by Stan
“Put a cork in it, Fred. I’ve got an idea,” said Brother.
“Fred’s right,” said Gramps. “Bowling goes back a long way.”
“What did they do before they had automatic pinspotters?” asked Brother.
“They had pin boys, of course,” said Gramps. “And even some pin girls. Pin boy was my first job. That’s how I met Gran. We worked in the same bowling alley. You might say I fell in love with bowling and Gran at the same time.”
“Exactly,” said Brother.
“Exactly what?” said Gramps.
“That’s how we’ll reopen the bowling alley: with pin boys,” said Brother.
“And pin girls,” said Sister.
“Oh, I don’t think that’ll work,” said Gramps. “I’m not as nimble as I used to be. I don’t think my knees’ll take it. As for Gran . . .”
“Not you and Gran!” said Brother.
“Then who?” asked Gramps.
“You’re looking at us!” said Brother. “The Jack-be-nimble, Jack-be-quick, Jack-jump-over-the-bowling-balls Bear Scouts!”
“But it’s dangerous,” said Gramps. “You’ve got to be really nimble. Those bowling balls come at you like cannonballs. Those tenpins fly every which way.”
“No problem,” said Brother. “We’re all top soccer players. And Sister and Lizzy are Double-Dutch champions.”
“I can even do red hot pepper,” said Sister.
“Me, too,” said Lizzy.
Gramps didn’t exactly leap at the scouts’ suggestion. But he was so eager to save Beartown Lanes that he decided to give it a try.
For the rest of the afternoon, bowling balls thundered and tenpins flew every which way and the “Jack-be-nimble Bear Scouts” leaped about like mountain goats in an avalanche. Even Billy the manager was impressed. “You know, boss, with a few more cubs, I think this pin boy/pin girl thing can work. Why don’t I put up some notices around town. You know, ‘Pin boys and pin girls wanted at Beartown Lanes.’ We’ve got clubs booked all day tomorrow.”
“Do it, Billy,” said Gramps. “It just might work. Maybe it can put us back in business long enough for me to get a loan for a new pinspotting system. But first get another round of sodas for me and my hardworking pinspotting crew.”
“Sure thing, boss,” said Billy.
The scouts were too short of breath to say their “one for all and all for one!” slogan. So they just crossed soda bottles and drank ’em down. Gramps joined them.
• Chapter 10 •
A Star Is Born
Lizzy had been right when she said that Gran would be the hit of the June Fete. At least that’s how things were shaping up. It would have been hard to keep something as exciting as Gran’s new improved crystal ball a secret, in any case.
But the June Fete Committee didn’t even try. Quite the opposite. They called up the newspapers and TV stations. They arranged for newspaper stories and television appearances. Gran’s picture was in the newspaper. It showed Gran looking into her crystal ball. The caption under the picture said “The Great Gran: Knows all, sees all.” The television station did a news report about Gran. It showed her holding her blue plaid bowling bag.
Gran didn’t tell the newspaper or television folk about her crystal’s strange new power and warm pink glow. She kept that to herself. But warm pink glow or not, there was no question about it. Gran and her crystal ball had become the talk of the town.
And it was eating Gramps’s heart out. The more talk there was about Gran and her crystal ball, the angrier and more upset he got. It was causing real trouble between Gramps and Gran. The scouts could see it happening, and it worried them. They loved them both, so, naturally, they didn’t want to take sides.
Gramps was spending more and more time at Beartown Lanes tending to business, which was going pretty well. It turned out that lots of cubs wanted jobs as pin boys and pin girls. It was beginning to look like Gramps would be able to get a loan to buy a new automatic pinspotter.
But Gramps wasn’t just tending to business. He had begun going to the bowling alley in the evenings as well. He just couldn’t handle all the excitement and fuss about Gran and her crystal ball. When it got too much for him, he’d grab his bowling bag, jump into his pickup, and head for Beartown Lanes. Once there, he’d unzip his bowling bag, lift out his black marbleized bowling ball, sight down the alley, and let ’er rip! It was almost as if those pins were the June Fete Committee, the newspaper reporters, the TV reporters, and maybe even Gran herself. Gramps got quite a few ten-strikes that way and worked off a lot of anger.
