Alan's Research Pays Off
"Ah! Here it is," Alan exclaimed in a whisper. "tetrachloroethylene, also known as perc, is a chemical used in dry cleaning and cleaning metal and machinery... if it gets into the groundwater, it can kill plants and fish... and pollute drinking water... oh my gosh! Kill? Symptoms of poisoning by perc are dizziness, fainting spells, or an irregular heartbeat... leading to sudden death."
Alan wrote down the information he learned down on a sheet of paper, then he put the library book back on its shelf, and headed for home.
When he finally got into the front door, Alan was met by a very displeased Rosa.
"You missed supper, Alan Joseph Chan," Rosa scolded. "the restaurant is now closed!"
"I'm sorry about that, Rosa," Alan said. "I'll just make some instant ramen and hit the hay."
"Okay," Rosa said. "just remember, Alan, you do have school in the morning."
"Yes, Ma'am." Alan sighed.
After he had his instant ramen, Alan went up to his bedroom to hit the hay.
At Winston Prep the next day, it was on the elementary school floor of the building as Nancy, who was now in the fifth grade walked into her classroom to see that half the students in the class were absent.
"I'm glad you could make it, Miss Chan." Miss Eddison said to Nancy.
"What do you need, Miss Eddison?" Nancy asked her teacher.
"Will you please take Angela Subaru, the Potter twins, Patricia and Harvey, Melissa Wilkins, Marcie Wilder, Lily Smith, Johnny Thomson, Alfred Simmons, Steven Doolittle, and Samuel Kamui their homework after school lets out?"
"Of course, Miss Eddison." Nancy answered.
"Excellent," Miss Eddison said. "now, take your seat, it's time for class to begin."
Since it rained the night before, the Winston Prep picnic area and playground were wet.
So nobody was allowed to either go outside to eat their lunches or to play.
On her way to sit with her brothers and sisters, minus Anne, since she chose to not go to school because she didn't want her father worrying about her, Nancy saw a sixth grade boy trying to take a bite of his chicken bacon club sandwich that he packed for lunch.
"Wait! Take the lettuce and tomato off the sandwich, it isn't safe to eat!" Nancy warned the boy.
The boy set his club sandwich on his sanswich bag, took the iceberg lettuce and tomatoe off of it, put the bread back on top of the chicken and the bacon, and put the lettuce and the tomato in his empty sandwich bag.
"What was that for, Sweetheart?" the boy asked Nancy.
"Hmmm," Nancy said. "did your parents get those vegetables from the community garden?"
"Yes they did." the boy answered Nancy.
"I'm glad I stopped you from getting sick," Nancy said to the boy. "by the way, my name is Nancy Chan, what is yours?"
"I'm Dean Johnson, and thank you for saving my life, Angel." Dean said to Nancy with a nod and a wink.
As she went to throw the contents of the sandwitch bag into the compost bin, a smile spread across Nancy's face, "Dean Johnson." she sighed.
Henry spotted the whole tender and heroic scene from the table where he sat with the rest of his siblings.