Bug-Napped Read online

  EARTH TO HARDYS

  “Remind me why there’s kale on my pizza, Frank,” eight-year-old Joe Hardy said, holding a slice topped with the leafy veggie, “and not pepperoni or meatballs?”

  “Because it’s an Earth Day Festival in the park, Joe,” nine-year-old Frank Hardy reminded his brother. “Everything on the scene is green.”

  “That’s for sure.” Joe sighed, staring at the grassy-looking slice.

  “Besides,” said Frank, “eating healthy is a good idea before the Globe Gut Belly Bump.”

  Joe smiled at the mention of the contest he would compete in soon. He couldn’t wait to wear a giant inflated globe around his middle and bump his challenger until one of them dropped to the mat. As if that wasn’t cool enough, Joe and his fellow bump contestant were signed up to go first!

  “Who’s your opponent, Joe?” Frank asked.

  “Coach Lambert told me his name is Aki Kubo,” Joe said. “Aki moved here with his parents from Japan. That’s practically the other side of the world!”

  “Well, it is Earth Day!” said Frank.

  Joe was about to try a bite of his pizza when he felt something tug at his slice. Turning, he saw his pizza halfway inside the mouth of a robot!

  “Hey!” Joe cried. “The robot’s eating my pizza!”

  He and Frank tried to pull the pizza slice from the sucking jaws of the capsule-shaped machine, but it was no use.

  “Munchy is hungry,” the robot droned. “Feed me pizza crusts, banana peels, watermelon seeds—”

  “Munchy, no!” a voice called out.

  The brothers turned to see their friend Phil Cohen racing over. Phil flipped a switch on the robot, stopping his chomping at once.

  “Thanks, Phil,” Joe said, although his pizza slice was a goner.

  “Is Munchy one of your inventions, Phil?” asked Frank.

  Phil nodded proudly. Everyone knew he was the best inventor at Bayport Elementary School. “You bet,” he said. “I invented Munchy for the Earth Day Junior Inventors Challenge tomorrow.”

  “A robot that eats pizza?” Joe cried.

  “Munchy chews up leftover scraps and turns them into compost,” Phil explained. “Compost is great for the soil.”

  “So that’s where my pizza slice is going,” Joe sighed. “In the dirt!”

  “Sorry, Joe,” Phil said. “I have to reprogram Munchy to eat only scraps.”

  “Or maybe just the kale topping on a pizza,” Joe joked.

  Phil gazed at his robot. “I have to win tomorrow, you guys,” he said. “First prize is a whole summer at a camp for kid inventors. I’d do anything to go to Camp Galileo. Anything!”

  “You’ll win, Phil,” Frank insisted. “Munchy is awesome!”

  “You should see the inventions I’m up against!” Phil groaned. “A straw that turns swamp water into fresh water! A scooter made from recycled plastic bottles! There’ll even be a fake leather jacket made out of chewed-up bubble-gum wads.”

  “Wow!” Joe said, his eyes wide.

  “Good luck tomorrow, Phil,” said Frank.

  “Thanks,” Phil sighed. “I’m sure going to need it!”

  He flipped another switch on his robot. Then he walked away, with Munchy following behind him. The tip of Joe’s pizza slice was sticking out of the robot’s mouth.

  “Munchy may have eaten my pizza, Frank,” Joe said. “But at least he didn’t eat something way more important.”

  “What?” Frank asked.

  “Our clue book!” said Joe with a grin.

  “You brought our clue book here?” Frank asked. “To an Earth Day celebration?”

  Joe patted his jacket pocket. “I bring our clue book everywhere!” he declared.

  That was because Frank and Joe loved solving mysteries. Their clue book was where they wrote all their clues, suspects, and most important, the five questions good detectives ask themselves: who, what, where, when, and why?

  “You won’t need our clue book during the Globe Gut Belly Bump Contest,” Frank said. “Let’s see what else is going on around here before the contest starts.”

  The brothers walked through the festival, seeing lots of Earth Day activities. There was a crafts table where kids made bugs and flowers out of wire. One booth sold organic cupcakes, while another handed out free samples of bright green smoothies. Joe was pretty sure they had kale in them!

  As they walked on, Frank and Joe spotted a man pinning a flyer to a tree. The buggy antennas he wore on his head bobbed as he worked. After the man walked away, the brothers checked out the flyer.

