The Berenstain Bears and the Rowdy Crowd

by Stan Berenstain

  “That means ‘play basketball,’” said Sister.

  “I see,” said Mama. She turned to Brother. “Is that right, Brother?” she asked.

  But Brother was gone. He had left the table and was out the door and down the road.

  So all Sister’s worries about Brother weren’t just night thoughts. Something was going on with Brother. He had changed.

  She turned to Papa, who was reading his paper.

  “Papa,” she said, “I’m sure you’ve noticed that something is going on with Brother. What do you think it could be?”

  Papa didn’t answer. He just kept on reading his paper.

  “Papa,” said Sister much louder. “I’m sure you’ve seen that something is going on with Brother. What do you think it could be?” Papa put down his paper and looked at Sister.

  “Huh?” he said.

  Sister gave up on Papa and headed for the playground.

  Her mind was still on Brother. If he wants to be snooty, let him be snooty. But two can play the snooty game. Just wait till the next time he asks me to play checkers or catch fly balls for him. I’ll just give him the same blank look he gives me and say, “Huh?”

  Just then, she met Cousin Fred coming the other way. He was carrying a fishing pole.

  “Hi, Fred,” said Sister. “Where are you headed?”

  “Your house,” said Fred. “I thought I’d pick up Brother and we could do some fishing.”

  “He’s not there,” said Sister. “He said he was going to shoot some hoops with you.”

  “That’s the first I’ve heard about it,” said Fred. “But maybe I’m mixed up.”

  But Sister didn’t think Fred was mixed up.

  Sister thought Brother was just lying about playing basketball with Cousin Fred.

  If Brother wasn’t playing basketball, what was he doing?

  Now Sister knew for sure. Something was up with Brother.

  And she had a feeling that the Something had something to do with Too-Tall.

  6

  Fred had his own backyard basket. He was shooting free throws later that day when Brother came by.

  Fred was a very good free throw shooter. But he missed the basket when Brother mentioned Too-Tall. The ball bounced into the bushes.

  “Join the Too-Tall team? You and me?” said Fred. “Are you out of your mind? They’re the worst! How can you even think of getting mixed up with the Too-Tall gang?”

  Brother just smiled. He got the ball out of the bushes and started dribbling it toward the basket.

  “Okay, Fred,” he said. “Let’s see if you can stop my best move.”

  “No problem,” said Fred.

  Brother was very fast. But Fred was fast too. As Brother made his move, Fred reached in, stole the ball, and laid it up.

  “Way to go!” said Brother. He put his arm around Fred. “See what I mean? We’ll make a great backcourt.”

  “You really think so?” said Fred. He was proud.

  “I know so,” said Brother.

  “Yeah,” said Fred. “But the whole idea of getting mixed up with the Too-Tall gang worries me.”

  “We’re not going to get mixed up with them! We’re just going to play a little basketball with them.”

  “Gee, I don’t know,” said Fred.

  Brother picked up the basketball. He shot the ball. Swish! He got nothing but net.

  “Of course,” said Brother, “if you’re too chicken to play some real basketball . . .”

  He started to walk away.

  “I’m not chicken!” said Fred. He hurried to catch up with Brother.

  Soon Fred and Brother were walking along Junkyard Road.

  “You know,” said Brother, “we’re going to have to keep this all a secret.”

  “You’ve got that right,” said Fred. “What will we tell our parents?”

  “Let’s just say that we’ve joined a new team. It’s the truth.”

  But Fred was still scared about joining the Too-Tall team. He got even more scared when he saw the KEEP OUT! sign.

  “Don’t be scared,” said Brother. “I’m here to protect you.”

  “Yeah,” said Fred. “But who’s going to protect you?”

  “Too-Tall,” said Brother. “We’re buddies. We’re like this.” Brother held out his hand and crossed his middle finger over his index finger. “That’s how close we are.”

  “Maybe so,” said Fred. “But you know what they say: ‘He who lies down with dogs gets up with fleas.’”

  “Well, there are no fleas on me,” Brother said.

