Save the Flowers (6 page)

Chapter 9

“Oh my gosh, where did you come from?” asked Julie, her face turning pale.

“I asked Robozonic to transport me here. He said this magic trick is called Instant Spatial Movement. I call it ISM,” said Mabel.

“And what are you wearing?” Julie looked at Mabel in her getup.

“Well, it's a stakeout, right?” asked Mabel. “I've got a scarf for you, too. But I only have one pair of sunglasses. Anyway, you have your glasses so you don't need the sunglasses.”

“Do I really have to put this on?” asked Julie, holding the red scarf.

“Yes, Julie. Just put it on,” urged Mabel. Julie
reluctantly
tied the scarf around her head.

“I've scouted the place and decided that the best place for us to hide will be behind that big shady tree,” said Julie. “Do you have your camera with you?”

“Sure, it's right here in my left pocket!” Mabel patted her pocket. She took out the video camera.

The two girls walked around the bushes to reach the other side of the big shady tree. Then they squatted and hid themselves behind the bushes. Mabel set the camera to “standby” mode. They waited eagerly for the boys to turn up.

Mabel's heart beat loudly as she squatted behind the bushes. She kept popping her head above the bushes to take a peep. Julie had to pull her down several times.

Five minutes passed. The two girls were
drenched
in their perspiration. Mabel's sunglasses kept sliding down her nose as they were too huge for her.

“Robozonic, what time will the two boys pass by here? I'm getting all hot and sweaty,” Mabel complained.

“I don't know what time they'll come. Usually, they're rather early. It should be around this time,” said Robozonic.

“I'm just going to wait for five more minutes. If they're still not here, we're leaving. Otherwise we'll be toasted!” said Mabel.

“Please, just wait a while more,” pleaded Robozonic.

Another five minutes passed.

“I'm not going to…” Mabel stood up.

“Shhh… someone's here!” whispered Julie, pulling Mabel down.

They could hear the laughter of two boys.

“You cannot catch me! You cannot catch me!” a boy shouted.

Mabel peered over the bushes. She saw two boys, slightly older than her, running up the path towards their hiding place. The boy running ahead of the other was shouting. When they were near the big shady tree, they stopped.

“Hey, let's drink some water, Peter,” said the first boy.

“Tomorrow I'll be the first to reach the tree!” Peter said as he panted up the path. Peter was a chubby boy whose tummy was bursting from his uniform. His face was
flushed
from all the running.

The two boys stood under the shady tree and drank some water. Mabel and Julie squatted even lower, afraid that the boys would see them.

“Now, let's see who can hit twenty flowers first, John!” said Peter.

Mabel quickly raised her camera. As she started recording, she saw the two boys using their water bottles to hit the flowers one by one.

“One, two, three…” the boys counted as they used their water bottles to hit hard at the flowers. The petals of the flowers started falling off.

“Twenty! I win! Ha ha!” said John.

“Tomorrow we'll do thirty and I'll definitely win!” exclaimed Peter, still panting away. Their voices became softer as they moved further away. When they were finally gone, Mabel and Julie stepped out from behind the bushes.

“You got that?” asked Julie.

“Yes, yes, I think I did. Let me check,” answered Mabel. She pressed the “Play” button and watched the video. “Yes, I definitely got it. Come on, let's go!”

Before they left, Mabel took out her water bottle and began watering the flowers. Julie saw what she did and followed.

“Both of you are such good girls,” praised Robozonic.

“Now let's go to school and tell Mr Foo!” said Mabel.

Chapter 10

Mabel and Julie stood outside Mr Foo's office. Mr Foo was the school's discipline master. All the students were afraid of him. He would walk around the school with a cane in his hand, pulling students by the collar to stop them to check whether they were wearing the school uniform properly.

Julie was terrified of Mr Foo and stood behind Mabel when they reached his office.

The door was open and Mr Foo was seated behind his desk. He was wearing a white shirt with blue stripes. In fact, every day he wore a white shirt with blue stripes. The students called him Blue Zebra behind his back.

Mabel knocked. “Mr Foo, we've got something to show you.”

Mr Foo looked up from his desk. He
squinted
his eyes and looked at the two small girls standing outside his office. From the colour of their name tags, he could tell that they were from the Primary 2 level. Now what would two Primary 2 girls want from him? He walked over from his desk. He was in his forties but most of his hair had fallen off, so he had a
bald
patch on the top of his head.

