Judy Mood And The NOT Bummer Summer (6 page)

Judy jumped in front of the camera, sticking her arm around Stink. She grinned a big, wide, purple-Popsicle grin. “Don’t forget me! I’m a Bigfooter, too!”

“You are?” Stink asked, stunned.

“It’s Judy Moody, with a J. And a
U-D-Y
,” Judy told the newscaster.

“Yes, uh-huh. Good luck, kids! We’ll check in with you later! This is Jess Higginbottom Clark, WH20, live for NewsBeat.”

“Hey, you two just might be on TV,” Opal told them. “We’ll have to watch the news tonight.”

Stink turned to Judy. “Since when are you a Bigfooter?”

“Since one minute ago. I just had the biggest brainstorm ever. Catching Bigfoot’s worth like a million thrill points. Summer’s almost over, Stink. This is my
absolute last chance
to get points. If we catch Bigfoot, I might even win the race!”

“Huh?” said Stink.

“Never mind,” said Judy. “Just. Tell. Me. Everything!”

Judy and Stink sat in the Cave in the back of Fur & Fangs, waiting for the Bigfoot Believers meeting to begin. “One more thing,” Stink told Judy. “Dogs always howl whenever they see Bigfoot. Page forty-two.”

Just then, Zeke banged a gavel down on the table.

“Okay, Bigfooters. The Tuesday night meeting is officially called to order.” Zeke turned to a retired couple. They were both wearing
BOWLING
FOR
BIGFOOT
T-shirts and had cameras around their necks.

“Rose and Herb?”

“Present.”

“Stink?”

“Present.”

“New member?”

“Judy Moody. Present.”

Judy whispered to Stink. “Where is everybody?”

“What do you mean? This is it. This is our club.”

“Weirdness,” said Judy.

“Rose? Do you have a report?” Zeke asked.

Rose stood and opened a large flowered flip pad. “Three new sightings! It’s the most we’ve gotten in one week.”

“Excellent!” said Zeke. “Give me the coordinates.”

“One woman saw Bigfoot taking laundry off her line at fifty-seven Ashberry Road, about a mile east of the mall. Someone else saw something large and furry at the dump.” Zeke stuck pins in a map as she called out the locations. “The third
SWEARS
he saw Bigfoot last night at the corner of Croaker and Jefferson.”

Judy gasped. Stink jumped to his feet, toppling his chair. “
CROAKER
and JEFFERSON? That’s where we live!” Stink shouted. Herb snapped a picture.

“Whoa! You two could conduct an all-night surveillance!” said Zeke. “Are you up for it?”

“You mean like a stakeout?” Stink asked. “With a tent and binoculars and emergency sirens and whistles and stuff?” Zeke nodded.

Judy and Stink high-fived each other. “Yes! All right! Thrill-o-RAMA!”

“Excellent. Herb and Rose? You’re in charge of equipment.”

Herb saluted smartly. “We’ve got all the right stuff out in the van.”

Judy and Stink followed Herb and Rose out to their van in the parking lot.

“Do we get to use night-vision goggles?” Stink asked.

“Yes, sirree,” said Herb. He opened the back of the van. “Camouflage netting, night-vision goggles, camcorder, whistles, thermos for coffee… .”

“Herb! They don’t drink coffee,” Rose chided.

“We did one time when we were waiting for Santa,” Judy reported. “It was blucky.” She stuck out her tongue.

“Okay, then,” said Zeke. “Looks like you’re all set.” He hopped onto a black Vespa and put on his helmet, ready to leave.
Vroom!
“Good luck, little dude. You, too, Moody girl! Call me if you see anything. Day or night.”

“That’s the lot,” said Herb, handing over one last flashlight. “Remember, if you need backup, this van is at your service.”

“August sixth, 8:13 p.m. The trap is set… and the Bigfoot stakeout has officially begun. This is Stink Moody, reporting live from the Moody backyard.”

“Stink!” said Judy. “Say that we hung up thirty-eight peanut butter jars for Bigfoot bait. And that you’re pretending to be a berry bush.”

Stink panned the camera over to Judy, who was staggering around, wearing the night-vision goggles. “Hey! You look like Owl Girl or something!”

Judy tripped and stumbled. “These don’t work. I can’t see a thing!”

