The Silent Spillbills

The Silent Spillbills — page 3 — That's right Would you convey my congratulations Of course Franklin Farnsworth wouldn't know poor little me from a fly on the wall but still Til tell him Katerina said wondering if the headmistress really thought of herself as little Do you suppose that's a Farnsworth plane right there One glance at the silver glint on the horizon and Katerina knew it was indeed a product of Farnsworth Aeronautics a Snub winged Scoter to be exact But she just shrugged her eyes shift ing uneasily to a gaggle of kids crowding onto her bus Well enjoy the big do Katerina Thanks Ms Wainwright Ah Herr Fritz How are you Wie geht es Ihnen Sehr gut danke Mr Fritz replied Poor Katerina Now it was her German teacher Like the headmistress he wore glasses but his were tiny and rimless barely covering his weak blinky eyes Have you met Katerina Farnsworth Herr Fritz

The Silent Spillbills — page 4 — Indeed I have Ms Wainwright Katerina is one of my star pupils Ah you take German do you Katerina Naturally your mother Katerina's mother was German by birth But the reason Katerina had picked German was sim ply that its S was usually pronounced Z or Sh which gave her no problems Your mother Mr Fritz said blinking away Dr Hilda Doppelkoffer Farnsworth the renowned psychiatrist said Ms Wainwright She teaches at Yale This year she's just working at her clinic Katerina said And your father president of Farnsworth said Mr Fritz blinking furiously now What a family Katerina smiled politely from the small glasses to the big glasses but as Ms Wainwright started telling Mr Fritz about her grandfather's birthday she spotted more kids climbing onto her bus just ahead of Mr Papadopoulos the driver Um pardon me ma am she said but I think Ah yes the buses are loading up aren't they

The Silent Spillbills — page 5 — You must enjoy getting to mix with the students Herr Fritz Mr Fritz tried to look enthusiastic Since most kids at Thornton Lake chose French or Spanish for their language requirement he had only a cou ple of classes to teach and had to drive one of the buses as well As he trudged off toward his Katerina made a break for hers Don't forget to congratulate the great man for me Katerina I won't Ms Wainwright she called over her shoulder As she hustled busward Katrina spotted a pied billed grebe flapping out of some reeds by the lake and wished she could sprout wings and feath ers and follow the bird into the sky She and Morty Kaplan were the last ones off their bus and by being first on and nabbing a rear seat she usu ally avoided having to talk with her schoolmates Now she would have to run the gauntlet Or maybe she would luck out As she climbed on board Mr Papadopoulos was yelling at a boy who was dangling one of Morty's crutches out a window Morty should never have gone spring ski ing He was smart but not very well coordinated

The Silent Spillbills — page 6 — The diversion didn't work on Steve O Grady however He was in a seat halfway up the aisle and as she approached him he exposed his braces in a metallic smirk So how'd Her Majesty like the sloppy joe he asked Katerina hated being called that And she had the perfect comeback Why do you ask Steve still got some stuck in that hardware store you call a mouth But it would have come out Why do you ask S steve s still got s some s stuck in that hard ware s store you call a mouth So she just scooted by in mortified silence

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