Keena Ford and the Field Trip Mix-up Read Online Free Page A

heard Jean say. “It’s time to move to the next room.” We followed Jean into a place called the Statutory Hall. There are many statues in that room. My favorite statue is of the first king of Hawaii. The statue is very big, and the king is wrapped up in a kind of cape. And you know what? His cape is made of SOLID GOLD!! Jean said that the statue had to be in the corner of the room because it was so heavy, if they put it in the middle it would fall right through the floor.
    I was going to ask Rep Thomas why they kept putting these heavy things in the Capitol that had to go against the wall, but this time he was talking to Addy and Royann.
    Ms. Campbell said it was time to line up to go back downstairs so we could visit another part of the Capitol. Once again LIKE USUAL I was stuck in the middle of the line. We were lined up at the top of a staircase, in a narrow hallway between two columns. “Be VERY careful on this staircase,” Ms. Campbell warned.
    “Uh-oh,” I heard Tiffany say behind me. “I need to tie my shoe.”
    “Well, step out of line and tie it,” Ms. Campbell said to Tiffany. “Just don’t fall behind.”
    Tiffany was going to be the caboose AGAIN! I just knew it!
    We walked down about six more steps. I was trying to be very careful like Ms. Campbell said. Addy was in line right behind me. She said, “This is the best field trip ever! Representative Thomas said I was his new friend Addy Smith.”
    “And I’m his new friend Delegate Jones!” Royann said.
    When Royann and Addy said those things, it made me feel a little bit jealous. I felt like I was not Rep Thomas’s most special new friend. He probably did not even remember my name now that he had made so many other friends.
    All of a sudden I really, really needed to be the caboose. I was so sick and tired of being in the stupid middle of the stupid line. I decided to move fast so Ms. Campbell wouldn’t notice. When we were about six steps from the bottom, I let go of the handrail and turned around super fast to run up the stairs.
    The only problem was I didn’t know that someone seemed to be walking down the stairs right in the spot where I was trying to move. I stomped on a shiny shoe, just like George Washington. And I slammed into the person’s leg because I was trying to move so fast. And that person started to wobble and wobble.
    And that person was Rep Thomas.
    Before I knew what was happening, Rep Thomas had fallen on his backside. And I had fallen over too. I heard Rep Thomas say, “Oof!” and I said, “Whoa!!” And then I could feel that I was sliding. I felt my backside go bump, bump, bump, bump, bump, bump down those six steps. Then BOOM. Rep Thomas and I landed in a kind of a pile at the bottom of the stairs, right in front of the heavy bronze doors.
    I turned my head and looked up. Beside the staircase was a sculpture of the head of George Washington. I felt like he was staring right at me. I felt like he was telling me that what I had done was way, way worse than stepping on someone’s foot.
    I looked back at the staircase. The whole rest of the line had stopped. I looked at Ms. Campbell. She looked pretty shocked. My next thought was that I had hurt Rep Thomas. I think my heart almost stopped beating. I looked at him to see if he was okay. He was kind of sitting up. “Oh my,” he said.
    All of a sudden I could see that some tall men in uniforms were standing around us. “Are you all right, sir?” they said to Rep Thomas.
    “Oh, I’m just fine,” said Rep Thomas. “What about Keena Ford?” He and the tall men in uniforms were looking at me.
    “I’m—I’m . . .” I started to say. Then I just started to cry again for a second time in one field trip. One of the tall men held out a hand to me. I just knew that he was going to take me right off to jail. I started crying harder.
    “Don’t be afraid,” the uniform man said. “We just need to sit you down and make sure you are okay.” Then I realized Mr. Lemon