Shark Tooth Tale, page 3
“Suit yourself,” said my mom.
“Yeah, and don’t come crying to me when something happens to it,” said Suzie.
“Nothing’s going to happen to it!” I yelled. “Nothing!”
CHAPTER 7
Look What I’ve Got!
In the morning, my mom drove us to school, so I couldn’t show off my Megalodon tooth on the bus. I had to wait until I got to my classroom, but first I had to carry Suzie’s backpack to her room. As soon as we got there, I dropped her backpack on the ground.
“There you go, Brat,” I said as I turned to go. “I’m leaving.”
“Oh no you’re not. You have to hang it up on my hook.”
“Sorry, but that wasn’t part of the deal,” I yelled as I ran off. “You just said I had to carry it!”
“Don’t be late to pick it up after school,” she called after me. “You have to carry it to the bus, you know.”
I ran as fast as I could to my classroom and got there a few minutes before the morning bell rang.
Robbie came running over. “So, Freddy, did you get it?”
“Yep,” I said, grinning. “Got it right here.” I patted my pocket.
“Well, come on. What are you waiting for? Let me see it!” Robbie said excitedly.
I slowly took the tooth out of my pocket and held it up for Robbie to see. Robbie gasped. “That is sooo cool. Wow! You are so lucky, Freddy.”
Just then, some of the other kids in my class came over to see what Robbie was going crazy about.
“Is that it, Freddy?” Jessie asked. “Is that the Megalodon tooth you wanted so badly?”
“It sure is, and I had to work really, really hard to get it.”
“I knew you could do it,” Jessie said, giving me a high five.
“The lemonade stand was a great idea. I actually had a lot of fun doing it. Maybe we could sell lemonade together sometime.”
“That sounds like fun,” said Jessie.
Just then Max shoved his way into the group of kids gathered around me. “Hey, what’s going on here? What are you all doing? Is Freddy showing you the little teddy bears on his Pull-Ups?”
I could feel my face turn bright red.
“No,” Jessie said, turning to look Max right in the eye. “For your information, he’s showing us the Megalodon tooth he bought with his own money. Oh, and by the way,” she added, “how would you know that Pull-Ups have teddy bears on them unless you wear them yourself?”
All the kids started giggling. Max’s cheeks got as red as a tomato, and he sputtered, “I, I, I do not wear Pull-Ups!”
Boy, Jessie was so brave. She was never afraid to stand up to Max, and she always knew the right thing to say to put him in his place. I wish I could think of things like that to say. I usually think of a good answer hours later when it is too late, and Max has already made a fool of me.
“Did you ask your grandpa and grandma to buy it for you like I told you?” Chloe asked as she came skipping up to join the group.
“No, I worked hard and earned the money all by myself,” I said proudly.
“You did?” Chloe said, wrinkling up her nose. “I’ve never worked for anything I wanted. Somebody always just gives it to me. I’m lucky, I guess.”
“Well, you should try working for it sometime,” I suggested.
“But why would I do that?” Chloe asked. “That seems so silly.”
“It’s not silly,” I said. “It’s actually fun, and this tooth is even more special to me because I had to work so hard to get it.”
“But if I worked hard, I might just break one of my beautifully painted fingernails.” Chloe waved her princess-pink nails in my face. “Aren’t they too perfect?”
“Ugh, you are such a spoiled little baby,” Jessie said.
“I am not!” Chloe cried, stamping her foot. “I am not a baby.”
“Hey, watch it, you little priss,” Max said. “You just stepped on my foot. Let’s see how you like it.” Then he turned around and stomped on her foot.
“OOOWWW!” she wailed, hopping around on one foot. “OOOWWWW! OOOWWWW! OOOWWW! You are such a meanie, Max Sellars, and you ruined my new patent leather shoes. I’m going to tell Mrs. Wushy,” she said and went hopping off into the classroom.
“Chloe is always such a drama queen,” Jessie said, laughing.
Max moved around the circle and squished his way in next to me. “Hey, can I hold it, Freddy?” he asked.
Was he crazy? Why would I let Max Sellars, the biggest bully in the whole first grade, hold something this special? Even if I did like him, which I don’t, I’m not sure I’d let him hold it. I hadn’t even let Robbie hold it, and he is my best friend. “Umm, I don’t think so. It’s very breakable. I don’t think I’m going to let anyone hold it.”
“Oh, come on, Freddy,” Max said, reaching for the tooth. “Just for a second.”
“Maybe you didn’t hear him,” Jessie answered, swatting his hand away. “Freddy said ‘no.’”
Just then the morning bell rang. Whew, saved by the bell!
“I’ll bring it back out again at recess,” I told all the kids gathered around me.
