Baartock | Page 5

As soon as they got inside, Baartock stopped wanting to go home and started looking at this new kind of cave he was in. There were big boards fastened to the walls, covered with lots of colored papers. There were cases with glass frames with more colored papers behind them. The walls were a bright yellow, and there were lights overhead. Even the floor was smooth and shiny. There were a lot of new things for him to see. He was still looking around when they got to the school office.
"Ms. Laurence, Baartock seems to have missed the bus this morning," said Mr. Fennis to the woman sitting at a desk, behind the counter. Ms. Laurence was the school secretary. "I found him still waiting by the road."
"Baartock? I don't know any Baartock."
"Well, he's seven, so he must be in Mrs. Stogbuchner's class. Could you get him down there? I've really got to get back to my class. Good-by, Baartock." With that, Mr. Fennis hurried out of the office and down the hall, leaving Baartock in the office.
Baartock looked at Ms. Laurence. Then he looked all around the room. When he had seen enough he said, "Not Mississtog-Buchnersklass. Go home! Now!" Baartock thought it might be fun to meet someone with a wonderfully scary name like Mississtog-Buchnersklass, but he was tired and wanted to go home. He was just out the door, leaving Ms. Laurence calling "Baartock! Stop!" when he crashed right into Mrs. Jackson, the principal.
Mr. Fennis told Mrs. Jackson about Baartock just as soon as he had gotten into his classroom and she came running to the office. Mrs. Jackson had been a school teacher for many years and principal for a few more, but she wasn't sure that she had ever seen a child quite like the dirty, wild, little one, who was trying to pull away from her. "Stop right now!" Mrs. Jackson's voice echoed up and down the hall. Baartock stopped squirming and stood, wide-eyed, staring at her. He didn't know humans could sound like that. Down the hall, classroom doors opened and several teachers looked out. Mrs. Jackson ignored them as she pushed Baartock back into the office and closed the door.
"Please tell me your name." Before he could say that he wasn't old enough to have a name, Ms. Laurence answered "Baartock."
"Baartock," said Mrs. Jackson as she brought him over to a bench, "sit down. Tell me how you got so dirty."
"Rolled in mud. Want to go home."
"You certainly must have rolled in the mud. I understand you missed your bus this morning."
"Mrs. Jackson," said Ms. Laurence, who had stopped watching them and was busily looking through some papers, "We don't have any student named Baartock." School had just started the week before, but Ms. Laurence was sure that she knew the names of all the new students. And where to find their records.
"Is today your first day?" asked Mrs. Jackson. "Yes! First day! First day!" Baartock answered right away. Finally he had found someone who understood that today was his first day to go scare people by all himself.
"But, Mrs. Jackson, I don't have his registration forms, medical records, or anything." Ms. Laurence was now going through file drawers.
"I'm sure you'll find them. Baartock and I will just go down to Mrs. Stogbuchner's class, then I'll be back to help you look, " said Mrs. Jackson as she opened the door. "Baartock, let's go meet your teacher. I'm sure you'll be very happy in her class."
"Want to go home!" repeated Baartock rather loudly as they walked down the hall.
"Please don't shout, Baartock. We don't want to disturb the other classes. I'm sure you would like to go home. I would like to go home, too, but we're supposed to be here. And we'll get everything straightened out about your bus schedule, so you won't miss your bus tomorrow. I'll make sure that you get home after school is over. Just behave yourself and do what Mrs. Stogbuchner tells you."
Chapter 3
"Now, let's get you into class," said Mrs. Jackson. They went to the last door on the right side of the hall, and Mrs. Jackson looked through a little window in the door.
"Is it recess time already? The class must be outside." She opened the door and they went into the classroom. It was a bright cheerful room, with windows all along one wall and chairs pulled up around low tables.
"This will be your classroom," Mrs. Jackson said. They walked to a door in the back of the classroom and went outside.
"Let's see if we can find them. They should be on the playground. That's around this way." Hand in hand, they went around to the back of the school building.
There was the playground. And the class. So many humans. Baartock had never