by Max Brallier
“But what about Gretchen Grimlock?” the monk asked. “Do you not want to win the contest?”
“How do you know about—?” Annie exclaimed. “Ugh. Are you one of her stupid agents?! That’s it! I give up. Just throw me off a cliff or put me in a rocket to Mars or whatever else Grimlock was planning on doing.”
The monk leaned forward and nudged the fire with a metal poker. “Oh, I’m certainly no friend of Ms. Grimlock’s. I know her only because we’ve clashed before. She came here looking for the cryptid known as the Yeti many years ago. She should never be allowed near any creature.”
Annie sighed. “Yeah, well—neither should I. What good am I? I had proof in my hands! I was close to winning the contest, and I let her take it all from me . . .”
The monk watched Annie, studying the deep frown on her face. “Please, come with me,” the monk said at last. “I have something to show you.”
“I’m not in the mood for a tour,” Annie said, sounding very dejected.
“No. I wish to show you something that is quite sacred,” the monk said, smiling. “And also quite gross!”
Annie rose to her feet and followed the monk down the long hall and through the open temple, past dozens of other monks, who were chanting. At the end of the hall was a small room, and at the center of the room stood a simple wooden shrine. Atop the shrine was something dark and brown—it reminded Annie of the horrible toupee her uncle Merle wore.
“What is it?” Annie whispered.
“It is the scalp of the Yeti.”
“Eww! Like the Yeti’s skin and hair and stuff?”
The monk nodded.
“Can I have it?” Annie exclaimed. “If I get this, maybe I still have a chance of winning the contest!”
“You cannot. Just as I did not allow Gretchen Grimlock to take it many years ago, I cannot allow you to take it now.”
Annie didn’t understand. “Gretchen Grimlock? Why was she interested in the Yeti scalp years ago? She’s only in the contest for the prize money.”
“You are mistaken. There is more at stake than just prize money . . .”
Annie frowned.
“You will understand when you confront her,” the monk said.
“I’m not confronting anyone,” Annie said, shaking her head. “I’m taking the first flight out of here.”
“You would give up so soon?” the monk asked.
“So soon?!” Annie exclaimed. “So soon?!? I was blown out of the sky by a cannon! I’ve been duped by submarine captains and attacked by snarling monsters and flung from the legs of flying devils! I’ve fallen through floors and jumped off roofs and been swept up in giant avalanches! And you think I’m giving up too soon? More like not soon enough!”
The monk stood calm, unmoving, with his fingers intertwined. “I thought you believed,” he said softly.
“I told Mews I believed in the unbelievable. And I still do. But that doesn’t mean I want to get myself killed!”
“But do you not also believe in yourself?” the monk asked.
Annie stomped away, huffed, and spun back around. “What do you care, anyway?” she snapped.
“I do not like to see villains succeed. And that is what will happen if you do not finish what you started,” the monk replied. “So I ask you again, Annie, do you believe in yourself?”
Annie was quiet for a short while as she thought about the dangers she had faced and the challenges she had overcome. And more, Annie thought about what would happen if Gretchen were allowed to prevail. No cryptid would ever be safe again! Annie knew that she, and she alone, could put a stop to the terror that was Gretchen Grimlock.
“Yes,” Annie said finally. “Yes, I believe in myself.”
“Then I will help you,” the monk said, his eyes shining. “Tell me—did you know that the Yeti is the biological cousin of the American Bigfoot?”
“The American Bigfoot!” Annie exclaimed. “That’s Mr. Mews’s white whale . . . But how can you help?”
“Simple,” the monk said, with a sly smile. “I know where Bigfoot lives . . .”
The whirlybird cut through the cool East Asian sky at maximum speed. “Mr. Mews,” Annie exclaimed. “Mr. Mews! Come in!”
“Annie, it’s me. What happened?!”
“Gretchen hijacked the radio frequency! But it’s fine! She thinks she knocked me out for good. But she’s wrong! I’ve found the location of Bigfoot!”
“Bigfoot?!” Mews exclaimed.
“Yes. It is at 46.8533° North, 121.7599° West. I’m heading there right now.”
KRAKKLE! The monitor hissed and the video flashed on and off.
