Free School's Out...Forever! by Kate McMullan Page A

nearly knocked into Lady Drippingwealth and Count Moneypots!”
    â€œSorry, sir!” cried Wiglaf. He looked up at a tall woman in a red gown and a dark-haired man in a red tunic who stood beside the headmaster.
    â€œClumsy clodhopper!” muttered Count Moneypots.
    â€œPeasant!” sneered Lady Drippingwealth.
    Mordred turned to his visitors. “Come!” he said. “Let me show you where we’ll put the bingo parlor.”
    Wiglaf pressed against the castle wall as the three swept past him.
    Bingo parlor?
he thought as he took off running forLady Lobelia’s class. What was the headmaster up to now?

    Wiglaf walked into the classroom to find Angus, Erica, and Janice sitting at a table. In front of them were plates—empty plates. He gasped. “Did I miss lunch?”
    â€œSadly, yes,” said Lady Lobelia. “But you’re just in time for napkin folding!”

    After class, the four friends headed out to the castle yard for scrubbing.
    â€œWhat good sausages!” exclaimed Angus, rubbing his belly as they went.
    â€œDo not talk of sausages!” cried Wiglaf. His stomach growled. “Let us talk of Worm. He is still missing.”
    â€œWe could go on a quest to find him,” said Erica.
    Janice snapped the piece of Smilin’ Hal’s Tree Sap Gum she was chewing and raised a thumb in approval.
    Wiglaf smiled. Erica was always ready to set off on a quest. In the years they’d been at DSA, they’d gone on dozens, and Erica always led the way.
    â€œWhere shall we go?” he asked.
    â€œI’ve heard of a cave where dragons gather called Fire-Breathers’ Lair,” said Erica. “Even if Worm isn’t at the Lair, the other dragons may know his whereabouts.”
    For the first time all day, Wiglaf felt hopeful.
    â€œWhere is this cave?” asked Janice.
    â€œWest of the Dark Forest,” said Erica.
    â€œUncle Mordred will never let us go,” said Angus, who was the headmaster’s nephew. “Who would do the scrubbing?”
    â€œI shall ask, anyway,” said Erica. “Right after class.”
    Wiglaf smiled. With Erica in charge, Worm was as good as found!
    Now out of the castle carrying a stack of greasy plates came Frypot, the school cook. “Cut the chatter and grab a platter!” he called.
    Dunking grimy rags into buckets of slimy water, the students began washing dishes.
    â€œUncle Mordred has some strange visitors,” Angus whispered as he dunked a dish into the rinse water. “Did you see them?”
    Wiglaf nodded and looked up from the plate he was scrubbing. “And—there they are now!”
    Indeed, Mordred’s violet eyes shone happily as he led Lady Drippingwealth and Count Moneypots toward the castle gate. He was smiling, and his gold front tooth glinted merrily in the sunlight.
    â€œWe’ll throw a tent up over the castle yard and set up poker tables,” Mordred told his visitors.
    Wiglaf and his friends watched the group walk through the gate to the drawbridge.
    â€œPoker tables?” said Angus. “Something weird’s going on.”
    â€œThat’s why I love DSA!” cried Janice. “Something weird is
always
going on!”
    The four scrubbed the worst of the grease off the dishes and laid them on the scrubbing block to dry.
    â€œClass dismissed!” said Frypot. “Unless,” he added, “one of you wants extra credit for scrubbing the eel cauldron.”
    Wiglaf eyed the cauldron. It was coated with thick, green eel slime. The smell of it made him sick to his empty stomach.
    â€œOoh, please! I shall do it, sir!” cried Erica, who never could resist an extra-credit assignment. This was why she always won the Future Dragon Slayer of the Month Award.
    Wiglaf nudged her. “But you must ask Mordred about our quest.”
    â€œYou ask,” said Erica, pushing up her sleeves. “I have work to do!”

    Wiglaf and Angus