Continental Drift

by Susan Korman

  ICE AGE™

  CONTINENTAL DRIFT

  THE JUNIOR NOVEL

  ADAPTED BY

  SUSAN KORMAN

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Photographic Insert

  Copyright

  About the Publisher

  Chapter 1

  “Whoa!” Manny cried. The woolly mammoth’s eyes snapped open one morning as a loud, rumbling noise shook the valley around him. “What was that?” He whirled toward his mate, Ellie. “Did you hear that sound?”

  “I heard it, Manny,” Ellie said. “But whatever it is, it’s miles away.”

  “Peaches?” Manny’s eyes darted nervously to the tree branch where his teenage daughter slept. “Are you alright?”

  The branch was empty, sending Manny into a fresh panic. “Where is she?” he cried. “It’s early! No teenager ever wakes up this early!”

  “Easy, warden,” Ellie teased him. “This isn’t prison. Peaches is not on lockdown, remember?”

  But Manny was already in action, moving toward another branch, the one where the possums, Crash and Eddie, slept.

  Whack! Manny hit the tree hard with his trunk, instantly waking up the two brothers.

  “You two are supposed to be responsible uncles!” Manny yelled. “Why weren’t you watching Peaches?”

  “Huh? What?” Crash blinked as he shook himself awake. “I didn’t see a thing,” he said. “Really, Manny. I didn’t see Peaches sneak off fifteen or twenty minutes ago.”

  “Me either,” Eddie chimed in. “I didn’t see her sneak off with Louis and head to the Falls either.”

  “The Falls!” Manny shrieked. “She went to the Falls? That’s where all the delinquents go!”

  “Relax, Manny,” Ellie said calmly. “It’s just where kids hang out.”

  “Oh no, it isn’t!” Manny shot back. “It’s a gateway hangout that leads right to trouble! First, it’s hanging out at the Falls, and then, it’s piercing her trunk. The next thing you know, Peaches will be addicted to berries!”

  “Manny,” Ellie said. She couldn’t help laughing at him. “You’re overreacting. Peaches is not going to be your little girl forever.”

  “I know that,” Manny informed his mate. “And that’s exactly what worries me!”

  “Whoa! This is fun!” In another part of the valley, Peaches was grinning as she swung from tree branch to tree branch. Looking down, she could see her best friend burrowing along in the ground directly below her.

  “Hey, Louis!” Peaches said, teasing the molehog. “Would you get your head out of the ground for once and try to have a little fun?”

  Louis popped up suddenly, bumping his head on a tree root. “Ow,” he muttered. Then he looked up at Peaches. “I’m a molehog,” he reminded her. “And my idea of fun isn’t risking death so that you can meet some cute mammoth.”

  “Ethan isn’t cute,” Peaches corrected Louis. “He’s hot! Besides,” she went on, “You can’t spend your whole life playing it safe.”

  “I know I would,” a voice suddenly boomed.

  “Dad!” Peaches cried. Manny stood in front of her, a furious look on his face. “There’s no reason to be mad!” Peaches said quickly.

  Manny continued glaring at her. “You know how I feel about you going to the Falls, Peaches,” he said. “Especially alone.”

  “She’s not alone, sir,” Louis piped up.

  “You don’t count,” Manny snapped at the rodent. Then he turned back to Peaches. “Come on, young lady. We’re going home where I can keep an eye on you.”

  With a sigh, Peaches turned around and began to follow her father back home. Louis stared uncertainly after them for a second. “Sir?” he finally called to Manny. “Should I just stay here, or—”

  A loud rumble interrupted him. Terrified, Louis ducked back into the ground and began burrowing deep into the earth.

  Chapter 2

  Diego the saber-toothed tiger leaped across some boulders and stared down over the valley. A loud rumble, growing even louder by the second, echoed all around him. The saber-toothed tiger lifted his head and roared back.

  “You don’t scare me, Mother Nature!” he declared boldly. “There’s nothing you can throw at me that I can’t handle!”

