Buggy Breakout by Carolyn Keene & Macky Pamintuan

Author:Carolyn Keene & Macky Pamintuan
Language: eng
Format: azw3, mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781416978145
Publisher: Aladdin
Published: 2010-03-09T00:00:00+00:00

his hissing cockroach, Edgar, there.

Then she remembered something else. Mr. Valeri had said that Princess Bess might be special and even some kind of record holder because she was so big.

Maybe Michael L. had stolen Princess Bess so he could sell her to the owner of Elio’s Exotic Pets!

Chapter Six

A New Suspect

Nancy told George, Bess, and Hannah about her suspicions. “What if he’s going to sell Princess Bess?” she said worriedly.

“Michael L. is so mean. He would do something like that,” Bess said.

“Let’s go stop him!” said George, jumping to her feet.

Hannah told the waitress that they would be back in a few minutes for their ice cream. Then the four of them rushed out the door and went across the street to Elio’s Exotic Pets.

The inside of Elio’s was unlike any other store Nancy had ever seen.

There were walls and walls of cages and aquariums with different kinds of animals. One wall had snakes, some of them curled up in a ball, others slithering along tree trunks and branches. They made Nancy shiver a little.

Another wall had chameleons and geckos and even a creature called a

“bearded dragon.” Nancy had thought dragons only existed in myths and fairy tales! Yet another wall had more familiar exotic pets, like turtles and frogs. Nancy especially liked one of the frogs, which had a green body, orange legs, and big, bulgy, reddish orange eyes.

“There he is!” whispered George. She pointed to a cluttered counter in the back of the store. Michael L. was talking to a man with curly brown hair and wire-rimmed glasses.

“Let’s sneak up on him,” Bess suggested. “That way, we can catch him …

uh … red—red—”

“Red-handed?” Hannah suggested.

Bess nodded. “Yeah, that’s it! Red-handed.”

The three girls tiptoed down one of the side aisles so they could avoid being seen—or heard—by Michael L. Hannah followed at their heels. Along the way, they passed a wall full of spiders and insects. Nancy saw several hissing cockroaches and assassin bugs. She also saw some scorpions. She didn’t see any bess beetles, though.

When they were a few feet away from the counter, Nancy stopped and put her finger up to her lips, to indicate that they should be silent.

“So I think there’s something wrong with him,” Michael L. was saying to the man with the glasses.

“Why?” the man asked.

“Well, he’s not eating as much as he used to. And he’s kind of cranky.”

“What do you mean, cranky?”

Nancy noticed that Michael L. was saying “he.” Princess Bess was a she.

Did that mean he was talking about a different bug?

“Can I help you ladies?”

Nancy started. The man behind the counter was looking straight at her and her companions.

Michael L. whirled around. “What are you doing here?” he demanded.

“We … uh … we’re thinking of getting some new pets,” Nancy fibbed.

Michael L. narrowed his hazel eyes suspiciously. “Yeah? Like what kind?”

“I saw a cute little green snake back there!” Bess piped up.

“Yeah, and I love spiders,” added George. “What about you, Nancy?”

“Maybe a frog, as long as it gets along with Chocolate Chip,” Nancy improvised.

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