by Stan
Contents
1. The Beginning of a Strange Adventure
2. “Let’s Tell Gramps”
3. The Great Gran: Knows All, Sees All
4. The Odd Couple
5. Big News!
6. A Pink Glow
7. Big Trouble at Beartown Lanes
8. Pay Up, or Else!
9. Pin Boys (and Girls) to the Rescue
10. A Star Is Born
11. I’ve Gotta Have It!
12. In the Dark of Night
13. Three Bags Full
14. The Morning After the Night Before
15. A Lovely Time Was Had by All
Excerpt from The Berenstain Bears at Camp Crush
Chapter 1 - Bullhorn Baits His Hook
About the Authors
Back Ad
Copyright
About the Publisher
• Chapter 1 •
The Beginning of a Strange Adventure
If someone were to tell you that the Bear Scouts would have an adventure that included desperate danger from crashing objects the size of cannonballs, the Beartown June Fete, atomic energy, and a magic crystal ball, you might say, “Hey, wait a minute.” Well, the answer to that is, “Hey, you wait a minute.” Because that’s just what happened. If you want to know the who, what, when, and why of how it happened, just keep reading.
It all started on a Saturday morning in June.
“What do you suppose she wants to see us about?” said Sister.
“Dunno,” said Brother.
“No idea,” said Fred.
Lizzy didn’t answer. She was too busy talking to a tiny cabbage butterfly that had lit on her finger. That’s the way it was with Lizzy. She often talked to butterflies and other like creatures. What’s more, they seemed to listen.
The troop was on Scout Leader Jane’s doorstep, waiting for her to answer the bell.
“Maybe you’d better ring again,” suggested Fred.
Brother was about to, when the door flew open and there stood Jane. She looked like someone who had wonderful news and could hardly wait to tell it. “Good morning, scouts. This way, please.”
The scouts followed Jane into the kitchen, where the table was set with five places. There was a glass of milk at each place and a big plate of raisin sugar cookies at the center. Raisin sugar cookies were Jane’s specialty.
“Looks like a celebration,” said Brother.
“Exactly,” said Jane. “Sit, please.”
“What are we celebrating?” asked Sister.
The scouts took their places, and the cookies were passed around. That first bite into one of Jane’s raisin sugar cookies was something special. They were crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, covered all over with fat raisins, and still warm from the oven. The second, third, and fourth bites weren’t bad, either.
“Have you ever heard of the Supertroop Merit Badge Award?” asked Jane.
“I think so,” said Brother. “But I’m not sure what it is.”
“Well,” said Jane. “It’s just the biggest, most important honor a Bear Scout troop can receive. And guess what? I’ve put you up for it.”
“Put us up for it?” said Fred. The scouts looked puzzled.
Jane picked up a folder that was beside her plate. It was filled with papers. “The Supertroop Merit Badge,” she said, “isn’t like the regular merit badges you’ve earned: the rock-climbing badge, the environmental badge, and others. It’s a special badge awarded to . . . but let me read what it says in the Official Bear Scout Handbook.”
Jane got up and left the kitchen. The scouts were still looking puzzled when she returned. She opened the handbook and started to read.
“‘The Supertroop Merit Badge Award is the highest honor in the annals of scoutdom. It is awarded to one Bear Scout troop each year by the Bear Scout High Council for achieving the following:
1. Living up to the highest standard of the Bear Scout Oath.
2. Earning five or more Bear Scout merit badges.
3. Serving the community above and beyond the call of Bear Scout duty.’
“There’s lots more,” continued Jane. “But it all boils down to this: I’ve put your troop’s record together in this folder. Today I’m sending it along to the Bear Scout High Council in Big Bear City.”
“Wow!” said Brother.
“How about that!” said Sister.
“Golly!” said Fred.
“Totally awesome!” said Lizzy.
“Hundreds of troops are submitted for the Supertroop Merit Badge Award each year,” said Jane. “It’s a very high honor indeed. Here’s what it looks like.” Jane held the guidebook open to a picture of the award.
