Going Batty (4 page)

I like them all the same—especially when they’re sprinkled with sugar!”

Katie giggled. That was soooo George. No matter what the problem, he could always solve it with dessert.

If only her problems with Becky and Suzanne could be solved that easily!

Unfortunately, Suzanne and Becky were still fighting when the fourth grade arrived at the zoo on Monday morning.

“I hope we go to the monkey house first,” Becky said. “I want to see if we can find a really cute one to adopt.”

“I told you, we’re
not
adopting a monkey,” Suzanne insisted. “Right, Katie?”

Katie didn’t know what to say. So she didn’t answer.

Suzanne twirled around, showing off her bright blue shirt and blue and green skirt. “I dressed this way so our peacock will know I’m the one who’s adopting her,” Suzanne said.

“The three of us are adopting a zoo animal together,” Katie reminded Suzanne.

“Of course,” Suzanne said. “But
I
look the most like a peacock mom.”

“Actually, Suzanne, you look like a peacock
dad
,” Jeremy corrected her. “The boys are the colorful ones.”

“That can’t be right,” Suzanne insisted.

“Jeremy is right, Suzanne,” Ms. Sweet said. “Very often female birds have duller colors than males. They can fade into their environment while they are sitting on the nest. It keeps the females and their eggs safe.”

“The females are pea
hens
,” Mr. G added. “The male birds are the peacocks.”

“Ha ha ha! Suzanne’s dressed like a
boy
bird!” Becky giggled.

George laughed along with her. “Suzanne’s more of a pea
brain
than a peacock,” he whispered to Kevin.

Katie was walking next to George. She heard what he said. Usually she hated when George said something mean about one of her friends. But today she was feeling kind of angry with Suzanne and Becky, too. So, she didn’t tell him not to say things like that.

“Have you thought more about what kind of animal you want to adopt, Katie?” Becky asked.

Suzanne rolled her eyes. “Katie probably wants a nocturnal animal. Something gross from the Cave of Darkness exhibit, like a scorpion or a bat.”

Katie shook her head. “No thanks. Bats are too creepy. Even for me.”

“I don’t blame you, Katie Kazoo,” Kevin said. “Who would want an animal that drinks blood?”

George raised his arms out wide like bat wings, and used his best vampire voice. “I vant to bite your neck! Blaaahhh!”

“Dude, that’s just a myth,” Mr. G told George. “There
are
vampire bats, but they don’t suck the blood from people’s necks. They get their blood from cows and horses.”

“Oh my!” Katie explained. “That’s awful.”

Mr. G shook his head. “The animals don’t feel a thing,” he assured Katie. “And the bats take very little of their blood. The animals aren’t harmed at all.”

Katie still looked a little afraid.

“Don’t worry, Katie Kazoo,” Mr. G assured her. “There are no vampire bats at this zoo.”

Ms. Sweet clapped her hands. “Okay, boys and girls, gather ’round,” she said. “Does everyone have a map of the zoo?”

The kids all held up the maps they had been given at the entrance.

“Terrific,” Ms. Sweet continued. “I want you to stick with the group. But should you get lost, go straight to the help desk near the Monkey Jungle. Someone there will help you get back to the group.”

“You see how great monkeys are?” Becky said to Suzanne. “The zoo put the help desk right next to their habitat.”

“What does that prove?” Suzanne asked her.

Katie didn’t wait for Becky’s answer. She moved to the back of the group near Emma W. and Miriam Chan. Unfortunately, a few minutes later Katie heard Suzanne and Becky bickering again. Everybody could.

At the Elephant Trail, they argued over which elephant had the biggest ears.

At the Penguin Iceberg, they argued over which of the penguins had the funniest waddle.

At the Hippo Pool, they argued over which hippo was fattest.

In the Owl House, they argued over which owl looked the smartest.

Finally, Ms. Sweet stepped in. “If you girls can’t behave, you’ll have to wait for us at the help desk,” she warned Suzanne and Becky.

Katie was surprised. Ms. Sweet actually sounded angry. She never got angry. At least not that Katie had ever seen.

Apparently, Becky and Suzanne were surprised, too, because they got really quiet. The mention of the help desk reminded Katie of something. “My map!” she cried out suddenly.

“What happened, Katie?” Emma W. asked her.

“I left my zoo map at the Owl House,” Katie told her. “I have to go get it.”

“We can share mine,” Emma W. told her.

Katie shook her head. “I wanted to bring mine home. The Owl House is just right over there. I’ll run over and get it, and then catch up with you guys.”

“Don’t get lost, Katie,” Mr. G called to her. “We’re heading to the Hall of Lizards.”

“I’ll be right there,” Katie called back. And with that, she hurried off as fast as she could. She didn’t want to be gone too long.

Katie spotted her map on the bench just outside the Owl House. She bent over to pick it up, when suddenly she felt a cool wind blowing against her neck.

Feeling a cool breeze wasn’t strange. After all, it was fall. The days were colder in the fall. The breeze got stronger. It was a wind now. And it didn’t seem to be blowing anywhere but on the back of Katie’s neck. The leaves in the trees weren’t moving. Neither was the paper map on the bench.

Now
that
was strange.

It could only mean one thing. This was no ordinary wind. This was the magic wind!

“Oh no!” Katie shouted out. “Not now! Go away, magic wind!”

But the magic wind wouldn’t go away. Instead it grew stronger and stronger, circling around Katie like a wild tornado. Katie shut her eyes tight and tried really hard not to cry.

And then it stopped. Just like that. The magic wind was gone.

And so was Katie Carew. She’d turned into someone else. One . . . two . . . switcheroo! But who?

Katie blinked for a minute and then opened her eyes. But she might as well have kept them shut. It was so dark, she could barely see a thing. She wasn’t outside the Owl House. That was for sure.

But she sure could hear a lot. All around her she heard all sorts off beeps and plings. She also heard what sounded like tiny footsteps and buzzing noises.

How weird was that?

And she had the funny feeling that she was hanging upside down—sort of like when she hung on the monkey bars at school.

Suddenly Katie noticed an itchy feeling just below her left wing. Carefully she unhooked one of her claws from the tree branch above her, and began to scratch at her soft, dark brown fur.

Whoa! Wait a minute.
Wings? Claws? Fur?

There was only one animal that had both wings and fur, and hung upside down while it was resting. Oh no! The magic wind had changed Katie into a bat!

Katie was stuck in the dark, dismal Cave of Darkness! It was just her and the bats. Right now, Katie Kazoo was a creature of the night. How could she escape? Even with her bad bat-eyesight, she could see that she was trapped inside the exhibit area. There must be a door somewhere. But if she did escape, what then? She’d still be a bat flying around the zoo.

This was
soooo
not good.

And neither was the itchy feeling. Katie stretched her wing out a little farther to get a better scratch. Then she licked at her fur with her tongue. Mmm . . . it felt so good to groom herself.

The bat hanging next to her didn’t seem to like what Katie was doing, though. Apparently, it didn’t like being bumped into. It stretched out a wing and shoved Katie slightly.

“Hey!” Katie shouted. “You almost knocked me off my perch.”