and Michael. Ryan stuck two of my carrot sticks in his nose, and I told him Iâd give him a nickel if he ate them. He did, too. Me, I wonât even eat carrot sticks before you stick them in your nose.
âDo you think that guy was really George Washington?â Ryan asked.
âI donât know,â Michael said. âWhat do you think, A.J.?â
Thatâs when Andrea Young leaned over from the next table and opened her big mouth.
âThat wasnât George Washington, you dumb heads!â she said. âThat was Mrs. Roopy wearing a powdered wig and an army uniform.â
She may have been right, but I didnât want to admit it, because I hate her. Ryan took out a dollar bill from his backpack and looked at the picture of George Washington.
âHe sure looked like George Washington,â Ryan said.
âGeorge Washington has been dead for like a hundred years!â Andrea said.
âEven if George Washington was still alive,â Emily said, âIâm sure he would have more important things to do than come to our school and read us stories.â
Thatâs when it hit me. If that army guy was really Mrs. Roopy dressed up as George Washington, maybe Mrs. Roopy isnât a librarian at all!
âMaybe sheâs just pretending to be a librarian,â I said, âjust like she was pretending to be George Washington.â
âYeah!â Michael said. âMaybe sheâs a kidnapper and sheâs got our real librarian locked up in an empty warehouse at the edge of town. I saw that in a movie once.â
âWeâve got to save her!â Emily said withtears dribbling down her cheeks. Then she went running out of the room.
There was only one way to solve the problem. We cleaned off our trays and went back to our classroom to ask Miss Daisy if George Washington was really Mrs. Roopy in disguise.
âDonât be silly,â Miss Daisy said. âAs it turns out, Mrs. Roopy is absent today. Sheâs home sick in bed. It must have been the real George Washington.â
But what does Miss Daisy know? Everybody knows Miss Daisy is crazy.
5
Mrs. Roopyâs Hero
Everybody in our class was excited before the next library period. We all wanted to see if George Washington would be there again.
When we got to the library, there was just this lady who looked a little bit like George Washington except she didnâthave on an army uniform or a wig. She looked like a normal lady.
âGood morning, second graders,â she said. âMy name is Mrs. Roopy. Iâm sorry I couldnât be here the other day for your library period.â
âBut you were here!â Ryan shouted.
âYou must bemistaken,â Mrs. Roopy said. âI was home sick in bed.â
âCan we see your wooden teeth again?â Michael asked.
âYeah, can we?â
âWooden teeth? Did you know that George Washington didnât have wooden teeth at all? His mouth was filled with cowâs teeth.â
âEwww!â we all shouted.
I asked Mrs. Roopy, âDid the cow have George Washingtonâs teeth in her mouth?â
âBut that was you, wasnât it, acting like George Washington?â said Michael.
Mrs. Roopyâs forehead got all wrinkly just like George Washingtonâs did when we told him about computers. âI donâtknow what youâre talking about.â
We all looked at one another. I wasnât sure if she was telling the truth or not.
âIf I were George Washington, would I have this?â Mrs. Roopy asked. Then she picked up her shirt and showed us her belly. She had a little tattoo of a heart right over her belly button. It was cool.
I had to admit that George Washington would never have a heart-shaped tattoo over his belly button. So maybe that army guy with thewig wasnât Mrs. Roopy after all.
âLet me show you around the library,â Mrs. Roopy said. âDid you know that books can
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