“What’s going on?!” Mews shouted, as his image flashed in and out. Suddenly, Gretchen Grimlock’s face appeared on the monitor.
“No!” Annie screamed.
“I suppose it’s a good thing you’re so resilient,” Gretchen Grimlock snarled. “Because now I too know the location of Bigfoot! I guess it’s just a question of who can get there first, eh?”
« NEWS FLASH! »
Illinois Johnson on WADV Radio—that’s WADV for adventure—reporting in with BIG news! Contestants, adventurers, and fortune hunters—set your coordinates for 46.8533° North, 121.7599° West.
Why, you ask? Rumor has it, that’s the location of the most legendary cryptid of them all—Bigfoot! Gretchen Grimlock and crowd favorite Annie Perkins are on their way there right now . . .
Who will get ahold of the great big hairy guy first? Whoever does is going to take a giant step toward nabbing that one million dollars!
And I don’t think I have to tell you who I’m rooting for . . .
Good luck, adventurers!
Race!
Annie had heard the news on WADV Radio like everyone else—but unlike everyone else, the news was about her!
She saw the other contestants as she came over the top of the mountain peak. There must have been one hundred different vehicles! They were coming from every direction. Helicopters buzzing low below her. Planes racing past her. An airship approaching from the south; an old World War II–era fighter jet flying in from the north; a wagon train of trucks and cars from the east; speedboats and massive yachts and tiny launches from the sea to the west.
“Mr. Mews, are you seeing this?” Annie asked, in awe.
“Yes,” Mews said, sitting at his command station in the museum. “I’m watching it live via satellite. You know, it reminds me of a great journey I once took with my friend Jules—”
“Not now, Mr. Mews!”
The contestants were all searching for the creature known as Bigfoot—but no one knew exactly where to look. The monk’s coordinates had sent them to an old abandoned mining town just outside Mount Rainier National Park in Washington. But Bigfoot’s exact location was still a mystery. He could be anywhere: hiding in a cave, shrouded beneath the huge redwoods that surrounded the town, tucked away along the river that ran nearby . . . anywhere!
Annie was flying low to the ground, skimming the tops of trees. She zoomed over Flawless Frank Gomes, who had apparently managed to get out of that tar pit. Behind her was Ervin “the Machine” Makow on his motorcycle—evidently, he had escaped Gretchen’s thunderstorm.
“Gretchen will be there any moment!” Mr. Mews exclaimed.
Annie kept her eyes glued to the ground below her. If I were Bigfoot and I didn’t want anyone finding me, where would I hide?
She whizzed past the town and out over the old abandoned mine. Hmm. I wonder . . .
While the other contestants combed the woods and the nooks and crannies along the river, Annie landed the whirlybird near the edge of town. She crept through the quiet old ghost town, past deserted storefronts and empty inns, until she came to the entrance to the old mine. Above it hung a sign that read, in big red letters, CLOSED.
Annie’s stomach rolled—she was immediately reminded of the CLOSED sign that would soon be hanging from her family’s restaurant. That was the reason she had done all of this! That was why she h
ad come this far. And she was now so close . . .
Could the sign be a sign? she wondered.
She pried away the rotten old boards that blocked the entrance to the mine shaft.
“Annie, what’s your plan?” Mews asked over the Mews communicator.
“I’m playing a hunch . . . ,” Annie replied as she wrenched away the last piece of wood and entered the dark mine shaft. She flicked on her flashlight. A pitch-black tunnel wormed through the earth at a near ninety-degree angle—and at the bottom was the mine. Annie braced herself against the wall and began making her way down.
Not far in, there was a sudden flapping and whooshing as what felt like a thousand bats streaked toward her.
“Ahh!” Annie screamed, covering her face.
Bats, bats, bats, bats, bats—I hate bats.
One flew directly into Annie’s face and became tangled in her hair. Its gross little bat feet brushed against her cheek, making her skin crawl.
“Blasted bloodsuckers!” she screamed. She waved at the bat, causing her to trip—and suddenly she was tumbling head over heels down the shaft.
After a long slide, she landed in a small sort of cave—she could barely make out a sign that said it was the spillway. Annie’s hands searched for the flashlight in the darkness.
