Free Designed for Disaster by Carolyn Keene Page A

Deirdre and Katherine came up behind them.
    â€œI wonder what Mrs. Corwin will do with our designs”, Deirdre whispered.
    George grinned knowingly at Nancy and Bess.
    â€œWe have to find out”, Katherine said. “It could affect our new careers!”
    Nancy thought about it for a minute.
Should the Clue Crew try to solve the mystery right away,
she wondered,
or should we just wait until Mrs. Corwin tell us?

chaPTER TWO
Rhes!
    On Friday morning all the fashion designs were turned in by the girls
and
the boys, and now everyone was waiting to hear what Mrs. Corwin was going to do with them.
    Nancy, Bess, and George had decided not to spoil Mrs. Corwin’s surprise by trying to solve the mystery.
    â€œI have a dear friend from college who’s a fashion designer in New York City,” Mrs. Corwin told them. “She wants to start a new clothing line, so she’s agreed to look at your designs to see if they’d fit with what she has inmind. I’m going to scan them and then e-mail them to her this morning.”
    â€œOh, wow!” Nancy said. She looked at Bess and George, whose eyes were wide with surprise. “Can you believe it?”
    â€œNever in a million years!” Bess said.
    â€œWhen will we know?” Deirdre asked.
    â€œMonday morning,” Mrs. Corwin said.
    During the weekend all anyone could talk about were the fashion designs.
    When Monday morning finally arrived, Nancy, Bess, and George hurried into Mrs. Corwin’s room and took their seats.
    â€œClass, this is my wonderful friend, Juliana Marigold,” Mrs. Corwin announced, “and the young lady next to her is Nicole Whitcomb, a fashion model. She’s in the third grade too!”
    Bess looked at Nancy. “I didn’t know girls our age could be fashion models,” she whispered.
    Juliana smiled at the class. “I absolutely adore all your designs,” she said.

    The girls cheered.
    Mrs. Corwin held up her hand for silence.
    â€œUnfortunately, I can only use about half of them,” Juliana added.
    There were several groans.
    Some of the boys said, “I hope you don’t use ours!”
    â€œI’m sorry that I had to make a choice,” Juliana said. She consulted a piece of paper she was holding. “I’m using the designs from Nancy’s team, Deirdre’s team, and Quincy’s team.”
    â€œLet’s give those teams a hand,” Mrs. Corwin said.
    Everyone applauded politely.
    â€œEach item of clothing will have ‘Rhes!’ embroidered on it with the subdesign label below.” Juliana walked to the chalkboard and wrote
Rhes!
Beneath that, she wrote
Mystery Girls!
    Nancy, Bess, and George gasped.
    â€œThis is a dream come true,” Bess breathed.
    â€œExcuse me, what does ‘Rhes!’ mean, Juliana?” George asked.
    â€œRiver Heights Elementary School!” Juliana said.
    â€œCool!” the class said.
    Bess turned to Nancy. “Everyone in the world will know about our school,” she said.
    â€œWe’re going to be rich!” Nadine said.
    â€œI think my ONITAP designs are cooler than the ones you chose, Juliana,” Amanda Johnson said. “I feel cheated.”
    Everyone turned to stare at Amanda.
    â€œI could have been rich too!” Amanda added. “It’s not fair.”

    â€œAmanda, please,” Mrs. Corwin said. “We’re going to discuss that in just a minute.”
    Nancy turned to Bess and George.
    â€œWhat’s wrong with Amanda?” she whispered.
    â€œShe’s never acted like that before.”
    Bess and George shrugged. “None of you will be getting rich,” Mrs. Corwin said. “Instead, Juliana is going to make a big donation to our school for the use of the designs. No one in the class will receive any money.”
    Everyone looked at one another. Was that fair?
    Mrs. Corwin looked at Juliana. “I think you can explain this better than I