  He took Fred by the arm and pulled him into the woods.

  “What are those pants hanging in the trees?” asked Fred.

  Brother did not tell Fred about the pants. Fred was scared enough as it was.

  Fred not only made the team, he ran circles around Skuzz, Vinnie, and Smirk. They didn’t like it. But Too-Tall did. With Brother as his star point guard and Fred coming off the bench, maybe they could beat the Westside Thugs.

  “Okay, you two,” Too-Tall said. “The game’s tomorrow. Be here!”

  Fred was quiet as they walked back along Junkyard Road.

  “You really looked good back there,” said Brother.

  “Thanks,” said Fred.

  But he was still worried.

  “Will you please stop worrying? Look at it this way,” said Brother. “Playing with Too-Tall could really improve our game. We might even make the school team next year.”

  “Or you could look at it this way,” said Fred. “If we don’t win, they could steal our pants and send us home in our underwear.”

  So Fred knew what the pants were about.

  “And speaking of underwear,” said Fred, “why are you walking funny? Are your shorts caught?”

  “I’m not walking funny,” said Brother. “That’s the way I walk.”

  “Oh,” said Fred.

  7

  It was Arts and Crafts Day at the playground.

  Sister and Lizzy had signed up for the flower vase project. The idea was to make a beautiful vase out of a jar. Teacher Jane said it had to be a clean jar.

  Sister brought in a pickle jar.

  Lizzy brought in a jelly jar.

  Getting the pickle smell out of the pickle jar wasn’t easy. It took a lot of hot water. But now it was clean, and Sister was pressing clay onto it.

  Lizzy was doing the same thing. After the clay dried, they would paint the vases. Lizzy was planning to dent the clay all over with her fingers. Then she would paint each dent a different color.

  Sister had another idea. She planned on orange and black stripes like a tiger’s. Mama grew tiger lilies in her garden. Now Mama would have a special vase for her tiger lilies.

  Sister was smoothing out the clay on her vase when Brother and Fred came by. They were headed for the basketball court. They didn’t even stop to say hello.

  “You hold the court, Fred,” said Brother. “I’ll go into the office and sign out the ball. The big game’s tomorrow and we have to practice.”

  Sister watched Brother head for the office. He had begun to walk funny lately.

  She had seen that walk somewhere before.

  Where had she seen it?

  “Oh, Fred,” she said, “I don’t know if you know, but something weird is going on with Brother. Does it have anything to do with basketball?”

  Fred didn’t answer.

  Sister reached out and tapped him on the shoulder. “Fred, I just asked you something.”

  Fred turned and looked at her.

  “Huh?” he said.

  “I said I just asked you something!”

  But Fred was gone. There was no “Excuse me,” or “See you later.” He just left Sister standing there with her face hanging out.

  Sister watched them practice their moves. But she sensed that there was more going on than basketball.

  She thought back to when it all started. It was the day Too-Tall threw her hair bow into a tree.

  No,
it was a few days after that, when the Too-Tall gang tried to push Brother off the basketball court. She could see Too-Tall in her mind’s eye. She could see that tough walk of his.

  But wait! That was it! That’s where Brother got that walk! Which could mean only one thing. Brother was mixed up with the bad, nasty, low-down Too-Tall gang!

  As Sister lay in her bed that night, she was back to worrying about Brother.

  She worried about how he had changed.

  She worried about his new tough walk.

  Mostly, she worried about him hanging around with Too-Tall.

  She didn’t know for sure he was hanging around with Too-Tall. She had to find out. But how?

  Just before she fell asleep, she got an idea. It might be dangerous. But then, anything that had to do with Too-Tall was dangerous. Dangerous or not, she would do it in the morning.

  Sister kept a notebook. That night she wrote in it:

  Sister was the last to come down to breakfast. Brother was spooning up his cereal like there was no tomorrow.

  “Brother,” said Mama, “would you please stop gobbling your breakfast? It’s not healthy.”

  “Yesh, ma’am,” said Brother.

  “And please don’t speak with your mouth full,” added Mama.

