Shai & Emmie Star in to the Rescue! Read online

  Program

  SCENE 1 G for “Goose”

  SCENE 2 A Concert for Animals

  SCENE 3 Vitamin Food

  SCENE 4 Shai’s Very Extremely Organized To-Do List

  SCENE 5 The Vegetable Garden Mystery

  SCENE 6 Tuna Delight

  SCENE 7 Is This Your Cat?

  SCENE 8 A Dramatic Discovery

  SCENE 9 Shopping with Aunt Mac-N-Cheese

  SCENE 10 Rescue Mission

  SCENE 11 Momma’s Wise Words

  SCENE 12 Bravo! Brava! Bunny!

  About the Author and Illustrator

  To Zoreo, Sammie, and Shuga—my pets—and all the animals that need love and a better home

  —Q. W.

  For Clara Hyacinth Ohlin

  —N. E. O.

  To my niece, Emma

  —S. M.

  SCENE 1

  G for “Goose”

  Shai Williams positioned her fingers on the clarinet. Its name was Clara the Clarinet (although Shai had been thinking about changing the name to Sadie or maybe Kennedy). She closed her lips over the mouthpiece, tucked her chin, and made laser eyes at the conductor’s baton. The other musicians in the orchestra were watching the baton too.

  The conductor, Mr. Yee, scanned their faces. He nodded and smiled. Then he breathed in quickly and raised the baton. This meant: Let’s all get ready to play the first note!

  A second later he breathed out quickly and lowered the baton. This meant: Time to play the first note!

  Shai blew into the mouthpiece eagerly. Her first note was a G. Or it was supposed to be a G, anyway. It sounded more like a goose honking.

  G for “Goose,” she thought unhappily. G for “I Goofed Gigantically.” She tried to adjust the note with her breath, but the harder she tried, the more gooselike it sounded.

  Mr. Yee cleared his throat and dropped his baton hand to his side. Everyone stopped playing. “Let’s try that again. Woodwinds, maybe a little less air?” he said, not looking at Shai. He was a nice person that way, not singling her out even though she’d been the only person in the woodwind section—the clarinets plus the flutes—to make a mistake.

  Emmie Harper turned around in her seat; she sat up front with the other cellos. She gave Shai a big braces smile. She had just gotten braces, which she was not thrilled about, because she was no longer allowed to eat her favorite snack, nacho-cheese-flavored popcorn.

  Shai waved to Emmie. Emmie waved back and made a goofy, wiggly-eyebrows face. Shai giggled; her bestie-best friend always knew how to cheer her up! Shai started to make a goofy face back, then stopped when she realized that Mr. Yee had raised his baton again.

  “Let’s take it from the top,” he said. “From the top” was fancy music language for “from the beginning.”

  Shai made her face become very serious as she resumed her clarinet-playing position. Fingers, lips, chin, laser eyes.

  Mr. Yee’s baton went up, then down. This time Shai hit the G note perfectly!

  The orchestra continued with the piece, which was called “Opportunity.” The piece was usually played by older musicians, but Mr. Yee had written a new, easier version. It was just the right level for the Sweet Auburn Student Orchestra, which was made up of third, fourth, and fifth graders.

  Shai, Emmie, and the other orchestra members attended the Sweet Auburn School for the Performing Arts. It was a school for kids who might want to become professional musicians, dancers, or actors someday. They took classes in music, dance, and drama, plus regular subjects like math, English, science, history, and foreign languages. Mr. Yee was their music teacher as well as the boss of the orchestra.

  Shai was most interested in the drama part of the school. She planned to be an actor—and also a veterinarian like her mom. And a dentist, too, because teeth were pretty much the coolest things ever. She liked dance and music, although she couldn’t imagine herself as a professional dancer or clarinet player. But who knew? Her grandma Rosa liked to remind her that she was only eight, and she might change her mind a whole bunch of times before she was an adult!

  SCENE 2

  A Concert for Animals

  The orchestra rehearsal continued. First they practiced the beginning of “Opportunity” . . . then the middle . . . then the end.

