Free The Sea-Quel by Mo O’Hara

cardboard cottage from him and dash past Pradeep again, “I’m serious, Pradeep. You have to let go!”
    â€œTom, you’re ruining this for me. Leave me alone!”
    Just as he said it, the rope dropped from the rigging and Pradeep fell onto the stage. At the same time, the black bag slipped out of Mark’s hands. It was too late! I could see Frankie’s eyes glowing inside the dark bag as it tumbled toward the hard stage. Pradeep looked up and saw the green glow too.…
    â€œFrankie?” he yelled. He held out his green cape to try to catch the bag as it fell, but the bag bounced off and into the cardboard cutout of the cottage that I was carrying. I was knocked backward, falling into the tree and the horse and the kids that were holding them. All the cardboard scenery toppled over like a row of dominoes. Someone fell into the curtains and started to pull them down. As the rest of the cast ducked for cover, the bag with Frankie in it once again hurtled toward the floor.…
    Leaping forward, Pradeep stretched out his cape again to try to break Frankie’s fall, but the green fabric acted like a trampoline and bounced the bag straight at Mrs. Flushcowski.
    There was nothing we could do!
    It splatted on the table right in front of her, soaking her with water. Everyone in the hall went quiet for what was probably a second but seemed like hours. I tried to see Frankie, but I couldn’t spot him from the stage.

    Mrs. Flushcowski turned bright red and shouted, “Mr. Kumar! I suppose you think that’s funny?”
    I think at first when Mrs. Flushcowski said “Mr. Kumar,” Pradeep was genuinely looking around for his dad, but she was just doing that “I’m being a very serious teacher now” thing where they call you by your last name.
    â€œOh, me? Right. I don’t think it’s funny, well, not much, I mean…” Pradeep said, looking confused. “I don’t know what happened!”
    â€œI’ll tell you what happened, Mr. Kumar: You have ruined my dress rehearsal and…” She did another of her really long, dramatic pauses as she took a deep breath and picked up her cup of tea from the table in front of her. “You have lost yourself the role of Robin Hood!”
    There was a gasp from the other kids.
    â€œBut—” Pradeep started to say.
    â€œNever, in all my years in theater, has one of my cast members, especially not the leading ACTOR , thrown a water bomb at me!”
    Suddenly, at the same time, Pradeep and I spotted Frankie.
    â€œYou may think a prank like that is funny, young man,” she went on, lifting her tea to her lips.
    â€œMrs. Flushcowski…” Pradeep tried to interrupt her again.
    â€œBut it will not be tolerated at this sch—” she started to say and then spluttered out her tea with a shriek.

    Frankie leaped out of her mouth and back into the teacup!
    Mrs. Flushcowski fell back into her chair and fainted.

CHAPTER 7
    SECOND IN THE SPOTLIGHT
    Pradeep and I both raced off the stage. Mrs. Kumar ran over from her seat and Sami appeared from the side of the stage, carrying her little lidded drinking cup filled with water. We pulled off the lid, scooped Frankie out of the tea, and dropped him into the sippy cup.
    Some of the supporting cast kids fanned Mrs. Flushcowski with their pieces of cardboard while Mrs. Kumar ran off to get the school nurse.
    Finally Mrs. Flushcowski opened her eyes. She looked at Pradeep and shook her head. “I was wondering why you had a goldfish in a bag at rehearsal. Now I see that you have been planning this prank all along.” Then she bellowed, “Give me your HAT .”
    Pradeep bent down and Mrs. Flushcowski snatched the green Robin Hood cap with the long perfectly tilted feather from Pradeep’s head. I’ve never seen Pradeep look so sad.
    I stepped forward. “Mrs. Flushcowski, it wasn’t Pradeep’s fault…” I