5 Uh-oh, Guano!

Chapter 5 UH-OH, GUANO! Andrew's light shined on a snakey head with frills on the sides. The creature's body was snakey, too, but it had four legs. Its skin was white and so thin that they could see its in-sides! "Cheese Louise!" Judy shouted. She scrambled under the roach skeleton with Andrew. It wasn't quite high enough for them to stand up, so they had to crouch, waist-deep, among the slimy, wriggling worms. meep… "Blind cave salamander!" said Thudd. "Whew!" sighed Judy. "If it's blind, it can't find us." "Noop! Noop! Noop!" said Thudd. "Cave salamander smell stuff. Feel stuff move. Find what

move. Eat what move." The bug skeleton shook. They could see a blurry shadow through the skeleton. It was the salamander's head wagging above them. "It's gonna get us!" cried Judy. Andrew felt a poke from Thudd in his pocket. meep… "Cave salamander not like heat," said Thudd. "Flashlight make heat. Drewd gotta shine light on salamander head. Hurry!" Andrew lifted the skeleton a crack. The spooky white head was a quarter-inch away. Andrew shined his flashlight beam right in the salamander's face. It reared its head, then turned and scooted into the darkness. meep… "Salamander need to be wet, need to be in water," said Thudd. "Follow salamander, get to

water. Find way to get out, maybe." Judy rolled her eyes. "How is water going to get us out of here?" she asked. meep… "Cave made by water," said Thudd. "Water come into cave. Water come out someplace. Find stream, find river in cave, find way out of cave." "Follow that salamander!" said Andrew. With Andrew in front of Judy, they balanced the bug skeleton on their heads. The light on Andrew's forehead shined through the skeleton just enough for them to see where they were going. Slowly, they began plodding along in the direction the salamander had taken. With every step, they had to plow their way through slimy, wormy things. In places with fewer worms, their feet sank ankle-deep into bat guano. "Gross-a-mundo!" complained Judy. "This is soooo disgusting!"

"Feels like sloshing through mud," said Andrew. As they pushed on and on, the cries of the bats sounded farther away. Fewer squishy things rubbed against them. Soon they were scratching their legs on sharp pebbles and rocks, not sinking into bat poop. The air felt cool and damp against Andrew's skin. The farther they went, the colder it got. "I haven't had to smack a stupid bug for at least half an hour," said Judy. "Let's get out of this creepy shell. It's giving me a headache." "I guess we could do that," said Andrew. "It'll be easier to see where we're going. One, two, three, push!" The bug skeleton tumbled onto its side. Andrew squinted. Was that a dim glow in the distance or was he imagining it? He rubbed his eyes. The glow was still there. "I see light!" he shouted.