  Crash! Just then a sled loaded with sloths burst through some nearby bushes. Before Diego could get out of its path, the sled slammed into him. Diego gripped the front of the sled, desperately trying to hang on as it carried him along.

  “I think we’re almost there,” the mother sloth, Eunice, was saying to the rest of the family.

  “We’d better be almost there,” the father, Milton, retorted. “I just lost the sled’s steering!”

  A grandmother sloth was tied to the top of the sled. “Has anyone seen Precious?” she called out. “It’s her feeding time.”

  “Mom!” Marshall, the boy sloth, whined. “Granny is talking about her dead pet again!”

  The sled was streaking toward a sickening drop.

  “Paws up, everybody!” the sloth named Uncle Fungus yelled, raising his arms and pretending he was on a roller coaster.

  “Ew!” Marshall cried as he sniffed Fungus’s armpits. “Paws down, Uncle, please! That is nasty!”

  The sled suddenly went airborne. “Be careful, Milton!” Eunice called out. “The sled is going to hurt somebody. . . . Ahhh!”

  Wham! Eunice let out a startled scream as she saw what they hit. Diego was still clinging to the front of the sled. But now he was frantically trying to climb aboard before the sled crashed into something else.

  Boom!

  The sled hit a tall rock. Diego was thrown to the back of the sled, and so was Granny, both of them tangled in vines. As the sled started moving again, the other sloths leaned hard to the side, trying to keep it from tipping over.

  Just then, Diego spotted Manny marching Peaches toward home. Ellie stood there, waiting for the two of them.

  “So tell me, Dad,” Peaches was asking in frustration. “When exactly will I be allowed to hang out with boys?”

  “When I’m dead,” Manny informed her. “Plus three days, just to make sure that I’m dead.”

  Oh no, thought Diego. The sled is headed right at Peaches! Springing into action, Diego flung himself at a nearby tree and gripped its trunk tightly. The vine entangling him pulled taut, instantly stopping the sled. As it halted—just inches from Peaches—the family of sloths flew off, slamming into Manny and knocking him down.

  “Manny!” Ellie cried, racing over. “Are you okay?”

  Manny climbed to his feet, brushing off sloths. “Get off my face,” he snapped at them. Diego was just as annoyed at the sloth family. He stuck his face into Uncle Fungus’s face. “That was fun,” the saber-toothed tiger said sarcastically. “Now which one of you should I eat first?”

  “Uncle Fungus?” a familiar voice called. “Could that really be you?”

  Manny looked up as someone pushed his way through the small crowd gathered around the sloths.

  “Excuse me . . . sorry . . .” It was Sid. “Mom! Dad! Marshall!” he cried.

  Manny blinked in surprise. Sid knew these sloths?

  “Granny’s here, too!” Sid cried in excitement. “Wow! My whole family is here!”
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br />   Manny and his family watched in amazement as Sid gathered the other sloths into a big hug. “See,” Manny said, nudging Peaches. “Sid still hugs his parents.”

  Eunice was gazing lovingly at Sid. “I never thought I’d see my little baby again,” she gushed. “We’ve been searching everywhere for you!”

  “You have?” said Sid, beaming. “I knew it! Deep down I knew I wasn’t abandoned.”

  The other sloths stepped out of his hug.

  “That’s incorrect,” his brother, Marshall, said. “We totally abandoned you.”

  “Then, for a couple of years,” Milton chimed in, “we actively avoided you.”

  “But we always missed you,” Eunice added, elbowing her mate hard. “Isn’t that right, Milton?”

  “Oh yes!” said Milton. “And we just knew Sid would want to see his poor dear granny before . . . um . . . well, before her time is up.”

  “I’ll bury you all and dance on your graves!” Granny snapped.

  “See, Sid?” Eunice chimed in. “Granny can’t wait to spend time with you.”

  They all looked over at Granny. While Marshall was busy using a piece of ice as a magnifying glass to burn ants, Granny was busy using a piece of ice to burn Marshall’s ear.

  “Ow!” Marshall cried, making Granny laugh gleefully.

