With the Bats Read online

  Hiya! My name Thudd. Best robot friend of Drewd. Thudd know lots of stuff. How bats find bugs in dark. What make cave. Why lots of cave animals not got eyes.

  Drewd like to invent stuff. Thudd help! But Drewd make lots of mistakes. Drewd invent shrinking machine. Now Drewd small as beetle. Fly into cave on back of bat. Want to see what happen? Turn page, please!

  Get lost with

  Andrew, Judy, and Thudd

  in all their exciting adventures!

  Andrew Lost on the Dog

  Andrew Lost in the Bathroom

  Andrew Lost in the Kitchen

  Andrew Lost in the Garden

  Andrew Lost Under Water

  Andrew Lost in the Whale

  Andrew Lost on the Reef

  Andrew Lost in the Deep

  Andrew Lost in Time

  Andrew Lost on Earth

  Andrew Lost with the Dinosaurs

  Andrew Lost in the Ice Age

  Andrew Lost in the Garbage

  Andrew Lost with the Bats

  AND COMING SOON!

  Andrew Lost in the Jungle

  To Dan, Zack, and the real Andrew,

  with a galaxy of love.

  To the children who read these books: I wish

  you wonderful questions. Questions are

  telescopes into the universe!

  —J.C.G.

  To Cathy Goldsmith, with many thanks.

  —J.G.

  CONTENTS

  Andrew’s World

  1. Going Batty

  2. Space Aliens?

  3. Keeek! Keeek! Ack!

  4. Beetle Battle

  5. Uh-oh, Guano!

  6. Back to the Stone Age

  7. Weird-A-Mundo!

  8. Good-bye to the Stone Age

  9. Worms, Beautiful Worms

  10. The Light at the End of the Tunnel

  11. Taking the Wrong Tern

  True Stuff

  Where to Find More True Stuff

  ANDREW’S WORLD

  Andrew Dubble

  Andrew is ten years old, but he’s been inventing things since he was four. Andrew’s inventions usually get him into trouble, like the time he invented the Aroma-Rama. It was supposed to make homes and offices smell like flowers. Instead, it made everything smell like stinky feet!

  Andrew’s newest invention was supposed to save the world from getting buried in garbage. Instead, it squashed Andrew and his cousin Judy down to beetle size. They got hauled off to a dump, thrown up by a seagull, and carried off by a bat!

  Judy Dubble

  Judy is Andrew’s thirteen-year-old cousin. She’s been snuffled into a dog’s nose, pooped out of a whale, and had her pajamas chewed by a Tyrannosaurus—all because of Andrew. But after today Judy may look back on those things as the good times!

  Thudd

  The Handy Ultra-Digital Detective. Thudd is a super-smart robot and Andrew’s best friend. He has helped save Andrew and Judy from the exploding sun, a giant squid, and a monster asteroid. But can he keep them from drowning in bat poop or being munched by weird cave creatures?

  The Goa Constrictor

  This giant fake snake is Andrew’s newest invention. Goa is sort of short for Garbage Goes Away. The Goa is supposed to keep the world from getting buried in garbage by squashing rotting vegetables, green meat, and dirty paper dishes down to teensy-weensy specks. Unfortunately for Andrew, the Goa doesn’t just shrink garbage. In two minutes and one stinky burp, the Goa can shrink anything—and anyone!

  GOING BATTY

  “Yaaaaargh!” hollered Andrew Dubble. He was the size of a beetle and clinging to the back of a bat.

  The bat zigged and zagged through the night sky. It was searching for its dinner of bugs.

  The wind stung Andrew’s eyes. Every zig and zag made Andrew’s stomach slosh. Urf! he thought. I feel like throwing up.

  URRRRRP!

  Andrew popped out a garlicky burp. It’s the pepperoni pizza from lunch, he thought. He gripped the soft fur of the bat’s neck tighter.

  meep … “Drewd okey-dokey?” came a squeaky voice from Andrew’s shirt pocket.

  It was Thudd, Andrew’s little silver robot and best friend.

