Stink and the Freaky Frog Freakout (Book #8) Read Free Page B

night. Frog night. Time for the First Annual Frog Neck Lake Frog Count.
    At three minutes before sunset, Stink loaded up his backpack. Flashlight. Backup flashlight. Pen. Thermometer. Timer. Tape recorder. At seven minutes after sunset, Stink called Frog Assistant Number One and Frog Assistant Number Two (aka Webster and Sophie of the Elves.)
    “Meet me at the Frog Neck Lake parking lot. T-minus twenty-seven minutes and counting.”
    When Dad dropped him off, Stink ran over to Sophie and Webster. The parking lot was humming with frog counters. There was a white-haired guy wearing a headlamp, a couple with matching T-shirts that said VIRGINIA IS FOR FROGS , and a teenager with froggy rain boots.
    “People sure are freaky for frogs, huh?” said Webster.
    Jasper waved Stink over. “Stink! Thanks for coming, dude. You guys are right on time. Hey, before I forget, I have something for you.” He handed Stink a plastic bag with two comic books. “I had a couple extras. Thought you might like them.”
    “Amazing Spider-Man Comic Book Number 414:
From Darkness Strikes — Delilah!
Whoa! She’s the one who brought Dr. Octopus back to life.”
    “In the other one,” said Jasper, “Spidey shrinks down to spider-size.”
    “Wow! Thanks!” Stink put them away in his backpack for safekeeping.
    “And . . . here’s your official Frog Log,” said Jasper.
    “Frog Log. Cool beans!” said Stink.
    Jasper showed Stink where to write down the time and the temperature. “And don’t forget sky, rain, and wind conditions.”
    Stink nodded.

    “Listen up, everybody,” said Jasper. “It’s time to head out and spread out. Don’t forget. Use your thermometers to record air temps. Set your timers to five minutes. Then record what species you hear on the ACI. That’s the Amphibian Calling Index. Got it?”
    Everybody nodded.
    “Are you ready to ribbet?” asked Jasper.
    *   *   *
    A light rain fell. The night air smelled like worms.
Cro-oak! Cra-awk!
The pond was a symphony of frogs.
    Stink filled in his Frog Log. Time: 7:56 p.m. Temp: 55 degrees. Sky code: 5, for light rain, drizzle. Stink licked his finger and held it in the air to check the wind. Wind code: 2. Gentle breeze.
    “Shoo-ee. There must be a million frogs out here,” said Sophie.
    “Yeah, maybe they’re singing bedtime songs,” said Stink. “Like a frog sleepover.”
    “They don’t sound sleepy to me,” said Webster. He put his fingers in his ears.
    “Guys! The number one rule of frog counting is QUIET. Frogs will stop singing if we make too much noise. When I start the timer, we have to be quiet for five minutes.”
    “Five whole minutes?” asked Webster.
    “Sophie, you hold the umbrella over me,” said Stink.
    “Why does she get to hold the umbrella?” asked Webster.
    “Because . . . she’s Frog Assistant Number Two. But Frog Assistant Number One gets to . . . hold the flashlight. So I can see what I’m writing.”
    Stink set the timer. He tilted his head, closed his eyes, and listened. Peeper frogs peeped and chorus frogs preeped. Leopard frogs laughed and green frogs thrummed like they were playing the banjo.
C-tung! C-tung!
    Stink made a tick in his notebook for each kind of frog he heard.
    “What do you hear?” Webster asked.
    “I hear
you
,” said Stink.
    “I’m bored,” said Webster.
    “Wait. I hear a dog barking,” said Stink. “Noise level: two.”
    “I hear a car on the road,” said Sophie.
    “Noise level: three. For car noise,” said Stink.
    “I hear a cat,” said Webster.
    “It’s probably a bullfrog,” said Stink. “When a bullfrog is scared, it sounds like a cat.”
    “Now it sounds more like a cow. Is it true you can hear them, like, a mile away? And is it true that one bullfrog can eat a whole snake? And is it true —”
    “Noise level: Six, for the talking assistant.”
    “Oops.” Webster held his hand over his mouth. He aimed the flashlight up at the sky.
    “Webster. The light. I can’t see.”