Going Batty (5 page)

“Yeah, well, you hit me with your wing and woke me up,” the other bat told Katie. “And I like my beauty rest.”

“Oh. I’m sorry,” Katie apologized. “I just had an itch.”

Of course, Katie’s apology didn’t sound like words at all. It sounded more like
ping . . . ping . . . ping
noises.

And a moment later, those same sounds echoed back to Katie. From the sound of the echoes, Katie could tell that there were some tasty mosquitoes flying by.

Tasty mosquitoes.
Now there were two words Katie never thought she’d say in the same sentence. For one thing, Katie was a vegetarian. And for another, mosquitoes were bugs. Who would want to eat a bug?

A bat. That’s who!

Katie pushed off from her perch and began to flap her wings. Wow! How cool was this? She was flying!

As she soared through the dark cave, Katie opened her little bat mouth and let out a pinging noise. A moment later it echoed back. Now Katie knew exactly where that mosquito was.

Dinnertime! Katie swooped down and swallowed the bug whole.

Soon Katie was joined by several other bats, each sending out their own sounds in search of food. She had to admit it was kind of fun, just flying around in the dark, catching bugs.

Then, suddenly behind her a flash of light pierced the darkness. Katie turned. The light hurt her eyes. Someone had opened the back door into the exhibit area. Was it a zookeeper? Or was it someone more dangerous?

“It’s your fault we got sent to the help desk,” the someone said angrily.

Katie listened carefully to the high-pitched, loud voice
. Definitely not a zookeeper
, she thought.

“This is not the help desk,” a second human voice said.

Katie gulped. There were two people inside the bat exhibit. Who were they?

“Obviously,” the first voice answered sarcastically. “We made a wrong turn.”

Suddenly, Katie realized she knew
that
voice really, really well. “Suzanne!” she shouted out.

But all Katie’s best friend heard was “Squeak!” After all, Katie was a bat now.

“Did you hear that?” the second someone said.

Katie’s bat-mouth broke into a large grin. That slow, southern accent had to belong to Becky. The two someones weren’t big, bad predators. They were just fourth-grade girls!

Katie was soooo happy to know that there were no predators in the cave with her, it made her want to fly!

“Whee!” Katie squealed excitedly. She did a joyful loop-the-loop in the air, and caught a passing mosquito in her teeth.

“AAAAHHHHH!” Suzanne and Becky cried out at once. “A bat!”

Oops.
Katie hadn’t meant to scare her friends. She’d just wanted to show them how happy she was to see them.

“We’re inside the bat exhibit,” Becky shouted.

“Not for long. I’m getting out of here!” Suzanne said. Then she stopped for a minute and looked around. “Um . . . where’s the door?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” Becky said. “I’m all turned around.”

Katie understood why the girls couldn’t find the door. The back wall was painted floor to ceiling with pictures of cave rocks and flying bats. It made it impossible to see where the door was in the wall.

“I can’t believe you got us stuck in here!” Suzanne yelled at Becky.

“I did not,” Becky answered. “In fact,
I
was following
you
.”

“Well, who asked you to?” Suzanne shouted back.

“Ms. Sweet,” Becky reminded her. “She said we had to stick together. And you said you knew how to read the zoo map.”

“Yeah, well, this is no big deal,” Suzanne told her.

“No big deal?” Becky demanded. “Are you kidding? We’re stuck in here with a bunch of creepy, dirty bats.”

Now Katie was the one who was mad. She wasn’t creepy. And she certainly wasn’t dirty. She’d just groomed herself.

“Relax,” Suzanne told Becky. “As soon as a zookeeper comes in here to take care of the bats, the door will open. That’s when we’ll leave.”

“What if the zookeeper doesn’t show up until tomorrow?” Becky asked. “We could be stuck in here overnight.”

“Don’t say that, Becky!” Suzanne shouted.

All this arguing was getting to Katie. She perched upside down and pulled her wings tight over her ears to block out the loud voices. But it didn’t help. Her sensitive bat ears were picking up every sound.