The scouts were impressed. The award looked almost like one of those fancy belts boxers receive when they become champions. It made all those other badges look like something you’d get in a cereal box. The scouts thought how great it would look on display in their secret chicken coop clubhouse at the far edge of Farmer Ben’s farm. It might even impress the chickens who sometimes wandered in by mistake.
“When will the high council make its decision?” asked Brother.
“By the end of the month,” said Jane.
“What do you think they’ll decide?” asked Sister.
“How should I know?” said Scout Leader Jane with a hearty laugh. “I don’t have a crystal ball.”
• Chapter 2 •
“Let’s Tell Gramps”
There was no question about it. Getting put up for the Supertroop Merit Badge Award was a high honor. The Bear Scouts were filled with pride as they left Scout Leader Jane’s.
“I know what,” said Sister. “Let’s tell Gramps.”
“Good idea,” said Brother.
Though Jane was their Scout Leader— and a very good one she was—it was Gramps who was their friend and advisor. Not only was Gramps always there when he was needed, he was always in the same place—on Saturday mornings, at least. Saturday was Gramps’s morning for sitting on his regular bench in the town square.
As the scouts headed for the town square, they pictured Gramps sitting on his bench reading his paper in the shade of Old Shag, the great historic tree (and backscratcher) that he and the scouts had saved from the chainsaw and the schemes of Mayor Honeypot and his crooked friend Ralph Ripoff. And speaking of the Devil, wasn’t that Ralph cutting across the square and heading up Main Street? And hadn’t Chief Bruno warned Ralph to keep his crooked tricks and schemes out of town?
The scouts tried to keep an eye on Ralph when possible. But he didn’t seem to be up to any mischief at the moment. Besides, they were on a mission to tell Gramps about the Supertroop Merit Badge Award.
But when they reached the town square, Gramps wasn’t there. The scouts wondered why.
“Do you think there’s something wrong?” said Sister.
“I doubt it,” said Brother. “Something just came up, that’s all.”
“I mean there’s no law that says he’s got to be here every Saturday morning,” said Fred.
Despite what they were saying, the scouts couldn’t help being a little worried.
“Hey,” said Lizzy. “Let’s zip over to Gramps and Gran’s and check up on him just to be sure.”
The scouts headed up Main Street at a good pace. The route to Gramps and Gran’s was up Main Street and over Ridge Road. It wasn’t long before they saw Ralph, dead ahead. He was walking along, tipping his hat to ladies, stopping to pass the time of day with this or that group of his fellow bears. Ralph didn’t seem to be doing anything suspicious, but the scouts decided t
o investigate anyway.
They edged closer, and when Ralph stopped to exchange the time of day with a group of bears standing in front of Biff Bruin’s Pharmacy, the scouts slipped into the alleyway and watched. It quickly became clear that Ralph wasn’t exchanging the time of day. What was being exchanged was money. As the money changed hands, Ralph wrote things down in a little black book.
“Well, I’ll be!” whispered Brother. “He’s making book!”
“Making book?” whispered Sister.
“Taking bets,” said Brother.
“I don’t understand,” said Lizzy.
“You will. Just watch. YO, RALPH!” he shouted.
The effect was something to see. Money and bears flew in all directions. Except for Ralph, who was on his knees picking up money.
“What are you doing, Ralph?” said Brother. “Taking orders for goldbricks?”
“Gracious, no,” said Ralph. “I haven’t engaged in the dishonest practice of selling goldbricks for years. Haven’t you heard?” He continued getting up and brushing off the knees of his snazzy green suit. “I’m a legitimate businessbear now. In fact, I expect folks to start calling me ‘Honest Ralph Ripoff’ any minute.”
“But, Ralph! You’re taking bets,” said Brother. “Do you call that legitimate?”
