Stoneybrook - through downtown and into all the neighborhoods. People who didn't partic.i.p.ate in the walk would at least see it pa.s.s by their house. We could call it an Elephant Walk."

"Like the song, 'Baby Elephant Walk,' " Jessi said.

Kristy grinned. "Exactly."

As soon as I heard 1^181/8 good idea, I kicked into gear. I flipped to the back of the notebook and tried to record what she had just said. "We need to contact the chamber of commerce and the mayor," I murmured as I wrote. "What about the Humane Society?"

Dawn's head bobbed up and down. "I'm sure they'd want to partic.i.p.ate. They could pa.s.s out fliers and wear those really cute T-shirts they just made up. The ones with the kittens on the front."

"T-shirts!" Claud stood up. "As long as we're making b.u.t.tons, why don't we make T-shirts, too?"

"Then we could wear them in the Elephant Walk," Mallory said.

"Brilliant!" Kristy cried.

"We'll need to start on this right away," I said. 'Tell me what you want to do and I'll write it down. Then we have to call the proper authorities."

"I'll see if Watson will help us on this one," Kristy said. "He knows all of the town's officers."

I nodded as I made a note of it. "And I'll talk to the Free Babar people to find out just what they need."

Claudia turned to Kristy. "I'd like to help you plan a walking course. We can work from a map and design it together."

Mallory raised her hand. "I can write up a special interest story. Maybe the school newspaper will print it."

"I could organize kid groups so they can help brainstorm fund-raising ideas, too," Jessi said. 'I'll start with Becca and her friends."

Kristy nodded. "I'll follow up with Karen and her pals."

"And I know seven kids I can talk to," Mallory added with a grin.

"I'll talk to the kids at my school," Shannon offered. 'This would be the perfect way to make it a town-wide project. Maybe we can do a carwash or something in addition to the walkathon."

I shook my head in amazement. When the BSC decides to do something, we really go for it. Little Babar would be a free elephant in no time.

Chapter 5.

"Winners on my side!"

Alan Gray drew an imaginary line with the toe of his tennis shoe across the center aisle of the school bus. "And losers over there." He pointed to the seats behind the bus driver. "Stay put, and you won't have any trouble."

Logan rolled his eyes. "I'm really scared. Come on, Mary Anne," he said, taking my hand and deliberately pulling me across Alan's line. "Let's sit here."

It was Thursday, and we were leaving on our first zoo trip. We were off to an extremely bad start.

Alan and Logan had been making snide comments to each other in the halls, in the lunchroom, and in the yard in front of the school. I thought they were being pretty silly, but I couldn't say anything to either one of them, because I didn't want to be accused of taking sides.

"Are you going to let him sit in that seat?" Howie Johnson whispered to Alan.

"Of course he is," I said. "I'm on your team. And Logan's with me."

Alan thought about that for a few moments, then huffed off to the back row of the school bus. After he sat down, he called to me, "Once we hit the zoo, he's not coming with us. No way."

Logan turned around and smiled at Alan. "No problem. I'd much rather spend my time with some other animals - like James and Mojo."

Alan turned to Howie and whispered, "Who are they? Some guys from high school?"

Howie laughed so hard he snorted. 'James and Mojo are gorillas."

Dawn and Claudia, who were sitting directly across from Logan and me, burst into the giggles, and Alan shot them a dark look. "I knew that."

Mr. Kirkwood, who taught shop, had volunteered to be the driver of our bus. He waited outside until all of the eighth-graders a.s.signed to our bus had boarded. Then he hopped into the driver's seat and pulled the door shut.

"All aboard!" Mr. Kirkwood shouted like a railroad conductor. "Next stop, Bedford Zoo!"

We pulled out of the school parking lot, and followed the tree-lined streets to the edge of town. As we turned onto the highway, several spitb.a.l.l.s zinged over our heads. I didn't have to turn around. I could guess where they'd come from.

"Oh, gross!" Shawna Riverson cried from two seats in front of me. "Alan and Howie are shooting spitb.a.l.l.s."

Hannah Toce looked over her shoulder and snapped, "Why don't you two grow up?"

Then Claudia and Dawn both turned around and said, "Yeah. Grow up!"

Howie and Alan crossed their eyes and made faces at the front of the bus.

"Jerks," Hannah said as a general announcement to the rest of the bus. A low murmur and bobbing of heads signaled that everyone agreed with her.