  “ ‘Carl the Critter Curator’s Insectarium,’ ” Joe read out loud. He turned to Frank and asked, “What’s a curator?”

  “Someone who finds things for museums,” Frank replied. “We met one on our class trip to the Bayport Museum of Natural History.”

  “So if Carl is a critter curator, that means he finds bugs!” Joe said excitedly. “The flyer says it’s a museum for live insects. Cool!”

  The picture on the front showed Carl holding a giant caterpillar. The boys realized that he was the man they’d just seen putting up the flyer. In the picture, he wore the same purple antennas as he grinned from ear to ear.

  “It says to bring the kids,” said Frank, pointing to the flyer.

  “Yeah,” Joe chuckled. “And bug spray!”

  The brothers were turning away from the tree when—

  “Out of my way, out of my way!” a voice shouted.

  The voice belonged to the Hardys’ seven-year-old neighbor, Lester Lopez. Lester was wearing his Tadpole Scout uniform as he hurried to catch up with his sniffing beagle.

  “Hi, Lester,” Joe said. “Why is your dog sticking his nose in everything?”

  Lester tugged his dog’s leash to make him stop. “Mr. Sniff is a scent hound,” he explained. “He’s sniffing for things on my Tadpole Scout scavenger hunt list.”

  “A scavenger hunt?” said Joe. “What’s the prize?”

  “A new Tadpole Scout badge!” Lester said. He handed Mr. Sniff’s leash to Joe, then pointed to the other badges on his uniform. “I got this badge for cheese making, this one for trash recycling, this for sock balling—”

  “Woof!” Mr. Sniff barked, before zooming off.

  “Whoa!” Joe shouted, still holding the leash as the beagle pulled him across the grass. “I think Mr. Sniff just caught a whiff!”

  Joe stumbled after Mr. Sniff, gripping the leash with both hands. He was relieved when the bounding beagle stopped short at a boy holding a plant. Joe recognized the boy. He was Leif Bloomquist, from his third-grade class.

  Leif had the best name for someone who loved plants. He even had a weekend job delivering the Bayport Penny Pincher. It helped to pay for seeds and new gardening tools.

  “Get this dog away from Jaws!” Leif shouted as Mr. Sniff jumped up on him.

  “Get your plant away from my dog!” Lester shouted back, grabbing the leash from Joe.

  Frank, Joe, and Leif watched Lester walk off with Mr. Sniff, still sniffing everything in his path.

  “Is your plant okay, Leif?” Frank asked.

  “Shh—don’t call him a plant,” Leif said as if it could hear. “His name is Jaws, and he’s a Venus flytrap.”

  “Flytrap?” asked Joe. “Does he eat flies?”

  “Mostly bugs that crawl,” Leif said. “Like these guys.”

  From his pocket Leif pulled out a small jar filled with insects, unscrewed it, and shook out one of the bugs. The brothers watched wide-eyed as Leif placed the bug between two spiky leaves of the plant. The leaves closed over the bug and swallowed it whole.

  “Whoa!” Joe exclaimed.

  “That plant really is a trap!” said Frank.

  “I just wish I had bigger bugs to feed
him,” Leif said. “Like a beetle or a tarantula, so Jaws’s leaves wouldn’t be so pale and droopy.”

  The brothers watched Leif walk away, holding Jaws carefully.

  “Jaws seemed to have a healthy appetite to me!” Joe said.

  Suddenly—

  “The Globe Gut Belly Bump Contest will begin in ten minutes,” a voice boomed across the loudspeaker. “Will all belly bumpers please come to the game mat right away?”

  “Frank, this is it!” Joe said excitedly.

  “Bust a gut, Joe!” said Frank. “You got this!”

  Joe raced ahead of Frank to the game mat. Placed side by side on the mat were the two inflated Globe Guts. A boy was kneeling at one end of the mat. Joe also saw Coach Lambert, from Bayport Elementary School, waiting by the inflated globes. He would be judging the contest.

  “Ready to go first, Joe?” Coach Lambert reminded him.

  “Ready as spaghetti, Coach!” Joe said with a thumbs-up. “Is that Aki Kubo?”

  “Yes, there he is!” Coach Lambert said. He pointed to the kneeling boy, who was whispering softly to something on the ground covered with a white cloth.

  What’s under there? Joe wondered. And why is Aki talking to it?

