7 Weird-A-Mundo!

Chapter 7 WEIRD-A-MUNDO! "Eeuuw!" said Judy, running to get under the bug skeleton. "You said there were no vampire bats here, Thudd!" meep… "Sometimes animal move to new place," said Thudd. "Maybe vampire bat get lost." "And now it's looking for blood!" said Judy. "Well, it's not going to get mine!" Just as Andrew and Judy flopped the skeleton over themselves, the vampire bat swooped low. "I've always wanted to see a vampire bat," said Andrew. He lifted the skeleton just a crack. "Leaping lizards!" he cried. "This guy should be the star of his own horror movie!"

meep… "Vampire bat got nose that feel heat from animal," said Thudd. "Nose help bat find good place to suck blood, too. "But Drewd and Oody not gotta worry. Vampire bat suck blood from sleeping animal." "Then let's move it!" said Judy. "I don't want that bozo-bat to think we're snoozing!"

"It's headed back toward where we came from," said Andrew, peeking out. meep… "Maybe suck blood from other bats," said Thudd. Andrew spied a narrow space between two of the mammoth tusks. They crept through it and kept hiking toward the glow of light. As they scrambled around a bend in the rock wall, the glow got brighter. They could see it through the bug skeleton. plip… plip… plip… came the soft sound of water dripping. Andrew lifted the skeleton. At first all Andrew could see was a glowing, twinkly blur. Then his eyes got used to the light. "Holy moly!" he said. They were in an enormous room. It was as long as two football fields and as high as a ten-story building. Huge shapes hung from the ceiling and rose from the floor. Many looked like enormous

glistening white icicles. Others were shaped like waterfalls. Some looked like twisty tree branches and wedding cakes and strange animals. "Weird-a-mundo!" said Judy. "Looks like an ice palace!" said Andrew. meep… "Shapes hanging from ceiling called stalactites," said Thudd. "Shapes coming up from floor called stalagmites." Thudd pointed to his face screen. "Water dripping from cave ceiling carry special stony stuff," said Thudd. "Kinda like stuff teeth made of. Every water drop leave tiny bit of stony stuff behind. Stony stuff build up. Make stalactite.

Make stalagmite. Take hundred years for stalactite to grow one inch!" plip… plip… plip… A drop of water sloshed over Andrew and soaked him. Everywhere, water was dripping, making little streams that came together and trickled off into the cave. "It's brighter up ahead," Andrew said. "Let's see if we can find where the light is coming from. Maybe there's a way out." Judy kicked the bottom of a stalagmite. "We're just getting deeper and deeper into this stupid cave," she said. meep… "Follow water. Find way out." Judy rolled her eyes and picked up her side of the bug skeleton. Andrew and Judy crept over the slippery stones near a stream. Suddenly the glow became a bright beam from high up. Andrew looked up. There was a hole in the cave ceiling! Andrew could see the moon!

"Wowzers schnauzers!" said Andrew. "That's where the light is coming from!" "Hey!" said Judy. "Maybe we can climb a stalactite and get out of here." "Noop! Noop! Noop!" said Thudd. "Stalactite slippery, slippery slippery! Gotta follow water!" Hauling the bug skeleton between them, Andrew and Judy trudged on. Suddenly Andrew slipped. "Urf!" he cried as he slid down a large, bumpy boulder. Andrew landed on his back in an ice-cold stream. The boulder loomed above him. At its top were two large, round holes. There was a triangle- shaped hole in the middle—and teeth at the bottom! "Uh-oh," he said. "It's a… a… skull!"