Poisoned

by Kristi Holl

  “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 fine now,” Jeri said. “Just tired—”

  “No, she’s not fine,” 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 upstairs helping her—and Abby. Abby came home from the infirmary 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 common foods we have that can be poisonous. Rhubarb, unripe 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 making 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 competition 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 horse club are older.”

  Jeri snapped her fingers. “They’re at the riding ring most days. When I was photographing Dallas, some kids across the ring were watching. Afterwards, when I was carrying water, several girls asked me why Dallas was riding Show Stopper.”

  “Maybe they’re in the background of the pictures,” Rosa said. “Where’re the photos?”

  “Upstairs. I printed off a few.” Jeri’s face flushed hotly. She’d printed out some of the photos of Dallas to keep for herself. Rosa grinned but said nothing.

  Jeri ran upstairs for them and then spread them out on the coffee table. Together, they studied each photo.

  “Hey!” Rosa said, pointing. “Isn’t that Janeen Jenkins? She was in my swimming class last semester. She’s on the equestrian team.”

  Jeri leaned closer and squinted. “Is she the eighth grader who always comes in second? I bet she’d love it if Nikki couldn’t compete.”

  Dallas plopped back down on the couch. “But how could this eighth grader get into your dorm to poison Nikki’s food?”

  Rosa peered closer at the last photo and squealed. “Scottie!”

  “What?” Jeri asked.

  “The delivery boy! Look!” Rosa jabbed the photo with her long nail. “He was in the crowd watching too. I’ve seenhim with Janeen before. That’s who he was visiting when he was late with Abby’s delivery last weekend.”

  Dallas leaned forward on his thighs. “The delivery boy’s girlfriend is this Janeen?”

  “Yes. And remember that blue bandana I found in the stall? Look here.” Jeri pointed at Scottie. “There’s something dark tied around his neck.”

  Dallas slapped his knee. “Didn’t Nikki say Show Stopper wouldn’t eat yesterday? Maybe Scottie tampered with the horse feed while I was jumping. It’d be easy—no one was in Show Stopper’s stall for over an hour.”

  “Makes sense.” Jeri tried to stay calm. “Rosa, are you sure his girlfriend is Janeen?”

  “One way to find out.” Rosa tossed her hair over her shoulder. “Give me half a minute. I’ll call Shauna. She knows everything about who’s dating who.” Rosa ran upstairs and was back in five minutes. “Bingo. Scottie and Janeen are a couple. Now what?”

  Jeri jabbed the photo. “Then he must be trying to help her win by knocking out the competition. Then Janeen wins the scholarship and comes back to Landmark next year.”

  At last! Things were falling into place. Nikki didn’t need the scholarship money, but she was the most likely one to win. She had a string of blue ribbons taped around her mirror upstairs from previous competitions this year. Jeri could only remember one contest where Nikki and Show Stopper hadn’t walked away with the top prize.

  What if Janeen and Scottie were that desperate for this final win—and the scholarship?

  Jeri’s head was spinning. “Could Scottie really tamper with our dorm food so many times?” she asked. “The food for the birthday dinner would have been easy, but the leftover pizza Monday night?” She looked from Rosa to Dallas. “And even if Brooke and Emily bought the trail mix at the grocery store, could Scottie have messed with it?” She shook her head. “I don’t see how. They would have noticed if the package was opened.”

  “But it doesn’t come in sealed packages,” Dallas said. “The dried pineapple and nuts and stuff are in these bins with lids. You scoop out how much you want, and then they weigh it.”

  “So that’s when Scottie added something to the trail mix?” Rosa asked.

  “That must be it!” Jeri shuddered involuntarily.

  Rosa grabbed Jeri’s hand. “Call the police. Let them handle it.”

  Jeri bit her lower lip. “They’d never believe me, not without some proof.” But some serious snooping on my own might provide that evidence. If she could discover who was behind the poisonings, it might also provide the investigative report she needed to win the media fair scholarship. God, is this what you want me to do? If it is, show me what to do.

  Just then the front door opened, and Miss Barbara and Brooke were heard in the entryway. When they passed by the living room, they were supporting Emily between

  them. Brooke was as pale as Emily, but Jeri couldn’t tell if it was sickness or fear for her roommate.

  “Emily, are you all right?” Rosa asked.

  “
She will be after a good night’s rest,” the hefty assistant house mother said. “We need to get her tucked into bed now though.”

  As Brooke passed, Jeri whispered, “What’d they do to her?”

  “Pumped her stomach,” Brooke said with a shudder, “but there wasn’t anything left.” They slowly climbed the stairs while the trio watched from below.

