5 Time for the Schnozzles

Chapter 5 TIME FOR THE SCHNOZZLES Andrew plopped headfirst into the water. When he bobbed to the surface, he saw what had tossed him—a bullfrog that was now sitting on a rock. Andrew squinted at the frog. In its mouth, something was waggling. Andrew heard a faint but familiar scream. Judy! "Holy moly!" said Andrew.

Eek! squeaked Thudd. "What can we do?" asked Andrew. "That frog is a thousand times bigger than we are!" meep… "Throw mothballs at frog mouth!" said Thudd. "I thought mothballs were for bugs and snakes," said Andrew. meep… "Snake got special organ in mouth for smelling," said Thudd. "Frog got same kinda organ. Mothball smell confuse snake. Confuse frog, maybe…" "Judy's got mothballs, too," said Andrew, pulling mothball chips out of his pocket. "Judy!" he yelled. "Grab the mothball chips in your pocket. Toss them into the frog's mouth!"

Andrew aimed and threw his mothball chips as hard as he could. Andrew saw Judy shoving something into the frog's mouth. Suddenly the frog opened its mouth and Judy jumped out.

"Are you okay, Judy?" shouted Andrew. "I'm covered with frog spit!" she yelled, splashing frantically toward a thick clump of cattails. The next instant, the bullfrog was zooming over Andrew's head like an airplane! meep… "Bullfrog see something else to eat!" said Thudd. Andrew swam after Judy toward the cattails.

"The cattails are growing very close together," said Andrew. "They'll keep most things out. We'll be safer in there." Andrew had just about caught up to Judy. They were swimming through a swarm of whirligig beetles. Each one was spinning like a little top. Andrew felt a sudden rush of water from below. A splash washed over him. He blinked—and everything went black! The next thing Andrew knew, he was in total darkness. His head banged into something hard. Am I in an underwater cave? he wondered. Water was up his nose. He held his breath. A second later, Andrew felt like someone had shot him out of a water pistol. As he sped along, the water almost dragged his pants off. After a few seconds, he slowed down and paddled quickly to the top. "Blurf!" he blurted, blowing water from his nose. "Over here, Bug-Brain!" Judy yelled from close by.

meep… "Fish trying to eat whirligig beetles," said Thudd. "Gulp down Drewd and Oody, too." "It wasn't so bad," said Andrew. "The fish let us go." meep… "Bad! Bad! Bad!" said Thudd. "Cuz fish come back again. "When fish grab whirligig beetle, beetle spray nasty stuff. Not taste good. "Fish spit out beetle. Then fish grab beetle again. Beetle spray again. Fish spit out again. Fish keep catching beetle till beetle got no more nasty stuff to spray. Then fish swallow beetle." "The fish will come back to get us again when it comes back for the beetles!" said Judy, splashing toward the cattails. Andrew shook his head. "Maybe not, if we can get away from these whirligig bugs and into the cattails," he said. "But to be safe, we'd better put on the Schnozzles. There's one in the pocket of your Wannabee, Judy." "Humph," grumped Judy, but she reached into her pocket and pulled out a pair of black goggles