by Joe McGee
“Caw, caw!” said Edgar.
“Yes,” he said, “of course it is dark. We turned off the power. No power, no lights. No lights, no partying.”
“Caw, caw?” asked Edgar.
“I’ll simply light a candle,” said Baron Von Grump. “A nice, soft, soothing candle by which to play my violin. And this time, nothing will get in my way!”
Okay, hold on. You and I know that is probably not true. You and I know that someone is probably going to get in his way . . . three someones . . . and you know who they are: the Junior Monster Scouts!
Which reminds me . . . weren’t we waiting to hear what Franky was about to say? We were, weren’t we?
Franky quoted the Junior Monster Scout handbook. . . .
CHAPTER
7
“ ‘A SCOUT IS CAREFUL,’ ” HE said. “ ‘They think about what they are going to do before they do it.’ ”
“Do you think it is dangerous?” said Igor Junior.
“It could be,” said Vampyra.
“It sure looks dangerous,” Wolfy said. “Look at all of those sparks!”
“If it looks dangerous, it probably is dangerous,” said Franky.
“But if we don’t turn it off, the whole lab will be ruined!” cried Igor Junior. “That lever controls all of the extra electricity for Doctor Frankenstein’s experiments!”
“Maybe we don’t need to touch the lever,” Franky said. “Maybe we can use something else.”
“Something with a long reach,” said Wolfy.
“And light enough for Igor Junior to hold,” said Vampyra.
“Like this broom!” said Igor Junior. He held up a long push broom. “It’s light and has a long reach and just might work!”
More lightning flashed. More thunder boomed. More things sparked and hissed and groaned and creaked and popped and flashed.
“You can do it, Igor Junior,” said Vampyra.
Igor Junior reached out with the broom. He pressed it against the lever, and then he pushed.
But nothing happened.
He pushed harder.
But still nothing happened.
He pushed as hard as he could, and still the lever did not budge.
“It’s stuck,” he said. “We’ll never budge it.”
“Maybe we can help,” said Franky.
“Never say ‘never’ when friends work together!” said Wolfy.
Franky, Vampyra, and Wolfy all grabbed the broom with Igor Junior.
“On three!” said Vampyra. “One . . .”
“Two . . . ,” said Wolfy.
“Three!” said Franky.
Igor Junior and the Junior Monster Scouts pushed as hard as they could, and finally the lever moved. It clicked right back to where it was before Igor Junior pulled it.
The sparking, groaning, hissing, creaking, and popping all STOPPED. The lightning stopped flashing. The thunder stopped booming. Doctor Frankenstein’s laboratory was back to normal.
Almost. There was still a lot of mess to clean up.
“We did it!” said Vampyra.
“Thank you, Junior Monster Scouts,” said Igor Junior. “But look at this mess! I’m going to be in BIG trouble.”
“You’re not the only one in trouble right now,” said Wolfy. He pointed out the window, toward the village. “Look!”
CHAPTER
8
BARON VON GRUMP SETTLED BACK into his favorite chair. Edgar settled onto his favorite ceiling beam.
It was dark in the windmill. It was dark everywhere, now that the electricity and lights had all gone out. But it was not a spooky dark, not like the Gloomy Woods from the Junior Monster Scouts’ last adventure. This dark was like if you were hiding under your favorite blanket and you couldn’t really see anything in detail, just dark, fuzzy shapes. There was enough moonlight to make sure you didn’t stub your toe or run into a wall. But otherwise . . . it was pretty dark.
“Now this is more like it,” said Baron Von Grump. “This is just what I need. A nice, quiet, soothing place to play my music, and no villagers or Junior Monster Scouts are going to get in my way!”
“Caw, caw!” said Edgar.
“Yes,” said Baron Von Grump, “meddlesome Junior Monster Scouts always sticking their claws where they don’t belong. But not this time!”
