Charlotte Morgan and the Great Big Math Problem--Chapter 20 The Emergency Meeting

 This is my next book.  

It is currently being copy edited, (so there will be the occasional typo in this version) and I am having a few illustrations done.

I am including the tag #steemiteducation because I wrote this thinking like a teacher.  The characters use math and describe their math thinking as they work through problems.  I am a former 1st, 3rd, and 5th grade teacher, so I used my experience and background from those years as I wrote this.

Update: The book is now available for preorder on Amazon.  Click here to get it on Kindle.

Click here for chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14, Chapter 15, Chapter 16, Chapter 17, Chapter 18, Chapter 19

Summary: The team calls an emergency meeting to discuss Gavin.

Chapter 20 The Emergency Meeting

I didn’t us the gavel for this meeting.  The members of The Number Investigators Club sat in the middle of the tree house.  Aaron and Marcus held their missing pieces.  Everyone was quiet, my mom called everyone else’s parents and told them what we had done with Gavin.  

“So, how do we do this?” I asked.  “I would guess none of us has Gavin’s phone number?”

“I would say that’s a good guess.  I don’t think of us would ever want to call Gavin for fun,” replied Sally.

“I think we’re just going to have to walk down there to his house and apologize,” said Marcus.  “Because my mom was mad has a hornet, when your mother called and explained what had happened.  I don’t think I can go back home until we do this,”  he shook his head as he thought about his mom.

“I am going to lose baseball unless I do this,” Aaron said.

Sally twirled her finger around her hair, “I may lose a couple of weeks allowance, if I don’t apologize to him.”

Marcus stood up and brush his knees off, “Well, let’s get this over with.”  

We followed him out of the tree house and down the ladder.  I got on my bike.  Marcus, Aaron, and Sally got onto theirs.  I led the group on to the street and turned left, Gavin’s house was about a quarter of a mile down the road on the right, or 1320 feet.

We pedaled a few feet and my heart jumped into my throat.  I saw Gavin on his bike with his huge cousin heading straight for us.

“What are you four doing out of your tree house?”  said Gavin as he and his cousin slammed their bikes to a stop and blocked the road.

We slid our bikes to a stop.

“You better put your bikes away or we might take them!” Gavin motioned between him and his cousin.

“Are these the guys that said you took their stuff by climbing into their window?” his cousin looked over his shoulder at Gavin.

“They are.”

His cousin turned back to us, “You honestly think Gavin is that smooth?  He would probably fall out of the tree and break his neck.”

I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to laugh.

But Marcus did laugh.

Then so did his humongous cousin.

Gavin made a face and asked his cousin, “What are you laughing at?”

“They don’t know how much you are afraid  of heights!  There’s no way you would get into that tree house, much less climb along the branches.  That would never happen,” his cousin laughed more and more.

I started to feel sorry for Gavin.

“Yeah, we’re sorry that we thought it was you,” I finally said.  I looked at my friends.

“Yeah, we’re sorry too,” my friends mumbled.

Gavin’s cousin was still laughing, but he looked as me and said, “It’s not a problem.  Thank you for helping me with my math.”

That last comment made my heart feel all warm, and a smile came across my face.

Gavin’s cousin continued to laugh.  “Come on Brian, let’s get out of here.”

Gavin and his cousin, Brian, pedaled around us and went off down the street.

We went back home and told mom about running into Gavin, and that we apologized to him.

And now we needed to focus on the next big thing, the Turing Elementary School Math Bee was now only six days a way.