8. The Monster Is Smart, but Lucy Is Smarter

Chapter 8 The Monster Is Smart, but Lucy Is Smarter "This is creeping me out," Nate said. "No matter what we do, this… this… THING outsmarts us." Lucy picked one of the chewed berries off the plant. "It seems like the creature waits till we're gone before he gets the berries," she said. "It could be watching us, waiting for us to leave." "Yeah, but where is it?" Brian asked. "And how does it get inside the fence?"

"Maybe it's already inside the fence," Bradley said. He looked at the tomato plants, the zucchini plants, and the other stuff his parents had planted. "Maybe it's hiding!" "Then we'll find it!" Brian said. "Let's check everything inside the fence." The kids searched the garden, turning over every leaf on every plant. The only creatures they found were tiny bugs and one little toad. "Toads are good in gardens," Lucy said. "They eat insects." Nate held the small toad in his hand. "Could this be our monster?" he asked. "No, his mouth is way too small," Lucy said. "We might as well give up," Brian said. "You can if you want," Bradley said. "But I'm not stopping till I find this berry-biting monster. I'll stay here forever if I have to!" "Till you're old and gray?" Nate asked. "Yep," Bradley said. "Even when it snows in December?" Brian teased. "Yeah, I'll build an igloo and sit in it all winter!" Bradley said, trying not to smile.

"I have an idea," Lucy said. The three boys looked at her. "If this creature is watching us, maybe we can play a trick on him!" she said. "How do we do that?" Brian asked. "We pretend to leave the garden," Lucy said. "But we don't really go away, we just hide. Maybe we'll catch him in the act!" "But if we can see the creature, the creature can see us," Bradley said. "There's no place in this garden to hide." "We can make something," Lucy said. She picked up one end of the net. "In your encyclopedia you showed us those men who dug a deep hole for the buffalo. Remember the picture that showed the men hiding in some bushes and tall weeds? We can do the same thing!" "Um, there are no tall weeds," Nate said. "We pulled them all up, remember? And we never got our ice cream, either." "Watch," Lucy said. She grabbed some of the weeds from the pile they'd made. She wove the weed stems through the holes in the net. She added more weeds, weaving them in and out.

"I see what you're doing!" Bradley said. "It's camouflage, like army guys use when they're hiding!" "When we're done, we can hide behind it," Lucy said. "The creature won't be able to see us." "Awesome!" Nate said. The four kids worked fast, weaving weeds into the net. Soon it was a thick blanket of stems and leaves. "Drag it to the scarecrow," Lucy said. "We'll throw it over his head." It was heavy, but they managed to hoist the camouflaged net over the scarecrow's head. The

net made a sort of tent where they could crouch and hide. The kids sat on the ground behind the net. They each poked a hole so they could peek out at the strawberry patch. "At least this thing blocks the sun," Brian said. "And the breeze," Nate complained. "I'm roasting." "Just think about ice cream," Bradley said. "That's all I've been doing," Nate said. "We should be quiet," Lucy whispered. "The creature can probably hear us." The kids sat silently behind the net. Flies and mosquitoes buzzed around them. A tiny bird landed on the net and pecked at a blossom. They heard an airplane fly over. Bradley closed his eyes. He thought he might lie down and take a nap. He thought about chocolate ice cream.… Suddenly Lucy grabbed his arm. "I hear something," she said. Bradley opened his eyes. He peered through his peephole. "Oh no!" he said. He crawled out from behind the net.

Pal was standing in the middle of the strawberry patch. "Pal, what are you doing?" Bradley asked his dog. Brian, Nate, and Lucy stood next to Bradley. "Pal is our mystery creature?" Brian asked. "Bad dog!" Bradley said. But Pal wasn't paying attention. He was digging a hole and barking. Dirt flew up behind him as he dug. Bradley ran over and grabbed Pal's collar. "Stop!" he said. Pal stopped digging, but he kept barking. Bradley looked into the hole Pal had dug. He saw a smooth rock in the bottom of the hole. Then he saw something else. The rock had four legs and a head.