Deirdre and Katherine came up behind them.
âI wonder what Mrs. Corwin will do with our designsâ, Deirdre whispered.
George grinned knowingly at Nancy and Bess.
âWe have to find outâ, Katherine said. âIt could affect our new careers!â
Nancy thought about it for a minute.
Should the Clue Crew try to solve the mystery right away,
she wondered,
or should we just wait until Mrs. Corwin tell us?
chaPTER TWO
Rhes!
On Friday morning all the fashion designs were turned in by the girls
and
the boys, and now everyone was waiting to hear what Mrs. Corwin was going to do with them.
Nancy, Bess, and George had decided not to spoil Mrs. Corwinâs surprise by trying to solve the mystery.
âI have a dear friend from college whoâs a fashion designer in New York City,â Mrs. Corwin told them. âShe wants to start a new clothing line, so sheâs agreed to look at your designs to see if theyâd fit with what she has inmind. Iâm going to scan them and then e-mail them to her this morning.â
âOh, wow!â Nancy said. She looked at Bess and George, whose eyes were wide with surprise. âCan you believe it?â
âNever in a million years!â Bess said.
âWhen will we know?â Deirdre asked.
âMonday morning,â Mrs. Corwin said.
During the weekend all anyone could talk about were the fashion designs.
When Monday morning finally arrived, Nancy, Bess, and George hurried into Mrs. Corwinâs room and took their seats.
âClass, this is my wonderful friend, Juliana Marigold,â Mrs. Corwin announced, âand the young lady next to her is Nicole Whitcomb, a fashion model. Sheâs in the third grade too!â
Bess looked at Nancy. âI didnât know girls our age could be fashion models,â she whispered.
Juliana smiled at the class. âI absolutely adore all your designs,â she said.
The girls cheered.
Mrs. Corwin held up her hand for silence.
âUnfortunately, I can only use about half of them,â Juliana added.
There were several groans.
Some of the boys said, âI hope you donât use ours!â
âIâm sorry that I had to make a choice,â Juliana said. She consulted a piece of paper she was holding. âIâm using the designs from Nancyâs team, Deirdreâs team, and Quincyâs team.â
âLetâs give those teams a hand,â Mrs. Corwin said.
Everyone applauded politely.
âEach item of clothing will have âRhes!â embroidered on it with the subdesign label below.â Juliana walked to the chalkboard and wrote
Rhes!
Beneath that, she wrote
Mystery Girls!
Nancy, Bess, and George gasped.
âThis is a dream come true,â Bess breathed.
âExcuse me, what does âRhes!â mean, Juliana?â George asked.
âRiver Heights Elementary School!â Juliana said.
âCool!â the class said.
Bess turned to Nancy. âEveryone in the world will know about our school,â she said.
âWeâre going to be rich!â Nadine said.
âI think my ONITAP designs are cooler than the ones you chose, Juliana,â Amanda Johnson said. âI feel cheated.â
Everyone turned to stare at Amanda.
âI could have been rich too!â Amanda added. âItâs not fair.â
âAmanda, please,â Mrs. Corwin said. âWeâre going to discuss that in just a minute.â
Nancy turned to Bess and George.
âWhatâs wrong with Amanda?â she whispered.
âSheâs never acted like that before.â
Bess and George shrugged. âNone of you will be getting rich,â Mrs. Corwin said. âInstead, Juliana is going to make a big donation to our school for the use of the designs. No one in the class will receive any money.â
Everyone looked at one another. Was that fair?
Mrs. Corwin looked at Juliana. âI think you can explain this better than I
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