Read Online The Second Adventure by Gordon Korman - Free Book Online Page A

loud smacking of warthog lips. From the back row, the two bus drivers were staring directly at him. Still, no way could they know the dog was under the set.
    â€œGet off!” Mary Catherine rasped from below.
    It was a theatrical problem. Pumbaa was not supposed to be on top of Pride Rock in
The Lion King
. But Logan couldn’t move without something else to weigh down the set. He could already feel Luthor scrambling around underneath the cart. It was time for an ad lib. He threw his head back and announced, “I think that baboon is coming up here to show everybody the new baby lion!”
    There was a bit of a stir backstage, because this was definitely not in the script. But eventually, the actors were in place, and Rafiki the baboon, flanked by King Mufasa and his wife, climbed to the top of Pride Rock.
    Mary Catherine was playing Queen Sarabi, and as Logan tried to retreat from the set, she elbowed him hard in the ribs and muttered, “You’re dead, Kellerman!”
    The camper playing Rafiki held up the stuffed toy representing the infant Simba, and cried, “Animals of the Pride Lands, behold your future king!”
    A cheer went up from the cast, matched by one from the audience. It obscured a mournful howl that came from inside Pride Rock. Luthor was still groggy, but he seemed to be coming out of his partially tranquilized state. And that was bad news all around.
    Logan wriggled off the scenery and found Melissa at the computer. “Luthor’s definitely awake, and he must be hungry! Quick, give me your hamburgers! Maybe some food will calm him down!”
    The two looped around the back of the stage and crawled out, hidden from the audience’s view by the bulk of Pride Rock. Melissa unwrapped a burger and squeezed it under the gap between the rolling set and the platform. Another half inch would have cost her two fingers. The food was sucked in and snapped up in the blink of an eye.
    â€œI’ve only got one more!” she warned.
    â€œGive it to him! Give it to him!” It was almost time for “Hakuna Matata.” Pumbaa was due onstage in less than a minute. “I’ve got a bunch more in my pocket! Can you reach inside my costume, and —”
    Too late. Timon and the adolescent Simba had already taken the stage. “Hurry up!” Bobby hissed in his meerkat suit. “And don’t forget your caterpillars!”
    Logan knew he was out of options. With everything going on, and all the factors that needed his attention, one simple truth shone through everything:
The show must go on.
For Logan Kellerman, that rule was as basic and unchanging as the law of gravity.
    So Pumbaa joined Timon and Simba in front of the audience. Logan could feel the bus drivers’ eyes boring four laser holes in his costume. But he put that out of his mind, and sang his heart out, popping caterpillars and burping in all the right places as befitted a gassy warthog.
    Mary Catherine the Klingon had done everything in her power to make him a nobody in this show. Well, maybe he couldn’t change the casting, but there were no small roles, only small actors. And his Pumbaa would have the audience feeling the stomach cramps and tasting the wriggling bugs in the back of their throats.
    And then Pride Rock rolled up and bumped him from behind.
    The food hadn’t calmed Luthor down. He was more restless than ever. Still singing, Logan leaned back against the set, and tried to wheel it away from the edge of the stage. The last thing they needed was for Pride Rock to go over the apron and take out the first three rows! Mickey Bonaventure would definitely deduct points for that.
    The final chorus had never lasted longer. The audience must have noticed that Pumbaa did not join Timon and Simba for their dance, and instead leaned against the rock, pressing down with all his might. It wasn’t great theatre but, when at last the cast pushed Pride Rock off into its corner, he sensed