Going Batty Page 2

  “Veloorp,” George called.

  “Veloorp!” Katie echoed back at the top of her lungs.

  “I hear Katie Kazoo!” George shouted. He started running toward the sound of her voice.

  “I hear Katie Kazoo!” Katie shouted back to him.

  Then she ducked down so George missed grabbing her. She didn’t want a bat—even a make-believe bat like George—to catch her today!

  Chapter 5

  “I don’t know how you guys learn anything in your class,” Suzanne said to Katie, George, and Kevin. It was Saturday morning. A bunch of the fourth-graders had come to Katie’s house to bake animal cookies. “All you ever do is play games.”

  “We learn a lot,” Katie told Suzanne. Everyone was sitting at the kitchen table, lining up bowls and measuring spoons and all the stuff for baking cookies. “And we’re going to prove it to you when we all go to the zoo on Monday. Our class is going to tell your class about the nocturnal animals.”

  “Well, we’re going to tell you about the animals that are awake during the daytime,” Suzanne said. “And we’re going to have lots of information. We spent the whole morning in the school library yesterday.”

  “We spent the morning out on the field,” George said.

  “That’s what I mean,” Suzanne continued. “What can you learn on a field?”

  “Actually, we learned all about bats and echolocation,” Katie told her.

  “What’s that?” Becky asked Katie.

  Katie handed Kevin the flour from one of the cabinets. She opened her mouth to answer Becky. But Suzanne butted in before she could say a word.

  “Who cares what it is?” Suzanne said. “The class 4B kids definitely have the better animals to study. While your class is stuck learning about yucky night animals like bats, we’re learning about cute day animals.”

  “That’s true,” Becky said. “Like horses. They’re my favorite!”

  “We know,” Suzanne said, rolling her eyes. “You’re always talking about your horseback riding lessons—when you’re not talking about gymnastics, that is.”

  Katie frowned. Obviously, Suzanne was still mad about what had happened on the monkey bars yesterday.

  “Well at least I’m good at something,” Becky said. “I have medals for gymnastics and ribbons for my horseback riding.”

  “Oh yeah?” Suzanne started. “Well I . . .”

  “Speaking of horses,” George butted in. “Do you guys know what it means when you find a horseshoe?”

  “What?” Kevin asked.

  “It means some horse is walking around in just his socks!” George answered. Then he started laughing at his own joke.

  Ding-dong. Just then the doorbell rang.

  “I’ll get it,” Mrs. Carew told the kids. “You guys keep on measuring that flour.”

  “Will do, Mom,” Katie said.

  A few seconds later the kids heard Katie’s mom say, “Hi, Jeremy. You’re just in time to help mix the dough.”

  “Great,” Jeremy said. “I came here as soon as my soccer game was over.”

  Katie was really glad Jeremy had shown up to be part of the cooking club this week. But she wasn’t nearly as happy as Becky was.

  “Jeremy!” Becky squealed. “You’re here!” Then she raised up her arms, and flipped over.

  It was a perfect back handspring—until Becky’s foot tapped the table leg, knocking off the bag of flour.

  “Hey!” George shouted out as a stream of white flour poured onto his black jeans.

  “Whoops,” Becky said as she stood up straight. “Sorry about that.”

  George looked down at his black-and-white legs and frowned. Then, suddenly he smiled. “Do you guys know what’s black and white with red dots?” he asked the kids.

  “What?” Katie asked him.

  “A zebra with chicken pox!” George said. He started laughing again.

  Katie, Jeremy, Becky, and Kevin all laughed, too. But Suzanne wasn’t in the mood to laugh. She was in the mood to be angry with Becky.

  “Now that Becky’s spilled all the flour, what are we supposed to use for our cookies?” Suzanne asked.

  “Don’t worry,” Katie’s mom told Suzanne. “I have another bag.”

  “I’ll clean up the mess, Mrs. Carew,” Becky said. “Where’s the broom?”

  “In the closet,” Mrs. Carew said, pointing toward the broom closet in the corner of the room.

  “I told you Becky was a show-off,” Suzanne whispered to Katie. Only her whisper wasn’t a quiet whisper. It was a loud one. Suzanne wanted to make sure Becky heard her.

