Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2 FRANKY AND VAMPYRA WERE NOT the only ones who heard Wolfy's howl. All the way down the crooked trail, over the river, and clear across the village, two sets of ears perked up at the sound. Two sets of ears (that's four ears total, in case you were wondering) attached to two heads, atop two rather miserable bodies. If you had not guessed yet, these ears belonged to Baron Von Grump and his visiting cousin, Baroness Von Grumpier. They lived in the windmill on the edge of the village. A rather empty windmill since Baroness Von Grumpier had recently thrown

away all of Baron Von Grump's things. But that's a whole other story—our previous story, to be exact. But there they sat, in an empty windmill, glaring at each other. Wolfy's howl interrupted their glaring. "That blasted wolf and his loud howling!" muttered Baron Von Grump. "How am I supposed to sit here and glare with all that noise?" Edgar, his friend and pet crow, bobbed his head and fluffed his wings. Wolfy's howl had woken him from his nap. "Finally!" squealed Baroness Von Grumpier. "Some noise! I simply cannot

stand to glare in silence. It's about time there was some commotion around here." Wilma, her friend and pet toad, flicked out her tongue and snatched a fly from the wall. Wilma didn't care one way or the other about Wolfy's howl. She was just hungry for flies. Baroness Von Grumpier threw open the shutters and gazed out at the village. "If only there were more noise," she said. "Things are entirely too quiet. If there's one thing I cannot stand, it's silence." Baron Von Grump's eyebrows drew very close together. So close together that they might have been mistaken for one eyebrow. His face grew red. His mustache twitched. He wished his cousin would just stop talking. He did not want noise. It was the thing he liked least of all! "Maybe you should… go home?" Baron Von Grump said. He tried to smile. It looked

like he'd eaten his least favorite food, something he thought was too gross and too yucky to ever swallow. Do you have a food you really don't like at all? Maybe something like mashed lima-bean-and-earthworm pudding? Pretend you have just swallowed a big spoonful of mashed lima-bean-and-earthworm pudding.… Now smile at someone. That's what Baron Von Grump's smile looked like. "I can't," she said. "Why not?" "Because all my bags are missing," she said. "No suitcase, no satchel, no bags or boxes." Baron Von Grump's fake smile slipped away. They weren't missing. He knew exactly where they were. The same place all his furniture and belongings were: at the bottom of the living trash heap on Stargazer's Point. How did he know this? Because he was the

one who had thrown her boxes, bags, suitcase, and satchel away! As you can see, they were not very nice to each other. They were the opposite of nice. "Why do you need bags if you have no stuff?" Baron Von Grump asked. "I suppose I don't," said Baroness Von Grumpier. Baron Von Grump grinned. "Because I'm staying a bit longer than planned, cousin," she said. Baron Von Grump's grin disappeared. Baroness Von Grumpier clapped her hands together. "This village has so much potential! Why, when I'm done with this place, it'll be the noisiest, busiest, most hectic village you've ever seen! There will be factories and high-rise buildings and lots and lots of roads and bridges and traffic. Come, Wilma, we have work to do!"

Before Baron Von Grump could say anything, Baroness Von Grumpier swept out the door with Wilma. She slammed the door as loud as she could for good measure. Then opened it and slammed it again.