“Four plus seven?” asked Mrs. Jewls.
Whummph. “Eleven,” replied Joy. Whummph.
Two points, and she’d only had to answer one question.
Whummph. “Three times nine?” Whummph.
“Twenty”—whummph—“seven.” Whummph.
She continued with ease, skipping lightly over the ropes while rattling off answers. Louis and Miss Nogard turned the ropes for her.
Miss Nogard was everyone’s favorite substitute teacher, especially Louis’s.
By the time Joy reached sixty-five points, nearly everybody else in her class had finished jumping.
Ron had earned twenty-three points.
Deedee only got to six. Jumping rope wasn’t easy for her, since one leg was shorter than the other.
D.J. had the highest score so far, with eighty-four points.
In the history of the Ultimate Test, nobody had ever broken a hundred.
Whummph-whummph.
“Twelve divided by four?” asked Mrs. Jewls.
Whummph-whummph. “Three,” said Joy. Whummph-whummph.
A circle of children had formed around her. They cheered each correct answer.
“Go, Joy, go!” shouted Mac.
When she reached eighty points, even Mrs. Jewls started to get excited.
“Thirty-eight”—whummph—“plus fourteen?” Whummph.
“Fifty-two!” Whummph-whummph.
She was now tied with D.J.!
“One hundred and”—whummph—“forty-three”—whummph—“divided by” —whummph—“eleven?”
“Thirteen!”
Everyone took up Mac’s call. “Go, Joy, go! Go, Joy, go!” they chanted.
Louis’s and Miss Nogard’s arms were getting tired, but they continued to twirl the ropes. They knew they were a part of history.
Joy was now up to ninety-nine!
“Go, Joy, go! Go, Joy, go!”
Whummph-whummph. “Twenty-nine times four?” shouted Mrs. Jewls.
Whummph-whummph. “One hundred and sixteen,” Joy easily answered.
Everyone whooped and hollered. “That’s a new world record!” exclaimed Deedee.
Whummph-whummph. “Six times seven?”
Whummphraaaapp!
Joy lay sprawled across the blacktop. Sixes and sevens always tripped her up.
Still, she had broken one hundred, and set a new world record!
Her classmates rushed up to her.
“You’re the best ever!” said Kathy.
“True,” Joy agreed.
There was one jumper left.
Whummph.
“Sixteen minus eleven?”
Whummph.
“Five,” said Maurecia.
Maurecia used only one rope. Miss Mush and Mr. Pepperadder turned it for her.
She jumped with both feet at the same time, and held her breath every time she jumped.
Whummph.
“Nine times eight?”
Whummph.
“Seventy-two.”
Whummph.
Joy continued to lie on the blacktop as she listened to the slow whummphing. She imagined the solid gold trophy with her name on it. Her picture would be in newspapers all around the world. She’d go on TV, where famous people would ask her questions about jumping rope and arithmetic. Maybe they’d put her in a movie.
When she came out of her daydream, she was surprised to hear the jump rope still whummphing.
“Zero times a thousand.”
Whummph.
“Zero.”
Joy sat up to see that a circle of kids had surrounded Maurecia. They cheered every one of her answers.
Whummph.
She headed over and poked Todd in the back of his neck. “What’s her score so far?”
“Sixty-six,” he told her.
Joy wasn’t too worried. She was sure her best friend would whummphraaaappp at any moment.
She didn’t start to worry until Maurecia reached eighty.
Whummph.
“Sixteen times seventeen.”
Whummph.
“Two hundred and seventy-two.”
Whummph.
Well, sure, Joy thought bitterly. Sixteens and seventeens were a lot easier than sixes and sevens.
In the end, Maurecia whummphraaaapped on an easy one, two plus three.
She was probably just tired. She had been jumping for almost an hour and had earned 211 points.
Joy didn’t see her fall. She had quit watching long before.
26
The Ultimate, Ultimate Test
Yes, that’s two ultimates.
The word ultimate has two meanings. It could mean final, or it could mean most important.
The Stairway Quiz was both. It was the final event of the third day, and it counted double.
The students were worn out before they started. They’d already had the science crawl, right and left handwriting, animal imitations, upside-down singing, and blindfolded smelling.
The Stairway Quiz would require knowledge, stamina, and most important, speed.
This was Deedee’s special talent.
Deedee was a pretty fast runner on flat ground, but she was even faster going up and down stairs. That was because her left leg was a little bit shorter than her right leg. Or maybe it was the other way around. Either way, it gave her an obvious advantage.
Louis, the yard teacher, stood next to the bottom step. “On your mark!” he called out. “Get set!”
Louis blew his whistle.
The children rushed past him, knees pumping and elbows flailing.
Deedee started way back in the pack, but besides her uneven legs, she had another advantage. She was skinny and short. She could squeeze past the slower kids ahead of her.
And they were all slower than Deedee.
As she neared the third floor, only Dameon remained ahead of her.
A man with a black mustache was waiting on the landing.
“How many quarts in a gallon?” he asked Dameon.
“Eight,” said Dameon.
Dameon was sent back down to the first floor.
“Name a city in England,” he said to Deedee.
“London!” Deedee shouted, then continued on up.
Dr. Pickle was waiting on the fourth floor. “Are dreams real?” he asked.
Deedee was stumped. She could hear other kids charging up the stairs behind her. She hated to have to go back down.
“They’re real dreams,” she said.
Dr. Pickle rubbed his beard. “Very interesting answer,” he said, and let her pass.
By the time she reached the ninth floor, she could only hear distant footsteps behind her.
“What do you call someone who writes books?” asked Mrs. Surlaw.
“You don’t call them,” said Deedee. “You must never interrupt a great author during her moment of inspiration.”
“I think you said the correct answer in there somewhere,” the librarian decided.
On the twelfth floor, the man with the mustache was waiting again. Deedee wondered how he had gotten ahead of her.
“Name the largest river in the United States.”
Deedee couldn’t remember its name, but she knew how to spell it. “M-i-s-s-i-s-s-i-p-p-i!”
Miss Mush asked the question on the fifteenth floor. “How many points on a fork?”
Deedee formed a picture of a fork in her mind, but when she tried to count the points, they blurred.
“Three?” she tried.