Baron Von Grump shook his fist in the air. He was still upset about the Junior Monster Scouts ruining his last plan. If it weren’t for the Scouts, he, Baron Von Grump, would have stopped the villagers’ big cheese festival and chased them all away once and for all.
Then he took a deep breath, counted to three, and let it out. This made him feel even more relaxed. It is very important to feel relaxed when you are going to play soothing music. It is also important to stretch before you do activities.
Baron Von Grump stretched his arms out in front of him and spread his fingers wide apart. First he made tiny circles with his thumb. He went in one direction, then the other direction. Then he wiggled both of his pointer fingers, then the middles, then the ring fingers, and finally the pinkies. Then he wiggled them all at the same time. If you didn’t know that Baron Von Grump was stretching his muscles, you might have thought he was casting a spell. But he was not. He was just getting ready to play his violin.
Edgar stretched out his wings and made tiny circles with them. He was not going to play the violin. He was going to clap when Baron Von Grump was finished with his masterpiece song, and he wanted to be ready. He did not want to pull a feather while clapping.
Baron Von Grump unfastened the clasps of his old violin case and opened the lid. A soft ribbon of moonlight covered the polished wood and silvery strings.
Baron Von Grump pulled his violin from its case. He rested it against his neck and under his chin. He lifted the bow to the strings and took a deep breath. This was the moment he had been waiting for. This was his moment to create his masterpiece, a song that would make him famous. A song that everyone would love! A song that would show everyone just how good he was.
He was about to draw the bow across the strings when he stopped.
“It’s too dark,” he said.
“Caw?” said Edgar.
“Too dark,” said Baron Von Grump. “I cannot see the strings.”
“Caw, caw!”
“Yes, I know that I’m the one who made it dark in the first place,” said Baron Von Grump. “That was the idea! But it’s a little too dark . . . for me.”
“Caw!”
“Another candle!” said Baron Von Grump. “That is an excellent idea!”
Baron Von Grump set his violin down and lit another candle. Now there were two. He placed it upon the open window, next to the first candle, and prepared, once again, to play his violin.
• • •
The villagers were not about to sit around and do nothing. They marched right to that power shed . . . and stopped.
The mayor leaned forward and peered at the sign on the door.
“What does it say?” asked a villager.
“It says ‘Do not enter,’ ” said the mayor.
“Does that mean us?” asked another villager.
The mayor leaned closer and peered at the sign again.
“It says, ‘This means you,’ ” he said.
“Oh dear,” said a third villager. “Now what?”
The mayor held his hat in his hand and turned away from the power shed. “I suppose we’ll have to cancel the village birthday party and the first ever Monster Mash competition.”
CHAPTER
9
FRANKY, VAMPYRA, AND IGOR JUNIOR rushed to the window to see what Wolfy was looking at.
“All I see is darkness,” said Igor Junior.
“That’s just it,” said Wolfy. “There’s supposed to be a big birthday celebration for the village.”
“With popcorn,” Franky said. “And the first ever Monster Mash competition that I worked so hard for.”
“And a merry-go-round,” said Vampyra. “L
et’s not forget the merry-go-round.”
“That sounds fun,” said Igor Junior.
“Exactly,” said Wolfy. “But it sure doesn’t look like anyone is having fun down there.”
“What’s everyone looking at?” said a very large rat with a very large belly, munching on a wedge of cheese.
None of the Junior Monster Scouts were surprised to see him. He was the leader of all the rats and lived in the basement of Castle Dracula. He was a very nice rat, even if he had bad manners, like chewing cheese with his mouth open.
“The village,” Wolfy said. “There’s no birthday celebration.”
“It’s so dark,” said Vampyra.
“Oh yeah,” said the rat. He waved his cheese in the air. “The power is out.”
Igor Junior peered out the window. “Look! There’s a candle in the Old Windmill!”
“The villagers need light!” said Vampyra. “Electricity!”
“Good thing Doctor Frankenstein has his own power,” said Wolfy.