The scouts didn’t really understand why Gramps was so angry about Gran’s fortune-telling. They began to think that maybe, just maybe, he was jealous. They asked him about it at the bowling alley one day.
“Jealous? No, my friends,” said Gramps. “Look, I’ve told you before why I’m against this whole fortune-telling business— especially her doing the June Fete thing. It was one thing when she was doing it just for fun. But now that she can really see the future, it’s wrong! It’s not only wrong, it’s dangerous.”
“But what’s so wrong about it?” asked Brother.
“And why is it dangerous?” asked Sister.
“It’s for a good cause,” said Fred.
“It’s going to raise money for the hospital,” said Lizzy.
“That’s all very well,” said Gramps. “But look at it this way. Just think about all the folks who’ll be lined up for readings at the June Fete. Suppose Gran looks into that creepy crystal of hers and sees that something awful is going to happen to somebody or somebody’s loved ones. What is Gran supposed to do? Does she tell them the truth? Or does she lie and tell them that everything is going to be all right.”
“I see what you mean, Gramps,” said Brother.
“Yeah,” said Sister. “It’s kind of scary.”
“Yeah,” said Fred. “It’s a great responsibility.”
“I think Gramps is right,” said Lizzy. “I think the future is nature’s responsibility. I, for one, don’t want to know the future. After all, part of the fun of life is not knowing exactly what’s going to happen next.”
“Exactly!” said Gramps. “Look at what happened when the crystal said Beartown Lanes was finished. I gave up hope. I was ready to quit. But you weren’t. You used the brains and spirit that nature gave you and saved the day.”
“I see your point, Gramps,” said Brother. “But what are you going to do?”
“I’m going to get her to cancel her ‘Great Gran’ act at the June Fete,” said Gramps.
“That’s not going to be easy,” said Fred.
“Gran’s a star now,” said Sister. “And it’s not easy to tell a star to stop shining.”
Gramps sighed. “That’s what’s worrying me,” he said.
• Chapter 11 •
I’ve Gotta Have It!
Ralph Ripoff was in the habit of pacing in circles when he had a really hard problem to solve. That’s what he was doing now: pacing in circles in the grand salon of the run-down old houseboat where he lived with his pet parrot Squawk.
“Round he goes, round he goes!” squawked Squawk. “And where he stops—”
“Shut your beak!” commanded Ralph. “Can’t you see I’m trying to think?”
“Trying to think. Trying to think,” squawked Squawk.
“I’ve simply gotta have that crystal! It called both things right. The Yankees-Giants game and the Grizzly Five Hundred. And the six car was a hundred-to-one shot! Did you hear that, Squawk? A hundred to one!”
“Hundred to one. Hundred to one,” squawked Squawk.
“Billy was right,” said Ralph, continuing to pace. “That crystal ball would be worth millions to me. I could win every bet! I wouldn’t want to, of course. I’d lose one every now and then to make things look good.
“I could steal it, of course. That would be easy. I could see where she keeps it in the newspaper picture, not to mention the TV news. But what good would that do? I
’m the first one they come to when anything’s missing.”
“Guilty as charged. Guilty as charged,” agreed Squawk.
“What I’ve got to do,” said Ralph, sitting down in his easy chair, “is figure out some way of stealing Gran’s crystal without anyone knowing it’s missing!”
He absentmindedly reached for the remote control, turned on the TV, and began channel surfing. TV shows flashed by—The Bear Stooges, B-Span, Bearwatch, Lives of the Bear Rich and Famous, Bear Trek.
“Hold it!” cried Ralph, switching back to Lives of the Bear Rich and Famous.
There on the TV screen was a place that Ralph knew well. It was the magnificent mansion of Squire Grizzly, the richest bear in Bear Country. The camera was panning the squire’s stately grounds.
“Of course!” cried Ralph, as the camera zoomed in on the beautiful birdbath that stood before the main entrance. It was lined with silvered glass. There was a small stand at its center and on the stand a glass crystal!