  “It’s like the worst roller-coaster ride,” said Andrew. “And there’s no safety belt!”

  “Androooooooo!” came a wail from the other side of the bat.

  Light from the full moon lit the frowning face of Judy Dubble, Andrew’s thirteen-year-old cousin. She was dangling from the tip of one of the bat’s big ears.

  Like Andrew, Judy had been shrunk as small as a beetle by Andrew’s latest invention, the Goa Constrictor. Goa was sort of short for Garbage Goes Away. Andrew’s invention was supposed to squash garbage atoms. It turns out the Goa could squash the atoms of anything—or anyone!

  “Jooodeeeeee!” hollered Andrew over the wind. “Get onto the back of the bat! You won’t flap around so much!”

  “Whaaaat?” yelled Judy. “I can’t hear you! I’m trying to get off this stupid ear!”

  Judy reached down and grabbed a fistful of fur on the bat’s neck. Then she let go of the ear.

  The wind caught her and bounced her on the bat’s neck. With her free hand waving through the air, Judy looked like a cowgirl at a rodeo.

  Finally, Judy managed to grab on to the bat’s neck with both hands. She tucked herself behind the bat’s ear.

  The air around the bat was swarming with specks and dots. Andrew recognized the ones that came close—they were mosquitoes, beetles, and moths.

  Nyeeeeeee…

  A high-pitched whine whistled in Andrew’s ears.

  meep …“Mosquito!” said Thudd.

  Nyeee—

  The sound suddenly stopped. The bat had scooped the annoying insect into its wide-open mouth.

  “Wowzers!” said Andrew. “This bat can catch an awfully fast bug! I could barely see it!”

  meep… “Bat not use eyes to find bug,” said Thudd. “Bat send out sound. Sound bounce off bug. Like echo. Sound bounce back to bat ears.”

  Thudd pointed to his face screen.

  “Bat brain figure out ’xactly where bug is. Called echolocation. Use echo to find bugs to eat.

  “This bat eat three thousand bugs every night!” Thudd continued. “Bat can eat as much as bat weigh!”

  “Holy moly!” said Andrew. “That would be like me eating eighty pounds of pizza!”

  Judy was shaking her head. “I don’t know, Thudd. I don’t hear the bat making any bug-finding sounds.”

  meep… “Bat sound too high for human to hear,” said Thudd.

  “Like whale sounds are too low for us to hear,” said Andrew.

  “Yoop! Yoop! Yoop!” said Thudd.

  Suddenly the moon went dark.

  Andrew looked up. A huge shape with horns and wings was blotting it out!

  Eek! “Great horned owl!” squeaked Thudd. “Great horned owl eat bats!”

  “And us!” said Judy.

  SPACE ALIENS?

  “We’ll end up as owl pellets!” Judy moaned.

  “Huh?” said Andrew.

  “Little balls of hair and bones that owls throw up after dinner!” said Judy.

  “It’s pretty dark,” said Andrew. “Maybe the owl won’t see us.”

  meep… “Owl got great eyes to see at night,” said Thudd. “Can see mouse two football fields away. And full moon help owl eyes.”

  “We don’t have a chance!” said Judy.

  meep… “Bat got one chance, maybe,” said Thudd. “Bat move wings more ways than owl. Bat zigzag fast, fast, fast! Hard for owl to follow.”

  “But I don’t think the bat sees the owl!” said Andrew.

  Andrew glanced over his shoulder. The owl swooped closer. Its two coal-red eyes glowed in
its horned head.

  “Thudd,” said Judy. “What’s this bat’s favorite food?”

  meep … “Moth!” squeaked Thudd.

  “Andrew!” said Judy. “Grab the sleeve of my jacket and pull!”

  Andrew helped Judy wriggle out of her jacket. Then she tossed it high into the air.

  “Maybe the bat will think my jacket’s a moth,” said Judy. “If I threw it right, maybe the bat will see the owl. It’s our only chance.”

  The bat zoomed up toward the jacket. Suddenly it swerved. It dove through the night in a dizzying twist.

  “I think the bat saw the owl!” said Judy.

