The Night I Flunked My Field Trip #5 by Henry Winkler Page A

from that distance, I could make out one big guy standing in the middle of the crowd. He was wearing red sweats and looked like a giant strawberry.
    Papa Pete didn’t look like a hero, but I knew that he was.

CHAPTER 24
    THE GOOD NEWS WAS that we landed safely. Everyone was totally okay. Oh, as usual, I almost forgot. There was one crisis. Ms. Adolf lost her pink pom-pom hat in the water. There’s probably some sharp-toothed eel at the bottom of New York Harbor whose fish friends are all laughing at him because he’s wearing that dorky hat.
    The bad news was that as we were getting off the boat, Captain Adam McPherson, the commanding officer of the Coast Guard cutter Orca, said he wanted to see Collin and me in the harbormaster’s office.
    Right away.

CHAPTER 25
    â€œYOU BOYS CARE TO tell me what happened?”
    Collin and I were sitting in the harbor-master’s office facing Captain Adam McPherson, commanding officer of the Coast Guard cutter Orca. He didn’t yell or anything like the ship’s fake captain had. He was quiet and calm, but when he looked at you with his dark eyes, you could tell he meant business.
    â€œWhy are you asking us?” I asked.
    â€œBecause I’m told you were the sailors on watch when you went adrift,” he said. “The Coast Guard needs to know the facts. All the facts.”
    I don’t think I’ve ever been more nervous in my life. Well, maybe the time when Mr. Gristediano’s apartment got totally trashed because I brought Cheerio in and let go of his leash. Mr. Gristediano lost thousands and thousands of dollars of expensive stuff, and it was all my fault. I screwed up big-time that day. Just like I knew I had screwed up big-time last night.
    My leg was bouncing up and down like it had a jet engine in it. I wanted to bite my nails, but I had already bitten them all off in the waiting room. Collin didn’t seem nervous. That’s because he hadn’t done anything wrong. It was me. I’m the one who messed everything up, and I was trying to figure out exactly how much of the truth I was going to tell.
    Collin went first.
    â€œThe captain told us to learn how to tie a couple of knots,” he said. “So we did. Then we tied the two mooring lines onto the two small cleats on the dock. I guess we didn’t do such a good job.”
    â€œYou did fine, son,” Captain McPherson said. “Those small lines were never meant to tie up the boat. They were just for practice, part of the educational program The Pilgrim Spirit provides.”
    â€œReally?” Collin said. You could see how relieved he was.
    â€œIt’s the main mooring that ties the boat down,” the captain said. “Did either of you touch that?”
    Okay, there it was. The big question.
    â€œNo, sir,” said Collin. “We wouldn’t do that.”
    I squirmed around in my seat like my pants were on fire. Captain McPherson looked over at me.
    â€œSomething wrong, son?” he asked.
    â€œWell, I did kind of touch the main mooring,” I said.
    â€œI don’t understand,” said the captain.
    â€œEither you touch something or you don’t touch it. »
    â€œWell, if that’s the way you’re defining it, then I guess I did touch it,” I said. My forehead was sweating. No other part of me, just my forehead. That’s not true, either. My underarms were pretty wet too.
    â€œSo that’s where you were when I kept calling you,” Collin said. He looked upset.
    Captain McPherson got up from behind the desk. He went to the window and opened the blinds. I could see the people waiting for us outside.
    Three people were standing by a really nice car. I think it might have been a BMW. They were probably Collin’s family. A pretty mom, a handsome dad, and a cute little sister with bright red hair and freckles. Then there was my family, standing by our minivan. My mom with her hair flying all over the