She felt something.
Hmm . . feels a lot furrier than a flashlight . . .
Uh-oh . . .
Annie jumped back. Her foot landed on something round and metal—her flashlight! Quickly, she picked it up and flicked it on.
Oh my . . .
Bigfoot sat in the corner of the dark spillway. Bigfoot was, indeed, big—a giant apelike creature, nearly eight feet tall and covered in thick black and brown hair. All around him were discarded half-eaten fruits and vegetables.
Very slowly, Annie reached up and flicked on her Mews communicator. “I’m looking at him,” she whispered.
“Who?” Mews asked.
“Bigfoot,” Annie whispered.
Annie heard Mews breathe in sharply. And, for once, he was quiet.
“So, um, Mr. Bigfoot, look,” Annie said. “I kind of messed up. I brought a lot of people here, looking for you. And if the wrong person gets their hands on you, I’m not sure what will happen to you—but it might be bad.”
Bigfoot stared back at Annie blankly.
Right . . .
Annie sighed and banged her fist against the wall. “Mr. Mews, what do we do?”
“We need to get him back here,” Mews said. “Show the world he exists. And then put him in a nature preserve, where he’s safe and can live free—instead of hiding away in a miserable mine shaft.”
“Okay,” Annie said. “Um, any ideas on how I might do that?”
Suddenly, a red light shone down the mine shaft from above.
“Little Annie Perkins,” a voice called out. “Are you down there?”
Oh no, it’s Grimlock . . .
Bigfoot held up his massive paws and shielded his face from the red light. Suddenly, he jumped up—and stood on two feet like a human.
“GRAWWRRR!” Bigfoot roared.
“Yikes!” Annie said, stumbling back.
The massive cryptid charged past Annie and up the mine shaft. Annie scrambled up behind him. She saw him roar past Grimlock.
“Um, Bigfoot?” Annie called after him as she ran. “Mr. Bigfoot! Stop! You don’t want to go out there!”
Annie burst out into the daylight. Bigfoot was out in the open, running down the street. And once again, Grimlock had disappeared . . .
Get Him!
Bigfoot raced down the abandoned ghost town’s small main street. Annie sprinted to the whirlybird, scrambled up and in, and in seconds she was in the air. And so was everyone else—there were so many flying machines that it looked like an air show.
“What do you see from the satellite?” Annie asked Mews.
Mews watched Bigfoot charge through the town and out toward the thick surrounding forest area. “To the east!” Mews shouted.
Annie gripped the control stick and the whirlybird swooped and turned. She spotted Bigfoot crossing a stream and nearing the woods. Annie pushed the stick forward, but it was too late—a second later, the creature disappeared into the woods.
“Bananas!” Annie exclaimed. “I lost him! The trees are too thick—I can’t see anything!”
Annie pulled back on the stick, and the whirlybird climbed up into the air, giving her a wider view of the ground below. She craned her neck, looking for either Bigfoot or Gretchen, but saw nothing.
For a moment, everything was very calm. All the contestants were watching the woods, waiting for Bigfoot to appear. Annie caught her breath, and then . . .
Bigfoot burst out of the woods! He charged across a large meadow toward a narrow canyon! Everyone gave chase—planes dove, choppers banked, and trucks turned and raced.
But the massive cryptid was too quick. Mountain walls surrounded the town, and Bigfoot had spotted a narrow mountain pass. In an instant he had hurdled a large rock barrier, sprinted into the mountain pass, and disappeared from sight. Cars and trucks could follow him in there, but not Annie.
“I wonder if he’ll come out the other side,” Annie said. “That’s my only chance.”
Her question was answered when a purple helicopter, with the words GRIMLOCK GYRO across the side, rose up from over the small mountainside.
Oh no.
Attached to the bottom of the Grimlock Gyro was a heavy metal chain. Hanging from the end of that chain was a large metal cage, and inside the cage was Bigfoot.
Annie’s heart sank.
The gyro cut through the air.
“Grimlock has him!” Annie said, looking down at the monitor to inform Mews—but instead of Mews, she saw Grimlock’s wicked smile looking back at her! Grimlock had taken over the frequency once again. The monitor flashed back and forth between Grimlock and Mews.
