3 Nosing Around

NOSING AROUND "Yowzers!" Andrew yelled. It was dark. A cool wind was blowing. In the wind were little chunks of stuff. They smacked into Andrew as they flew by. Where am I? Andrew thought. Ahead of him Andrew could see a faraway dot of light. Behind him was an even darker darkness. Andrew's head felt weird and heavy. I know what this feeling is! Andrew thought. I'm hanging upside down, like a bat in a cave! Andrew tried to move his feet, but they were stuck in goo. The wind was so strong it was sucking him through the goo, back into the darker darkness!

Andrew reached out for something to hold on to. Strange sticky ropes were hanging down all around him. He grabbed one. "Judy!" Andrew yelled. meep… "Dark, dark, dark, Drewd!" said Thudd. "Fraid of dark!" Andrew pulled Thudd out of his pocket. It was good to see Thudd's bright screen, even though there was a frown on it. The wind slowed down. A moment later, it whipped up again. But this time the wind was hot and damp, and going the other way. It pushed Andrew toward the dot of light.

"Can you tell where we are, Thudd?" asked Andrew, holding on tight to a rope. Thudd's buttons were blinking yellow. Thudd was upset! meep… "Harley!" Thudd announced. "You mean we're on the dog?" asked Andrew. meep… "In Harley," said Thudd. "In Harley's nose!" "Holy moly!" said Andrew. "We must be really small!" meep… "I show you," said Thudd. Thudd's face disappeared from his screen. In its place appeared a picture of Andrew. The picture began to shrink. First it shrank to the size of a pencil eraser, then to a dot, then to nothing. Andrew felt a little dizzy. Partly it was from being upside down. But mostly it was from thinking about how small he was. Andrew slipped Thudd back into his front pants pocket.

"Grab the cord that holds my keys, Thudd," said Andrew. "Wrap it around yourself so you won't fall out." meep… "Okey-dokey," said Thudd. Then Andrew reached for his mini-flashlight. He always attached it to his belt loop. Andrew unhooked the flashlight and turned it on. The flashlight's bright yellow beam sliced through the darkness of the nose cave. It was a huge place! The roof of the nose was as wrinkled as a messy bedsheet. Zillions of gooey ropes hung down from the folds. The bottom of the nose was far below. It looked gooey down there, too. Suddenly the sides of the nose cave started moving in and out quickly. The dog-breath wind came in short little gusts.

meep… "Harley smell something," said Thudd. "Dog nose smell things million times better than human nose. Harley can find place where Drewd walked four days ago. Can find Drewd buried under snow. Can tell if Drewd happy or sad by how Drewd smell."

"I know Uncle Al programmed you to tell me everything you know about everything," said Andrew. "But right now we've got to concentrate on finding Judy." Just then, Harley gave a big, gusty sniff.