  Katie couldn’t take it anymore. She had to get away from Suzanne and Becky, and all the fighting. So she headed off toward the living room.

  “Where are you going, Katie Kazoo?” George asked her.

  “To the computer,” Katie told him. “I want to go on the Cherrydale Zoo website. I’m going to make cookies that look like nocturnal animals. I want to print out some pictures.”

  “Good idea,” Kevin said. “Can you print out a picture of a raccoon for me?”

  “Sure,” Katie told him.

  While Becky cleaned up, and the other kids began to mix the batter, Katie went on to the zoo website. As soon as the animal pictures popped up on her screen, Katie began to smile.

  “Wow!” she exclaimed. “This is sooooo cool!”

  “What is?” Suzanne shouted. She ran into the living room.

  So did all the other kids. They wanted to know what Katie was so excited about.

  Chapter 6

  The kids were staring at the computer screen.

  “What’s the big deal?” Kevin asked Katie.

  “Look!” Katie answered. “The zoo is giving people the chance to adopt an animal.”

  Just then, Katie’s dog Pepper came running into the room. He raced over to Katie and rubbed his little brown and white cocker spaniel body against her jeans.

  Katie bent down and scratched his chin. “Don’t worry, Pepper,” she said. “I don’t mean I would adopt a tiger and bring him home. If you adopt a zoo animal, the animal stays at the zoo.”

  “How do you adopt an animal if it doesn’t live with you?” George asked.

  Katie scrolled down a little on the screen. “See, it explains it all here,” Katie told him. “You can donate money to the zoo to help care for an animal. Then the zoo sends you pictures of your animal, and information about him. Best of all, you get to name the animal.”

  The other kids didn’t seem nearly as excited as Katie did.

  “Nobody loves animals the way you do, Katie,” Jeremy said. “Are you going to do it?”

  Katie shook her head. “I can’t. It costs twenty dollars to adopt a zoo animal,” she said. “I only have seven dollars of my birthday money left.”

  “That’s too bad,” Jeremy told her. “It would have been a really nice thing to do. That’s what I like about you, Katie. You’re always so nice.”

  Becky turned and looked at Jeremy for a minute. Then she smiled at Katie. “I have some of my birthday money left,” she said. “Maybe we could adopt an animal together.”

  “Wow!” Katie exclaimed. “You would do that?”

  “Sure,” Becky told her. “I’m nice, too.” She grinned at Jeremy.

  Jeremy blushed. He pushed his glasses up on his nose and stared at the floor.

  “Thanks,” Katie said to Becky. “How much do you have?”

  “Six dollars,” Becky said.

  Katie frowned. “That only makes thirteen dollars. It’s still not enough.”

  “I’m broke or I would chip in,” Kevin told Katie and Becky. “It’s really cool that you guys want to help a zoo animal.”

  Suzanne had heard enough. “Oh, please. They’re not the only ones who want to help animals. I’m nice, too!” she exclaimed. “In fact, I’m going to donate seven dollars that my aunt gave me last Christmas.”

  “Wow! Suzanne, that is nice of you,” George said. He sounded surprised.

  S
uzanne smiled sweetly at George. Well, as sweetly as Suzanne could smile, anyway. “I know,” she told him.

  Katie thought for a minute. “I have seven dollars. Becky has six. And now with Suzanne’s seven dollars, we have twenty dollars! That’s just enough. We did it!”

  “Yay!” Becky shouted.

  “Once again, I saved the day,” Suzanne reminded Becky and Katie.

  Katie laughed. That was such a Suzanne thing to say. But it was also true.

  “What animal should we adopt?” Becky wondered. “How about a monkey? I love the way they swing from tree to tree.”

  “I’d rather adopt a peacock,” Suzanne suggested. “They’re so elegant and pretty.”

  “A peacock?” Becky asked her. “They’re too fancy. And they always look kind of snobby to me.”

  “Why don’t we adopt an animal that’s not so cute or pretty?” Katie suggested. “Like a rhinoceros.”

  Becky and Suzanne both stared at her.

  “Why would we want to do that?” Suzanne asked.

