In the Ice Age : In the Ice Age (9780307532497) (5 page)

They all turned to look.

At the top of the ice wall was a zigzag crack.

“Yowzers!” said Andrew. “It’s like the cave painting.”

Judy turned to Thudd. “Does this mean we’ll get washed away in another fifteen seconds?” she asked.

meep …
“Not know,” said Thudd. “Flood happen anytime.”

“Then let’s move it!” said Judy.

In the shadows ahead, Andrew glimpsed a dark lump.

It looked like a boulder, but it was rocking and squirming. And it was noisy!

Nyeeek! Nyeeek!

“What’s that?” asked Andrew.

Beeper ran up to it. “It’s the glyptodont! It’s on its back!”

“Uh-oh,” said Andrew. “It’s awfully heavy. I don’t know how we can get it back on its feet.”

Max went up to the glyptodont and touched it with his trunk. The glyptodont rocked from side to side and wiggled its armored feet in the air.

Max shoved his enormous tusks beneath the squirming glyptodont and scooped it up!

Nyeeek! Nyeeek!
the glyptodont screeched. It didn’t know it was being rescued.

“Wowzers schnauzers!” said Andrew.

“Way to go, Max!” shouted Beeper.

“Good
mammoth!” said Judy.

They left the forest and started climbing
through snow and over rocks. They were scrambling higher and higher toward the glacier.

The capybaras grunted, but they kept together and hurried along.

“Whew!” said Andrew. “I’m getting pretty warm.” He loosened the cape around his shoulders.

“I’m getting tired,” complained Judy.

“Maybe I could take one of the capybaras back to our time,” said Beeper. “I mean, they’re just big guinea pigs.”

Judy rolled her eyes. “Don’t even think about it,” she said.

Beeper stuck his tongue out at Judy and made a rude sound.

meep …
“Capybaras alive in our time, too,” said Thudd. “Beeper can find capybara when we get back.”

“If we
get back,” said Judy.

Andrew glimpsed a long dark shape lying
on the snow. It looked familiar, but it was too big to be …

“A feather!” said Andrew, stopping to examine it. The feather was longer than Andrew and as wide as his foot.

meep …
“Teratorn feather!” said Thudd.

“Andrew!” yelled Judy. “Get back here! The capys are getting away!”

Andrew picked up the feather and ran back to his side of the herd.

“Hot doggies!” said Beeper. “What a great feather! Can I have it?”

“Maybe we can share it,” said Andrew.

Judy squinted at a rocky ridge ahead.

“I saw something move,” she said.

“Where?” asked Andrew.

“There,” said Judy, pointing.

A shadowy figure walked out from behind the ridge.

“It’s a person!” Judy cried.

“It’s not Professor Winka,” said Andrew.

“It’s not my uncle, either,” said Beeper.

One by one, others joined the first figure. There were five of them. In single file, they walked slowly closer.

meep …
“Ice Age people!” said Thudd.

“They’re carrying
spears!”
said Judy.

meep …
“Ice Age people hunt mammoth,” said Thudd.

“Holy moly!” said Andrew, looking at Max and the little herd of capybaras. “These guys must look like lunch!”

“What if they’re
cannibals?”
asked Judy.

“We’ll tell them that girls taste better than boys,” said Beeper.

Judy poked Beeper. “Shhhhh!” she hushed. “They’re almost here.”

The Ice Age people stopped in front of them. There were three men and two boys. Their black hair was long and straight and hung down their backs. They wore fur jackets,
leather pants, and hairy boots. Each one carried a spear.

“Kah mika,” said the tallest man, looking at Andrew.

Andrew shrugged his shoulders. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

“Iktal okook!” said one of the hunters. He gestured toward Max with the tip of his spear.

“Oh,
please
don’t eat Max!” pleaded Andrew. He pointed to Max and shook his head.

The hunters aimed their spears and slowly surrounded them.

“No! No!”
shouted Andrew.

“Don’t shout,” said Judy softly. “You don’t want them to think you’re angry. We want to show them we’re friendly. Maybe if we gave them a gift or something …”

“What do we have that’s not a mammoth or a glyptodont or a giant guinea pig?” asked Andrew.

“What about the feather?” asked Judy. “It’s a pretty amazing feather.”

“I wanna keep it,” said Beeper.

“Would you rather have the feather or your skin?” asked Judy.

Beeper shrugged.

Andrew held out the enormous feather and walked up to the hunter who’d spoken to him.

“I have something for you, sir,” he said.

The man pushed the point of his spear into the ground. Then he took the feather, put his hand on Andrew’s shoulder, and nodded.

One of the boys came over and touched the feather.

“Hyas chak-chak tupso,” he said.

The other boy, just a little taller than Andrew, pointed to Thudd.

“Thudd,” said Andrew. He held Thudd up.

“Thudd!” said the boy, smiling.

meep …
“Hiya!” said Thudd. The boy touched Thudd’s face screen. Thudd wiggled his antennas.

