Chapter 7 – The Trick
Georgia came back and was heartily welcomed by the girls. She had stopped being a nuisance and was a nice girl, full of fun.
The girls decided to play the trick on Miss Emma. She was a serious teacher, but was easy to prank.
Carlotta kept the trick inside her desk. When Miss Emma came in the girls had mischievous glints in their eyes. Carlotta suddenly pressed the button. Aha! There was a huge noise.
“Who in the world is playing with firecrackers?” demanded Miss Emma.
“Firecrackers?” said Georgia, innocently. She opened her bright eyes wide. “Why should we be playing with firecrackers anyway? How do you know that there are firecrackers? And why should we take the risk of setting our nice school on fire? Why?”
“That ‘Bang! Bang! Bang!’ – girls, didn’t you hear it?” asked Miss Emma.
“What noise?” chorused the class.
“Mysterious! I better call Mr Jennings to come and find out what is the matter.”
Carlotta twisted it again.
“Bang! Bang!”
“Mr Jennings!” screamed Miss Emma, popping her head out of the door, hollering to the startled Mr Jennings, who was not far off. “Do help me find out what is the matter with this decidedly haunted room!”
“Well, what’s so haunted?” asked Mr Jennings, puzzled. He scratched his head comically.
“Ah, I hear a Bang and a Bong and a Ping and a Pong!”
“Oh, a Bang! Oh yes, a Bang!” said Alice, joining in the fun. “I thought you meant a bomb, Miss Emma! Thank goodness! I would’ve been dead if it were a bomb!”
“So did we, so did we!” the class came in like a well-trained chorus. “We thought it was a bomb also!”
Miss Emma looked a little suspicious of some prank, but the girls all looked as mystified as she was, but inwardly they were seething with agony trying not to laugh.
“Well, I’ll go and get Miss Kellie,” said Miss Emma earnestly. She flew out. The girls began to shout with laughter.
“Carlotta!” screamed somebody. “You are a mischievous meanie to Miss Emma! You should’ve seen some of the looks on her face!”
“Carlottaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!” yelled someone else, stamping on the floor, tears of laughter running down her face and falling onto the carpet.
Whilst the others rolled on the floor, the curious Miss Emma came in.
“Girls! Girls!” she hollered. “Sit back in your seats. Miss Kellie doesn’t know what it is either. Girls, girls, how can you laugh? This is so spooky! Spooky! Spooky!” Miss Emma was almost in tears.
The girls were now in hysterics! Laughing, they told Miss Emma about the trick.
“It’s a trick, Miss Emma!” said Georgina. “It’s a trick, so you needn’t be scared anymore.”
Carlotta showed Miss Emma the doll.
“What IS it?” cried Miss Emma. “It looks so harmless to me!”
Carlotta pressed the button. Miss Emma was dumbfounded.
“What’s inside it? It sounds like ….. Firecrackers! Oh! So you press the button, and it sets the Firecrackers going!”
“No, it’s just bubble wrap, Miss Emma,” said Andrea with a delighted giggle.
“Ah, this lovely trick!” said Miss Emma, wriggling her shoulders rather meaninglessly. The girls laughed and laughed. They admired Miss Emma’s capability of taking a joke against herself, and her ceaseless sense of humor. They longed for break as the bell rang, for they looked forward to laughing all over again.
Miss Kellie eventually heard of the trick.
“It was a good, good trick!” declared Miss Emma.
“Well, I dare say, but you should be stronger in discipline.”
“Ah, no, no, they saved me from going crackers!”
Miss Kellie sighed. “Oh, Miss Emma, aren’t you going to punish them at all?”
“Well,” said Miss Emma, an idea suddenly striking her, “Maybe I will. They will have to give up their free time tomorrow after prep and go to the gym.”
“That’s more like it. But why in the gym?”
“I don’t know! It just sounds nice to me. I will make them WORK!”
“Good! A good punishment for pulling such a horrifying prank on you.”
So the next day, the whole of the fourth grade was gathered up in the gymnasium, waiting for Miss Emma to come. She swept in efficiently.
“Girls! You were all bad to me, playing a trick – a prank – on me like that. Today, in order to tire you all out, I will make you learn a few French dances that I learnt in my childhood in France.” She switched on the music. After a few minutes, the girls were all in fits of happiness, swinging each other around, jumping up and down, bowing and curtseying. There were strong footsteps to be heard along the doorway. It was Miss Kellie. Hearing the squeals of laughter, she wondered what in the world was going on.
“Isn’t it from the gym? I thought the fourth grade was supposed to be punished there!” she exclaimed, peeping through the slightly opened door.
“Good gracious me! They’re dancing! Poor Miss Emma! She must have planned to make them work, but now they all started dancing! Bother those fourth graders!” she cried.
“Girls!” Miss Kellie hollered, much to the surprise of everybody. “You forget yourselves. Why should you be dancing?”
Eager voices told Miss Kellie how Miss Emma had ordered them to dance, during their forfeited free time.
“Miss Emma!” Miss Kellie said, with a most disapproving look on her face. She swept out quickly and furiously, infuriated that the girls should enjoy themselves after their mischievous act.
Afterwards, the girls all laughed over the matter.
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