8 Big, Big Baby!

Chapter 8 BIG, BIG BABY! "Look!" said Andrew, pointing past the Crab- Mobile. "The whale has two tails!" Beneath the giant tail of the blue whale was a much smaller tail. meep… "Mother whale having baby whale!" said Thudd. "Whale calf." Quickly, the rest of the baby whale slid out. "That's one super-sized baby!" said Judy. meep… "Blue whale baby long as elephant!" said Thudd. "Weigh as much as forty humans!"

The mother whale circled and dove beneath the baby. meep… "Mother whale push baby whale to top of water to breathe," said Thudd. "If baby whale not breathe soon, it drown!" kk… kkk… kkkkk "And now, my little sardines," said Soggy Bob, "ya get to see me make my biggest catch! Yee-ha!" The Crab-Mobile headed toward the baby whale. A lasso shot from one of its claws and looped around the tail of the baby! Soggy Bob pulled a lever in the Crab-Mobile. The lasso tightened. The calf was caught before its mother could get it to the surface! The Crab-Mobile was towing the baby away!

The mother whale swam after her calf. She tried to push the little whale up with the front of her head. But the Crab-Mobile was dragging it under! "Don't do this, Mr. Sloggins!" yelled Andrew as he followed the calf. "The baby whale needs to breathe!" "Ah see your little lips movin'," said Soggy Bob, "but ah can't hear a thing ya say. And that's the way ah like it!" Andrew steered the Water Bug closer to the baby whale. "Scat, ya little toads!" said Soggy Bob, shaking his fist. "Ya better stay away from my fish if ya know what's good for ya!" Judy frowned. "He doesn't even know that a whale isn't a fish!" "Maybe he doesn't know that whales need to breathe," said Andrew. Andrew pressed the Octo-Tool button. The hood of the Water Bug popped open and the Octo- Tool's eight long tentacles wriggled out.

"Remove rope from baby whale!" Andrew commanded. glurp… "Good idea," said the Water Bug. The tentacles darted toward the rope, grabbed it, and untied it! "Grrrr!" growled Soggy Bob. "That little whale critter is mine!" Clack! Clack! Clack! The claws of the Crab-Mobile snapped at the tentacles of the Octo-Tool. But the Octo-Tool was too quick. It whipped the lasso away from the Crab-Mobile. "Rope Crab-Mobile claws!" yelled Andrew. The Octo-Tool hurled the lasso around one of the Crab-Mobile's clunky claws and yanked it closed. "Way to go!" cheered Judy. "Drat!" yelled Soggy Bob. "Ya little water rats are askin' for big trouble!" The Crab-Mobile's free claw snapped at the Octo-Tool.

The Octo-Tool roped that claw, too! Then the tentacles gave the rope a big jerk. The Crab- Mobile started to spin! It began to sink! "Gotcha!" shouted Andrew. "Double drat!" screamed Soggy Bob. Andrew and Judy watched him madly yanking big metal handles inside the Crab-Mobile. Burpp flapped his wings and twisted dials with his beak. But the Crab-Mobile kept spinning down and down. "Ah'll be back!" yelled Soggy Bob, slamming his fists on the arms of his huge chair. "Ah'll be back faster than ya monkeys can eat a peanut butter sandwich!" He pushed his face against the glass dome and smiled a crooked smile. "And ah'll be servin' giant squidwiches soon! Heh heh heh!"

The Crab-Mobile sank out of sight. "Good job!" said Andrew. "Thank you," said the Water Bug. "Look!" said Judy staring at the baby whale. "It's struggling." The mother whale was trying to push her calf up, but it kept slipping down into the water! "We've got to help," said Judy. Andrew drove the Water Bug close to one side of the calf. The mother was on the other side. Together, the mother whale and the Water Bug pushed the baby to the top!