  Andrew could barely hang on. They were headed straight toward something big and dark.

  This bat’s about to crash! he thought.

  The next second, Andrew almost flew off the bat as it jerked to a stop.

  They had landed on the scaly bark of a tree trunk. The bat folded itself like a paper origami bird. Then it squeezed into a crack in the bark as small as a dime.

  Graaaaaak … graaaaaak …

  The owl had landed on the tree. It was tearing at the bark with its beak.

  The bat folded itself even more tightly and squeezed deeper into the crack.

  “Ugh!” groaned Judy. “Now I’m getting smooshed!”

  “Better than getting turned into an owl pellet,” said Andrew.

  The beak pulled away and Andrew heard a soft flapping of wings.

  meep… “Owl give up!” said Thudd. “Hunt other prey.” The bat crept out of the crack. Using a claw in the middle of each wing, it pulled itself up the tree trunk.

  meep… “Bat wing like hand with long, long fingers,” said Thudd. “Fingers covered with skin. Claw on bat wing is bat thumb.”

  The bat crept out to a tree branch and hung upside down by its feet. Then it spread its wings and let go.

  It dipped and swirled through the tangled branches of a forest.

  “How long is this bat gonna stay out?” asked Judy.

  meep… “Bat stay out till dawn,” said Thudd. “Unless bat is mother bat. Mother bat go back to feed baby bat many times in night.”

  Judy buried her face in the bat’s fur and shook her head. “I can’t hang on to this stupid bat for eight hours!” she moaned. “I sure hope this bat’s got a kid.”

  meep… “Baby bat called pup,” said Thudd.

  “I sure do feel yucky,” said Andrew. He gave another loud, garlic-flavored burp.

  Below them, Andrew saw the reflection of the moon.

  We’re flying over water, he thought.

  “Yaaaaaah!” hollered Judy, looking down. “What’s that?”

  Floating a few feet above the water was a glowing ball of yellow-green light. As they watched, another ball of light appeared.

  The glowing balls grew brighter and dimmer, brighter and dimmer. They throbbed like a heartbeat.

  Suddenly they rose like hot-air balloons!

  Andrew could feel his heart beating faster. Could it be? he wondered. Could it really be … space aliens?

  KEEEK! KEEEK! ACK!

  “Looks like ghosts!” said Judy.

  The bat flew close to one of the spooky balls. Insects were swirling around it.

  “I can see right through it!” said Andrew.

  meep… “Swamp lights!” said Thudd. “Sometimes called foxfire. Sometimes called, um, swamp farts.”

  Andrew laughed. Judy rolled her eyes.

  meep… “Lotsa dead stuff collect under swamp water,” said Thudd. “Bacteria eat dead stuff. Burp up stuff called swamp gas. Swamp gas make big bubble. Bubble pop up to top of water. Swamp gas catch fire! Make light!

  “Swamp gas come from dumps and landfills, too,” Thudd added. “Sometimes humans collect swamp gas. Use to cook. Make heat for house.”

  Andrew watched the bat scoop up mouthfuls of insects.

  “There are so many bugs around the light!” said Andrew.

  meep… “Lotsa bugs fly to light,” said Thudd. “Nobody sure why. Maybe it’s cuz bugs think light is moon. Lotsa bugs use moon like map. Help bug fly in right direction.”

  The bat flitted away from the bouncing, flickering lights. Ahead, the sharp peak of a mountain clawed the moonlit sky.

  The bat was flying straight now. It wasn’t hunting. Andrew could see other bats heading in the same direction.

  “I think our bat is going home,” said Andrew.

  “Oh, great,” said Judy. “We’ll end up in a disgusting cave where we’ll get eaten by snakes or lizards or giant spiders. Maybe there are vampire bats in there!”

  “Oh, come on,” said Andrew. “We got back from the beginning of the universe, we can get out of a cave.”

  meep … “Oody not have to worry about vampire bat,” squeaked Thudd. “Vampire bat live in South America.”

