Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4 IF BARON VON GRUMP HAD known what was going to happen, he never would have told Baroness Von Grumpier to make herself at home. But he didn't know, and so he said it, and then he and Edgar were off on a leisurely walk to the village. He wanted to take as long as he could, so he didn't take his horse and cart. That was another mistake. Wolfy followed the trail of cheese crumbs. It led the Junior Monster Scouts and the Little Junior Monster Scouts out to Stargazer's Point. (You may have guessed why it is called that—it is the absolute best place to lie back and watch the stars! Have you ever

stargazed? Have you ever looked out into space and just enjoyed all those twinkling stars? Next time you do, see if you can connect the dots and create shapes. Some of those shapes are called constellations. Maybe you'll see a dragon, or a two-headed chicken, or maybe even a spider playing a banjo on the back of a hippopotamus!) Where were we? Oh yes… Wolfy led them out to Stargazer's Point, and sure enough, Boris and the rats were there. They were feasting on cheese and lying about, surrounded by a small collection of garbage. "Hey, Junior Monster Scouts!" said Boris. His cheeks were packed with cheese. "What brings you all the way out here?"

"You do," said Vampyra. "Well… your littering does," said Franky. "Yeah," said Wolfy. "What's with all the trash?" "What, this stuff?" asked Boris. He picked up a fish bone and sniffed it. "Only two weeks old! Man, these villagers throw away the best things." "What are you doing with it?" asked Vampyra. "And why is it all over the road?" Franky asked.

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to lug this stuff all the way out here?" asked Boris. "We must have dropped some along the way." "But you didn't answer our other question," said Wolfy. "What in the world are you doing with all this trash?" "One man's trash is another rat's treasure," said Boris. He tossed the fish bone to one of the other rats. "We're building a nest. Time we moved out of Castle Dracula and built our own home." "Out of trash?" Fern asked. "We'd rather refer to it as 'recycled discarded hodgepodge,'" Boris said. "Ain't that right, lads?" All the other rats nodded and chewed their cheese and occasionally burped. "I've got an idea," said Franky. "If you help us clean up all the trash—"

"Recycled discarded hodgepodge," Boris said. "All the recycled discarded hodgepodge," continued Franky, "we'll help you build your nest." "What do you say, lads?" Boris asked the rats. "Sounds good to us, boss," said another rat. The rest of the rats nodded. "All right, Junior—and Little Junior— Monster Scouts," said Boris. "You've got yourselves a deal."