Franky scratched his bolts. He did this when he was thinking really hard. He thought of his mechanical monster for the village’s first ever Monster Mash competition. He thought of Doctor Frankenstein’s laboratory. He thought of what Wolfy had just said. He thought of the lever that Igor Junior was not supposed to touch but had touched anyway.
“Boris,” said Franky. (Boris was the name of the large rat with bad manners.) “Can you gather all the rats and bring them here?”
“What?” asked Boris. “Now? We’re having a cheese party!”
“You know what goes great with cheese?” asked Franky.
“More cheese?” Boris asked.
“He has a point,” said Wolfy.
“Popcorn,” said Franky. “Cheese-covered popcorn.”
“Say no more,” said Boris. He ran off to gather the rest of the rats.
Wolfy’s stomach grumbled and growled. “All this talk of popcorn is making me hungry.”
Franky wrapped his arms around his friends. “I’ve got a plan.”
CHAPTER
10
BEFORE LONG, BORIS RETURNED WITH the rest of the rats. There were a lot of rats.
“So, what’s the plan?” asked Boris.
“Yes,” said Igor Junior, “what is the plan?”
Franky smiled. “You know all that sparking, popping, spitting, hissing, crackling electricity?” he said.
“You mean the electricity that almost destroyed the laboratory?” asked Wolfy.
“Yes,” said Franky. “It just needed somewhere to go!”
“Like the village!” said Vampyra.
Igor Junior did not look happy.
“I’m not so sure, Franky,” he said. “That would mean I would have to pull that lever again.”
“But this time you would be pulling it to help someone,” said Vampyra.
“A whole village!” Wolfy said.
“And let’s not forget what that means,” said Boris the rat. “Cheesy popcorn!”
All the rats cheered. They were very excited about anything that had to do with cheese.
“Well, maybe . . . ,” said Igor Junior.
“And this time,” said Franky, “you won’t pull it alone. We’ll all do it.”
“You will?” said Igor Junior.
“We sure will,” said Wolfy.
• • •
Franky told them all his plan. It was a good plan, and soon the rats were running through the night, pulling extension cords down from the castle. The rats ran down the Crooked Trail. They ran past the graveyard, through the Gloomy Woods, and across the covered bridge. They ran right to the village, and when they got there, they did just as Franky had said. They plugged their extension cords into the festival lights, and the merry-go-round, and the popcorn machine. Especially the popcorn machine. Nobody could see the rats because it was so dark. And the rats could stay out of everyone’s way because rats are very good at sniffing and hearing in the dark. And when they were done, they ran back the way they had come, straight to Castle Dracula.
They were tired. That was a lot of running. But they knew that all that running meant delicious cheesy popcorn. You would probably run back and forth for delicious cheesy popcorn too.
Boris gave Franky a thumbs-up. He was too out of breath to speak.
“Ready?” said Franky.
“Ready,” said Igor Junior. He put his hand on the lever.
Wolfy put his hand on the lever too. Then Vampyra added her hand. And finally Franky added his.
“On three,” said Franky.
“One . . . ,” said Wolfy.
“Two . . . ,” said Vampyra.
“THREE!” said Igor Junior. “Pull that lever!”
Igor Junior and the Junior Monster Scouts pulled the lever. A bolt of lightning flickered in the sky. It hit the lightning rod at the very top of Castle Dracula. It surged down the laboratory cables. It raced along all the extension cords Boris and the rats had taken to the village.
And then?
A tremendous cheer came from the village!
CHAPTER
11
DO YOU KNOW WHY THE villagers were cheering? I’m sure you do.
Suddenly the lights were on and the village was all lit up. The merry-go-round was going round and round and up and down. The popcorn machine was pop-pop-popping away. The birthday celebration was right back on! The Monster Mash competition was back on schedule!
“Hip, hip, hooray!” cheered the mayor.
“Hip, hip, hooray!” cheered the villagers.
Go ahead—you try it. Give a big cheer. It feels good, right? Well, now you know how the villagers felt. They were very happy to have their birthday celebration back, even if they didn’t know how it had happened.