  Dallas cleared his throat. “Jeri, you want to ask Nikki if she needs me to exercise Show Stopper again? I still have time before I go back.”

  “Sure. I’ll ask.” She ran upstairs and was back in a minute. “Nikki says no thanks. She practiced this morning already, before breakfast. And she’ll be well enough to do it tomorrow.” She grinned then. “She also invited you to come, if you can, to her competition Saturday afternoon.”

  “That’d be great,” Dallas said. “Tell her I’ll be there.”

  Rosa walked with him to the front door, cute as a model in her short shorts and tank top. Jeri watched and prayed, God, forgive me for envying girls who dress for attention—and get it. Was her mom right? Would Jeri be attractive to boys someday for her good character traits and being friendly? Jeri sure hoped so.

  All during classes on Wednesday, Jeri couldn’t concentrate. So much had happened since Saturday night,

  and her mind reeled as she tried to make sense of it. Three incidents in four days—it had to be poisoning of some kind. Was it accidental food poisoning — or was someone poisoning their food on purpose? And if so, why?

  And if the poisoning was on purpose, who was doing it? Her gut instinct said it was Scottie. He had a motive—helping his girlfriend win by knocking out the competition. He also had the opportunity — delivering food to Hampton House and hanging out at the barn. Most incriminating was that blue bandana found in Show Stopper’s stall the day before the thoroughbred got sick. And he could have tampered with the trail mix at the grocery store.

  Yes, Jeri admitted, she really hoped it was Scottie. Otherwise it might be Mr. Petrie, and she didn’t want that. He’d always been nice to her and Abby.

  And yet …

  What about the gardener’s own reasons? He sounded mad at Nikki for letting her horse run through his gardens. He was also irritated with the Head for buying so much food at the grocery store. He’d said the stuff he grew was better. Was that enough reason to poison the food from Howard’s? He’d had the opportunity when he was at the dorm delivering daffodils before Abby’s party. He also had weed killer poisons in the greenhouse. Plus he had the knowledge about common plants that could poison people.

  No matter how she arranged the puzzle pieces, something ugly was going on. It seemed most likely that

  someone—either living in their dorm or nearby—was systematically poisoning the girls who lived there.

  She couldn’t help wondering if she and Rosa would be next.

  When Jeri returned to her room after school, it looked like Rosa’d opened a store. “Where’d all this stuff come from?” Jeri asked. “Not the grocery store!”

  “Nope.” Rosa sat cross-legged on her bed, sorting through a mound of food: packages of crackers and peanut butter, bags of miniature candy bars, chips, and small jars of salsa. “I went to the Gas-U-Up mini-mart on my bike after school.” She picked up an empty chocolate cupcake wrapper, threw it toward the wastebasket, and missed. “I’m keeping this stuff in my closet.”

  “You’re not supposed to.”

  “You’re the one who warned me not to eat the food in the kitchen!”

  “I know, but this looks like a lot of junk food for someone trying to lose a few pounds. What about carrots or apples?”

  “What do you want me to do? Starve?” Rosa ripped open a package of peanut butter crackers, bit into one, and sprayed crumbs all over her bed.

  “Sheesh! Don’t make such a mess.” Jeri picked up the wrappers and tossed them in the wastebasket. “I don’t want ants and roaches crawling all over.”

  “Yes, boss.” Rosa saluted. “Whatever you say, sir!”

  Jeri sighed. “Sorry.”

  Rosa popped another cracker sandwich into her mouth. “You don’t seem to like anything about me lately—not my clothes or my food or anything.”

  Jeri took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. “I guess I’m just nervous. My project is due, but it’s too boring to win the scholarship. And with our friends getting poisoned, it’s pretty hard to concentrate!” She grabbed her denim shorts and changed out of her school uniform, then scooped up her project papers. “I’m going downstairs to work. See ya later.”

  Brooke was already in the study room, her books and laptop spread over one of the tables. Jeri took the table by the window.

  “What’re you working on?” Brooke asked, stretching her arms behind her back.

  “My article for the media fair. I need to write up my interview with Mr. Petrie yesterday.”

  “I’m surprised he talked to you.”

  “Why? Do you know him?”

  “No, I only saw him Saturday when he delivered the flowers for Abby’s dinner.” She shrugged. “I thanked him, but he just stomped off without answering. Mean old man.”

  “He’s usually not like that. I wonder what was bugging him.”

  “I don’t know.” Brooke mimicked his voice. “When he left, he was muttering, ‘What goes around, comes around,’ or something like that.”