  Mr. Yee kept the tempo and beat steady with his baton. He used his free hand and the rest of his body to communicate different directions to different instruments. One minute he pointed to the violin section, clutched at his heart, and pretended to swoon; this meant he wanted the violins to sound lovey-dovey and romantic. (Ew, thought Shai.) The next minute he pointed to the brass section while bobbing his head and bouncing up and down on his toes; this meant he wanted the saxophones, trumpets, and trombones to sound super-energetic.

  The final part of the piece was even more super-energetic. As Shai played her notes, her fingers flying and her breath breathing, she pictured fireworks popping and crackling in the sky.

  The piece finished with a loud cymbal crash from Jayden, who was a fourth grader and the percussionist for the orchestra. Jayden was Deaf, so she played in bare feet; that way she could feel the music vibrating through the wooden floors. She also paid double-extra attention to Mr. Yee’s baton and other cues.

  “Bravo! Brava!” Mr. Yee complimented the orchestra. Those were fancy Italian words for “Hooray!” “I think this piece is almost ready for our concert,” he added.

  “What concert?” Shai whispered to Glenn, who was also a clarinetist.

  Glenn shrugged.

  Shai raised her hand. “What concert?” she asked Mr. Yee.

  “Didn’t I tell you guys already? I’m sorry. It must have slipped my mind!” Mr. Yee was not the best with details; his brain seemed to be always filled with great music and important thoughts. “This is our annual fund-raising concert. All the money we get from ticket sales will be donated to this year’s cause, which is the Sweet Auburn Animal Haven.”

  Shai nodded excitedly. The Animal Haven was a shelter that took care of stray pets. Shai was a huge believer in helping strays. Her house was filled with formerly homeless dogs and cats that Momma had brought home from her veterinary clinic. Shai, Momma, and Shai’s big brother, Jamal, also volunteered at the Animal Haven one weekend each month.

  Shai raised her hand again. “Can I be in charge, Mr. Yee?”

  “In charge of what, Shai?”

  “Well . . .” Shai thought it over. “Can I be in charge of posters for the concert? And maybe decorations, too? And the confessions . . . concessions—you know, snacks to sell?”

  “That’s very nice of you, Shai. Let me figure out what needs to be done and get back to you,” said Mr. Yee.

  When the bell rang, Shai put her clarinet into her case. The case had her whole entire name on it—Shaianne Rosa Williams—as well as some cool emoji and puppy stickers. Her head was already swirling with amazetastic ideas about the concert. Maybe they could put photos of adoptable pets on the posters? Maybe she could convince Grandma Rosa to make her famous blueberry muffins for the confessions—concessions—whatever—table? With Shai’s help the Sweet Auburn Student Orchestra was going to raise a billion zillion dollars for the animals!

  Or something like that, anyway.

  SCENE 3

  Vitamin Food

  “I have to go to Charleston for a week,” Momma announced that night over dinner. “My friend Brookelynn is having a knee operation. I promised her I would help her with errands and meals and such while she recovers. My flight leaves this Saturday.”

  “I’ll be Momma while you’re gone!” five-year-old Samantha volunt
eered. “Jacobe can be my helper-person.”

  Jacobe was busy finger-painting on his high chair tray with Daddy’s homemade marinara sauce. At the mention of his name, he glanced up and draped a piece of spaghetti across his nose. “Kobee!” he exclaimed. He had just started saying his name, sort of.

  “Buddy, let’s get that spaghetti off your nose,” Daddy said. “We all need to help out more while Momma’s away,” he told the four kids. “We can divide up the household chores.”

  “Can’t Grandma Rosa do them? Or Aunt Mac-N-Cheese?” Jamal complained. He pushed his glasses up his nose; they were taped together on one side because he’d broken them during a basketball game. “My history paper’s due next week, and I have a very important algebra test. There’s also ball practice and coding club.” (Shai remembered that “ball” was middle-school language for “basketball.”)

  “Sweetie, Grandma Rosa and Aunt Mac-N-Cheese have their own homes to take care of, and they have other things going on too,” Momma pointed out. “They’ll help out when they can. But Daddy and I are counting on you guys to pitch in.”