“You do? What is it?” asked Mr Foo, raising an eyebrow questioningly.

“It's a video of two boys using their water bottles to hit the flowers in the park,” said Julie. She felt much braver now and was no longer afraid to talk to Mr Foo. She had not done anything wrong so she should not feel afraid.

“Let me see it,” said Mr Foo.

Mr Foo took the camera from Mabel and watched the video.

“Ha, I know these two boys. They're John and Peter from 3F. They're always up to no good,” said Mr Foo. “How did you girls know about this?”

“They walk the same way to school as I do. I saw them doing it and decided to do something about it. Julie said we should record it so that we could show it to you,” said Mabel.

“Good thinking, Julie. And well done, Mabel. Can I keep the camera for a few days?” asked Mr Foo, his mind already thinking about what he should do to punish the two boys. Make them sweep the floor? Make them water the plants every day?

“Sure, Mr Foo,” said Mabel.

The two girls left Mr Foo's office happily. They had completed their task! Now the boys would not hit the flowers anymore. The flowers would be so happy. Mabel felt so proud of herself.

“What do you think Mr Foo will do to the two boys?” she asked.

“I don't know? Give them a caning?” suggested Julie.

“Ouch! I don't want any caning!” said Mabel.

“Mabel,” called Robozonic.

“Yes, Robozonic?” answered Mabel.

“For the good work that both of you have done, I'm going to give you a reward.”

“Oh, we don't really need a reward. But since you mentioned it, well, what reward are you going to give us?” Mabel asked as she took Robozonic out from her pocket.

Just then, two metal rods slowly moved out from another two of the green specks on Robozonic. When the metal rods were fully extended, lights appeared at the ends of the two rods. After some time, two yellow stars appeared.

“Pluck the stars off from the rods, girls,” said Robozonic.

The two girls glanced at each other and turned to look at Robozonic again. They did not move. They were too shocked. Then Mabel stretched out her hand to take a star and Julie followed.

“What are these for?” asked Mabel, looking at her star. There was a tiny button in the middle of the star, and on the other side, there was a mirror.

“They are my little children – Robostars. You can use them to talk to me even if we're very far apart,” said Robozonic.

“How far?” asked Julie.

“Like between here and Mabel's house,” said Robozonic.

“Fantastic! Can I use it to communicate with Julie too?” asked Mabel.

“Sure. It works like a walkie-talkie. You just have to press the tiny button on the star,” explained Robozonic. “You can see each other on the screen.”

Julie removed one of the blue ribbons from her pony tails. She put one end of the ribbon through a tiny hole in the Robostar, placed the two ends together and tied a knot. She hung the ribbon over Mabel's neck. The yellow Robostar lay on Mabel's chest. Then, she did the same thing for her Robostar.

Mabel instantly pressed the button on her Robostar and said, “Calling Julie, calling Julie.”

Her voice immediately sounded from the Robostar on Julie's chest. Her face also appeared on the mirrored surface. Julie pressed the button on her Robostar excitedly and answered, “Yes, Mabel. Yes, Mabel!”

“Excuse me,” a voice interrupted. It was the vice-principal, Mr Ahman. “Why aren't you girls in class? The bell has rung.”

“Oops, sorry, Mr Ahman,” Mabel apologised. “We're going right now.”

“And why have you brought toys to school?” asked Mr Ahman, seeing the stars hung around the girls' necks. “Don't you know that you're not supposed to bring any toys to school?”

“Sorry, Mr Ahman, we will not bring them again,” said Mabel. Mabel and Julie turned and
scurried
down the corridor. They stopped outside their classroom, panting.

Mrs Lim was already in class. The two girls quickly tucked their stars inside their school uniforms and went into the classroom.

“Mabel and Julie, why are the two of you late?” asked Mrs Lim. “Don't tell me you have a stomachache again, Mabel?”

“No, she didn't have a stomachache, Mrs Lim. We were helping Mr Foo at his office,” Julie answered quickly and looked at Mabel.

“Yes, yes. We were helping him with something,” added Mabel.

“Alright, please come in now,” said Mrs Lim.

The two girls went to their seats hurriedly. Mabel squeezed Robozonic as she sat down.

“Stop squeezing me!” said Robozonic. Mabel did not answer. She just smiled and took out her textbooks.

And that was how Mabel met Robozonic.