  GOOD-LUCK SWARM

  “Ready, Aki?” Coach Lambert asked.

  Aki stood up and nodded. “Ready, Coach!” he said.

  Joe and Aki shook hands, then slipped into their huge inflated Globe Guts. Frank cheered for Joe from the crowd with Phil and Munchy. The robot had been programmed to cheer for Joe too… almost.

  “Go, Joe!” Munchy droned. “Munchy is hungry.…”

  “Okay, Joe and Aki, here are the rules,” Coach Lambert said. “You can bump each other with your Globe Guts, but no using hands!”

  Joe and Aki traded grins. The Globe Guts were so huge, they couldn’t reach a thing!

  “Ready… set… bump!” Coach Lambert shouted. He blew a whistle and stepped way back.

  BUMP! BUMP! BUMP!

  The crowd cheered for both Aki and Joe as they jumped and bumped. Each bump caused the boys to bounce back practically through the air. Both boys put up a good clash until Aki landed one enormous bump and—

  “Oof!” Joe grunted as he fell back on the mat. He and his Globe Gut rolled and rolled until coming to a complete stop.

  “And the winner is Aki Kubo!” Coach Lambert shouted, “Good job, you guys!”

  Joe tried standing but kept rolling instead. “Thanks, Coach,” he grunted. “Uh… can somebody help me up? Please?”

  The coach pulled Joe to his feet. When both boys were out of their Globe Guts, they shook hands again.

  “What’s your secret, Aki?” asked Coach Lambert.

  “I’ll show you, Coach,” Aki said.

  He walked to the end of the mat, where his covered object stood. Aki whipped off the cover to reveal a small tank underneath. Joe was near enough to see what was inside. It was a big black bug with lots of legs!

  Aki popped off the lid and lifted the bug out of the tank. Shouts of “Awesome,” “Whoa!” and “Eww!” rose from the crowd.

  “Meet Izumi, a stag beetle,” Aki explained. “Many kids in Japan have stag beetles as pets.”

  Joe pointed to Izumi. “He looks like he’s wearing a samurai helmet,” he said.

  “That’s why some call them samurai beetles,” Aki said. “They’re also good luck, which is why I brought Izumi here today.”

  Frank could hear Phil gasp, “That bug is good luck? No way!”

  “Well, Aki,” Coach Lambert said. “If stag beetles are good luck, then Izumi certainly did his job.”

  As the winner, Aki received a bicycle helmet. Joe won a prize too, a gift card to a veggie burger place in Bayport.

  “I hear their kale burgers are excellent,” the coach told Joe.

  “Kale, huh?” Joe gulped as he took the card. “Thanks… Coach Lambert.”

  Frank hurried over to Joe and Aki as they stepped away from the mat. While the next contestants got ready to bump, the brothers checked out Izumi in the palm of Aki’s hand.

  “Cool bug, Aki,” said Frank.

  “I don’t know anyone with a bug for a pet,” Joe admitted.

  “Stag beetles make excellent pets,” Aki said as he held out his bug. “Why don’t you both take Izumi home and see for yourself?”

  Frank and Joe exchanged surprised looks. Had they just heard what they thought they’d heard?

  “You’d let us borrow Izumi?” Frank asked.

  “But he’s yours, Aki,” said Joe.

  “I know,” Aki said, petting Izumi’s wings. “But you seem like you will take good care of him.”

  “We will!” Frank said.

  “For sure!” added Joe.

  “Great, then,” Aki said. “Just tell me where you live and I’ll pick Izumi up on Sunday afternoon.”

  Frank told him their address, and then Aki slipped Izumi into the tank and secured the lid. He handed the tank to Joe.

  “Thanks, Aki,” Joe said. “What should we feed this big guy?”

  “Beetles love fruit,” replied Aki. He turned to see his family waving from a distance. “I have to go now. Have fun with Izumi, and I’ll see you on Sunday!”

  The brothers waved good-bye to Aki, then high-fived.

  “A samurai stag beetle!” Joe cheered. “Are we lucky or what?”

  “It’s only for the weekend, Joe,” Frank reminded him, “Let’s take Izumi home and introduce him to Mom and Dad.”

  But as they left the festival, Joe had a feeling they were being followed. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Carl the Critter Curator, still wearing his purple buggy antennas.

