11 Bye-Bye, Bob!

Chapter 11 BYE-BYE, BOB! Andrew held his breath, but all he felt was a little tickle. Andrew and Judy got to the far side of the sea wasp corral and pushed through the giant kelp. They were in a narrow part of a coral canyon. It was getting dark. Nighttime was coming. Above them, Andrew could see the shadow of the Crab-Mobile. It was towing the Water Bug and the cage of sharks. In the craggy walls around them, parrotfish were tucked into mucus-goo sleeping bags. A huge

octopus was stuffed into a cave. It looked more like a lumpy rock than a live animal, but its slitty eyes were watching them. Suddenly Andrew had an idea. He pulled the pink and purple anemones off his Bubble Duds and placed them gently on some flat rocks. "Andrew!" yelled Judy. "What are you doing?" Slowly, the octopus curled a tentacle toward one of Andrew's pockets. It was the pocket where Andrew had put the sleeping mussels. Andrew moved away. The tentacle wiggled in Andrew's direction, but the octopus stayed in its cave. Andrew pulled the mussels out of his pocket. "Maybe there's enough," he said. "Come on, Judy. Take off your anemones and let's get the Water Bug." "Are you nutso?" said Judy. "We don't have anything to protect us from those awful Crab- Mobile claws or to cut the Water Bug loose." Andrew smiled. "Oh yes, we do," he said.

Andrew paddled higher in the water and wagged the mussels. The octopus twirled its tentacles toward Andrew's hand. Andrew swam higher and dangled the mussels out of the octopus's reach. "Here, octopus, octopus, octopus!" said Andrew. The octopus jetted out of its cave. Andrew scrambled up toward the surface. He could feel rubbery tentacles poking at his back. One of them wrapped itself around his ankle! Andrew came up behind the Crab-Mobile. He stuck some mussels onto the cord of the No-Go Yo-Yo. Then he stuck some onto the giant suction cup. Andrew crossed his fingers and hoped the mussels were sticky enough to stay. The octopus let go of Andrew's leg and flung itself at the mussels on the cord. "Judy!" yelled Andrew to his cousin just below. "Quick! Get into the Water Bug!"

Andrew dove under the Water Bug. Judy was already there. They pressed the buttons on the bottom of the Water Bug seats. FLAMP! The seats flipped out. Andrew and Judy belted themselves in, pressed the buttons on the sides of the seats, and flipped themselves inside. glurp… "I tried to escape," said the Water Bug. "I wanted to rescue you. But the suction cup kept my hood shut." "It's okay," said Andrew. Outside, the octopus was chomping the mussels. It chewed right through the cord. The Water Bug was free! Then the octopus slapped itself onto the hood and munched off the mussels and the suction cup. Soggy Bob must have felt the cord come loose from the Crab-Mobile. He turned around and his mouth fell open in surprise. kk… kkk… kkkkk… crackled the speaker. "I'll be gol-durned!" said Soggy Bob.

Andrew pressed the Octo-Tool button. "Octo- Tool inside!" he said. "What are you doing?" yelled Judy. "You'll see," said Andrew. The Octo-Tool tentacles squeezed in through the rubber door under the steering wheel. Andrew put a mussel in each tentacle. "Toss the mussels on top of the Crab-Mobile dome!" he ordered. "Quick!" The tentacles scurried out. They pelted the Crab-Mobile with mussels. The giant octopus flung itself toward the Crab-Mobile and plopped itself down on its glass dome! "What in tarnation is goin' on here?" growled Soggy Bob. Clack! Clack! Clack! The Crab-Mobile claws snapped at the octopus. The octopus wrapped its tentacles around the claws! Suddenly the octopus jetted backward and downward—taking the Crab-Mobile with it!

kk… kkk… kkkkk… "Grrrrrrr!" came Soggy Bob's horrible growl through the speakers. "Ya bad, bad water babies better watch out! Ah'll be comin' to getcha!" It was dark now. Andrew snapped on the Water Bug's headlights. They watched the Crab-Mobile disappear into the gloomy ocean below. "Wowzers!" said Andrew. He pulled his Bubble Duds helmet off his head. "Yay!" yelled Judy. She took off her helmet, too. Andrew turned to Judy. "You know what time it is?" he asked. "It's pretty late," said Judy.