  Shai took a slice of garlic bread and passed the basket down the table. She tore off a small piece and slipped it to Sugar, her Morkie, under her chair. “I can be on pet duty,” she offered. “I can feed them and fill their water bowls. I can walk the dogs. Jamal can change the kitty litter boxes, though, because, um, he’s really good at that.”

  “Excuse me, what?” Jamal burst out.

  “I can be the breakfast cooker too!” Sam piped up. “I know how to put the ’fidgerator waffles and pancakes in the microwaver machine!”

  Under the table Sugar and Noodle the Poodle were wrestling and growling over the piece of garlic bread. One of the cats, Sweetiepie, took advantage of the situation and jumped onto the table. Then she hooked an entire bread slice with her claw. Before anyone could stop her, she jumped down and ran away triumphantly with the bread in her mouth.

  “Sweetiepie!” Momma stood up to chase her, then sighed and sat back down. “I really need to teach that cat better manners. Jacobe, honey, please stop pouring milk onto your spaghetti. Shai, you and Jamal can take turns with the litter boxes. Sam, you and I can practice with the microwave together, okay? Before I leave? And remember from last time how we can’t put bubble gum in there?”

  Daddy leaned over and put his arm around Momma. “Don’t worry, Annemarie. We’ll keep the place running as smooth as clockwork while you’re away.”

  Momma smiled. “I know. I just feel bad leaving you guys.”

  Shai ate a forkful of carrots tossed with butter and fresh dill. Daddy had picked the carrots and dill from the vegetable garden; they tasted really yummy, like they’d come from a farm instead of the family’s big-city backyard. Shai remembered that carrots had lots of vitamins, which were good for energy. With the fund-raising concert, and Momma going away, Shai would need a hunormous amount of vitamins to get everything done!

  * * *

  After dinner Shai helped Momma clear the table while Daddy took Jacobe and Sam upstairs to start bedtime and Jamal walked the dogs. As they loaded the dishwasher, Shai told Momma about the concert.

  “How wonderful!” Momma said when Shai had finished. “The Animal Haven will really appreciate the donations. They take care of so many strays.”

  “I’m going to be in charge of the posters and the decorations. And the snacks to sell too. Mr. Yee said I could.”

  “That’s an awful lot of responsibility, sweetie. Are you sure you can handle all that and practicing your clarinet? And also your schoolwork and your chores?” asked Momma.

  “Sure I can! I’m going to eat lots of vitamin food. Plus, I’m very extremely organized,” Shai replied. “I’ll make lots of to-do lists, just like you always do.”

  Momma laughed. “Sounds like a plan. Would you like a nice new notebook for your lists? I think I have an extra one somewhere.”

  “Yes, please!”

  They continued talking as they finished with the dishes. When they were done, Shai went outside into the backyard to put the carrot tops and other vegetable scraps into the compost. A full moon shone brightly in the sky. A warm breeze tousled her hair. The tall buildings of downtown glittered in the distance.

  Something moved behind the compost pile.

  Shai did a double take. Had one of their pets escaped? Was it on the loose?

  “Sugar?” she called out nervously. “Patches? Noodle? Sandy? Marti? Sweetiepie? Purrball? Furball?”

  There was no reply. Shai peered behind the compost pile. All she saw were grass and leaves and twigs.

  She then scanned the entire yard. There was the play set . . . and the picnic table . . . and the fort she and Jamal and Samantha had made out of garage treasure . . . and the vegetable garden . . . and the just-flowers garden. But that was all.

  I must have imagined it, she thought. She emptied the scraps into the compost pile and went back inside.

  SCENE 4

  Shai’s Very Extremely Organized To-Do List

  The next day during recess Shai sat on the spinning seat and opened the new notebook that Momma had given her. It was even nicer than her favorite turquoise notebook with the fairies and emoji stickers on it. This one was small but not too small. It was lavender and gold and had a picture of a peacock on the cover. Best of all, the peacock’s tail feathers were decorated with real gems!

