In the Desert : In the Desert (9780307496126) (7 page)

“Ergh!” grunted ant-sized Andrew Dubble. Andrew, wearing a furry black-and-yellow-striped jumpsuit, was on a ledge outside a kitchen window.

His arms were covered by black metal tubes jointed at the elbows. He was struggling to get his legs into pants made from the same tubes.

“You’re not supposed to be outside, Bug-Brain,” came a voice from the windowsill behind him. “And what’s with that
stupid
outfit?”

It was Andrew’s thirteen-year-old cousin, Judy. Judy was ant-sized, too.

Andrew stood up stiffly in his metal pants.
“I figured that since we’re bug-sized, we need some bug advantages,” he said. “So I made us these suits. They’re called Wannabees.”

meep
… “Hit Drewd!” came a squeaky voice from a pocket in Andrew’s Wannabee.

It was Andrew’s little silver robot and pocket-sized best friend, Thudd.

“That’s the best idea I’ve heard since we got shrunk,” said Judy. She made a fist and punched Andrew hard in the chest.

“Ooof!” she said, rubbing her hand. “It’s hard as a rock!”

Andrew clomped over to a peanut shell on the windowsill. He reached in and pulled out a Wannabee and sets of black tubes like the ones he was wearing. He held them out to Judy.

“This one’s for you,” he said. “Try it on. I think it’s your size.”

“You’ve got to be kidding!” said Judy. “It looks
soooo
uncomfortable. Besides, every one of your stupid inventions has gotten us in
trouble. If we just stay in the house, we won’t need this junk.”

Andrew shook his head. “We can’t just hang around the house,” he said. “We’ve got to help Uncle Al save the frogs.”

Judy rolled her eyes. “Ever since Uncle Al told us about the disappearing frogs, that’s
all
you think about,” she said.

“Some frogs have even gone extinct,” said Andrew. “Uncle Al needs our help. There’s a frog pond just beyond this yard. We’ve got to go there and see what we can find out.”

“Right,” said Judy. “At our size, it will take us a year to get to that pond.”

“No, it won’t,” said Andrew.

Andrew reached into a pocket and pulled out a tiny black remote control. He pressed some of its buttons.

Suddenly a dead leaf at the end of the window ledge fluttered. It lifted. Beneath was an odd flying machine. At the top was a pair of large, buggy-looking wings that had been
wired together. Beneath the wings were two little seats, and under them were three wheels.

“Cheese Louise!” said Judy. “What is
that
?”

Andrew smiled and cocked his head. “It’s the GNAT,” he said. “
GNAT
is short for
G
lobal
N
avigation
a
nd
T
ransportation.”

“
Global
!” said Judy. “That stupid-looking thing wouldn’t get you from here to the kitchen sink.”

“You wanna bet?” said Andrew. “I’ll bet you the last crumb of Uncle Al’s super-delicious fudge. I’ve got it in my pocket.”

“Hmmmm …,” Judy pondered. “I’m
sooo
hungry. Okay.”

Andrew pressed more buttons on the remote.

Whrrrrrrrrrrr
…

The GNAT’s wings fluttered slowly at first, then faster, then so fast that they seemed to disappear.

Whirring softly, the GNAT lifted a couple
of inches off the windowsill and set itself down in front of Andrew.

Andrew got into the left-hand seat and fastened his seat belt. He patted the seat next to him. Judy climbed in and pulled her seat belt across her shoulder.

He pointed to pedals beneath each seat. “We’ll both have to pedal to keep the engine going.”

Andrew and Judy started pedaling, but nothing happened.

“I told you so,” said Judy. “Give me that fudge crumb.”

“Not yet,” said Andrew. “The GNAT is storing energy as we pedal. It’s like winding up a toy plane.”

WHHHHRRRRRR
…

Suddenly the GNAT’s wings were beating. The wind from the wings bent Andrew’s antennas and blew Judy’s hair over her face. The GNAT lurched from side to side, then it zoomed off the window ledge and into the trees.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Text copyright © 2008 by J. C. Greenburg
Illustrations copyright © 2008 by Jan Gerardi

All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Random House
Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

Random House and colophon are registered trademarks and A Stepping Stone Book and colophon are trademarks of Random House, Inc. Andrew Lost is a trademark of J. C. Greenburg.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Greenburg, J. C. (Judith C.)

In the desert / by J. C. Greenburg; illustrated by Jan Gerardi. — 1st ed.

   p. cm. — (Andrew Lost; 17) “A Stepping Stone Book.”

Summary: While in the Australian desert, ant-sized Andrew, his
cousin Judy, and Thudd the robot are carried away by a dust devil
and face many dangerous creatures, from a flock of wild parakeets to
a Perentie lizard, as they try to make their way back to Uncle Al.

eISBN: 978-0-307-49612-6

[1. Deserts—Fiction. 2. Desert animals—Fiction. 3. Robots—Fiction.
4. Cousins—Fiction. 5. Australia—Fiction.] I. Gerardi, Jan, ill.

II. Title. III. Series.

PZ7.G82785Ink 2008 [Fie]—dc22 2007012802

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