Ralph S. Mouse - Beverly Cleary [24]
Brad sat back on his heels. “Your mom sure is nice,” he said.
“Yes,” agreed Ryan, his thoughts on Ralph’s problems.
Vroom-vroom-vroom. Ralph made a noise like a racing motor. The car did not move.
“What we need is your dad’s tow truck,” remarked Ryan. Ralph found the boys’ laughter most annoying.
“I know,” said Brad. “If going vroom makes the car go forward, maybe saying vroom backwards would make it back up. Moorv.”
“Moorv.” Ryan tried out the sound. “It’s hard to say, but if it works, that’s OK. Backing a car is slower than going forward. Try it, Ralph.”
“Moorv.” The car inched away from the leg of the couch. “Moorv.” The car was free. “Vroom.” Ralph drove off in a wide circle and returned to his friends. “Do I get to keep it?” he asked.
“It’s all yours,” said Brad. “To make up for your broken motorcycle.”
“Don’t you need it?” asked Ralph, unable to believe that anyone would give away such a car.
“Not anymore,” Brad told him. “Not since I have a BMX.”
Ralph was speechless with joy. He ran his paw lovingly over the dashboard of his very own car.
“Wait till your relatives see you riding around in a Laser XL7,” remarked Matt.
Ralph leaned out the driver’s window. “What do you mean?” he asked. “I thought they all moved back upstairs.”
“Most of them did,” said Matt, “but a few of your outdoor relatives still hang around, hoping you’ll bring the motorcycle back.”
Just my luck, thought Ralph. That rowdy bunch.
There was the sound of someone stamping snow off boots at the entrance of the inn. Matt hastily returned to his chair by the front door while Ralph quickly and skillfully drove his car under the clock. The boots turned out to belong, not to a guest, but to a man delivering the Cucaracha Voice. He shoved the papers into a rack and hurried out.
Matt removed a copy of the newspaper, put on his spectacles, and read the headlines. Then something at the bottom of the front page caught his eye. “Say, do you boys know a Miss Heidi Kuckenbacker down at Sneed?” he asked.
“Yes, she’s our teacher.” The two boys rushed over to Matt to see what the paper said about Miss K. Ralph climbed out of his car. He found that bits of his old nest still remained under the clock. With a shred of Kleenex, he began with loving care to polish away the boys’ fingerprints. As he polished, he listened while Matt read aloud from the Voice.
“‘Retraction,’ it says here above this picture,” said Matt.
“What’s retraction?” asked Brad.
“It means they take back something they said,” explained Matt.
“They should,” said Brad.
“Hey, look,” said Ryan. “There’s the picture of our class. What else does it say?”
Matt read, “‘The editors of the Cucaracha Voice regret a misleading story published in Saturday’s edition concerning Miss Heidi Kuckenbacker’s class at Irwin J. Sneed Elementary School.’”
Ralph stopped polishing. Maybe the paper would say something about him.
Matt continued. “‘After thorough investigation, Superintendent Clyde R. Crossman has cleared Sneed of charges of mouse infestation. Miss Kuckenbacker’s pupils have informed the editor that the mouse exhibited in her classroom was not captured as reported but was instead a pet of Ryan Bramble, a member of the class.’”
Ralph was insulted. He was no one’s pet, not Ryan’s, not anyone’s.
“Hey, Ryan, you got your name in the paper!” Brad was excited for his friend.
“Wait, there’s more,” said Matt. “‘Miss Kuckenbacker reports that she and her class learned much from having a mouse in the classroom.’”
How about that! thought Ralph. I guess I taught them a thing or two.
Matt read on. “‘The editors regret any embarrassment caused Room 5 by the misleading article about their activities.’”
“Well, that’s better,” said Brad.
“Sounds as if maybe that editor is having a little fun,” remarked Matt.
“No, he isn’t.” Ryan was serious.
“We really did write to the paper,” said Brad, “and the superintendent really did investigate