Part 4 (2/2)
”You're joking! Like you could win.” Her mocking tone sent a chill through Jeri.
”I might,” Jeri said. And with tuition going up, she needed that full scholars.h.i.+p that came with .rst place. ”I have as good a chance as anyone.”
”Ya think?” Claire snorted. ”I've seen some of the en-tries. Ms. Gludell's collecting them at the newspaper of. ce. She's one of the judges.” She leaned close to Jeri's nose. ”You haven't got a prayer.”
”Like you would know!” Jeri's heart pounded so hard her chest hurt. ”Ms. Gludell wouldn't tell you anything.”
”But I heard her talking to another teacher. Sierra Sedgewick is doing a photo essay showing the diversity of weather in Virginia. She's making a book out of the photos.”
”Sierra?” Jeri's head jerked up and she pressed her lips together, now feeling both scared and mad. Sierra S edgewick's father owned his own photography studio in Norfolk. She remembered the last media project Sierra turned in. Rosa said her dad had done it -it was really pro-fessional. What if her media fair project-the photo essay book-was done by her father too?
I can't compete with that! Jeri thought. G.o.d, what am I going to do?
She pivoted on her heel and left the dining hall with-out another word. The media fair entry wasn't due till Monday morning. She wasn't going to worry about what she couldn't control. Just do your best and give G.o.d the rest. That's what her mom always said.
What could beat Sierra's photo book though? If only she had something more exciting to write about than mushrooms and rhubarb! She had done some investigative reporting earlier in the year-even helped the police once. Writing about something like that just might beat Sierra.
She'd lost her appet.i.te, so she plodded to the library, her mind already trying (and discarding) several ideas she could investigate. It was already Wednesday night! No one-not even Rosa-believed the girls in Hampton House were being poisoned. But there must be something else she could write about. How could she .nd an idea outstanding and unique enough to (1) investigate, (2) solve, and (3) write about - before Monday?
6.
creepy crawlies.
At the library Jeri spent an hour in a study carrel scanning newspapers and news magazines for some-thing to investigate. There were controversies about lo-cal air pollution, a logging company cutting too many trees, and littering around Sutter Lake. All important topics-but they sounded deadly dull to Jeri.
Lightning .ashed in the distance, and Jeri decided to head back to Hampton House before a storm hit. Disappointed, she pushed back her chair and hurried home, glad to beat the rain. For now, until something better came up, she'd have to stick to her article on food poisoning.
But when she walked in the front door at 7:30, something she heard drove the whole project out of her mind. From down the hall drifted the sound of Dallas's voice! What was he doing here?
She peeked around the doorway into the living room. He was sprawled in a rocker, and Rosa was perched on the arm of the couch, chatting away.
”Hi, Jeri!” Dallas called when he spotted her. He sat forward. ”Where ya been?”
”At the library. I'm still working on my media fair proj-ect.” She leaned against the door jamb. ”How long have you been here?”
”Barely a minute. I caught a ride over with my friend who's visiting his girlfriend.” He turned his cowboy hat around by the brim. ”I thought I'd check to see if Nikki needed help with her horse again.”
”She's .ne now,” Jeri said. ”Just tired -”
”No, she's not .ne,” Rosa interrupted. ”After supper she got sick again. So did Emily and Brooke. Emily's so bad they took her to the hospital! Brooke went along with her and Miss Barbara.”
”The hospital?”
”Emily was all bent over,” Rosa said. ”She could hardly walk. Brooke felt sick too, but she practically carried Emily to the car. She's worried sick.”
Jeri knew she'd react the same way if Rosa was deathly sick. ”Has anyone heard from them?”
”Not yet.”
Dallas spoke up then. ”Where'd those three girls eat supper?”
”In the dining hall.”
”Anybody else who ate the meal there get sick?” he asked.
Rosa shrugged. ”Not that I know of.”
Hmmm, Jeri thought. That blew her food poisoning theory. ”I guess you could be right then,” she admitted slowly. ”They didn't eat in the dorm kitchen, so those girls must have a virus that they can't shake.”
”Or not.” Underneath Rosa's tan, her face looked pale. ”We were all watching a movie and having snacks after supper-Emily, Brooke, Nikki, and me. Emily shared her trail mix with us. I'm the only one who didn't get sick.”
”But you all ate the snacks?” Jeri asked, dropping her backpack and coming into the room.
”I didn't.” Rosa turned her back to Dallas and lowered her voice. ”I'm trying to lose a few pounds, so I gave my trail mix to Nikki.” Her eyes clouded over. ”Ms. Carter's up-stairs helping her-and Abby. Abby came home from the in.rmary at noon and is so tired.” Rosa shuddered. ”I'm keeping my snacks upstairs from now on. I don't care if it is against the rules.”
”Where do you usually keep them?” Dallas asked.
”In the kitchen,” Rosa said. ”We each have a small cupboard shelf, and we have a plastic basket in the fridge
with our name on it. Everybody's supposed to stay out of everyone else's stuff.”
Dallas glanced at Jeri. ”It does sound like someone's messing with your food.”
Jeri rubbed the back of her neck. ”Maybe. Maybe not. I found out in a book Mr. Petrie loaned me how many com-mon foods we have that can be poisonous. Rhubarb, un-ripe potatoes, mushrooms, stuff like that. Plus growers use insecticides and weed killers that might still be on the fruit and vegetables. Trail mix has dried fruit in it.” She paused. ”Even so, three cases of food poisoning in three days is suspicious.”
Dallas sat forward, a frown making a pucker between his eyebrows. ”I'm not sure how to say this without mak-ing Nikki sound bad . . .”
”What is it?” Jeri asked.
”Well, I like her. I really do. But I've noticed that she can be a little . . . well . . . loud and bossy sometimes.”
”No kidding,” Rosa muttered.
”Has she made an enemy in your dorm? Anyone she's insulted or anything?”
”She insults everybody!” Rosa said. ”Abby probably gets it the worst, living with her.”
Dallas paced around the living room. ”If somebody's mad at her, knocking her out of the jumping compet.i.tion would be great revenge. She said it's the biggest equestrian event of the year.”
”With the biggest prize.” Jeri frowned. ”I'm sure people in the riding club are tired of Nikki winning all the time, but no one in our dorm cares. Nikki's the only one here competing in the equestrian contest.”
Rosa nodded. ”Most of the girls in the horsey club are older.”
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