Free Chocolate Fever by Robert Kimmel Smith Page A

through the kitchen and gathered a handful of chocolate kisses to put into his pocket. He liked to have them handy to munch on at school. But this morning, because he still felt somewhat hungry, Henry stripped the silver wrapping from two kisses and popped them into his mouth. Then, after a quick kiss for Mama Green—a kiss that left a little bit of chocolate on her face—Henry, Elizabeth, and Mark headed out the door on the way to school.
    At the corner, Henry and Mark waved good-bye to their sister, who had to take a bus to get to her high school. The boys’ school, P.S. 123, was just another block away. At the next corner Mrs. Macintosh, the crossing guard, waved them across the street. “The light is always green for the Greens,” she said. It was her own little joke. And she said it just about every morning. This morning only Mark, who was extremely polite, smiled. Henry just didn’t feel like smiling. In fact, he was beginning to feel a little strange.
    In the schoolyard the boys went separate ways to join their classes. As usual, there was a lot of pushing and shoving and fooling around. But Henry, who was always very good at things like knocking hats off boys’ heads and making goofy faces at the girls, was quiet. He didn’t even say “hi” when Michael Burke, his best friend, came along. “Well what’s the matter with you?” asked Michael, grinning.
    “What do you mean, ‘what’s the matter?’ ” Henry said. “Can’t I just stand here? Do I have to carry on and behave like a nut?”
    “OK, OK,” said Michael. “You don’t have to bite my head off. It’s just that you’re kind of different today. Not like you at all.”
    Just then the whistle blew, and all the children began marching into the school building. “I feel funny today,” Henry said to Michael. “I have the feeling something’s going to happen, and I don’t know what.”
    That exact feeling, that something was going to happen, stayed with Henry all morning. He felt strange in his homeroom, strange when he went to gym class, and in Mrs. Kimmelfarber’s math class, he felt strange all over.
    Henry couldn’t concentrate on what Mrs. Kimmelfarber was saying. He just sort of sat there and stared. Without thinking about it, he was looking at his arm and the back of his hand. And then he noticed something. There were little brown freckles all over his skin. Now this would not have been such a startling discovery except for one thing—those little brown freckles were not there when he woke up this morning!
    At the front of the room, Mrs. Kimmelfarber was going through the drill on fractions. She was saying, “And if I take six and a half and subtract one and a quarter, what will I have left?” She looked directly at Henry, who was looking directly at his arm. “Henry,” she asked, “what will I have left?”

    “Little brown spots all over,” said Henry.

Chapter 3
    Mrs. Kimmelfarber’s Problem
    THERE WAS SILENCE in the room for about two seconds. Then there was a riot. All the girls began to giggle. The boys chortled and chuckled and laughed right out loud. Henry turned red, and Mrs. Kimmelfarber, who did not appreciate the humor of it all, turned white.
    She rapped her ruler against the desk and shouted for silence. “Henry Green,” she said, “what is the meaning—”
    “Little brown spots all over,” said Henry. “I was looking at my arm and I have these—”
    “Little brown spots all over,” interrupted Mrs. Kimmelfarber. “I heard you quite clearly.”
    “But you see, Mrs. Kimmelfarber, I didn’t have them all my life. I didn’t even have them this morning. But now—”
    “I know.” Mrs. Kimmelfarber sighed. “Now you have them all over. I’d better have a look at them.” Taking Henry’s arm, she led him to the window. “Hmmmm,” she said as she peered at his arm, “looks like freckles to me.”
    “No, ma’am,” said Henry. “It just can’t be.”
    “Why not?” said Mrs.