Fabulous Five 016 - The Hot-Line Emergency Read Online Free PDF Page A

to him before algebra class that afternoon. "You're right,
it would be difficult for a thirteen-year-old boy to go to locations
that are so far apart in the evenings without his parents' wondering what he
was up to. Maybe he lives near City Hall or Catherine or Pleasant streets, but
it's unlikely he could have set both fires and put the soap in the
fountain."
    "He may have done one of them," Christie said, "but
I don't think he did all three. And I don't think he's as bad as he wants me to
think. I looked in the paper this morning and didn't see anything he might have
done last night."
    "I talked with Mrs. Brenner, the guidance counselor,
this morning," said Mr. Snider. "We both think you handled the caller
in just the right way. If he calls again, why don't you try to find out who he
is without letting him think you're interested in his tricks. I'll ask the
other seventh-graders on the team to do the same if he talks to one of them.
That way we can try to help him, or who knows—maybe he'll even forget about his
little game in a few more days."
    While they were talking, the class had come into the room,
and Christie went to her seat.
    "How's the hot-line going?" asked Dekeisha. Liza
and Kevin turned to listen to their conversation.
    "Pretty good," answered Christie. "We're
getting a lot of calls."
    "Are you getting any prank calls?" asked Liza.
    Christie remembered not to say anything about the mysterious
caller. "There are a few kids who think they're funny. But I know who they
are."
    "What kinds of things do they say?" asked Dekeisha.
    "Oh, things like, 'Do you have any hot lines to tell
girls.' Dumb stuff like that."
    "I'm glad I couldn't be on the team if that's the kind
of calls you get," said Kevin.
    "They're not all like that," Christie responded. "Most
kids who call do need help."
    As Mr. Snider called the class to order, Christie looked
around the room at the boys. Was one of them the caller? She could eliminate
Scott Daly, Joel Murphy, Matt Zeboski, and Curtis Trowbridge. She knew them too
well and thought she would recognize their voices even if they were disguised.
Besides, Curtis was on the team and was too serious. It could be anyone else in
school, however. Somewhere in Wakeman Junior High was a boy who was either
trying to make a fool of her or had problems.
     
    "Christie!" called Beth and Melanie. "Wait up
so we can walk with you."
    "We had a cheerleaders' meeting," said Melanie, "and
thought you'd already be at Bumpers."
    "Miss Simone asked me to take some stuff to my mother,
and I had to go to the office to get them."
    "There's no way we'll get seats," said Beth. "If
you don't get to Bumpers fifteen minutes after school lets out, forget it."
    "There's always some boy's lap," said Melanie,
wiggling her eyebrows up and down.
    Christie rolled her eyes in Melanie's direction and
pretended to make a disgusted face. "Melanie Edwards, you're too much."
    As they rounded the corner, Christie noticed a crowd
gathered in front of Bumpers.
    "What's that all about?" asked Beth.
    The kids seemed to be looking at the front of the fast-food
restaurant. "I don't know," said Christie.
    "Mr. Matson put up a new front door," said
Melanie. "It's wooden."
    Christie could see the door clearly now. "That's not a
new door, it's a sheet of plywood. The glass must have been broken." Jana
and Katie were standing with the others. Randy, Keith, and Scott were with
them.
    Melanie tapped Jana on the shoulder and asked, "What
happened?"
    "Mr. Matson said someone threw a rock through the glass
in his door last night. He doesn't know who did it," Katie said.
    The sight of the raw wood nailed to Bumpers' doorway made
Christie's stomach do flip-flops. It gave her the same feeling she'd had when
someone ran into her family's car in a parking lot and left without leaving a
note. It was as if the place where she and her friends hung out after school
had been violated.
    "It's something you and all the friends you hang out
with will get to see up