  “Because no one else would want to,” Katie explained. “Cute monkeys or beautiful birds will always get someone to adopt them. But animals that aren’t so cute need to be adopted, too.”

  “You didn’t feel that way when you adopted Pepper,” Suzanne said. “You told me he was the cutest animal at the Cherrydale Animal Shelter.”

  “He was,” Katie admitted. “Pepper was a really adorable puppy. But I think a baby rhinoceros could be cute, too.”

  “To who?” Becky asked her.

  Katie thought about that for a minute. “I guess to a mommy rhinoceros,” she said finally.

  “I don’t want to adopt a rhinoceros,” Suzanne said. “They’re too ugly with those weird horns and their thick skin. What about a flamingo? They’re that gorgeous pink color. I’ve always looked pretty in pink.”

  “So go to the mall and buy a dress,” Becky said. “I want to adopt a cuddly animal.”

  “You don’t get to hold the animal, Becky,” Suzanne said.

  Grrrr. Katie couldn’t stand it any more. No matter what was going on, Suzanne and Becky just kept fighting about it.

  “Look you guys, we don’t have to decide this today,” she said finally. “The whole fourth grade is going to the zoo on Monday. We can check out the animals there, and then decide.”

  “Maybe seeing them in person will help you pick the right animal,” Jeremy told the girls.

  “I’m sure you’re right, Jeremy,” Becky cooed. “You’re so smart.”

  Jeremy rolled his eyes and turned away from her.

  “Can we go bake some cookies now?” Kevin asked. “This is supposed to be a cooking club, remember?”

  “Yeah!” George agreed. “I’m going to make one cookie shaped like a peacock, one shaped like a monkey, and one shaped like a rhino.

  I like them all the same—especially when they’re sprinkled with sugar!”

  Katie giggled. That was soooo George. No matter what the problem, he could always solve it with dessert.

  If only her problems with Becky and Suzanne could be solved that easily!

  Chapter 7

  Unfortunately, Suzanne and Becky were still fighting when the fourth grade arrived at the zoo on Monday morning.

  “I hope we go to the monkey house first,” Becky said. “I want to see if we can find a really cute one to adopt.”

  “I told you, we’re not adopting a monkey,” Suzanne insisted. “Right, Katie?”

  Katie didn’t know what to say. So she didn’t answer.

  Suzanne twirled around, showing off her bright blue shirt and blue and green skirt. “I dressed this way so our peacock will know I’m the one who’s adopting her,” Suzanne said.

  “The three of us are adopting a zoo animal together,” Katie reminded Suzanne.

  “Of course,” Suzanne said. “But I look the most like a peacock mom.”

  “Actually, Suzanne, you look like a peacock dad,” Jeremy corrected her. “The boys are the colorful ones.”

  “That can’t be right,” Suzanne insisted.

  “Jeremy is right, Suzanne,” Ms. Sweet said. “Very often female birds have duller colors than males. They can fade into their environment while they are sitting on the nest. It keeps the females and their eggs safe.”

  “The females are peahens,” Mr. G added. “The male birds are the peacocks.”

  “Ha ha ha! Suzanne’s dressed like a boy bird!” Becky giggled.

  George laughed along with her. “Suzanne’s more of a pea brain than a peacock,” he whispered to Kevin.

  Katie was walking next to George. She heard what he said. Usually she hated when George said something mean about one of her friends. But today she was feeling kind of angry with Suzanne and Becky, too. So, she didn’t tell him not to say things like that.

  “Have you thought more about what kind of animal you want to adopt, Katie?” Becky asked.

  Suzanne rolled her eyes. “Katie probably wants a nocturnal animal. Something gross from the Cave of Darkness exhibit, like a scorpion or a bat.”

  Katie shook her head. “No thanks. Bats are too creepy. Even for me.”

  “I don’t blame you, Katie Kazoo,” Kevin said. “Who would want an animal that drinks blood?”

  George raised his arms out wide like bat wings, and used his best vampire voice. “I vant to bite your neck! Blaaahhh!”

  “Dude, that’s just a myth,” Mr. G told George. “There are vampire bats, but they don’t suck the blood from people’s necks. They get their blood from cows and horses.”

