7. Pig-Napper!

Chapter 7 Pig-Napper! "Roscoe, you look terrible," said Emma the next morning at school. "REALLY terrible," Gus agreed. "I had bad dreams all night," I said. "I dreamed I was a giant pig. And I got locked in a suitcase. And sent to Alaska." "Alaska, huh?" Emma said. "I think it was Alaska. 'Cause there were polar bears and giraffes." I felt my eyes getting wettish.

Which is not okay when you are an official first grader. "I can't find Hamilton," I said. "I brought him to school yesterday just like always. And when I got home, he was vanished!" "Wow," said Gus. "Pig-napping is a serious crime." "Pig-napping?" I cried. "You mean someone stole him?" "We don't know if he was pig-napped," Emma pointed out. "Maybe Roscoe left him somewhere. Did you take him to the boys' room?" When you have a big problem, it is nice to have a good thinker like Emma around. I shook my head. "The lunchroom?" Emma asked. I shook my head harder.

"Did you show him to anyone?" Emma asked. I thought for a second. "Just Wyatt. I didn't mean for him to see us. But he did. Hamilton was in my backpack. I was just saying a quickie hi." We all looked over at Wyatt. He was in the activity center making a magnet building. He saw us looking at him. He pulled on his nose to make a pig face. "Wyatt isn't my favorite person," Emma said. "He isn't even my tenth favorite person." "Maybe Wyatt knows what happened to Hamilton," Gus said. I thought about that. Wyatt was a meanie.

And he'd seen me with Hamilton. And now Hamilton was missing. "You don't think… Wyatt's a pignapper, do you?" I whispered. "Wyatt? Why would Wyatt pig-nap Hamilton?" Gus asked. "I was thinking maybe Mr. McGeely took him." "Mr. McGeely?" I repeated. "You mean the janitor? You think Mr. McGeely put Hamilton IN THE TRASH?" "No offense, Roscoe," Gus said. "But Hamilton is kind of, well, old." "And he smells a little… funny," Emma added. "My Great-aunt Hilda is old and smells funny, and I love her," I said. Emma smiled. "You're a good guy, Roscoe."

"You know what I'm going to do?" I said. "I'm going to march right over there. And I'm going to ask Wyatt if he took my pig." But before I could do that, Ms. Diz rang her gonger. It is a big round golden thing shaped like a plate. It hangs from a hook on the ceiling. When you hit it with a hammer, it goes g-o-o-n-n-g-g!!! That means FREEZE! Ms. Diz used to ring a teensy little silver bell. But then she figured out we could make more noise than any old bell. So she outsmarted us. With her giant gonger. Ms. Diz is a brand-new teacher.

But she is learning fast. "Time for morning meeting, folks," said Ms. Diz. We sat in our spots. We talked about the weather. (Cold.) We talked about the day. (Tuesday.) We talked about talking. (We had been interrupting Ms. Diz a lot.) She said that when someone is talking, you listen with your ears. And save your questions for the end. Then you use your mouth. Even if you see something that is a miracle. Like a squirrel with a blue Matchbox car in his mouth.