Free No Bones About It by Nancy Krulik Page B

and pointed to a badge he wore on a chain around his neck. “I’m the Director of the Education Department,” he said proudly. “But the volunteer who was supposed to take you around called in sick. So I got stuck . . . I mean, um . . . so I got the pleasure of giving you the tour. I’m fitting you in before my next appointment. I’m going to give a very important scientist, Dr. Franklin P. Muffinstoffer, a tour of the museum.”
    “Oh, well . . . that’s wonderful,” Mrs. Derkman said. “We’re very lucky to have you as our guide.”
    “You certainly are,” the man boasted.
    “I’m Mrs. Derkman,” the teacher said, holding out her hand.
    “I’m Mr. Weir,” the man replied, shaking her hand.
    “Did you hear that?” George whispered. “His name is Mr. Weird.”
    “He said his name was Mr. Weir,” Katie corrected George.
    “I don’t know,” Kevin said. “He looks weird to me!”
    Some of the kids giggled. Mrs. Derkman didn’t. “Children!” she scolded. “This is not how we behave in a museum.”
    “Oh, don’t worry,” Mr. Weir assured her. “I can handle a bunch of children.”
    Katie looked over at George. She could tell he was already planning something bad to do in the museum. Suddenly, Katie felt sorry for Mr. Weir. He’d probably never met anyone like George before.
    “Can we go to the Hall of Dinosaurs?” Kevin asked. “I used to go there all the time when I was little.”
    “When was that . . . yesterday?” Suzanne joked.
    Kevin stuck his tongue out at her.
    “We’ll get to the dinosaurs when I say so,” Mr. Weir said. “We’re starting with the ancient Egypt exhibit.”
    “Do you have any real mummies in there?” George asked excitedly.
    Mr. Weir shook his head. “No. Those go to the big museums in the city,” he said with a very jealous sigh. “We get stuck with the fake mummy cases.”

    “But they look just like the real thing,” Mrs. Derkman assured class 3A.
    Mr. Weir led them down a long hallway. The walls were lined with drawings made by ancient Egyptians.
    “Those are called hieroglyphics,” Suzanne told the others. “It’s sort of a picture alphabet.”
    “How did you know that?” Mr. Weir asked, surprised.
    “I know a lot about ancient Egypt,” Suzanne told him. “I used to be Cleopatra’s biggest fan. Until I got tired of her. Then I moved on to Coco Chanel. She was a famous clothing designer. And now I’m interested in learning about supermodels.” She turned her face to the side. “Don’t you think my bone structure is perfect?”
    Mr. Weir glared at Suzanne. “Is there some way to turn her off ?” he asked Mrs. Derkman.
    Mrs. Derkman sighed. “Suzanne, right now we’re talking about ancient Egypt,” she said.
    Becky Stern had been carefully studying some of the hieroglyphics on the wall. There was one picture that really interested her. It was of a man standing on his head.
    Becky flipped over and stood on her hands. “Look at me!” she squealed. “I’m a hieroglyphic.”
    “Becky!” Katie shouted out, surprised. “Get down. You’re going to break something.”
    “Yes, Becky,” Mrs. Derkman scolded. “Get down. We walk on our feet, not our hands, in a museum.”
    “Katie, you’re such a goodie-goodie!” Becky replied. She swung her legs down to the floor.
    Unfortunately, Becky didn’t see that Manny was standing right behind her. She kicked him in the stomach on her way down. Manny fell backwards and knocked over one of the three fake mummy cases. Wham!

    Click. Jeremy took a picture of Manny, Becky, and the fallen mummy case. “That’s going to be great!” he told Kevin.
    Mrs. Derkman glared at Becky and Manny.
    “It wasn’t my fault,” Manny told the teacher.
    “You banged into the mummy case,” Becky said.
    “You banged into me ,” Manny argued.
    “I told you this would happen,” Katie reminded Becky.
    “Be quiet, goodie-goodie,” Becky said to Katie. She turned to Manny. “You want to fight about