  Well, maybe they weren’t real gems, exactly. But they might as well have been, they were so sparkly and litty-spagitty.

  Shai spun around and around. The spinning always made her brain feel extra focused and smart. After a few minutes she stopped spinning. She pulled a pencil out of her pocket and began to write in the peacock notebook:

  MY VERY EXTREMELY ORGANIZED TO-DO LIST!

  FOR THE FUND-RAISING CONCERT

  *Be in charge of posters!

  *Be in charge of decorations!

  *Be in charge of snacks to sell!

  WHILE MOMMA IS AWAY

  *Do more chores!

  *Take care of the pets!

  *Keep an eye on Sam and Jacobe!

  Shai paused to think about that phrase, “keep an eye on.” It didn’t literally mean keeping your eye on something or someone. That would be weird. It meant watching something or someone closely . . . in this case, two someones who could get into trouble in a matter of seconds, like the time when they used peanut butter instead of glue to fix Samantha’s toy fire truck.

  Shai remembered a few other things to add to her list:

  P.S.

  *Eat lots of vitamin food!

  *Practice the clarinet!

  *Do homework!

  Shai closed her peacock notebook and tapped her pencil against the cover. Nearby, a bunch of third graders were playing ballet freeze tag, which was like freeze tag except you had to do ballet steps when you weren’t frozen. Among them were Rio, Ruby, Ben, Nya, Nick, Julia, Glenn, Jay, and Isabella . . . and Gabby, who was Shai’s frenemy. (Although, sometimes Gabby was more friend than enemy, and other times it was the opposite.) Over by the fence some of the older kids were trading cards, and others were playing backgammon and chess.

  “¡Hola!”

  Emmie skipped up to Shai. She sat down on the spinning seat next to Shai’s.

  “¡Hola! ¿Está triste tu ropa interior?” Shai asked. The two girls liked to practice their Spanish outside of class sometimes, especially when there was a quiz coming up. There was an adjectives quiz next Monday.

  Emmie cracked up. “I think you just asked me if my underwear is sad.”

  Shai cracked up too. “Oops! I was trying to ask you if that’s a new outfit.”

  “Ha-ha! ‘New outfit’ is ‘ropa nueva.’ Or is it ‘nuevo conjunto’? Anyway, this top is kind of new, kind of old. It used to be my cousin Katie’s, but she got too tall for it, so she gave it to me.”

  “It’s pretty!”

  Emmie’s gaze fell onto the peacock notebook. She ran her fingers across the cover. “Wow! Are
those real jewels?”

  “They might be! This is my new list-making notebook that Momma gave me.”

  “What kind of lists are you making?”

  Shai showed her.

  “That’s a lot of stuff!” said Emmie.

  “Well, I want to be super-helpful.”

  “Hey! I could help you be super-helpful.”

  “Really?”

  “Really!”

  For the rest of recess Shai and Emmie discussed and planned. They decided that Shai would come up with a list of snack ideas for the concessions table and then ask people’s parents and grandparents (including Grandma Rosa) to make the snacks. Emmie would help with the posters and decorations because she was good at art; they could work together after school and on weekends. Emmie also offered to pitch in at the Williamses’ house while Momma was away, even though she had a lot of pitching in to do at her own house with her twin brothers. (Her own momma worked long hours as a nurse at the hospital.)

  As they talked, Shai made notes and sketches and doodles in her peacock notebook. She felt lighter and happier suddenly. It was definitely easier to be super-helpful with two super-helpers instead of just one. And it was definitely more fun when the other super-helper happened to be your bestie-best friend!

  SCENE 5

  The Vegetable Garden Mystery

  On Saturday morning the Williams household was more crazy-chaotic than usual as Momma got ready to leave on her trip to Charleston.

  “Shai, please make sure to give Furball his ear medicine twice a day,” Momma said as she double-checked her to-do list. Her suitcase lay open on the bedroom floor, with her clothes neatly folded and her shampoo and other bathroom things in a clear plastic bag. “He doesn’t like it, so you have to distract him with a kitty treat.”