The boy laughed. He held out his spear to Andrew.

“Thank you,” said Andrew. He took the
spear. It had a sharp point made of carved stone.

Andrew smiled and nodded. The boy smiled and nodded, too.

The tallest hunter waved his hand toward the distance.

“He’s telling us to go,” said Andrew.

“These guys were heading toward the ice dam,” said Judy. “It could break soon. We have to warn them.”

“How?” asked Andrew.

Judy stepped forward, pointed toward the dam, and shook her head.

They stared at Judy and shook their heads, too.

Beeper pointed in the direction of the dam and yelled, “BOOM!”

The hunters laughed.

“Wait a minute,” said Judy.

She reached into a pajama pocket and pulled out the reddish stick she had taken from the cave.

She brushed snow off a flat rock and started to draw. The hunters gathered around her. She drew the wall with the zigzag crack that she had seen in the cave painting. She drew big waves around it.

The hunters’ eyes lit up. They nodded. They recognized the drawing!

One of the hunters touched the colored stick in Judy’s hand. She gave it to him. He broke it in half and gave one half to Judy.

He went up to Max and waved to Judy. He wanted her to come, too.

Nyeeek! Nyeeek! Nyeeek!

The glyptodont was frantic about having people so close.

The hunter began to rub the red color over one of Max’s tusks. He motioned Judy to color the other tusk.

Soon they were done. The hunter pointed to his spear, then he pointed to Max and shook his head.

“He’s telling us that they’ve marked Max
so they’ll never hunt him!” said Andrew.

Judy, Andrew, and Beeper smiled and nodded.

The hunters did the same. Then they turned and hurried off in the direction they had come from.

Max lurched forward with a wriggling glyptodont in his tusks. The capys decided to munch some grass. Judy broke a twig off a bush and poked their behinds to hurry them along.

It wasn’t long before they glimpsed the craggy ice of the glacier.

The Tick-Tox Box was where it had been when they left. But now it was bigger than a football field!

Next to it was the Time-A-Tron. It was floating a few feet off the ground and its Fast-Fins were spinning.

They were getting close to the glacier when suddenly they heard screaming. It was
coming from inside the glacier, and it was getting louder.

“What’s
that?”
asked Judy.

Suddenly Doctor Kron-Tox rushed out of an icy crack in the glacier wall.

“It’s my uncle!” said Beeper.

Right behind him was a very tall creature that looked kind of like a dinosaur.

meep …
“Titanis bird!” said Thudd. “Called terror bird! Ten feet tall! Fierce hunter bird! Beak bite through bone!”

Doctor Kron-Tox was running so fast that his black cape fluttered like wings. But the
Titanis bird was right behind him. And catching up with them was furry Uncle Al!

Doctor Kron-Tox was racing toward the Tick-Tox Box.

“We’ve got to help Uncle Al,” said Andrew. “We can’t let Doctor Kron-Tox get away.”

“Let’s block the path to the Tick-Tox Box,” said Judy.

She swatted the behinds of the capys. They grunted and scrambled along.

Nyeeek! Nyeeek! Nyeeek!
the glyptodont squealed as Max picked up speed.

They reached the Tick-Tox Box just in time. Doctor Kron-Tox’s path was blocked by the capybaras. He shook with fury and screamed.

“Get out, go away,

You little blokes!

I’m leaving now,

This is no joke!”

“He’s still wearing that stupid mask,” said Judy. “I wonder what would happen if …”

Judy darted behind Doctor Kron-Tox and poked her twig at the back of his head. The twig caught the elastic that held his mask. She pulled it off Doctor Kron-Tox’s face!

His eyes grew huge and round. His thin lips opened wide and trembled.

ah ah AHCHOOOOOOOO!

Doctor Kron-Tox’s tall body folded like a beach chair and flopped to the ground.

AH AH AHCHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

He sneezed and sneezed. One of the capybaras began to lick him!

Meanwhile, the Titanis bird was jabbing
its beak at one of the capybaras.

Max, still stuck with the angry glyptodont, somehow managed to fling his trunk around the bird’s neck.

Uncle Al rushed to where Doctor Kron-Tox lay helplessly sneezing.

“Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer on rye toast!” exclaimed Uncle Al with a big smile. “You guys are amazing!”

“Uncle Al!” said Judy. “The ice dam is cracking! We saw it!”

“We have to hurry” said Uncle Al. “But we must never panic. Panic makes brains freeze.”

Uncle Al leaned over the sneezing Doctor Kron-Tox, pulled his arms behind his back, and tied his wrists with a strip of leather.

“Ah, my old friend,” sighed Uncle Al, “you’ve created a bundle of problems.”

Doctor Kron-Tox hissed back,

“You can’t stop me

Or hold me down.

I’ll have my way,

You foolish clown!”

AHCHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

“Gesundheit!” said Uncle Al. “You and I are going on a little trip in time and space. We’re going to return all the creatures you’ve interfered with.”

Uncle Al pulled Doctor Kron-Tox onto his feet and guided him into the Tick-Tox Box.

KYAAAAAAACK! KYAAAAAAAACK!

The screaming Titanis bird was making the capybaras frantic.

“Get the capys into the Tick-Tox Box,” said Uncle Al. “Get Max inside, too. We’ll take him to higher ground.”

Inside the dark, flickering space were many pens filled with animals. Roaring, screeching sounds came from all directions.

Haroooooo! Harooooooo!

The wolves were somewhere inside the Tick-Tox Box. They, too, would go to high ground.

The kids found an empty pen and shooed the giant guinea pigs into it.

Max stood in the middle of the space, carrying the glyptodont and holding the Titanis bird. There wasn’t another empty pen.

Andrew raised his hand to Max. “Max, you have to stay here,” he said. “Uncle Al will bring you to a safe place.”

Max’s eyes were shiny in the darkness. Andrew waved good-bye. Beeper stuck his thumbs in his ears and wiggled his fingers. Judy blew Max a kiss. Thudd wiggled his antennas.

As the kids were coming out of the Tick-Tox Box, a familiar voice greeted them.

“You’re back!” called Winka.

She was carrying the little Tyrannosaurus. But now it was wearing a muzzle made of leather strips.

“Hot doggies!” said Beeper, patting the dinosaur on the head. “How did you get him back?”

“I caught up with him when he tried to attack a giant beaver,” said Winka. “The beaver was the size of a grizzly bear. It wasn’t pretty.”

Uncle Al guided Andrew, Judy, and Beeper toward the Time-A-Tron.

“I’ve loaded all Doctor Kron-Tox’s captured animals into the Tick-Tox Box,” said Uncle Al.

“I also checked out the Time-A-Tron. It’s working perfectly now, and there’s enough fuel for your trip back to our time.

“Winka and I will use the Tick-Tox Box to take all the animals back where they belong.”

bong …
“Welcome, children!” said the Time-A-Tron. “We are going home!”

“Can’t we go with
you,
Uncle Al?” pleaded Andrew.

“Yeah!” said Beeper. “I’ll take care of my Tyrannosaurus!
”

Uncle Al smiled and shook his head. “I’m sorry,” he said. “The Tick-Tox Box is a very strange vehicle and our job is too dangerous.
Besides, your parents must be worried about you.”

“Naah,” said Beeper. “They like me to go away as much as possible.”

“Good luck, Uncle Al,” said Andrew.

Judy gave Uncle Al a hug. Beeper made a rude sound.

They climbed into the bottom compartment of the Time-A-Tron.

Hooooo … hooooo …
The little owl greeted them from the top of the fuel tank.

As they were climbing into the top compartment, Andrew heard a sound like distant thunder.

KRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAK!

They rushed to their seats.

“Cheese Louise,” said Judy. “Look!”

Through the dome of the Time-A-Tron, Andrew saw a towering wall of water that seemed to reach the sky. It was carrying trees. It was carrying boulders the size of department
stores. It was rushing toward them!

bong …
“Hurry, Mistress Judy,” said the Time-A-Tron. “Press the Fast-Forward button.”

meep …
“Fast! Fast! Fast!” said Thudd.

Judy slammed the Fast-Forward button with her fist.

WOOOHOOOOOOO!

Fiery green balls flew off the Fast-Fins. Through the twisting ribbons of light, they could see the Tick-Tox Box. Three gigantic bolts of white lightning zigzagged from inside
it and sizzled toward the sky. Just as the humongous wave was about to smash over the Tick-Tox Box, it disappeared!

bong …
“Professor Dubble and Winka are safely off!” said the Time-A-Tron.

Now the gigantic wave was crashing over the Time-A-Tron. It shook as the black water smashed enormous rocks and chunks of forest against the dome!

Judy slammed the Fast-Forward button once more.

BLAFOOOOOOOM!

A cocoon of green light spun around the Time-A-Tron.

13,000 YEARS AGO, read the display on the control panel.

12,000 YEARS AGO

11,000 YEARS AGO

“Whew!” said Judy. “I can’t believe it!”

bong …
“We’ll be back in modern Montana in a few seconds!” said the Time-A-Tron.

“Hooey!” shouted Beeper.

Yikes!
thought Andrew.
Mrs. Carmody asked me to think up a super-duper project for the school science contest. Something about how to help the environment and win a thousand dollars for poor kids in Mexico. I can’t believe I forgot all about it! Wait a minute. Garbage … garbage … I’ve got it. A new way to get rid of garbage! YES!!! The Goa Constrictor!

TO BE CONTINUED IN ANDREW, JUDY, AND THUDD’S
NEXT EXCITING ADVENTURE:
ANDREW LOST
IN THE GARBAGE!

In stores January 2006