Ralph leaped up and hit himself on the side of the head. “Why didn’t I think of it? I pass by there every day. And it’s just the right size!”
“Right size. Right size,” squawked Squawk.
• Chapter 12 •
In the Dark of Night
It was the wee hours of the day that would see the grand opening of the Beartown June Fete. A sliver of moon shone feebly on a dark form moving along the wall that was supposed to keep out the likes of night-crawler Ralph Ripoff. A low-hanging branch, and it was upsy-daisy over the wall and across the dewy grass and onto the entrance road. The birdbath of the rich and famous lay just ahead.
“Okay,” said Ralph in a low voice. “Everybody out of the pool!”
Splashing night birds flew away as Ralph reached over and pried loose the garden crystal. He popped it into the blue plaid bowling bag he’d bought at Beartown Lanes. A quick zip of the zipper, and a quick zip back across the grass and over the wall and onto the road.
Next stop, the upstairs hall closet of Gramps and Gran’s house on Ridge Road.
• Chapter 13 •
Three Bags Full
Prying the garden crystal loose from Squire Grizzly’s birdbath had been the easy part. Exchanging it for Gran’s crystal was going to be the hard part. The hall closet where Gran kept her crystal was on the second floor of the two-story house. Ralph was counting on his early experience as a second-story bear to help him make the exchange.
His skills came back to him as he felt his way along the side of the house. He came to a ladderlike trellis that led to an open upstairs window. After testing the trellis for strength, he hooked the handles of the bowling bag onto his arm and started to climb.
A quick look in the window revealed a bathroom in the soft glow of a plug-in night-light. A tight, awkward squeeze through the window, into and out of the bathroom, an ever so careful tiptoe along the hall—one chirp from a squeaky floorboard and all would be lost.
Groping his way along the hall, he felt the folding door of his destination, the hall closet where Gran kept her million-dollar crystal ball. A split-second flash of Ralph’s penlight revealed Gran’s bowling bag. He quickly exchanged his blue plaid bowling bag for hers, stole back along the hall, out the bathroom window, down the trellis, and headed happily for his houseboat home.
But there was just one problem. The quick flash of his penlight did not reveal that there was another identical blue plaid bowling bag in the hall closet. In other words, there were “three bags full.”
The question was, full of what?
• Chapter 14 •
The Morning After the Night Before
By the time the Bear Scouts reached Ridge Road, shouting could be heard a block away. Neighbors were looking out of their windows and shaking their heads. Squirrels peeped out of their hidey-holes and wondered what was going on. Nest-building robins stopped in their work and listened. What was going on, of course, was the biggest fight Gramps and Gran had ever had.
“Come on!” cried Brother. “It sounds pretty bad.”
The scouts broke into a run.
But it was much worse than bad. The screaming and hollering were the least of it. The scouts rushed into the house to find Gramps trying to wrestle Gran’s bowling bag away from her and Gran hanging onto it for dear life.
“Stop it, Gramps!” shouted Brother. “Stop it!”
The sound of Brother’s voice and the sight of the Bear Scouts seemed to bring Gramps to his senses. He let go of Gran’s bowling bag and looked at the scouts. Then he looked back at Gran and said, “You know what I’m going to do? I’m going bowling!” Then he picked up his blue plaid bowling bag, which had been sitting on Gran’s little round table during the argument. Without another word he headed out the door.
Gran rushed to the door. She saw Gramps jumping into his pickup. “How am I going to get to the June Fete?” she cried.
“Take a taxi!” shouted Gramps. And off he roared.
“Don’t worry, Gran,” said Sister. “We’ll see that you get to the June Fete in plenty of time.”
“We’ll call the committee,” said Fred.
“Miserable old coot!” said Gran. “He’s been angry as a bear ever since my crystal got its wonderful pink glow.” She sat down in an armchair with the bowling bag in her lap. She unzipped it and reached in with both hands. “My beautiful, warm glowing crystal . . .”