  “What’s the big hurry, son?” asked Papa.

  “Going to play some basketball,” said Brother. “Fred and I have joined a new team.”

  Yeah, thought Sister, the Too-Tall team.

  “Well, gotta go,” said Brother. He pushed away from the table and was out the door.

  Sister finished her breakfast. Then she left and put her plan into action.

  Sister’s plan was simple: follow Brother and find out just what was going on with him.

  Keeping out of sight, she followed Brother to Fred’s house. Then she followed the two of them along Junkyard Road. As she sneaked along behind them, she could see that Fred was hanging back. But Brother urged him on.

  As she followed them into the woods, she heard voices. She moved from tree to tree. Then she hid in the bushes beside the basketball court and watched the game.

  It was the second game between the Westside Thugs and the Junkyard Dogs. It went down to the wire. The Dogs were down by two points, with seconds to go. The Thugs were double-teaming Too-Tall. That left Brother open. He was at the three-point line. Too-Tall passed him the ball.

  Brother shot. Swish! Nothing but net!

  The Junkyard Dogs won by one point. A cheer went up. Fred had played well coming off the bench. But Brother had been the star of the game. The gang crowded around him. Too-Tall put his hand out.

  “Let me shake the hand of the newest member of the Too-Tall gang.”

  “Huh?” said Brother. He looked shocked down to his toes. So did Cousin Fred.

  “Well, good game, guys,” said Fred. “See you later. Gotta get home.”

  “Wait!” said Brother. “We won. Don’t you want to hang around?”

  “We don’t need that twerp,” said Too-Tall. “Let him go.”

  Sister was shocked. How could Brother even think of joining the Too-Tall gang? They were the worst.

  They pushed and shoved.

  They threw hats (and hair bows) into trees.

  They even made little cubs cry.

  But what to do? She could go home and tell Mama and Papa. But that would be tattling. Besides, all Brother had done was play basketball.

  At least, so far.

  “Come on,” said Too-Tall.

  “Where are we going?” asked Brother.

  “To our secret stash,” said Too-Tall with a big grin.

  “What’s that?” asked Brother.

  “It’s where we keep our stuff,” said Skuzz.

  “What stuff is that?” asked Brother.

  “Button it up, Skuzz!” ordered Too-Tall. “We don’t want to give away the whole show.”

  Good grief! They were headed straight for Sister! She scrunched down behind the bushes. They went right by. Phew!

  “Come on, shake a leg,” said Too-Tall. “We got things to do.”

  “What things?” asked Brother. He sounded a little nervous.

  “You gotta get initiated, for one thing,” said Vinnie.

  “Initiated?” said Brother.

  “Sure,” said Smirk. “You don’t expect to get into the Too-Tall gang without gettin’ initiated.”

  “Er, what am I going to have to do?” asked Brother. Now he looked very nervous.

  “You’ll see,” said Skuzz with a nasty chuckle.

  Sister followed as close as she dared.

  What was Brother going to have to do?

  Be rude to old ladies?

  Push little cubs around?

  Cheat and tell lies?

  But there was no turning back now. She followed the Too-Tall gang and its newest member deeper and deeper into the woods.

  8

  Sister dared not get too close. Who would be madder if she got caught? Brother or the Too-Tall gang?

  The woods got thicker. The gang walked past a big sign that said: Mr. Grizzwold’s Land. NO TRESPASSING. Skuzz kicked the sign. Too-Tall laughed. Sister snuck past the sign.

  Mr. Grizzwold was grumpy. He had big dogs. He did not like trespassers. Come to think of it, he didn’t like most folks. Thornbushes seemed to reach out and grab Sister. Burs snagged her clothes.

  After a hard climb up a steep hill, they came to a hollow.

  Down in the hollow was what was left of a stone building. It looked like a springhouse, a small storehouse built over a brook.

  Gramps and Gran had a springhouse. But this one was a ruin.

  The Too-Tall gang walked up to a big hole in the wall. Brother stopped.

