6 Ant-icipation

Chapter 6 ANT-ICIPATION Judy took off after him. "Wait till I get my hands on you!" she yelled. They climbed over a twig and tumbled down the side of a rock. They fell onto something that looked like a fluffy white cushion. "Whew!" said Judy, catching her breath. "Let's rest here. So what was all that stupid running about?" Andrew shrugged. "There was this humongous yellow ooze slithering toward us," he said. meep… "Look!" Thudd pointed to his face screen. "Slime mold is fungus village. Most of time, little fungus guys live alone. But when fungus guys run out of food, lotsa lotsa fungus

guys get together. Make big ooze parade. Look for new place to eat." "Kind of like a class trip looking for lunch," said Andrew. Judy frowned. "Great!" she said. "So will the slime follow us here?" meep… "Slime mold not climb down rock," said Thudd. "Good!" said Judy. She touched the fluffy white strands of the thing they were sitting on. "This stuff is a little sticky, like cotton candy. But it's nice and comfy." Andrew looked around the place they had fallen into. Suddenly his jaw dropped and his eyes got wide.

"Super-duper pooper-scooper!" shouted Andrew. He pointed to a mountain of dirt. "You know what that is?" Judy rolled her eyes. "It's an anthill," she said. "But you'd better not be thinking what I think you're thinking. I don't want to hear one word about your antsy-schmancy science report." "Judy, we've got to get into that anthill," said Andrew. "Now's our chance to find out incredible stuff!" Judy shook her head. "After that ant sneaked up behind me on the sponge, I never want to see another ant again!" "Aw, come on, Judy," Andrew pleaded. "I think the ants are asleep now." meep… "Ants not go beddy-bye yet," said Thudd. "Don't worry," said Andrew. "You don't see any ants, do you?" "Every time you say 'don't worry,'" said Judy turning her back on Andrew, "an alarm goes off in my… YIIIIIIKES!"

Andrew turned to see what Judy was screaming about. "AAAAANT!" screamed Andrew and Judy. The shiny black head was right behind them. They could see their reflection in the glittering wall of eyes. The ant closed its giant jaws around the fluffy cushion they were sitting on. Then it lifted their cushion and began carrying it— and them!— toward the anthill. meep… "Ant not eat us!" squeaked Thudd. "What?" Judy hollered. "We're stuck in a pair of ant jaws and you say the ant isn't going to eat us? I think you've been dipping your antennas into something weird, Thudd!" meep… "This farmer ant," said Thudd. "Take care of mealybug." Thudd pointed to the fluffy cushion underneath them. "Mealybug!" Judy gasped. "You mean we're sitting on a bug?" she said. "It doesn't even move!"

meep… "Mealybugs not move much," said Thudd. "Ant carry mealybug into anthill. Like farmer take cow into barn! Humans drink milk. Ants eat mealybug poop! People eat bug poop, too! Sweet, sweet, sweet! Stuck to Oody's hands!" "EEEEEWWW!" said Judy. She frantically wiped the sticky white fluff off her hands. The next second, the ant zipped down into the anthill. It was like going down a chimney. It got dark. Then it got darker. Their noses filled with damp, moldy smells, like an old cellar. Andrew unhooked the mini-flashlight from his belt loop and snapped it on. They were in a vast cave. The light fell on hairy white ropes sticking out of the walls. meep… "Roots of plants," said Thudd.

Other ants were skittering across the floor of the cave. One of them came up to Andrew and Judy's ant. The ants waggled their antennas at each other. meep… "Ants talk with smells! This ant say she find lost mealybug." Their ant skittered into a dark hole in the wall of the cave. It was another tunnel. "Cheese Louise!" said Judy. "We're more lost than ever!"