“Oh,” said Ralph. “It may be a shade illegal. But it’s honest. I’m just providing a service to those who wish to predict the future: the score of a baseball game, the results of an election, the price of honey. I keep careful records.” He held up the black book. “I pay off promptly on all bets. I keep a small profit to hold body and soul together and to buy crackers and cuttlebones for my friend Squawk. As I said, friends, I’m a legitimate businessbear.”
Squawk was Ralph’s pet parrot. They lived together on a broken-down old houseboat that was moored in a smelly backwater of Great Roaring River.
“Suppose Chief Bruno catches you,” said Sister.
“That might be a problem,” said Ralph. “Except that I happen to know that the chief and Officer Marguerite often have a friendly game of cards at the station on slow nights. And what about the bingo game they run at the town hall every Tuesday? Well, I have some wagers to pay off. So, if you’ll excuse me. Ta-ta.”
That’s the way it was with Ralph. He was as smooth as silk and twice as strong in the tug-of-war between right and wrong.
But the scouts had reached Ridge Road. It was time to cut over and check up on Gramps.
• Chapter 3 •
The Great Gran: Knows All, Sees All
The scouts’ plan was to cut across the empty lot next to the hospital. That would be the quickest way to Gramps and Gran’s. But they couldn’t, because there was a fence around the lot and it wasn’t empty anymore. Crews of workbears were setting things up for the June Fete.
The June Fete was a big Beartown event. It was put on every year to raise money for the hospital. It usually had a flower show, an antique sale, a food court, an art exhibition—all sorts of spring things. But the spring thing that caught Brother’s attention was a small booth that was being put up. It had a sign on it. The sign said “The Great Gran: Knows All, Sees All.”
“Hey,” said Brother, stopping in his tracks. “We can kill two birds with one stone! Remember when Scout Leader Jane said—”
“I wish you wouldn’t say that,” said Lizzy.
“Say what?” said Brother.
“That thing about killing two birds with one stone,” said Lizzy.
“But, Lizzy,” said Brother. “It’s just an expression.”
“It may be just an expression,” said Lizzy. “But it’s brutal and ugly, and I wish you wouldn’t say it.”
Brother sighed. Scout Lizzy was so into nature’s creatures that she wouldn’t even swat a mosquito. But that’s what made the “one for all and all for one!” Bear Scouts such a great team. Each member brought something special to the troop. Brother was a natural leader. Sister was all nerve. Fred was all brains, and Lizzy . . . well, Lizzy was just Lizzy.
“As I was saying,” said Brother, choosing his words carefully, “I think we can accomplish two goals at the same time. Remember when Scout Leader Jane said, ‘How would I know what the council will decide? I don’t have a crystal ball’?”
The scouts remembered.
“Well, don’t you get it?” said Brother. “We know somebody who does have a crystal ball. Gran has one! She tells fortunes every year at the June Fete. Goal one: We check up on Gramps. Goal two: We get Gran to look into her crystal and see whether we’re going to get the Supertroop Merit Badge Award. Come on!”
Fred was about to protest. To his mind, the idea of predicting the future by looking into a crystal ball was not only unscientific, it was downright silly. But, then again, he couldn’t see any harm in it. He hurried to catch up with the rest of the troop.
• Chapter 4 •
The Odd Couple
Gramps and Gran’s house was just up ahead. The scouts could see Gran working in her garden. That was a relief. Gran wouldn’t be out front calmly planting petunias if Gramps weren’t all right.
“Hi, Gran!” called Brother. The rest of the troop echoed Brother’s greeting. Gran looked up from her work and waved.
Gramps and Gran were an interesting couple. While Gramps was a terrific person, he could be a bit difficult. He had strong opinions on just about everything and was ready to argue about them at the drop of a hat—as often as not with Gran. Gran, on the other hand, was a kind, friendly person with a ready smile. And while they were a loving couple, they had very different interests.
