Read Online The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp by Kathi Appelt - Free Book Online Page B

Hmm . . . Now he was faced with a conundrum. Should he wake J’miah up with the good news about the dewberries? He had, after all, risked being attacked by a primeval possum.
    Then again, he had risked being attacked by a primeval possum. Maybe, Bingo thought, I deserve these dewberries.
    But wasn’t one of the Scout orders “Be true to each other”?
    Would it be untrue to eat the dewberries if he had picked them for J’miah? Of course, it might also be untrue to wake J’miah. What if he was having a wonderful dream or something, and didn’t want to be disturbed? Bingo had to admit that J’miah looked very cozy.
    Decisions, decisions.
    The sweet scent of dewberries filled the air of Information Headquarters. Then there were the dewberries themselves to consider. Would it be untrue to the dewberries if he let them go uneaten? What was true and what was not?
    Alas! All of these questions made Bingo feel a little dizzy. He sniffed the dewberries. From the backseat he heard J’miah roll over. He waited one moment longer to see if his brother was going to stir. If J’miah woke up by himself, the dewberries were his.
    Wait.
    Wait.
    Waaaiiittt.
    There was nothing left to do but gobble those delicious dewberries down. Which he did. In one huge bite.
    Buuuuurp!
    Oh, dear. Bingo had not meant to do that. He covered his mouth with his paw. Maybe J’miah had not heard it.
    Too late.
    In Bingo’s ears, he heard his brother say, “Mmm . . . dewberries.”
    Thankfully, the next thing he heard was Zzzzzzzz .

33
    M EANWHILE, IN THE DEEPEST, DARKEST part of the forest, Gertrude uncoiled her very lengthy body and rattled her tail, chichichichichi. She felt itchy. Fleas! Who knew that a snake could be bothered by fleas? Then again, Gertrude wasn’t your run-of-the-mill ordinary snake. She was the Sugar Man’s familiar. Crotalus horridus GIGANTICUS.
    CHG!
    Gertrude blinked until her eyes finally adjusted to the darkness, and when they did, she noticed that her old companion was snoozing away, as usual. Even with all his fur, the fleas did not seem to bother him.
    She gave him a little nudge, but he barely budged, just snored a little louder. Satisfied that he was sleeping soundly, Gertrude slithered out of the dark lair and slipped into the muddy bayou. Ahh, the cool water felt good on her scaly skin.
    Once in a while a girl just needs a bath. She swam toand fro for several minutes, gobbled up a couple of tasty bullfrogs, and then slid back to her nest.
    She sighed. “That’s better.” She curled up into a huge coil and slid back into sleep.
    Chichichichichi.

34
    S OMEONE ELSE WAS FEELING ITCHY : Jaeger Stitch. In fact, she was itching for a fight. She flexed the muscles in her biceps and clenched her fists. Raw power surged through her compact body. With Sunny Boy Beaucoup sitting on the backseat of the Hummer beside her, her first impulse was to put him in a headlock and make him beg for mercy.
    But she fought down the urge to do that. After all, he was her primary source of funding for the Gator World Wrestling Arena and Theme Park.
    Her fingers twitched. She needed a fresh alligator. With the early morning sun beginning to peek through the branches of the cypress trees, she could see the swamp from the passenger window.
    A few miles down the road from Paradise Pies Café—after their driver, a college student named Leroy who was trying to pick up a few bucks during summer break,had set the Hummer on cruise control—she demanded, “Leroy! Stop the car!”
    Leroy hit the brakes, which made the heavy vehicle slide down the gravel road. It dug deep trenches with all four of its enormous steel-belted radials. A cloud of red dust surrounded them. Before Sonny Boy could even say, “What the . . .” Jaeger jumped out the door and disappeared into the trees, leaving Sonny Boy in the backseat of the Hummer.
    Sonny Boy