“That’s because it’s not all-the-way dark yet, Owl Girl.”

Aunt Opal came outside, holding a baby monitor. “Aunt Opal! Wave to the camera!” Stink called.

Aunt Opal waved. “Stink, you make a
berry
nice bush.”

“Hardee-har-har,” said Stink.

“Okay, kids. Let’s go over our plans. You two will stay in the tent.”

“Check,” said Stink.

“If you see or hear ANYthing, call me immediately on the walkie-talkie.”

“Check,” said Stink.

“Hey, that’s Stink’s old baby monitor!” Judy said.

“Whatev. Now, what’s our secret signal?”

Stink held the button on the monitor. “Code red! Code red!” he yelled.

“Perfect. The minute I hear that, I’ll be down in a flash to help.”

“Your mood ring’s orange!” said Stink. “That means you’re scared.”

“Nah-uh,” said Judy. “But, Aunt Opal, what happens if you fall asleep and Bigfoot attacks us and we’re half-eaten before you get downstairs?”

Stink scoffed. “He won’t attack us. I’ve been practicing Bigfoot sign language.” Stink placed his hand over his heart. “This means ‘I am your friend.’”

Judy rubbed her stomach. “This means ‘Your head was delicious.’”

“Nobody’s going to get eaten,” said Aunt Opal. “Now, remember our vow.” Aunt Opal, Judy, and Stink crossed their hearts and fist-bumped.

“We will
NOT
. Fall. ASLEEP!” they said all together.

A half hour later, the house was dark. The tent was dark. Judy and Stink were sprawled on top of their sleeping bags, fast asleep.

All of a sudden, the rattle of a garbage can startled Judy awake. She, Judy Moody, heard creepy sounds. A cat screeched. Gravel crunched.

She tried to nudge Stink awake. “Stink! Wake up! Something’s out there!

“ZZZZZzzz!” Stink rolled over on his side.

“Code red.
CODE
RED!” Judy whispered into the baby monitor. She pressed the button to listen. But all she could hear was Aunt Opal snoring!

Judy grabbed a large butterfly net and unzipped the tent. She poked her head out of the tent flap and looked through her night-vision goggles. Spooky! The world was neon green and dark black. Sure enough, moving across the lawn was an oddly shaped, fuzzy, glow-in-the-dark creature.

“Holy macaroni! It’s… it’s him! Code Bigfoot!
CODE
BIGFOOT!”

The fuzzy, green, luminous creature approached the tree, bumping into one peanut butter jar after another. “Hey! Ow! Ow! Ow!”

Judy leaped into action. Racing to the tree, she lunged forward and
SWOOSH!
She slammed the butterfly net down over the creature’s head!

“GOTCHA!”

“Aghhhhhhh!” All of a sudden, the hammock came down out of the tree, knocking Judy and the creature to the ground.

“Ahhhhhhh!” Judy yelled. The creature yelled, too.

“Bigfoot!” Stink called. Stink charged out of the tent, flashlight in one hand, monitor in the other. “
CODE
RED!
CODE
RED!
CODE
RED!” he called, rushing over to the tree in his bunny slippers.

Trapped under the net, beneath the tree, was a thrashing, kicking, yelling, two-headed monster. Stink flipped on the flashlight, grabbed a corner of the hammock, and yanked it back.

“Hey! Get off me!” said the monster.

Judy yanked off the night goggles. “Fraannnk?”

“Juuudy?”

“Bigfoot?” said Stink.

“What are you doing here, Frank?”

“I, um, my dad took me back to the theater to pick up our backpacks, and I saw the house was dark, so I thought I’d just drop it off in your tent or something so you’d find it, only I bumped into a jar and then you hair-netted me!”

“Sorry. I thought you were Bigfoot,” said Judy.

Stink bounced the beam back and forth between them. “Ha! You scared Judy’s pants off, Frank!”

“Not,” said Judy.

“Ya-huh! I
HEARD
you! You were screaming your
HEAD
off —”

All of a sudden, they heard a loud cracking noise, coming from the deep, dark woods. Stink looked at Judy, eyes wide. Judy looked at Stink.

“Bigfoot,” Stink dared to whisper.

“No way. That was an owl.”

