Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4 THE NEXT MORNING, THE JUNIOR Monster Scouts were up bright and early. The sun had just risen over the mountains when Wolfy, Vampyra, and Franky met out front of Castle Dracula. Even the Little Junior Monster Scouts were there, dressed in their new uniforms. Remember them? The Little Junior Monster Scouts were Wolfy's little brothers and his little sister, Fern. They were training to be Junior Monster Scouts one day. Franky's windup dog, Sprocket, ran in circles around them, chasing her own coiled spring tail.

"Do you think she's close?" Fern asked. "Is the desert far? When is she going to get here?" Since Fern asked questions, the rest of the Little Junior Monster Scouts started asking questions as well. "What's her favorite shape? I hope she likes polygons!" "Will she hop on one foot with us?" "Do you think she likes cheese? Do you think she likes stinky cheese?" "Has she ever been to a Snurgle Ball match?" There were lots of questions, more questions than I can list here. Wolfy was about to answer as many as he could (he was a very nice big brother), but Vampyra said, "Look! I think I see her!" Sure enough, something was flying toward them, straight for Castle Dracula. It

was Neveen, and she was riding on the back of a sphinx! A what? A sphinx. What's a sphinx? I'm glad you asked! A sphinx is a creature with the body of a lion, a cat's head, an eagle's wings, and a snake for a tail. There are different kinds of sphinxes, but this was the kind Neveen had as a pet. Her name was Cleo.

But Cleo sounds dangerous, you might be thinking. A lion's body? A snake for a tail? Don't worry, Cleo wasn't dangerous. In fact, the second Neveen landed, Cleo gave Fern a great big hello lick with her great big cat tongue.

"I think she likes you," Neveen said, climbing down from Cleo's back. "Welcome to Castle Dracula!" Vampyra said. She gave Neveen a big hug—wrapped her arms right around Neveen's bandages. Bandages? Was Neveen hurt? No! (But that was very nice of you to ask). Neveen was a mummy, and mummies are wrapped in bandages. But Neveen was not just a mummy—she was a mummy princess! She lived in a great big pyramid, in a great big desert, with lots and lots of sand and sun and a river so wide and so long, it was like one giant water snake. And speaking of snakes, there were lots of those! Neveen had several pet snakes, but her dad, the king, told her she couldn't bring them. That was probably a good idea. Bringing snakes to your friend's house is usually not something your friend's parents will like.

Don't believe me? Give it a try. Go ask one of your parents if you can have a friend over. Then ask them if they can bring their pet snakes. Snakes, more than one. Like a whole basket of snakes. See what I mean? "We've been counting down the days until you got here!" Franky said. "Me too!" said Neveen. "We can't wait to show you around!" Wolfy said. "Oh, I brought you something," said Neveen. She handed each of the Junior Monster Scouts a golden beetle pin. "They're called scarabs, and they're a good-luck charm." The Junior Monster Scouts were so excited. A good-luck scarab! I wish I had a good-luck scarab. Don't you wish you had one? You could put it right in your pocket and WHAM—instant good luck!