Field Trip The =Shelley Museum Dr =Victor and =Frank Bubbles Planting Petunias Eyeball Stew Hobby Big Bones.
I am not a man Greenhouse Ruined Good-bye -- for now.


=Melody twisted her black pigtail and looked out the bus
window at the cloudy sky. "I can't wait to get to the
=Shelley Museum."
Mrs =Jeepers' third-grade class from =BaileyElementarySchool
was on a bus heading for the =Shelley Museum of Science. It
was the last field trip before summer vacation. =Melody was sitting
in the middle of the bus with her friends =Liza, =Eddie, and
=Howie.
=Howie nodded. "This is the best field trip ever!"
=Eddie made a face. "Other kids get to go to =WaterWorld, but
we have to go to an old science museum."
"Science museums can be a lot of fun," =Melody told her friends.
"I went to one in =Indianapolis that was incredible."




Everyone filed off the bus and stared at the old museum.
It was four stories tall and stood on the top of a hill
surrounded by towering oak trees. Shingles were missing from
the roof, and broken shutters banged in the wind. The whole
building needed a paint job.
"This place looks like it's ready to fall in a heap," =Melody said.
"I guess they never got around to fixing it after it was
struck by lightning," =Howie said.
"Maybe lightning fried the owner's brains," =Eddie laughed.
A distant rumble of thunder could be heard as dark clouds swirled above.


Lightning cracked across the sky as Mrs =Jeepers and the third graders
stared up at a towering giant of a man. His long legs stuck out of his
brown ragged pants, and a wrinkled white shirt stretched across his
massive chest.
His square face was pale next to his coal-black hair, and across his cheek
was a huge purple scar.
"He's got a gun," =Howie whispered to his friends. He pointed to the
man's pocket where the handle of a pistol peeped out. The third-graders
took one step away from the hulk as he glared down at the group of kids.



"Your brain has more bubbles than this room," =Eddie told =Liza when they
caught up with the rest of the class. The third-graders were at the
Science Fun exhibit, making bubbles. Bubbles of all sizes filled the air.
"=Liza, you're jumping to conclusions," =Howie said. "This place is neat."
He grabbed a wand and made a bubble the size of a basketball.
"There aren't any monsters here," =Melody giggled as she picked up a wand.
"Look at my square bubble!"
"Check out the Bubble Head," =Eddie said as he covered =Liza with a huge
bubble. =Liza popped it and gave =Eddie a shove. He landed with his hands
in big tub of soapy water.




Spotlights lit up a small greenhouse connected to the museum. Red and purple
petunias filled the greenhouse. Sweet smelling roses and huge purple orchids
were mixed in with the petunias making a sea of brilliant blossoms.
=Frank towered over the colorful plants. Very gently, he pushed the lush
green leaves aside to spray the soil with water from a water gun.
"There's =Howie's gun." =Melody giggled. "=Frank must really like flowers."
"=Frankenstein's monster loved flowers, too," =Liza whispered.
"Shhh," =Melody warned. "He heard you!"
"Hrrmm," =Frank growled and faced the girls. Then he lunged at them with
the gun still in his hand.



"You'd have a weird feeling about =BeenieWeenies," =Eddie laughed.
=Howie picked up a beaker full of foaming ooze. "=Liza may have a point.
Look at this."
=Eddie reached for the beaker. "Great. I was a little thirsty."
"Don't drink that," =Liza squealed.
"I was just joking," =Eddie snapped.
"Quit kidding around and come over here," =Melody interrupted.
She pointed to an enormous silver door.
=Eddie shrugged. "Big deal. It's just a walk-in refrigerator. They have
those at the =BurgerDoodle restaurant."
"Why would anyone need such a big refrigerator in a laboratory," =Howie
wondered out loud?


"Aaahhh," =Liza screamed and grabbed =Eddie's arm. What happened?"
=Eddi knocked Liza's arm away. "The storm caused the lights to go out.
There's no reason to squeeze the life out of me."
"We'll never find our way back in the dark," =Melody gulped.
The laboratory was so dark, the four kids couldn't see their hands in front of them.
"Did you hear that," =Liza squealed. It sounded like knuckles cracking!"
"Maybe it was some leftover fingers in the refrigerator getting some
exercise." =Eddie laughed.
"There's nothing funny about monsters living near =Bailey City." =Liza would've
kicked =Eddie's leg, but she couldn't find one in the dark.

"I am disappointed in your behavior," Mrs =Jeepers told the four kids. Dr =Victor
had taken them to the dinosaur exhibit. The rest of the class was sitting on
benches beside huge replicas of a tyrannosaurus rex and an apatosaurus.
Mrs =Jeepers and some of the kids were holding flashlights.
"I'm sorry," =Melody explained. "I had to go to the bathroom."
"And then we got lost," =Liza added.
Mrs =Jeepers rubbed her brooch and flashed her green eyes. "Do not let it
happen again. As for our field trip, we may have to postpone the rest of the
museum until the lights come back on."

"Hrrmm!" =Frank stood near the door of the dinosaur room, staring at the
candelabra. "Hrrmm," he bellowed again and backup up against the skeleton
of a stegosaurus! The skeleton clattered to the floor as =Frank run from the room.
It's the candelabra," =Melody whispered. "He's afraid of fire."
=Liza nodded. "Just like Dr =Frankenstein's monster."
Dr =Victor rushed into the room and set two more candelabras on the table.
Then he kicked the stegosaurus bones into a heap. "Please excuse my
assistant's behavior. He has not been well."
Mrs =Jeepers smiled her odd little half smile. "That is quite all right."


"Get a grip on yourself," =Eddie hollered. "It's just a storm."
Wind whipped past the four kids as they stared into the greenhouse.
One entire section of the wall had been ripped away, and rain was
pouring onto the tiled floor. Large plants were scattered all over.
=Liza screamed and pointed to the far corner where Mrs =Jeepers lay in
a heap. "She's hurt." Before her friends could stop her, =Liza
rushed into the ruined greenhouse. Hail the size of lemons pelted the
glass walls and roof of the room. =Liza knelt beside Mrs =Jeepers and gently patted
her hand. "Wake up, Mrs =Jeepers," she said.

=Frank threw himself over =Liza and Mrs =Jeepers, and they all disappeared
under a pile of wooden beams.
"I don't believe it," =Eddie yelled! "=Frank tried to save their lives."
"Are they alive," =Melody whispered as they made their way over the
shattered roof and crushed plants?
When they found =Liza and Mrs =Jeepers, =Frank was leaning against the wall.
=Liza smiled at the giant as she helped Mrs =Jeepers sit up. "Thank you for
saving us. Now we'll help you save your petunias."
Before her friends could stop her, =Liza chased a purple petunia.

Mrs =Jeepers and the kids walked down the wet museum steps toward the school bus.
The sun peeked through clouds as =Frank appeared in the open museum door,
his arms full of huge red petunias. He clomped down the steps toward the kids.
"Hrrmm."
"I think he wants us to have the plants," =Liza said as she took a pot from =Frank.
Each of her friends took one, too.
"These flowers are beautiful," =Melody said.
"They're the prettiest ones I've ever seen," =Howie agreed. "And the largest."
"That formula must really work," =Eddie mumbled.