  Jeri raised one eyebrow, but said nothing. Her grandpa up in Iowa used that expression lots of times. It meant you’d reap what you sowed, that there’d be consequences to pay for your actions. It could be taken as a threat, almost like Mr. Petrie intended revenge on somebody. Who? Nikki?

  Jeri hated to believe that Mr. Petrie could be like that, but if they weren’t dealing with a virus, then it had to be somebody, didn’t it? Accidental food poisoning might happen once—and it might even affect lots of people—but it wouldn’t keep happening.

  After working hard on her outline before supper, Jeri wrote her rough draft after she ate. By the time she’d revised it into shape hours later, Rosa was asleep and snoring softly. She’d left Jeri’s desk light on.

  Rosa’s snacks were on her desk, and Jeri was ravenous. One chocolate cupcake with frosting was left in an opened cellophane package. She knew Rosa would let her have it if she were awake. Jeri took it and bit into it. Ahhh … heaven.

  However, on the second bite, a scary thought occurred to her. It would have been so easy for someone to sneak into their unlocked dorm room while Rosa slept and tamper with the open package of snack cakes. Regretfully, Jeri tossed the rest of it into the garbage.

  Still hungry, she dropped into her purple beanbag chair. She’d done her best on the article, but she knew it wasn’t spectacular. Not enough to impress the judges atthe media fair anyway. As she reclined on the beanbag, her mind drifted and she dozed in the quiet room.

  Then her arm tickled. The skin prickled, and she jerked. “Ick!” she whispered, brushing at her arm.

  She peered closely in the dim light of her desk lamp, but couldn’t see anything. Then she felt the same crawly sensation up the back of her bare leg.

  Covering her mouth, she suppressed a scream.

  7

  caught in the act

  Jeri scrambled up from the beanbag and dashed for the brightly lit hallway. She crouched down and spotted two brown ants marching up her leg. “Yuck!” She brushed them off and stomped hard on them. Jeri sighed in exasperation. Rosa’s cupcake wrappers and cracker crumbs were an open invitation to ants and other bugs.

  Back in the room, she removed and shook out her T-shirt and shorts, then put on pj’s. First thing in the morning, she’d make Rosa get rid of the food or store it in a tight plastic container. Crawling under the covers, Jeri snuggled down, muttered a quick prayer for God to kill the ants, and then dropped off to sleep.

  Over Mexican food for lunch in the dining hall Thursday, Jeri and Rosa argued about keeping food in

  their room. Finally Abby interrupted. “I’ll have a good surp
rise for you after school if you stop fighting.”

  “We aren’t fighting.” Rosa stood abruptly. “See you later. I’ll only be around a few minutes after school though.”

  Jeri looked up from her taco in surprise. “Why?”

  “I’m going shopping with Shauna,” she said casually.

  “Really?” Abby asked. “Ms. Carter said you can go shopping on a school night?”

  “I ran out of some stuff I need for my art fair project.” Rosa shrugged and then grinned. “Can I help it if the art supply store is next to the pizza place?”

  Jeri knew Shauna was old enough to drive. “Why does a girl that old want to go shopping with a sixth grader?”

  “Because I’m fun,” Rosa said, bristling. “Some people think I have a great sense of humor.”

  “I think you’re funny,” Jeri said, stung by her tone. She forced herself to smile. “I hope you have fun tonight,” she said. “Really.”

  Rosa paused and then flashed a huge smile. “Thanks. I will. Anything you want me to bring you?”

  Jeri gave her a playful punch on the arm. “How about some bug spray?”

  That evening after supper Jeri worked at her computer. She was trying—without success—to make her article exciting when Abby stuck her head in the door.

  “Hey, mate, fancy a brownie?” she asked. “They’ll be done in two minutes.”

  “You don’t have to ask me twice!” Jeri shoved back from her computer and followed the blonde British girl downstairs. “Another home ec project?”

  “No, Ms. Carter just said I could make some.”

  “So you’re feeling okay now?”

  “Just tired. I hate being sick.” She smiled. “Brownies just sounded really good today.”

  Jeri grinned. “Chocolate always sounds good. A chocolate brownie doeth good like a medicine,” she said, misquoting one of her mom’s favorite Bible verses.

  She followed Abby into the kitchen where Abby handed her a warm brownie on a paper napkin. She took a small bite. “This tastes so good,” she said. “I hope you made enough.”

  Abby finished cutting the brownies, placed them on a plate, and grabbed a handful of paper napkins. She led the way to the living room. There five girls sat on the floor around the large coffee table, creating scrapbook pages. Jeri leaned over Emily’s shoulder to see. The photos were mostly silly shots taken in the dorm of girls making goofy faces. A bowl containing a few popcorn hulls was on the floor near them.