9 Saved by the Smell

Chapter 9 SAVED BY THE SMELL Judy pushed her face next to Andrew's. "You'd better be right, Bug-Brain," she said. "Or else we're jungle chow." The deep shadows of this place gave Andrew the spooks. "Let's get going," he said. "We have to get to the river." "And we've got to find the ghost mushrooms before we get there," said Judy. They began their trudge across the rainforest floor. The jungle floor buzzed and chattered. Here and there, dead leaves twitched. Kakaka kakaka… came a sound from behind them.

Andrew turned to see a slender flying insect, long as a pinkie finger, darting above a dark lump on the ground. Then two legs—long, thin, dark, hairy legs— shot up from the lump. The lump was a fat, hairy spider. Its legs clawed the air, reaching for the insect. From leg to leg, the spider was the size of a dinner plate. Andrew froze. "That spider looks as big as Godzilla!" he whispered. meep… "Tarantula," said Thudd. "Called bird- eating spider! Eat lizards, snakes, frogs, birds!" Kakaka kakaka kakaka… "It's making weird sounds," said Judy. meep… "Called barking spider, too," said Thudd. "Spider in big fight with giant wasp called tarantula hawk. Cuz female wasp hunt tarantulas. "If wasp sting spider, spider not able to move. Then wasp lay egg inside spider. When egg hatch, baby wasp eat spider alive."

"Yuck!" said Judy. "That is soooo disgusting!" meep… "In lotsa places, people eat tarantulas. Taste like crab meat!" "Neato mosquito!" said Andrew. "Aaaaack!" Judy gagged. With one of its front legs, the spider was scraping hairs off the front of its body. Then it flung them at the wasp! "Duck! Duck! Duck!" squeaked Thudd. "Tarantula hair got lotsa poison!" The fierce battle was scuffling closer to Andrew and Judy. "Let's get out of here!" gasped Judy. meep… "Hide behind gympie-gympie tree!" said Thudd. He pointed to a small, pretty tree with heart- shaped leaves the size of pizzas. "But no touch! Gympie-gympie tree got hairs on leaves, hairs on trunk. Every hair is tiny glass needle filled with strong poison.

"If animal touch gympie-gympie tree, hairs dig into skin. Hurt! Hurt! Hurt! Even spider not touch gympie-gympie tree." Andrew and Judy scurried behind the gympie- gympie tree. They watched as the tarantula and the wasp charged each other. At last, the tarantula scuttled under a thorny bush. The wasp flew off. "Let's go," said Andrew. Careful to stay away from its horrible hairs, Andrew and Judy crept away from the gympie- gympie tree. They continued their trek over the wet, slippery leaves. The light was getting dimmer. They strained to see the glow of ghost mushrooms on the shadowy forest floor. Suddenly Andrew felt something grab his ankles. "Erf!" he cried. The next instant, he was upside down! Eek! squeaked Thudd, clinging to the edge of Andrew's pocket.

"Aaaack!" hollered Judy. They were upside down and speeding away! They were heading for a long black snout attached to a small head with beady black eyes! The animal's body was completely covered with long, sharp brown quills. "Yowzers!" cried Andrew. "Noooooo!" cried Judy. "Echidna!" squeaked Thudd. "Spiny ant-eater! Nose feel electric signals from living things. From

ants, from bugs, from Drewd and Oody!" Just as they reached the dark tunnel of the echidna's mouth, the tongue stopped reeling them in. Snoof snoof, sniffed the echidna. Judy shuddered. "We're going to be eaten by a pincushion with a head," she moaned. Then, as fast as the echidna's tongue had reeled them in, it spun them out and shook them off. Judy and Andrew landed in a brown slimy puddle. The echidna turned and waddled away. "Cheese Louise!" shouted Judy. "We got lucky!" "I wonder why it didn't eat us," said Andrew. meep… "Drewd and Oody still smell like peppermint," said Thudd. "Maybe echidna not like peppermint." Andrew and Judy wiped the slime off as best they could and trudged on. As the day grew late, the colors of the rain forest faded to black and gray. The screeches and