4 LOOKY THINGY

CHAPTER 4 LOOK THINGY "What are you waiting for? Grab your Looky Thingy and let's go!" Pip put his hands on his hips and tapped his foot. "Erm, my Looky Thingy?" I asked. Pip nodded. "Bips are quite small and hard to see." "Uh, so a microscope?" I guessed. Pip sighed. "No, you can just bring your Looky Thingy that makes things bigger. You know?" He made a circle with his hands and peeked one eye through.

"Ohhhh, a magnifying glass! Let me go tell Mom where I'm going and grab it from the house." As I ran inside, Pip muttered something about human words for things. I let Mom know what was happening while I looked through my room. "Oh gosh, those poor baby hippogriffs!" Mom said as she lifted my bed quilt to reveal my magnifying glass. "Thanks, Mom!" I gave her a quick hug. "I hope we can find a way to get more bips and save the roses in time." "If anyone can do it, it's you, sweetheart."

She kissed my forehead and handed me my backpack. "I'll stay here so Dad doesn't wonder where we are when he gets back from his errands, but let me know if you need any help." "I will!" I hollered over my shoulder and ran back to the barn. Sassafras and I followed Pip into the forest, and he explained a little more. "This morning, we were playing a game of tag, and one of my friends saw the hophop path with everything eaten. We followed part of it through the forest and saw the sick roses all along the way. We grabbed our Looky Thingies and checked and couldn't see any bips on the rose leaves. I sent my friends to go see if the hophop path missed any forest roses. We're all going to meet up by the stream." I crossed my fingers that the other frogs had found some healthy roses with bips. "Wait here," Pip instructed when we got to the stream. "I'm sure you remember that most magical creatures are really shy." I nodded, and Sassafras meowed. "I just need to let my friends know that it's you guys, so they don't freak out. Once I call you

over, just remember to walk really slowly and use a quiet voice, OK? Forest frogs get scared easily." Sassafras and I sat down on a log to wait as Pip hopped ahead.