In our last episode, our weary heroes escaped from the desert and were invited into the home of Mrs. Camphor and her daughter, Eureka.
As the sun rises over the desert, Rocky and Bullwinkle are seated at the dinner table in Mrs. Camphor's house. Eureka, still dressed in her pajamas, sits across from them, while Mrs. Camphor is preparing breakfast.
"It was sure nice of you to let us stay the night, Mrs. Camphor," says Rocky.
"Don't mention it," the woman replies. "With all the violence in today's cartoons, it's nice to meet some old-fashioned characters who don't fight or break things. So, what do you boys want for breakfast?"
"Got any Super Sugar Crisp?" asks Bullwinkle.
"What?"
"He means Golden Crisp, Mom," says Eureka.
Bullwinkle becomes confused. "What? They took out the sugar?"
"No, they just changed the name," Eureka tells him.
"That's outrageous!" the moose complains. "Wait until Sugar Bear hears about this!"
"Hey, guys," says Eureka, "before you leave town, can I ask you a favor?"
"Sure," says Rocky.
"I'd like you to come to show-and-tell at my school."
"Sure, we'd love to!" exclaims Rocky.
"What's show-and-tell?" asks Bullwinkle.
"Remember when you were in third grade and you took a butane torch to school and almost burned it down?" asks Rocky.
"Oh, yeah! I remember now. Ah, those were the days."
Soon afterward, our heroes arrive at Eureka Camphor's third-grade class.
The scene cuts to a classroom, with pictures of U.S. presidents, letters of the alphabet, and popular PBS characters lining the walls. About a dozen kids are seated at desks, talking quietly to each other. The teacher, a red-haired woman in her early thirties, is sitting at the front desk, preparing the day's lesson. The door to the classroom opens and Eureka walks in, followed closely by Rocky and Bullwinkle.
"Hey, everybody!" Eureka announced. "Look who I brought!"
The children gasp in disbelief. "Who are they?" asks a little boy.
"Rocky and Bullwinkle, stupid," answers a little girl. "They're cartoon characters from the 60's."
"Welcome to my class," says the teacher. "I'm Miss Thurber."
"Pleased to meet you," says Rocky. "Bullwinkle and I are happy to be here."
Eureka sits down, while Bullwinkle starts to address the kids with enthusiasm. "Okay kids, who's your favorite cartoon character?"
"Bart Simpson!"
"Ginger Foutley!"
"Pikachu!"
"Kim Possible!"
"I've never heard of any of those characters," says Rocky.
"Kids don't watch old cartoons anymore," Eureka tells him. "The new cartoons have better animation."
"Yeah, but our show had better puns," says Bullwinkle.
The door opens again, and a little girl enters. She has short brown hair and wears a red denim skirt. She looks at all the other children, then at Rocky and Bullwinkle, with an expression of scientific curiosity.
"Oh, we have a new pupil in our class," notes Miss Thurber. "What's your name?"
The new girl speaks in an emotionless tone. "My name is Florence. Florence Liverwurst." The kids burst out laughing.
"What a lovely name," says the teacher. "Were you named after the laboratory?"
"I named myself after the laboratory, yes."
As the kids chuckle, Miss Thurber stands in front of them. "Have a seat, Florence, and we'll get started with today's lesson."
As Florence seats herself at a desk, she points toward Rocky and Bullwinkle. "Why are they here?"
"Is there any reason why they shouldn't be here?" asks Miss Thurber.
"I'm simply inquiring as to their purpose," says Florence. "They are not third graders, nor are they employed by the school, so their presence requires an explanation."
"I brought them here for show-and-tell, Miss Know-it-All," says Eureka.
"I'm Rocket J. Squirrel," says Rocky, "and this is my friend, Bullwinkle Moose."
"I am aware of your identities," says Florence. "You are the stars of a 1960's cartoon series about an anthropomorphic moose and squirrel who repeatedly foil the plans of an international spy syndicate through an extremely improbable chain of bizarre coincidences."
"She's on to us, Bullwinkle," Rocky whispers.
"After show-and-tell," announces Miss Thurber, "we're going to talk about computers. Have you ever wondered what's inside a computer, and how it works?" Florence raises her hand. "Yes, Florence?"
Florence takes a deep breath. "A computer is an array of binary circuits, each representing a logical zero or one using two distinct voltage levels. These circuits are organized in such a way that they can perform logical and numerical computations..."
The other kids stare at her incredulously.
As our heroes look on in wonder, the strange little girl answers all of the teacher's questions correctly, and in great detail.
"Charles Babbage began work on his Analytical Engine in 1830, but died before it was completed. Assisting him was Ada Lovelace, the daughter of the poet Lord Byron..." The bell rings. "Is it time for me to stop?"
A short while later, Eureka is saying goodbye to Rocky and Bullwinkle in front of the school entrance. "Thanks for coming to show-and-tell, guys. You were a huge hit, even though hardly anyone remembered you."
"I think they were paying more attention to that smart girl," says Rocky.
"Yeah," reflects Bullwinkle, "she's a regular...uh, what's the word?"
"Prodigy?" Rocky reminds him.
"Yeah."
"I hope you'll come back soon," says Eureka.
"Thanks for everything," says Rocky.
The moose and squirrel start to walk away from the school, when Rocky suddenly stops in his tracks. "Wait a minute, Bullwinkle! If that girl's so smart, maybe she knows something about Wunderkind!"
"You're right!" says Bullwinkle. "Let's go back and talk to her!"
Meanwhile, Florence Liverwurst is about to meet two people who will change her life forever!
While wandering aimlessly about the playground, Florence encounters a short man with a formal suit and fake beard, and a tall woman in a black overcoat and large chapeau. "Allow me to introduce myself," says the short man. "I am Professor Ivan Smartenov from Smartenov Academy, the most expensive private school in California. And this is my colleague, Nabushka Vitale."
"Charmed," says the tall woman.
"Your beard is not real, sir," Florence points out.
"How very observant of you." The man yanks off the beard, revealing the face of who else but Boris Badenov.
"You are much too intelligent to attend a school like this," says the tall woman. "We would like to offer you a full-tuition scholarship to study at Smartenov Academy."
"I accept," says Florence without hesitation.
Rocky and Bullwinkle are walking toward the playground when Bullwinkle spots something and points. "Look over there! She's getting into that car with a man and woman. They must be her parents."
At the side of the street, Florence is climbing into the back seat of a small car. The short man is slipping into the driver's seat, while the tall woman is occupying the passenger's seat.
"Hokey smoke!" exclaims Rocky. "It's Boris and Natasha!"
"How'd she get so smart with parents like those?" Bullwinkle wonders.
"They're not her parents! They're kidnapping her!"
As the two watch helplessly, the car driven by Boris pulls away from the curb and speeds down the street. "They're getting away!" says Rocky.
Can our heroes rescue Florence from the clutches of the Pottsylvanian spies? What will happen if they don't? Don't miss our next exciting episode, "The Smart Kidnapping", or, "Driving Miss Prodigy".
