2 Trapped!

Chapter 2 TRAPPED "We've got to find the pipe to the kitchen," said Andrew. He waved his flashlight around the walls of the pipe. Huge, shiny water drops were trickling down over the slime. "Wait!" said Judy. "I think I saw something!" She grabbed the flashlight and pointed to a curving black shape below them. meep… "Oody found place where kitchen pipe hook up with big drainpipe!" said Thudd. "We need to get the Umbubble unstuck and into that pipe!" said Judy.

"Jumping up and down might get us loose from the slime," said Andrew. They bounced down on the Umbubble. Nothing happened. They bounced again. Slowly, the Umbubble pulled away from the slime. "Yay!" Andrew cheered. The Umbubble drifted down. Soon they were across from the dark hole where the pipes connected.

"I'll have to steer the Umbubble like I did when we were in the bathroom," said Judy. Judy gave the flashlight back to Andrew and pulled a ballpoint pen from her pocket. She had taken the ink cartridge out of it before. She poked the empty pen tube through the wall of the Umbubble and started to blow. The Umbubble moved in the opposite direction —into the new pipe. "Woofers!" said Andrew. "This place smells like poop, old sneakers, and onions!" Judy rolled her eyes. "Thanks for pointing that out," she said. Andrew beamed his flashlight toward the top of the pipe. He spotted a cluster of strange, egg-like things clinging there. They were shiny and white. They looked squishy. "I wonder what those are," said Andrew. He gave a little shiver. "But I kind of don't want to know." meep… "Eggs of drain flies!" said Thudd. "Look!" Thudd pointed to an egg at the edge of

the cluster. It was quivering! Suddenly it split open. Something started to wriggle out! Judy stopped puffing to watch. "Looks like a worm!" she said. meep… "Baby drain fly," said Thudd. "This how it look when it grow up!" Thudd pointed to his face screen. Andrew and Judy were staring at Thudd's screen when the Umbubble bumped into something. Andrew shined his flashlight on it. There was a turn in the pipe. It was going down. And the pipe below was filled with water! "What's this?" said Andrew. "I thought the pipe would turn up toward the sink."

"We've come to the trap in the drain," said Judy. "Why would anyone put a trap in a drain?" asked Andrew. Judy gave Andrew her don't-you-know-anything look. "Pipes under sinks and toilets and tubs all have these U-shaped parts to trap water," she said. "The water keeps the stinky smells from getting into the house." Andrew scratched his head. "You mean we have to dive through that water to get to the sink?" he asked. "Not just water," said Judy. "Anything that goes down the drain gets stuck in the trap. Mushy meat, moldy mushrooms, gunky grapes…." "Okay, okay!" Andrew said. Judy let the Umbubble drift down. Below them floated dark chunks and shiny, slimy things. Then Andrew's light flashed on something familiar sticking out of the water. It was something thick and scaly. "It's a hair!" said Andrew.

"Mrs. Scuttle has long hair," said Judy. "If it's one of hers, we could follow it through the trap to the sink. But wait a minute." Judy's eyes got narrow. "We'll have to stick our hands into the yucky stuff to grab the hair!" Andrew and Judy looked at each other. Andrew was about to ask Thudd if he had a better idea when he heard a sound he didn't want to hear. "Shnurm… shnurm… shnurm…" Thudd was snoring again! Sleeping was another thing Thudd had never done before he got wet. Judy yanked the pen tube out of the Umbubble. Then she rolled up the sleeves of her jacket. Andrew stuck his flashlight on the wall of the Umbubble next to Thudd. "Ready?" asked Judy. Andrew nodded. They poked their hands through the rubbery Umbubble and reached out into the gooey darkness.