It was amazing. It didn’t matter where Katie went or who she switcherooed into. Suzanne and Becky’s battles followed her everywhere!

Katie wasn’t the only one getting a headache. She could tell by the way the other bats were squeaking that Suzanne and Becky were scaring them.

Katie tried making noises to tell the other bats not to be afraid of her friends. But they didn’t believe her.

“We don’t like when non-bats come in here,” one bat told Katie.

“Except that zookeeper human,” another bat said. “Sometimes she brings tasty insect treats for us to snack on.”

“Well, these aren’t zookeeper humans,” the first bat insisted. “They’re regular humans.”

Katie sighed. She wasn’t getting through to the bats at all. And she knew she wasn’t going to be able to calm Suzanne and Becky’s fears either.

Katie wished she could tell Suzanne and Becky that bats were cool. They were great flyers—better than birds even. And the whole echolocation thing worked really well. There was never any problem finding food. But there was no way Katie could explain that to them right now. Becky and Suzanne didn’t speak bat.

But Katie did. And right now, one of the bats was yelling at her.

“We have to get those two humans out of here!” the bat squeaked angrily.

“I know,” Katie agreed in bat-speak. “But they can’t find the way out.”

“I’m right by the door,” the bat told her. “Just get them over here.”

How was Katie supposed to do that? She couldn’t just lead them there. Suzanne and Becky would never follow a bat. They would run away from her instead.

Suddenly, Katie got one of her great ideas! If she couldn’t
lead
the girls to the door, she would have to
scare
them there!

All Katie had to do was keep flying behind Becky and Suzanne. They’d try and run away from her. Eventually, Katie would force them to run in the direction of the door.

“Ping! Ping! Ping!”
Katie let out a few high-pitched sounds.

Ping! Ping! Ping!
The sounds echoed right back, letting Katie know exactly where Suzanne and Becky were standing. She took off and flew right for the girls.

“Aaaahhhhh!” Becky and Suzanne cried out. They began to run.

Their loud squeals hurt Katie’s sensitive ears. But she refused to let that stop her. She had a job to do, and she was going to do it!

“Move, move!” she squealed.

Ping. Ping.
The sounds echoed back.

“Aaahhh!” Becky screamed.

“Stay out of my hair!” Suzanne added as she ran away from Katie.

The plan was working! Becky and Suzanne were moving quickly toward the side of the cave where the door was. Katie could tell by the echoing sound of their footsteps.

“Did you find the door yet?” Becky asked Suzanne nervously.

“Not yet,” Suzanne told her. “But I’m running my hands along the wall. Sooner or later I’ve got to hit a doorknob.”

“I sure hope it’s sooner,” Becky answered her.

“I found the door!” Suzanne yelled out suddenly.

“Open it! Fast,” Becky told her.

Suzanne did just that. A moment later a burst of light flooded the dark bat exhibit. Katie’s bat-eyes squinted. Instinctively, she flew off to a dark corner.

“Let’s get out of here!” Suzanne shouted.

“Right behind you,” Becky agreed.

“
Au revoir
,” a bat called out to the girls as they left the cave.

Katie’s bat-eyes opened wide. Who knew bats could speak French?

Katie heard the sounds of footsteps rushing out the door. Then Katie heard the door closing. The cave was dark again. Suzanne and Becky were gone.

Katie was happy for her friends. They were back outside where they belonged.

But she was also sad for herself. Yes, being a bat was fun. But she was ready to turn back into herself again.

Yawn.
Suddenly Katie felt very tired. All that flying, eating, and chasing had taken a lot out of her. She flew over to a nearby tree, hooked her feet on a thick branch, and flipped over for a well deserved, upside-down nap.

But no sooner did Katie shut her bat-eyes, than she felt a cool breeze blowing on the back of her wings.

She wondered if any of the other bats felt air rushing into the cave. But they all seemed perfectly fine, hanging there, upside down.

This wind seemed to be blowing only on Katie. And that could mean only one thing. This was no ordinary wind. This was the magic wind.