  “Oh my!” Katie explained. “That’s awful.”

  Mr. G shook his head. “The animals don’t feel a thing,” he assured Katie. “And the bats take very little of their blood. The animals aren’t harmed at all.”

  Katie still looked a little afraid.

  “Don’t worry, Katie Kazoo,” Mr. G assured her. “There are no vampire bats at this zoo.”

  Ms. Sweet clapped her hands. “Okay, boys and girls, gather ’round,” she said. “Does everyone have a map of the zoo?”

  The kids all held up the maps they had been given at the entrance.

  “Terrific,” Ms. Sweet continued. “I want you to stick with the group. But should you get lost, go straight to the help desk near the Monkey Jungle. Someone there will help you get back to the group.”

  “You see how great monkeys are?” Becky said to Suzanne. “The zoo put the help desk right next to their habitat.”

  “What does that prove?” Suzanne asked her.

  Katie didn’t wait for Becky’s answer. She moved to the back of the group near Emma W. and Miriam Chan. Unfortunately, a few minutes later Katie heard Suzanne and Becky bickering again. Everybody could.

  At the Elephant Trail, they argued over which elephant had the biggest ears.

  At the Penguin Iceberg, they argued over which of the penguins had the funniest waddle.

  At the Hippo Pool, they argued over which hippo was fattest.

  In the Owl House, they argued over which owl looked the smartest.

  Finally, Ms. Sweet stepped in. “If you girls can’t behave, you’ll have to wait for us at the help desk,” she warned Suzanne and Becky.

  Katie was surprised. Ms. Sweet actually sounded angry. She never got angry. At least not that Katie had ever seen.

  Apparently, Becky and Suzanne were surprised, too, because they got really quiet. The mention of the help desk reminded Katie of something. “My map!” she cried out suddenly.

  “What happened, Katie?” Emma W. asked her.

  “I left my zoo map at the Owl House,” Katie told her. “I have to go get it.”

  “We can share mine,” Emma W. told her.

  Katie shook her head. “I wanted to bring mine home. The Owl House is just right over there. I’ll run over and get it, and then catch up with you guys.”

  “Don’t get lost, Katie,” Mr. G called to her. “We’re heading to the Hall of Lizards.”

  “I’ll be right
there,” Katie called back. And with that, she hurried off as fast as she could. She didn’t want to be gone too long.

  Katie spotted her map on the bench just outside the Owl House. She bent over to pick it up, when suddenly she felt a cool wind blowing against her neck.

  Feeling a cool breeze wasn’t strange. After all, it was fall. The days were colder in the fall. The breeze got stronger. It was a wind now. And it didn’t seem to be blowing anywhere but on the back of Katie’s neck. The leaves in the trees weren’t moving. Neither was the paper map on the bench.

  Now that was strange.

  It could only mean one thing. This was no ordinary wind. This was the magic wind!

  “Oh no!” Katie shouted out. “Not now! Go away, magic wind!”

  But the magic wind wouldn’t go away. Instead it grew stronger and stronger, circling around Katie like a wild tornado. Katie shut her eyes tight and tried really hard not to cry.

  And then it stopped. Just like that. The magic wind was gone.

  And so was Katie Carew. She’d turned into someone else. One . . . two . . . switcheroo! But who?

  Chapter 8

  Where was she?

  Katie blinked for a minute and then opened her eyes. But she might as well have kept them shut. It was so dark, she could barely see a thing. She wasn’t outside the Owl House. That was for sure.

  But she sure could hear a lot. All around her she heard all sorts off beeps and plings. She also heard what sounded like tiny footsteps and buzzing noises.

  How weird was that?

  And she had the funny feeling that she was hanging upside down—sort of like when she hung on the monkey bars at school.

  Suddenly Katie noticed an itchy feeling just below her left wing. Carefully she unhooked one of her claws from the tree branch above her, and began to scratch at her soft, dark brown fur.

  Whoa! Wait a minute. Wings? Claws? Fur?

  There was only one animal that had both wings and fur, and hung upside down while it was resting. Oh no! The magic wind had changed Katie into a bat!