We all walked into class, and I went straight to my cubby to put the tooth away for safekeeping. I didn’t want to leave it in my pocket because I was afraid it was going to fall out. I knew it would be safe in my cubby until recess time. I hid it under some papers and went to sit on the rug.
CHAPTER 8
Gone!
The morning work time seemed as if would never end. I couldn’t concentrate on math. I just kept thinking about my Megalodon tooth. All the kids in the class thought it was really cool.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, Mrs. Wushy said, “Time for recess, everybody.”
I practically threw my paper on her desk and ran to my cubby to get the tooth. I shoved my hand under the papers, but I didn’t feel anything. “I must have stuck my hand in the wrong cubby,” I thought to myself, so I took a step back to look at the names on the cubbies. Nope, I was in the right cubby. I shoved my hand back in and felt around again. Still nothing. My heart started beating a little faster.
Just then Robbie came over. “Hey, Freddy, you coming out to recess?” he asked. “Don’t forget to bring the tooth.”
“I’m coming,” I said. “I’m just trying to find the tooth.”
“What do you mean, trying to find it?”
“Well, I put it under the papers in my cubby this morning when we came in, but now it’s not there,” I said.
“It’s got to be there,” Robbie said. “I’m sure it just got stuck in between two of the papers. Let me check.” Robbie lifted up each paper in my cubby, one at a time.
“So?” I asked, looking over his shoulder. “Did you find it? Did you find it?” I was starting to get a little panicked.
“Um … It’s not here,” Robbie answered.
“What do you mean it’s not there?” I asked Robbie. I grabbed him by both shoulders and shook him.
“I mean I don’t see it.”
“Move out of the way,” I said, shoving Robbie aside. “It’s got to be there!” I was now completely panicked. I threw each paper from my cubby onto the floor until my cubby was completely empty. Still there was no sign of the tooth.
“OH NO! OH NO!” I yelled.
Mrs. Wushy came running over and put her arm around me. “Freddy, what’s the problem? Are you all right?”
“NO! I’M NOT ALL RIGHT!” I screamed. “SOMEBODY STOLE MY MEGALODON TOOTH!”
By now all the kids had heard me screaming, and they came running into the classroom. “What’s going on?” Jessie asked.
“SOMEBODY STOLE MY MEGALODON TOOTH!” I wailed.
“No way!” said Jessie.
“It’s true,” said Robbie. “We looked all over Freddy’s cubby, but it’s not there. Somebody in this class took it.”
“Well, this makes me very upset,” said Mrs. Wushy. “I can’t believe that someone in our class would take something that didn’t belong to them.”
“Max took it!” Chloe blurted out.
“I did not!” Max yelled back.
“I know he took it, Mrs. Wushy,” Chloe said, pointing her finger at Max.
“How do you know?” asked Mrs. Wushy. “Did you see him take it?”
“He took it,” Chloe repeated.
“You didn’t answer my question, Chloe,” Mrs. Wushy continued. “Did you actually see him take it?”
“Well … ummm …”
“No, she didn’t see me take it because I didn’t take it,” said Max.
“Chloe, you can’t just go around accusing someone of something unless you saw it with your own eyes. I will ask you one more time, and I want the truth. Did you see Max take it with your own eyes?”
“Ummmm … No, not with my own eyes, but …”
“Maybe Chloe took it, Mrs. Wushy, and she just doesn’t want to get caught,” said Max.
“Me? Me? Why would I take it?” Chloe sputtered. “I don’t need to steal things. I always get whatever I want, remember?”
“How could we forget,” Jessie muttered under her breath.
“MY TOOTH! MY TOOTH!” I sobbed. “IT’S GONE FOREVER, AND I CAN’T GET ANOTHER ONE! ALL THAT HARD WORK DOWN THE DRAIN!”
Mrs. Wushy gave me a hug. “It’s OK, Freddy. Don’t cry. We’ll find it.”
“How? How are you going to find it?” I cried. “You’ll never find it!”
“We could call the police and have them dust for fingerprints,” Robbie suggested.
“This is not something the police would come out for,” said Mrs. Wushy. “I’m afraid we’ll have to solve this one on our own.”
Mrs. Wushy called everyone back to the rug. “Boys and girls, I am very sad to say that Freddy had something very special stolen from his cubby this morning. This is why I tell you not to bring your special toys and treasures to school. You never know what might happen.”
“My mom warned me,” I thought to myself. “Oh, why didn’t I listen to my mom? If I had just left it at home, then none of this would have ever happened.”
“So,” Mrs. Wushy continued, “no one is going anywhere until we solve this little mystery. If I have to check everyone’s cubbies and backpacks, then I will do that, but I really don’t want to. I want the person who took the tooth to stand up and tell the truth. I know that’s hard to do, but you will be in less trouble if you admit it than if I find it from my search.”