“I’ll never give you the prize money, Grimlock!” Mews said.
Grimlock cackled. “I don’t need your silly contest! Do you know what the world will pay to see Bigfoot in a cage?! I’ll be rich forever!”
Annie narrowed her eyes and threw the stick forward, giving chase, slicing through the air behind the Grimlock Gyro. The cage dangled dangerously. Grimlock buzzed across treetops, and the cage banged against a giant oak and spun wildly. Bigfoot’s hands clung to the bars. He looked like he was going to be sick.
I need to finish this before she gets that poor thing killed.
Gretchen flew low, and the cage dragged down a long dirt road. Gretchen was using the cage like a wrecking ball!
Vehicles careened out of the way! I. P. Lawe’s patented I. P. Interceptor jerked to the right to avoid the cage—and drove straight into a ditch! Frank Gomes and his Perfect Peddler didn’t last a second—the Bigfoot cage crashed into it and sent him spinning out of control. The Bandini Brothers swerved and splashed into a small river that ran alongside the road.
Gretchen took the chopper higher up into the sky. Vicki Voyager in her hydroplane dove to avoid the Bigfoot cage. A moment later, Annie looked down to see the hydroplane lying in pieces and Vicki crawling from the wreckage.
“Annie,” Mews shouted, “you need to stop this now before Grimlock gets someone killed!”
Annie’s mind raced. She needed to get Bigfoot free. She had one idea, but . . . It’s so crazy, it just might work.
Annie threw the control stick back and the whirlybird climbed into the air until she was flying just above the Grimlock Gyro. She peered out the window at the gyro and cage below. You are nuts, Annie Perkins. Nuts!
Annie hit the switch marked AUTOPILOT, and then threw open the door and climbed out onto the ledge of the whirlybird.
She closed her eyes and jumped.
KA-KRASH!
Hard and loud, Annie landed atop the Bigfoot cage. The spinning gyro blades above her threatened to send her flying off—or worse . . .
Grimlock looked down and scowled. The villain
jerked the stick side to side, rocking the gyro and trying to shake Annie off. But Annie wrapped her fingers around the chain that connected the cage to the helicopter and held tight.
Then, very carefully, Annie climbed to her feet while holding on to the heavy chain.
“Now, to land this thing,” Annie said, as she eyed the cap to the gyro’s gas tank. She shinnied up the chain, putting one hand over the next.
Grimlock flung open the gyro’s door. “Don’t you do it!” she screamed at Annie.
Ignoring her, Annie climbed up onto the side of the gyro and unscrewed the gas-tank cap. Gasoline gushed out, and the Grimlock Gyro immediately began to plummet.
Then, for the coup de grâce, Annie reached through the gyro’s window and grabbed the evidence that Gretchen had stolen: the photo of the Loch Ness Monster, the Chupacabra tooth, and the Jersey Devil eggshell.
Gretchen’s eyes went wide and her mouth hung agape. “I’ll get you, Annie Perkins—that is a promise!”
Annie grinned and flashed Gretchen a wink, frustrating the villain even further. Then Annie slid back down the chain, ripped off her backpack, and tied the straps to the top of the cage.
Annie released the connector on the chain and—SNAP!—the Bigfoot cage was released from the helicopter and plunged through the air.
Hurry, hurry, hurry! Falling fast!
Wind whipped through Annie’s hair. It felt like they were falling at a thousand miles an hour! Annie held on tightly and pulled the rip cord on the side of her backpack, releasing her Mews Foundation Industrial Strength Parachute. With a whoosh, it burst open.
Several terrifying moments later, Annie, Bigfoot, and the cage gently touched down on the ground.
Annie looked to the sky. In the distance, she could see the Grimlock Gyro dropping fast, still leaking fuel.
The other contestants stood around Annie, looking on in awe. Cars were destroyed, bikes were overturned, planes and helicopters had crash-landed—all because of Gretchen Grimlock!
But now, it was over. Annie had done it. She had won.
“C’mon,” she said to Bigfoot. “Let’s get you someplace safe.”