  Milton brought Granny over to Sid. “Why don’t you show her your cave?” he suggested. “She could use a nap.”

  “Sure!” Sid said. He began leading his grandmother away. “I’ve got so much to tell you, Granny,” he said. “A lot has happened since the last time I saw you.”

  Granny shook her head. “I’m not interested,” she told Sid.

  As soon as Sid and Granny were out of earshot, the other sloths cheered.

  “Yahoo!” Milton cried. “We got rid of the crazy old bat. Let’s go! Move, everybody!”

  Sid’s friends watched in disbelief as the four sloths jumped back onto the sled.

  “Wait!” cried Manny. “You can’t just leave. Sid will be crushed.”

  “Sorry, cookie,” Eunice replied. “Things are breaking apart back home.”

  “So we’re heading inland,” Milton added. “And Granny is just dead weight.”

  “See you!” Eunice added brightly. They waved good-bye and then the sloths took off again. But before they disappeared from view, Milton glanced back over his shoulder one more time. “You’d better warn the community,” he called. “Granny tends to stray!”

  Chapter 3

  Manny stood there with Diego and Ellie, staring after the sloths’ sled.

  “Well, that explains a lot about Sid,” murmured Diego.

  A moment later Sid was back with Granny. “Mom! Dad!” he called. “Do you have Granny’s teeth? She can’t find them anywhere.”

  Toothless, Granny was trying to chew some fruit. Finally, she took the food out of her mouth and shoved it at Sid. “Hey! Can you chew this thing for me?”

  Sid backed away in disgust. “Guys?” he said, looking around for his family again. “Hello?” Suddenly, he glanced uncertainly at his friends. “Where is everyone?” he asked.

  Manny and Ellie looked at each other. Neither one of them wanted to tell Sid the upsetting truth.

  “I’ll handle this,” Diego said bravely. “Sid, I’m sorry,” he said, looking directly into Sid’s eyes. “But your family was wiped out by an asteroid.”

  “What?” Sid blinked in confusion.

  Manny jumped in. “What Diego is trying to say, Sid, is that your family left. They only wanted to find you so you could take care of Granny,” he explained.

  “Oh, come on!” Sid scoffed. “What kind of sick family would come and ditch their old granny on someone? That’s just . . .” His words trailed off for a second as he thought about it. “My kind of sick family would do that,” he added with a sigh.

  “At least you still have Granny, right, buddy?” Diego put in gently.

  Sid looked over at his grandmother. But to his surprise, she was gone. “Granny!” he called. “Where are you?”

  “Wow,” Ellie said. “For an old girl, Granny moves fast.” Soon everyone had joined in the search. “Granny! Where are you?”

  “Come out, come out, wherever you are,” Sid called.

  The only reply was another distant rumble from the ground.

  At last, Sid tried something new. “Here, Granny. I have prunes for you.” He spat some chewed prunes into his hand and held them out, hoping to tempt her. “And they’re prepared just the way you like them!”

  Manny looked away in disgust. “I don’t want to see that,” he muttered. Manny scanned the landscape one more time. Suddenly, he gasped. “Oh no!”

  Everyone looked over anxiously, expecting to see that something terrible had happened to poor Granny. But something else had caught Manny’s eye. It was Peaches and Louis—sneaking back to the Falls!

  As they walked along, Louis was trying to persuade Peaches to turn around. “What if your dad finds out?” he asked her. “Have you fully considered this, Peaches?”

  “Wait! Shh!” Peaches shushed Louis so she could listen to something. “Do you hear that?”

  The two of them peered down below an overlook. Steep ridges surrounded tar pools and clusters of sharp rocks. A bunch of teenagers were hanging out near a frozen waterfall, playing and listening to music.

  Peaches scanned the crowd and quickly located a mammoth with stylish hair. “Hey, look, Louis,” she said excitedly. “There’s Ethan!”

  Louis had spotted Ethan, too. The mammoth was standing near a group of girls, and they were all watching an elk slide down the frozen waterfall.