However, not everyone was happy. . . .
• • •
Baron Von Grump had been sitting in his chair. He watched the soft glow of the single candle. He held his violin against his neck and shoulder. He took a deep breath, placed the bow against the strings, and—
WHOOM! The lights of the village shone as bright as day, right in his eyes.
The violin made a horrible screech as Baron Von Grump fumbled the bow across the strings.
SPLOING! Three of his violin strings broke.
“Caw! Caw!” screeched Edgar.
POP-POP-POP-POP went the popcorn machine.
Baron Von Grump tumbled back out of his chair and landed on the floor with a THUD.
“Yeow!” he roared.
“Caw! Caw!” hollered Edgar.
Baron Von Grump jumped to his feet, scrunching his thick, black, angry eyebrows together and waving his hands in the air. “Edgar, what do you mean it’s the Junior Monster Scouts?”
“Caw, caw!”
“The power is coming from Castle Dracula?”
“Caw, caw!”
Baron Von Grump pulled at his hair. “Why, you Junior Monster Scouts! Wait until I get my hands on—”
Baron Von Grump tripped over his violin and fell face-first onto the floor with an even louder THUD.
“—youuuu,” he moaned.
CHAPTER
12
“WE DID IT!” SAID IGOR Junior.
“You certainly did!” boomed a very loud, very stern voice. “Look at this place!”
“Dad?” said Igor Junior.
Sure enough, Igor Junior’s dad, Igor Senior, stood in the laboratory doorway. And just like Baron Von Grump, he did not look happy. He was also not alone. Doctor Frankenstein was with him. So were Dracula, Frankenstein, and Wolf Man. They also did not look happy. No one was looking happy.
It was a very uncomfortable moment.
“Look at my laboratory!” said Doctor Frankenstein.
“What did I say, Igor Junior?” asked Igor Senior. “I said one thing. I said, ‘Igor Junior—’ ”
“ ‘Do not pull that lever,’ ” mumbled Igor Junior.
“And what did you do?” Igor Senior asked.
“I pulled
the lever,” said Igor Junior.
“And one more question,” said Dracula. “What’s with all the rats? I thought they lived in the basement.”
“We were promised cheesy popcorn,” said Boris.
“Yeah,” said the rest of the rats.
Now all the adults did not look as angry. They looked confused. They had no idea what cheesy popcorn had to do with anything, let alone the terrible mess in the laboratory. And they certainly had no idea why the rats would have been promised cheesy popcorn.
“That’s the thing,” said Vampyra. “Igor Junior did not pull the lever by himself.”
“He didn’t?” Igor Senior asked.
“Well, maybe the first time,” said Franky. “But then we all pulled the lever.”
“You did?” asked Frankenstein.
“Why would you do that?” Wolf Man asked. “Why would you pull the lever when you were told not to?”
“To save the village,” said Wolfy. “They needed electricity for their birthday celebration.”
“Don’t forget the cheesy popcorn!” said Boris.
“And for their popcorn machines,” said Igor Junior.
“And lights so they can judge the windup monsters for the first ever Monster Mash competition,” Franky said.
“And for their merry-go-round,” said Wolfy.
“We were just trying to help,” said Vampyra.
All the adults looked at them for a moment. Nobody said anything. They scrunched their eyebrows. They shuffled their feet. They looked at one another.
“Give us a moment, children,” said Dracula.
He and the other parents put their heads together in a huddle. They lowered their voices and talked about adult things in very low, adult tones. Sometimes they pointed. Sometimes they shrugged.
“Thanks for standing by me,” said Igor Junior to the Junior Monster Scouts.
Franky clapped him on the shoulder. “That’s what friends do.”
Finally the adults turned back around.
Dracula cleared his throat. “Okay, kids,” he said. “Because you were honest and did what you were not supposed to do for a good and helpful reason, you are not grounded. You may go to the village birthday celebration after you have helped Igor Junior clean up this mess of a laboratory.”