  Carl was looking straight at Frank and Joe as he spoke on his phone: “I just had the most fabulous idea for our insectarium—a huge beetle!”

  Joe smiled at Izumi inside the tank. “Hear that, Izumi?” he asked. “You’re not just an insect. You’re an inspiration!”

  * * *

  “A stag beetle?” Mr. Hardy asked.

  “You brought a giant insect home for the weekend?” said Mrs. Hardy, staring at Izumi’s tank on the kitchen counter.

  “It’s only temporary,” Frank explained. “Think of it as a sleepover.”

  “Or as bugs would say,” Joe joked, “a creep-over.”

  “Very funny,” said Mr. Hardy with a grin.

  Aunt Trudy was also in the kitchen, pulling a tray of fresh-baked cookies from the oven. The cookies were shaped like flowers, butterflies, and bugs!

  “I have nothing against insects, boys,” Aunt Trudy said as she placed the tray on the kitchen table. “Just keep that beetle away from my Earth Day cookies.”

  “I’ll keep Izumi away,” Joe said, reaching for a cookie. “As for me—”

  “Don’t even think about it, Joe Hardy,” Aunt Trudy cut in. “These cookies are for my special Earth Day book club meeting tonight. We’re reading The Great Gnatsby!”

  “Why don’t you take Izumi upstairs, guys?” Mr. Hardy suggested.

  “Can I bring him to my room?” asked Joe.

  “As long as you keep him in your room,” Mrs. Hardy said firmly. “As you can see, we’re not the biggest fans of bugs yet. But maybe he would like a snack?”

  Mrs. Hardy cut up some few apple slices to give to Izumi. While they popped the slices into Izumi’s tank, Aunt Trudy said, “He’s quiet now, but bugs can get pretty noisy.”

  “That’s okay, Aunt Trudy,” Joe said. “So can I!”

  But that night, while Joe lay in bed, he learned what Aunt Trudy meant. Izumi’s hissing and chirps were keeping him wide awake!

  He rolled over to look at his bedside clock. It was ten thirty. He climbed out of bed and walked over to Izumi’s tank on his desk.

  “I can put you somewhere else in the house, Izumi,” Joe said. “But you’d only keep the others awake. Unless…”

  He picked up the tank. “… I put you outside the house!”

  Leaving his room, Joe cradled Izumi’s tank in hi
s arms.

  The house was dark, but the stairs were always lit with a night-light. After heading downstairs, Joe carried Izumi’s tank to the front door, opened it, and stepped outside. The warm spring day had turned into a chilly spring night.

  “There you go, Izumi,” Joe said, carefully placing the tank on the doorstep. “Now you can hiss like it’s nobody’s business!”

  He went upstairs and back to bed, where he got a good night’s sleep. The next morning he woke up early for a Saturday, and the house was quiet. Still in his pj’s, Joe hurried downstairs to bring Izumi inside.

  “Good morning, Izumi!” he said, pulling the front door open. He glanced down at the doorstep and gasped, then began to shout, “Frank, Frank! Izumi was hissing—and now he’s missing!”

  INSECT INVESTIGATION

  “What do you mean Izumi is missing, Joe?” Frank demanded. He was also in his pj’s, having just been awakened by Joe’s yells.

  “Izumi was noisy last night, so I put his tank outside right here,” Joe cried, pointing to the doorstep. “Now Izumi and his tank are gone!”

  “Okay, okay,” said Frank, trying to calm Joe down. “Let’s ask Mom and Dad. Maybe they brought Izumi inside this morning.”

  But when the brothers asked their parents, they said they didn’t know where Izumi was. So Frank and Joe called up to Aunt Trudy’s window. She didn’t have a clue either!

  “Great,” Joe groaned, as he and Frank returned to the empty doorstep. “I promised Aki we’d take care of his pet. What will I tell him when he comes for Izumi tomorrow afternoon?”

  “Tomorrow afternoon means we have a whole day and half to find out who took Izumi,” Frank pointed out.

  “Took?” Joe asked, his eyebrows flying up. “You mean Izumi was… bug-napped?”

  “Maybe,” said Frank. “Go inside and get our clue book so we can open this case.”

  “Our clue book?” Joe reached into the pocket of his pj’s and said, “Got it!”

  “In your pajamas?” Frank asked.

  “I told you, Frank,” said Joe with a grin. “I carry our clue book everywhere. Even to bed!”