Revenge of the Tiki Men! Read Free Page B

head. They pounded the ground. They flapped their floppy leaves.
    A moment later, Buddy Kool was there, too, snapping his fingers.
    â€œWherever that guy is, something bad happens,” whispered Holly.
    Sean gripped his bat. “Yeah, I wish we could take these guys on right now. We’d break their branches. We’d rake their leaves.”
    Eeeee! As the pounding got faster, the eyes on the big head began to glow. Soon Liz’s house was completely overgrown with thick gooey vines. The vines spread to the sidewalk and across the road.
    Mike motioned to his friends. “Come on, let’s get to the museum. Between my parents and Liz’s dad, we’ll get to the bottom of this.” With his bat held high, Mike started bashing his way into the jungle. The others followed.
    Looking up one last time at the giant Tiki man sticking out of her roof, Liz wasn’t so sure science would help. Who knew if there even was a bottom to all this? Maybe the whole thing was … bottomless!
    Like one of those caves under Grover’s Mill.
    Like one of those deep dark pits!
    After battling their way for what seemed like forever, the five friends finally saw the dome of the Welles Observatory and Science Museum.
    â€œThere it is!” cried Mike, clobbering a tough weed that lay in his path. “The place where science rules.”
    Rrrrr! The ground rumbled under them again.
    â€œHurry,” Liz urged. “It’s getting worse.” The kids tore up the broad steps, through the massive double doors, and into the museum.
    Inside the large rooms it was almost normal. The jungle was climbing up outside the double-paned windows, darkening them. But it hadn’t broken through the thick stone walls. Yet.
    â€œThe laboratory is straight ahead in the big room,” Mike said. “It’s where all the research and stuff happens. Where they find the answers to scientific questions.”
    â€œThat sure sounds good,” said Liz, rushing ahead. “Answers to questions. Because I sure have lots of questions.”
    But when the kids entered the vast laboratory, things didn’t look good.
    The first thing they saw was Mr. and Mrs. Mazur scribbling lots of words all over a large chalkboard. Actually, they were scribbling one word lots of times.
    The word was— Help!
    â€œUh-oh,” Liz said, turning to Mike and making a face. “Something tells me your parents are still working on the answers.”
    Mr. and Mrs. Mazur waved cheerfully and kept scribbling. Behind them— nnnnng! —a huge complicated piece of machinery was whirring and chugging in a back corner of the laboratory.
    Next to the machine stood Liz’s father, Kramer Duffey. He was dressed in a leather jacket and field pants. A bullwhip hung on his belt, and a length of rope was coiled on his shoulder.
    â€œCool!” Mike whispered. “His outfit is so great.”
    Liz ran over. “Dad, giant Tiki heads are coming up everywhere! And there’s a weird guy named Buddy Kool—”
    â€œWith a K!” Mike added. “He’s doing weird stuff, and whenever he snaps his fingers—”
    â€œThese guys dressed like walking plants start to pound their huge sticks—” added Holly.
    â€œThey’re called Mango Men,” Jeff cut in, “and they dance and flap these big floppy leaves—”
    â€œAnd then the Tiki men’s weird eyes go real bright and silver,” said Sean, “and that’s when the jungle happens and—”
    Mr. Duffey looked from Liz to Mike to Holly to Jeff to Sean and back again while he listened. When they were done, he shook his head slowly in silence. He looked over at Mr. and Mrs. Mazur, who had stopped writing on the board.
    â€œIt’s exactly like the old legend!” he said.
    Mr. Mazur nodded and pushed his glasses up his nose. “Actually, yes.” He rolled a nib of chalk between his fingers. “Quite strange,