Gran’s eyes went wide as she lifted the crystal out of its bag. “This . . . this . . . ,” she gasped, “is not my crystal!”
“Are you sure?” said Brother.
“Of course I’m sure!” said Gran. “This ball is cold! And this ball does not have a pink glow!”
“Maybe it’s just lost its power,” said Fred.
“Then,” said Gran, holding up the crystal for all to see, “how do you explain the fact that it has no finger holes?”
It was a good question.
“It seems to me,” said Brother, “that the explanation is that someone has exchanged your crystal for that glass ball.”
“But why would anyone think they would get away with it?” said Gran.
“Because,” said Brother, “whoever did it obviously didn’t know your crystal has a warm glow and finger holes.”
“But who would do such a terrible thing?” said Gran.
“How does our bookmaking friend Ralph sound as a candidate?” said Brother.
“Of course. He could win every bet with Gran’s crystal,” said Fred.
“But where did he get the exact same blue plaid bowling bag?” asked Lizzy.
“The same place Gramps and Gran got theirs: Beartown Lanes.”
“That’s it, then!” said Sister. “Ralph has Gran’s crystal!”
“I don’t think so,” said Brother. “Put your hands on this table where Gramps’s bowling bag was sitting, the way I’m doing.”
Gran and the scouts put their hands on the table. “It’s warm!” they chorused.
“What’s it mean?” asked Gran.
“It means,” said Brother, “that Ralph can’t possibly be the one who has your crystal.”
“Why not?” asked Gran.
“Because,” said Brother, “it’s Gramps who has it, and he’s just gone bowling with it!”
“To the bowling alley!” cried Gran. “My precious crystal will be crashed to bits!” But that’s not what happened.
Gran and the scouts were in luck when they rushed out to flag a passing car. Chief Bruno happened to be driving by. They piled into the police car and, with siren screaming, they careened to Beartown Lanes.
But they were too late. Gramps was already into his backswing. He was much too angry to notice that his bowling ball was warm and had a strange pink glow. Going into his powerful three-step delivery, Gramps sent the atomic crystal down the alley for a perfect ten-strike.
When the scouts reached the crystal at the end of the alley, it was cold and its pink glow was gone. Gran’s crystal had lost its power.
Meanwhi
le, down by the river, in a rundown houseboat, Ralph was waking from a dream of untold millions. He climbed out of his bunk, zipped open the stolen bowling bag, and took out . . . a bowling ball!
“A bowling ball!” he screamed. “A no-good, worthless, crummy bowling ball!” Then, with a strength born of fury, he threw Gramps’s heavy bowling ball through the salon window into the river.
“Set ’em up in the other alley! Set ’em up in the other alley!” squawked Squawk.
• Chapter 15 •
A Lovely Time Was Had by All
Gran took it all quite well. She admitted that the strange powers of her crystal ball were getting to be quite a responsibility.
The line at Gran’s fortune-telling booth was just as long as last year’s. And folks seemed quite happy with Gran’s readings. The scouts waited in line like everybody else. They still wanted to know about their chances for the Supertroop Merit Badge Award.
Gran looked deep into her crystal. She said her magic words.
“Sorry, scouts,” she said. “I’m just not getting any feedback on that.”
“That’s okay, Gran,” said Lizzy. “Because the way I look at it, half the fun of life is not knowing exactly what’s going to happen next!”
Excerpt from The Berenstain Bears at Camp Crush
Chapter 1
Bullhorn Baits His Hook
At Bear Country School, everyone knew Mervyn “Bullhorn” Grizzmeyer. He was the big, tough school vice principal, gym teacher, and team sports coach. Cubs on the sports teams were used to being yelled at by him when they didn’t play hard enough. Some cubs were used to seeing his scowling face behind his desk when they misbehaved and were sent to his office. And all the cubs were used to having gym instructions shouted at them in that booming bullhorn voice of his.
But Bullhorn Grizzmeyer was just about the last bear on earth that a cub expected to see at home. That’s why Brother and Sister Bear were shocked when Papa answered the tree house door on Saturday afternoon and found Mr. Grizzmeyer at their doorstep.