Just then, an owl hooted. “
THAT
was an owl. Or Bigfoot pretending to BE an owl!” Stink said.

“Let’s go!”

Judy and Stink grabbed their gear and bolted for the woods. “Are you coming, Frank?” Judy asked. “It’s worth mega-mega-thrill points!”

“I, um, sure, I’d like to and everything, but um…” A car honked. “That’s my dad. Gotta go! Bye!”

Judy and Stink tiptoed across the backyard. They crept closer and closer to the tree line. At the edge of the woods, they stopped to listen.

“Maybe it was really
WAS
an owl, Stink.”

“Nuh-uh. That was
HIM
. I know it. Bigfoot is famous for his owl sounds. Page forty-two.” Judy and Stink craned their necks, peering into the darkness.

“You go first. I’ll hold the light,” said Judy.

“You go first. I’m filming,” said Stink, turning on the camcorder.

“Okay, Scaredy-Pants. But stay close.”

Stink clung to the back of Judy’s pj’s with one hand, filming with the other. They inched into the woods. Stink’s costume hooked onto a tree and… 
SNAP!

“
WHAT
WAS
THAT?” Stink whispered.

“Shhhhh! You’ll scare Bigfoot!”

Judy and Stink tiptoed farther and farther into the gloom, taking shorter and shorter breaths. “Stop. Look. There!” She moved the light across a large patch of matted grass. “Is this some kind of bed or something?”

“Ye-ah. A Bigfoot bed. Page thirteen. This must be where he sleeps.”

Judy swallowed hard. “Then wh-where is he?”

“Maybe he heard us coming. He’s probably watching us right now.” Stink touched his hand to his heart. “Mr. Bigfoot? We come in peace!”

The wind whistled through the trees.

“Hello? Can you hear me?” Stink tried again.

Suddenly, a furry creature swung from a tree branch, brushing Judy’s head and bumping the camera.

“AHHHHHHHH!” Judy and Stink dropped everything and ran, screaming, out of the woods. They ran across the creek, over the lawn, up the back steps, through the kitchen, up the stairs, and straight into Judy’s room.

SLAM!
Their screaming didn’t stop until they were both huddled under the covers on Judy’s bottom bunk. Judy scooped up Mouse and held him tight.

“And then,” Stink told Aunt Opal the next morning, “we got so scared, we ran out of the woods and all the way upstairs and I had a sleepover in Judy’s room.”

“Aunt Opal, you missed it! You slept through the whole thing.”

“Good thing I filmed it,” said Stink. “There! See? That’s his bed!”

“Are you sure?” asked Opal. “It looks like woods to me.”

“He was there — I know it! Ask Judy.”

“All I know is I got a possum hairbrush and
ZERO
thrill points.”

Aunt Opal smiled. “Well, don’t give up, you two. It can take years to catch a monster.”

“Years?” said Judy. “I need thrill points
A-S-A-P
, as in
N-O-W
.” All of a sudden, Judy stared out the window. Dogs started barking and howling.

Right there, before her very own eyes, in front of her very own house, a tall, furry gorilla creature with enormous feet dashed down the sidewalk! A pack of howling dogs nipped at his heels.

“Code Bigfoot!” yelled Stink. “After him!”

In a blur they all scrambled for the door. “After him! Go-go-go-go-go!” Judy yelled. Judy, Stink, and Opal tore down the street after him.

Bigfoot and the dogs turned the corner. “We have to catch him before he gets to Main Street! Cars will drive him cuckoo! Page twelve!” Stink shouted.

Tingalinga, ding! Ding! Ding!

Stink, Judy, and Opal screeched to a stop. She, Judy Moody, could not believe her eyes. The ice-cream truck had stopped at a red light. Bigfoot was waving his arms, flagging it down. He hopped right onto the ice-cream truck, barely escaping the yowling, howling dogs.

“Did you see that? Bigfoot hijacked the ice-cream truck!” Stink yelled.

“We’ll never catch him now,” said Judy as the truck pulled away.

“Never say never,” said Opal as Jessica Finch rode by on her bike. Opal threw up her hand. “STOP!”

Jessica slammed on her brakes, squealing to a stop.

“I’m afraid we need this bike,” said Opal. “It’s an emergency.”