Gramps was into fishing, building ships in a bottle, carving monkeys out of peach pits, complaining about the government. And, of course, there was his lifelong passion: bowling. Gramps had bowled since he was a cub, and loved it dearly. So much so, he would sometimes call up Beartown Lanes, get Billy the manager on the phone and say, “Billy, just let me hear those pins drop.” Then he would listen to the rolling thunder of the bowling balls and the crash and clatter of the falling pins for a while. It was music to his ears.
Gramps and bowling went back a long way. His first job as a youngster was as a pin boy. That was way back before they had automatic pinspotters to set up the pins after each bowl.
Gran’s interests lay in the direction of gardening, quilt-making, cookery, and her lifelong passion: fortune-telling. Gran would read anything from tea leaves, palms, and coffee grounds to fireplace ashes and dust devils under the bed.
One of the things Gramps had a strong opinion on was Gran’s fortune-telling. The idea that you could predict the future by staring into a glass ball struck Gramps as just about the dumbest, time-wastingest thing he could think of.
It happened that Gran had a similar opinion about Gramps’s bowling habit. She thought the idea of grown bears spending their lives knocking over poor defenseless tenpins was utterly silly.
“Well, what do you think of my petunias?” said Gran as she stood up and brushed herself off.
“They’re beautiful, Gran,” said Sister.
“I can’t decide whether to exhibit my petunias or my hollyhocks at the June Fete,” she said. “The hollyhocks are those tall fellows over there.”
“They’re both nice,” said Brother. “Say, Gran, is Gramps around? There’s something we want to tell him.”
“Is it a secret?” said Gran.
“Goodness, no,” said Lizzy.
“It’s just that our troop has been put up for the Supertroop Merit Badge Award,” said Fred. “It’s a high honor, and we wanted to tell him about it.”
“It sounds like a high honor,” said Gran. “I’m sure he’ll want to hear about it. But he’s not here right now.”
“Oh?” said Brother.
“He’s over at Beartown Lanes,” said Gran.
“Beartown Lanes?” said Fred.
“But Gramps never goes bowling on Saturday mornings,” said Brother.
“Oh, he’s not bowling. Didn’t even ta
ke his bowling ball,” said Gran. “Come up on the porch and sit a while. I want to rest my bones.”
The scouts followed Gran onto the wide front porch, which was lined with rockers.
“I don’t know what he’s doing over there,” Gran went on. “He’s been acting strangely all morning. He’d get on the phone, then he’d sit at his desk and scribble in a notebook. Then he’d jump up and walk around in circles talking to himself. Then he said, ‘Got to go over to the bowling alley!’ Jumped into his pickup and vroom-vroom, off he went. Well, you know how Gramps is about bowling. But I want to hear more about this special merit badge you’ve won.”
“Oh, we haven’t won it yet, Gran,” explained Brother. “In fact, one of the reasons we came over was to ask you to look in your crystal ball and maybe see if we’re going to win.”
“Happy to. But can’t right now,” said Gran. “Because it just so happens that my crystal ball is over at the bowling alley, too.”
“Huh?” chorused the scouts.
“Oh, it’s not so strange as all that,” explained Gran. “My crystal ball is heavy and awkward to handle. Especially with the June Fete coming up and all. So I got the idea of having it drilled with finger holes. You know, like a bowling ball. Figured I oughta be able to get some good out of Gramps’s bowling habit. But I’ll be glad to give you a reading when I get my crystal back.”
“That’ll be great, Gran,” said Brother. “And would you tell Gramps how we’re up for the Supertroop Merit Badge Award?”
“You can tell him yourself,” said Gran. “Here comes Old Vroom-Vroom now.”
• Chapter 5 •
Big News!
Gramps pulled into the driveway and climbed out of the pickup carrying a blue plaid bowling bag. But Gran said he hadn’t taken his ball with him.
“Hello, scouts!” cried Gramps. “Glad you’re here! I’ve got great news.”
“We’ve got great news, too,” said Brother. “Scout Leader Jane’s put us up for the Supertroop Merit Badge Award.”