  “Come on,” said Too-Tall. “Our stash is in here.” Brother didn’t move.

  “Mr. Grizzwold doesn’t like cubs messing around here,” said Brother.

  “That’s because it’s haunted,” said Skuzz.

  The springhouse looked haunted. Big, dark shadows spread out in the corners. Stringy cobwebs hung all over. The roof and the walls were falling apart. Sister hoped they wouldn’t fall apart on top of Brother.

  “Mr. Grizzwold calls the police on trespassers,” said Brother. “If we get caught, we could get in a lot of trouble.”

  “Are you scared of a little ghost?” said Skuzz. He had a big, mean grin.

  Too-Tall crossed his arms. “I don’t want any little scaredy-cats on my team or in my gang,” Too-Tall said. “You have to go in the haunted springhouse for an hour to be initiated. If you are too scared, we’ll put your pants in a tree! Just like the other scaredy-cat cubs!”

  “I’m not scared,” said Brother. He crawled into the hole. Skuzz and Too-Tall crawled in after him.

  Sister could hear voices inside the springhouse, but she couldn’t see anything.

  She had to get closer. But how to do it without getting caught?

  There was a bent-over tree next to the ruin. Ever so quietly and ever so carefully, she climbed the tree.

  She inched her way along a big branch until she could see. She could hardly believe her eyes. Sister could see piles of candy and comic books. She didn’t know where the Too-Tall gang got their stash. But she knew they probably didn’t pay for it.

  “Where did you guys get all this?” asked Brother.

  “Around town,” said Skuzz. “You’re not gonna tattle, are you, Brother?”

  “N-n-no,” said Brother.

  Then take some,” said Too-Tall, and he handed Brother a big chocolate candy bar.

  Sister shifted for a better look.

  There was Brother in Mr. Grizzwold’s springhouse, eating stolen candy!

  Suddenly, Sister heard a loud CREAK! Brother and the Too-Tall gang heard it too. They all jumped up.

  “It’s the ghost!” shouted Skuzz.

  Sister couldn’t stay there.

  She had to get home.

  She inched back down the bent-over tree.

  Upset and almo
st crying, she ran back through the woods as fast as she could.

  9

  The woods fought her all the way.

  Rocks tripped her.

  Brambles scratched her.

  Branches tore at her clothes.

  She fell and skinned her knees.

  She slipped and rolled down hills. But she kept going. She had to get home.

  But what was she going to do when she got there? All her life, she had been told not to tattle. And who would believe her anyway? Who would believe that goody-goody Brother had joined the Too-Tall gang? Who would believe he was trespassing and eating stolen candy?

  By the time she got home, she was a mess. Her face was scratched. Her clothes were torn. Her hair bow was hanging loose.

  Mama and Papa heard her coming up the front steps. Sister came in the door. Mama and Papa gasped.

  “My goodness!” said Mama. “What happened to you?”

  “Where have you been?” said Papa.

  Sister sat down and began to cry. “I—I—I can’t tell you!” she sobbed.

  Mama sat beside her and hugged her.

  “Of course you can, my dear,” said Mama.

  “I—I—I can’t,” sobbed Sister. “It’s—it’s—it’s too awful!”

  “Did somebody hurt you?” asked Papa.

  Sister shook her head. Sobs shook her little body.

  “Now, now,” said Mama, leaning in close.

  “Let us help, Sister,” said Papa. “We can’t help if we don’t know what happened. Is something wrong with Brother?”

  That did it. Sister blurted out the whole story: about Brother joining the Too-Tall gang, about the initiation in the springhouse, and about the ghost.

  “Well, I’ll be!” said Papa, looking like a storm cloud.

  “Please calm down, my dear,” said Mama. “I’m sure we can deal with this.”

  Sister was still sobbing.

  “Please stop crying, sweetheart. You were right to tell us,” said Mama. “And there is no such thing as a ghost or a haunted springhouse. There is such a thing as a dangerous springhouse. Cubs can get hurt messing around in broken-down buildings. Now that we know where Brother is, we can help him.”