10 Clown to the Rescue!

Chapter 10 CLOWN TO THE RESCUE! The hologram of Uncle Al stretched like an elastic band, snapped, and disappeared. Clack! Clack! Clack! The blue-green water turned dark. A shadow fell over the reef canyon. It was the Crab-Mobile! The canyon was pretty wide where Andrew and Judy were. The Crab-Mobile might be able to squeeze in! "Ya little water monkeys are causin' big mischief down there!" came Soggy Bob's gruff voice. "Mah Egg-Mobile is on the rocks, mah

octopuses are on the loose, and mah snails are confused! Ah'm comin' to getcha! Heh! Heh! Heh!" Andrew and Judy swam faster. Ahead of them, long strands of leafy brown seaweed were swaying. "Let's duck in there," said Judy. "It's an underwater forest!" said Andrew as they paddled into the leathery leaves. The long brown stems felt like rubber hoses. The seaweed went up through the water as far as they could see. meep… "Giant kelp!" said Thudd. "Big seaweed! Grow fast, fast, fast! Grow two feet in day! Drewd and Oody eat lotsa giant kelp." "No way!" said Judy. "I would never eat seaweed." meep… "Seaweed in ice cream," said Thudd. "Milk shake. Pudding. Lotsa sauce, too!" "Yuck-a-rama!" said Judy. "If it tastes good, I'll eat it," said Andrew.

meep… "Strange, strange, strange!" said Thudd. "Giant kelp not like to grow here. Water too warm. Someone put giant kelp here." "Whatever," said Judy. She shoved the stems aside and swam ahead. Andrew followed. The seaweed forest was so thick Andrew couldn't see Judy in front of him.

"Ugh!" yelled Judy. "They're so icky!" Andrew scrambled through the giant kelp to a circle of open water. In the middle, Judy was kicking her legs and flapping her arms like a big bird. "What's going on?" asked Andrew. "It's the sea wasp jellyfish!" yelled Judy. "I don't see anything," said Andrew. "That's because they're transparent, Bug- Brain!" said Judy. "But I can feel them. They're all squishy and icky. And look!" She pointed to a sign hanging on the seaweed: SOGGY BOB'S SEA WASP RANCH meep… "Bubble Duds protect Oody," said Thudd. "But Drewd got big problem." Thudd pointed to Andrew's foot. It was exposed where the Crab-Mobile had torn away the Bubble Duds. Judy pushed her way through the sea wasps and swam over to Andrew.

"We don't have any more Bubble Duds patches to cover your foot," she said. A little orange clownfish swimming through a bright pink anemone caught Judy's eye. "Wait a minute!" she said. "Clownfish are covered with mucus that keeps them from getting stung by anemones. Anemones sting like jellyfish." Judy leaned over the anemone. She opened her hands slowly, then quickly grabbed the clownfish. "Got him!" she said. She held the fish gently and rubbed the side of it with her finger. "Andrew, bring your foot up here," she said.

Judy took the mucus goo she had rubbed off the fish and spread it onto Andrew's foot. "This might work," she said. Judy looked at the little clownfish. "You've got plenty of goo left, little fella!" She put him back into his anemone. Judy pulled Andrew's arm. "Come on, Bug- Brain," she said. They made their way through the swarm of sea wasps. The jellyfish were hard to see, but Andrew felt the soft, Jell-O-ey blobs as he paddled through. Then he felt tentacles wrap around his foot!