Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7 WOLFY, FRANKY, FERN, AND THE rest of the cubs took the left side of the Crooked Trail. Fern and the cubs held the garbage bags while Wolfy and Franky kept the garbage scoopers wound up and scooping litter. On the other side of the Crooked Trail, Vampyra held the bag while Boris and the rats picked up the junk they'd dropped. It was a real team effort. "A cauldron's less trouble when friends help stir the bubbles," said Vampyra. "What does that mean?" Fern asked. Wolfy held a bag up for a rat to drop in a sour milk carton.

"My aunt Hemlock says that all the time," said Vampyra. "It means the more people you have helping you, the easier the job is." "There," said Boris. He dropped the last pile of litter into the bag and wiped his paws clean. "I think that's the last of it."

"I sure hope so," said Wolfy. He pinched his nose shut. "Because this stuff stinks!" Boris and the rats took a deep breath. "Sure does!" said Boris. He took a few extra sniffs. "Now let's get this stuff back to Stargazer's Point. We've got a nest to build." However, while all the scouts and the rats were cleaning up the Crooked Trail, someone else had arrived at Stargazer's Point. "The perfect spot!" said Baroness Von Grumpier. "There's already a whole pile of trash here. We might as well just add this junk to the garbage heap." She backed the cart up and shoveled all of Baron Von Grump's things into the mound of trash that Boris and the rats had piled up. All of it. Even Baron Von Grump's picture and yes—his violin.

KER-SPLOING!! Another string broke. Baron Von Grump was halfway home when he stopped. He tilted his head and listened. "Caw?" asked Edgar. "Yes, Edgar, I did hear that," said Baron Von Grump. "It did sound like a violin string breaking. The third string, to be exact." "Caw." "You're right," said Baron Von Grump. "That's impossible. My dear, dear violin is at home, in our windmill, waiting to be played. Yes, that's exactly what I need. After all this

walking, and talking, and listening to that dreadful cousin of mine, there is nothing I want to do more than play my violin." But when Baron Von Grump got home, he was in for quite a shock. His chair wasn't there. His knickknacks and thingamajigs weren't there. No doodads or decorations. No books, no pillows, no old coats or hangers. Not a cup or a pot or a plate. Not even one candle. Only his cousin Baroness Von Grumpier and her toad, Wilma. "It's about time you arrived with my cheese," she said. "All this work has left me hungry enough to eat an elephant." Baron Von Grump dropped the cheese. He dashed up the stairs. He threw open his bedroom door and froze. "It's not here," he said. "It's gone. My violin! Where is my violin?" "Oh, that old thing?" asked Baroness Von Grumpier, chewing some cheese (quite

loudly, and with her mouth open). "I threw it away. I threw everything away. A little spring-cleaning." Baron Von Grump balled his hands up. He clenched his teeth. He turned seventeen shades of red. "YOU THREW AWAY MY VIOLIN!?" he roared. Baron Von Grump's angry roar washed over the village. It swept up the Crooked Trail. It echoed all the way out to Stargazer's Point. And then something strange happened. KER-SPLOING! The last string on the violin snapped in two. CRACK! The glass on Baron Von Grump's picture broke.