Alone in His Teacher's House by Louis Sachar Page A

Nick.
    Mrs. North and Marvin walked across the parking lot.
    “May I carry that for you?” Marvin asked.
    “Thank you, Marvin,” said Mrs. North. She handed him the folder. “It’s my homework,” she told him.
    “
You
have homework?”
    “Sure. I have to correct
your
homework.In fact, I have a lot more homework than you. I have to correct your homework, plus the homework of every student in the class.”
    “Hmm,” said Marvin. He never thought of that before.
    She unlocked the door of her car, got in, then reached over and unlocked Marvin’s door.
    He sat down next to her.
    “You have a very nice car,” he said.
    “Thank you,” said Mrs. North.
    “The seat is very comfortable.”
    “I’m glad you like it,” said Mrs. North.
    He tugged gently on the seat belt. “The seat belt seems nice and strong,” he said.
    “Good,” said Mrs. North. “In case I crash.”
    She started the engine. They drove off.

    Marvin waved out the window to his two best friends. Then he leaned back and enjoyed the ride.
    From the outside, Mrs. North’s house just looked like a normal house. Marvin didn’t know what he expected. Maybe a flagpole in front? He wondered if her neighbors even knew she was a teacher.
    They parked in the garage and walked inside through the laundry room.
    Waldo was waiting for them. His long black tail swished slowly behind him.
    He was a big dog with graying black hair. His face was covered with long gray whiskers, almost white.
    He looked like a walrus.
    “Waldo, I’d like you to meet Marvin,”Mrs. North said very politely. “Marvin, this is Waldo.”
    “Nice to meet you, Waldo,” Marvin said.
    “He’s seventeen years old,” said Mrs. North. “That’s a hundred and nineteen in dog years.”
    Marvin petted the old dog and scratched him behind the ears.
    Mrs. North showed Marvin around her house. Waldo followed. He waddled like a walrus when he walked.
    “You just live in a regular house,” said Marvin.
    Mrs. North laughed. “What did you expect? A blackboard in the living room?”
    He laughed.

    Waldo made a whining noise. It was almost like he was singing.
    Mrs. North bent down and petted him. “Oh, Wa-wa-wa-Waldo,” she said, her nose almost touching his. “I’m going to miss you, Wa-wa-wa-Waldo!”
    Waldo licked her right on the mouth.
    Marvin couldn’t believe it. Mrs. North was almost like a real person.
    “Would you like something to eat?” she asked. “I’ve got chocolate chip cookies.”
    “No, thank you.”
    “I’ll be gone a week. They’ll go stale if nobody eats them.”
    “Okay,” said Marvin.
    While Marvin had cookies and milk, Mrs. North showed him where she kept Waldo’s bowls, the leash, and the bag of dog food.
    He had to fill the bowls whenever they got low. And he had to walk Waldo three times a day. Before school, after school, and in the evening.
    “Oh, and here’s his pooper-scooper,” said Mrs. North. “You know what this is for?”
    Marvin nodded as he swallowed a cookie.
    She wrote down the phone number of Waldo’s vet, just in case.
    She also asked Marvin to bring in her mail and newspapers.
    “So, any questions?”
    Marvin only had one question. “Why’d you pick me?”
    Mrs. North smiled. “You don’t think I’d let Nick alone in my house, do you?”
    Marvin smiled.
    “I don’t know,” Mrs. North said, more seriously. “I feel I can trust you, Marvin. I think you are mature and responsible.”
    Marvin suddenly felt very mature and responsible.
    “Oh, I almost forgot,” she said. “The key.”
    She gave Marvin the key to her house.

3
Mature and Responsible
    Marvin woke up early, got dressed, brushed his teeth, and made his bed.
He had a job to do
.
    The key was in his pocket.
    He was already downstairs, eating breakfast, when his mother knocked on his bedroom door and said, “Marvin, time to get up.”
    His father smiled at him across the kitchen table. “I’m very proud of you, Marvin,” he said. “You seem to be taking