There was silence in the room. You could have heard a pin drop. Everyone was looking around at one another, waiting to see if anyone would admit to it.
Finally, a boy named Charles started sobbing. “I took it, Freddy. I took it! It is so cool. I just wanted it really really badly. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” He took it out of his pocket and handed it to me.
I grabbed it and held it tightly in my hand. “It’s OK, Charles,” I said. “I’m just glad you gave it back to me.”
“I am very disappointed that you took something that didn’t belong to you,” said Mrs. Wushy, “but I am proud of you for admitting it. I know that was hard to do. I am still going to have to talk to your parents about this, though. Stealing is a very serious matter. But I know you will never steal again. Right, Charles?”
“No, I won’t,” Charles said, sniffling. “I promise. Never ever.”
“Well,” said Mrs. Wushy, “I’m glad that mystery is solved. I hope you all understand how wrong stealing is and how important it is to tell the truth. And, Freddy, from now on, if you have something that valuable, I suggest you leave it at home.”
“Don’t worry, Mrs. Wushy,” I said. “I’m never going to bring something this special to school again.”
“Would you like me to keep it in my desk until the end of school?” Mrs. Wushy asked.
“No, that’s OK,” I said, slipping it into my pocket. “I think I’ll just keep it right here. I don’t want anything else to happen to it.”
“Are you sure, Freddy?”
“Oh, I’m sure,” I said, smiling.
In the last week, I had turned enough lemons into lemonade to last a lifetime!
Freddy’s Fun Pages
FREDDY’S SHARK JOURNAL
MEGALODON
Megalodon was the biggest predatory shark that ever lived. Its body could be more than 50 feet long.
Megalodon had razor-sharp teeth that could be the size of a human hand. The biggest tooth ever found was almost seven inches long.
Its jaws were so large it could swallow a dolphin.
Megalodon lived in the Earth’s oceans until one and a half million years ago. Scientists think that Megalodon looked similar to the Great White Shark—only much larger!
Megalodon teeth have been found in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe.
ROBBIE’S SHARK QUIZ
1. WHALE SHARKS
a) are the only sharks that have bones.
b) have more than 3,000 teeth but only eat microscopic plankton.
c) run out of teeth when they are 42 years old.
2. GREAT WHITE SHARKS
a) live in cold climates where their color blends in with snow and ice.
b) are the smallest species of shark.
c) have teeth that are notched like saws.
3. BLUE SHARKS
a) can swim one mile in 103 seconds.
b) lie on the ocean floor looking for lobsters.
c) have been known to eat their own young.
4. HAMMERHEAD SHARKS
a) are often seen in large schools of hundreds.
b) have teeth covering their dorsal fins and heads.
c) are closely related to Nailhead Sharks.
5. STETHACANTHUS SHARKS
a) lived 360 million years ago.
b) have a sucking disk on the top of their head.
c) live in warm waters off Australia.
6. MAKO SHARKS
a) have been known to eat swordfish whole.
b) live in freshwater rather than salt water.
c) are allergic to bees.
7. You are most likely to see a shark if you swim in waters near:
a) Alaska
b) Japan
c) Australia
8. The following statements are true or false:
a) The shark is the only fish that can blink its eyes.
b) Most sharks have very good color vision.
c) Some sharks lay eggs, and others give birth to live young.
9. Pick the correct word:
a) a single shark can replace
(10,000, 30,000, 100,000, 250,000) teeth.
b) sharks have teeth in many (places, rows, dark spots).
c) sharks have been around for
(2,000, 10 million, 450 million, a billion) years.
ANSWERS
TURNING LEMONS INTO LEMONADE!
Shhh … Can you keep a secret? Here’s Mrs. Golden’s secret recipe for the best lemonade ever! Always remember to get an adult to help you when using knives and heating water!
Mix in a pitcher: ½ cup sugar ½ cup water (heated)
Add:
juice of 2–3 lemons
½ lemon, thinly sliced
1 quart (4 cups) of cold water
12 ice cubes
Stir with a wooden spoon.
Pour into glasses and enjoy!
FREDDY’S SECRET CODE
Use the code below to answer these questions about Megalodons. —Freddy
What does the name Megalodon mean?
Some Megalodons weighed as much as:
Have you read all about Freddy?
Copyright
THE BLUE SKY PRESS
Text copyright © 2006 by Abby Klein
Illustrations copyright © 2006 by John Mckinley
Special thanks to Robert Martin Staenberg.
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All rights reserved. SCHOLASTIC, THE BLUE SKY PRESS, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.
Library of Congress catalog card number: 2006004382
First printing, September 2006
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e-ISBN: 978-0-545-32481-6
Abby Klein, Shark Tooth Tale
