9 BATTLE PLANS

CHAPTER 9 BATTLE PLANS Alexander raced through the woods bright and early the next morning. He came to an old caboose: the S.S.M.P. headquarters. He rushed inside. Nikki was studying a map of Stermont. Rip was eating a peanut butter cup. "Gross, Rip!" said Alexander. "Did you find that on the ground, too?" Rip nodded. "Yup. Next to a flattened mailbox." "I wouldn't eat it if I were you. That candy came from our latest monster!" warned Alexander. Rip swallowed. "Say what?"

Alexander whipped out the notebook. "Look! I found the monster last night. It's right here!" he said. "It's a pinata monster!" He showed the P-rex pages to Rip and Nikki. "A pinata?" asked Nikki. "Like the kind you break open at birthday parties?" "Yeah," said Alexander. "And this one wants to break things open all over Stermont." Rip poked the P-rex drawing, leaving a chocolate smudge on its belly. "It sounds like this monster be easy to beat: We tap it with a stick, and POW!- sweet-surprise time! We'll have a lifetime supply of candy!"

"But the P-rex is enormous!" said Nikki. "How can we hit it without getting smashed?" "The notebook says the P-rex is nice to little pinata monsters," said Rip. "Too bad we don't know any." He snorted. Alexander clapped Rip on the back. "That's it!" he said. "We can fool the P-rex! We'll become a little pinata monster!" "Huh?" asked Rip.

"Here, I'll show you," said Alexander. He flipped over the map of Stermont and started sketching on the back.

"Great plan, Salamander!" said Nikki. She pulled out a box of art supplies. "It's burro-building time!"