Chapter Five — History Teacher

Amelia and Mei hurried through the school gates×校門. They did not go to their classroom. They went straight to the history room. The door was open. Mr. Sato was inside. He was putting books on a shelf. He looked up. He was surprised to see them.

“Oh, good morning, Hana-chan and Mei-chan,” he said with a kind smile. “School starts soon. Is there a problem?”

“Mr. Sato, we need help,” Mei said. “It’s about… cave paintings×洞窟の壁画.”

Mr. Sato was surprised. “What do you mean?”

“I had a dream,” Mei said quickly. “I saw paintings on cave walls. Strange animals. And there was an Australian man and a Japanese woman.”

Mr. Sato was very interested. He asked them to come closer to the whiteboard. “Please tell me more.”

Mei picked up a marker. “I saw this!” she said. She drew animals with strange shapes. She drew lines and dots and circles. She drew a crystal ball×水晶玉 in a man’s hand. And she drew a magic mirror×魔法の鏡.

Mr. Sato watched. First he was curious. Then he was surprised. “These look like Aboriginal×アボリジニの（オーストラリアの先住民） cave paintings,” he said. “They are from Australia. But I am not sure.” He thought for a moment. “The man, the woman, the crystal ball, the mirror… I don’t know about those.”

“Do you know where the cave is?” Amelia asked.

“No, I don’t,” he said. “But… wait a minute. Our school has a new ALT×外国語指導助手（Assistant Language Teacher） this year.”

“ALT?” Mei said.

“Yes. She is from Australia! Maybe she knows about Aboriginal art and cave paintings. Maybe she knows where the cave is!”

“Who is she?” Amelia asked.

“Her name is Ms. Kelly,” Mr. Sato said. He looked at the school clock. “The bell is going to ring soon. You can look for her in the teacher’s room.”

Amelia and Mei thanked Mr. Sato. But then the bell rang. There was no time to find Ms. Kelly now. First they had to go to their math class. They hurried to the classroom.