  “Wow. . . ,” everyone murmured as the elk launched himself high into the air.

  “See,” Peaches said to Louis. “It’s fun here, not dangerous.”

  Just then a geyser shot up from a tar pool, hitting the elk and knocking him out of the air. Everyone gasped as he crashed to the ground.

  Louis shot Peaches a look.

  “I’m sure he’s fine,” Peaches told Louis quickly.

  Ethan was grinning and shaking his head in amazement as the elk got up and wobbled around. “You did not just do that! That was crazy!” Ethan exclaimed, giving him a high five.

  “Isn’t Ethan perfect?” Peaches asked with a dreamy sigh.

  “‘Perfect’ is a strong word,” Louis muttered. “How about ‘adequate’?”

  Crash and Eddie were hiding in some nearby bushes. Eddie was confused. “Who are we stalking?” he asked. “Is it Ethan?”

  Crash answered, “I bet it’s Ethan.” He caught sight of Louis and greeted him. “Oh hey, Louis.”

  “Hey!” Peaches cried. “What are you two doing here?” she demanded.

  “Manny told us to keep an eye on you,” Eddie explained.

  “But not to let you see us,” Crash said.

  “Under any circumstances,” Eddie added.

  The two possums looked at each other, realizing they had blown their cover. “Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!” they cried, smacking each other.

  Ignoring the possums, Peaches turned back to the Falls. She took a deep breath to calm herself. “Okay,” she said. “I’m going for it. Do I look okay, Louis?”

  Louis glanced at her adoringly. “‘Okay’ doesn’t even begin to cover it.”

  Peaches beamed at the molehog. “Oh, Louis, you’re the greatest friend ever!”

  Louis forced himself to smile. “That’s me! A great friend!”

  Peaches started toward the ridge, muttering to herself as she rehearsed what she was going to say to Ethan. “Hi, Ethan! My name is Peaches. What’s yours?” Then she shook her head, disgusted with the way she sounded. “Ugh! What am I doing? Okay,” she told herself. “Just be cool. Just be—aagh!”

  Peaches let out a scream as she suddenly tumbled over the ridge. She landed hard on the slippery waterfall slide. “Ow! Ow! Ow!” she cried, bumping her way down the frozen surface.

  The group of teenagers looked up and stared a
t Peaches flying backward down the slide. Then a few let out a loud cheer. They thought she was doing some kind of crazy stunt!

  “Yo,” Ethan murmured. “That’s intense.”

  “Ow, ow, ow!” Peaches kept yelling. “This hurts so much!” A second later she sailed off the slide, heading right at the tar geysers.

  “No, no, no!” Peaches cried, frantically cartwheeling through the geysers. A second later she finally landed—right on top of Ethan!

  Chapter 4

  Whoa . . . ,” Ethan murmured. Stunned, he shook his head and blinked at Peaches. “What just happened?”

  “Gross,” one of the teenage mammoth girls said loudly when she saw Peaches. “It’s that weirdo who chills with possums.”

  Peaches tried to get up. “Oh no . . . ,” she said, realizing that her tusks were locked with Ethan’s. “Oh, Ethan, I am so sorry. . . . Wow!” She blushed as she gazed into the handsome mammoth’s eyes. “You’re even better looking up close!” she blurted out. “You’re phenomenal! I mean—”

  Ethan stared at her in a daze, his vision still blurred. “Why do I see two of you?” he mumbled.

  “Am I interrupting something?” an angry voice growled.

  Oh no. Peaches’s heart sank as her father approached. “Dad!” Quickly, she tried again to free her tusks from Ethan’s.

  Once Manny stood in front of them, Ethan’s vision seemed to clear instantly. “Oh boy,” he said with a gulp. “Okay . . . uh . . . I . . . um . . .”

  Manny yanked on Peaches to pull her away, but her tusks were still interlocked with Ethan’s.

  “Sorry.” Peaches flushed and apologized again to Ethan. She stared at the tusks for a second, trying to figure out how they could pull them apart. “If I just move left . . . ,” she murmured. “No, you go left.”