9 School

9. SCHOOL On the walk to town with her mom, Matilda felt very uncomfortable. Everyone they passed stared at her. Curtains twitched and shopkeepers peered from empty shops. A police car stopped across the road and the two officers inside watched them walk by, openmouthed, before grabbing their radios.

As they passed the Town Hall, they noticed Mrs. Bevan with a placard. "I heard that Mayor Carrot refused to pay the piper," said Mrs. Bevan, who had decided a protest was in order, even though she didn't have children of her own. "Mervyn Wobley had insomnia and went for a walk along the waterfront. He said he heard some funny music as he was coming back home." Once Mrs. Bevan had updated Matilda's mom on everything that had happened, they continued on to school. On most mornings, the front of the school was a riot of children, parents, and badly parked cars. But today it was deserted.

"See you later," Matilda's mom said, and kissed Matilda on the forehead. "Wait for me to pick you up. See you at three!" Matilda was only at school for an hour. The teacher said she wouldn't want the other children to miss out on important lessons and then ran to the staff room, crying. So Matilda stared out the window, waiting for her mom to get out of work and pick her up. Occasionally a police car would fly along the road. The classroom felt very empty. On a normal school day, there would be mayhem if their teacher ran off crying to the staff room and left her students

unsupervised. Even Matilda's desk felt empty and lonely without Ruby sitting next to her. Why am I the only one? Matilda wondered to herself. Why didn't I disappear too? Why did Mrs. Bean think the kids' disappearance has something to do with the Pirate Piper? After Matilda had been wondering for almost an hour, her mom turned up. As the sun rose higher over the troubled town, the Jolley-Rogers sailed their ship into Dull-on-Sea.

Jim's mom was happy to moor the Blackhole in the harbor now that the rats had disappeared. While Jim and his dad secured the gangplank, Arthur Poppycock donned his harbormaster's hat and marched over to greet them. "You might want to keep your nippers on board!" said Arthur, pointing to Jim. "All the children went missing last night! Every child in Dull-on-Sea! Gone! Just like that! I didn't see or hear a thing!" "Dad!" said Jim urgently. "I've gotta go to Tilda's house!" "There's not much point," said Arthur Poppycock. "They're all gone. The police are on it, though. I'm sure they'll have

all the children home by the end of the day. Mind you, Chief Inspector Klewless was on the radio earlier saying he was a bit baffled." "Aye, lad," said Jim's dad, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Probably best to stay here, safe on the ship, till we know what's goin' on."