  As the bat flew closer to the mountain, Andrew saw a jagged crack near the bottom. That must be an entrance to the cave, thought Andrew.

  The bat swooshed through the crack into deep darkness.

  ch-ch-ch … caw … thwerp-thwerp … ka-ka-ka …

  Andrew couldn’t see a thing, but he could hear the chattering, buzzing, and clicking of bats.

  “What a racket!” said Judy. “I thought bats made sounds we can’t hear.”

  meep… “Bat use super-high sounds for hunting,” said Thudd. “Bat talk to other bat with sound humans can hear.”

  Their bat was slowing down.

  meep… “Bat gonna land on ceiling,” Thudd squeaked. “Gotta fly slow, slow, slow. Then use foot claws or thumb claws to grab on to ceiling of cave.”

  For a second, the bat seemed to stop flying. Suddenly Andrew felt himself flipping over!

  “YEOW!” he hollered. “Hang on, Thudd!”

  “Yaaaaaaah!” screamed Judy.

  The bat had landed. It was hanging from the ceiling by its feet.

  Andrew was struggling to keep his grip on the bat’s fur as he dangled in the darkness.

  The bat swung forward, grabbed on to the ceiling with the claws on its wings, and began creeping along.

  Eeek-eeek … kuh-kuh-kuh, their bat squawked.

  meep… “This bat is mom bat,” said Thudd. “Look for baby bat by sound, by smell. Mom make sound, baby answer. Every baby smell different.”

  “Babies smell stinky,” said Judy. “Erg! I can’t hang on much longer. I’m gonna try to get under her wing. Ooomph!”

  “Me too,” said Andrew.

  After Andrew climbed under the wing, he unhooked his mini-flashlight from his belt and shoved the back of it against his forehead. He had fitted it with a suction cup. That way, he could see and use both hands.

  He turned on the flashlight.

  “Wowzers schnauzers!” cried Andrew.

  As far as he could see, every inch of the cave ceiling was crawling with tiny, noisy bat babies.

  “There must be thousands of bats here!” said Andrew.

  meep … “Maybe millions,” said Thudd.

  “Too many,” said Judy.

  Chirping and squeaking, their bat crept across the crowded ceiling like a fly.

  Now and then, she’d stop to sniff a pup.

  Keeek! Keeek! Ack! chirped a baby bat nearby.

  Their bat stopped to sniff it. This time she let go of the ceiling with her thumb claws and hung upside down by her feet.

  Then she opened her wings.

  “YIKES!” cried Judy, clinging to the leathery edge of her bat wing for dear life.

  “YAAAAARGH!” hollered Andrew.

  The tiny, hairless pup crept toward its mother. Using its feet and wing claws, it climbed onto her chest. Then it poked its nose into her fur. She wrapped her wings snugly around her pup.

  meep … “Baby bat drink milk from mom bat,” said Thudd.

  Judy sighed. “As soon as the pup finishes, she’ll fly off again to eat another billion bugs. We’ve got to get off this bat.”

  Andrew thought for a moment. “The baby bat is small, but he’s a lo
t bigger than we are,” said Andrew. “We can climb onto him. When his mom leaves, we can get off of him and find a way out of this cave.”

  Andrew pulled himself along the edge of the mom bat’s wing, then onto the fur of her chest. He reached out and touched the baby. It didn’t seem to notice.

  Andrew squeezed himself between the little bat and its mother. He grabbed on to the baby’s wing.

  “Hey, Judy!” he yelled. “We can do this! Come on!”

  Slowly and carefully, Judy pulled herself toward the baby bat. With a tired groan, she tucked herself into a fold of skin under its other wing.

  After a couple of minutes, the baby bat crawled off its mother and clawed its way into the pile of baby bats on the ceiling. It folded its wings. Now Andrew and Judy were tucked tightly between its wings and its body. Then it let itself hang by its feet.

  The mom bat let go of the rocky ceiling, spread her wings, and flew off.

  Judy groaned. “I’m getting such a headache from being upside down. What a stupid way to live.”

  meep… “If bat not hang upside down, bat not fly” said Thudd. “Bird wing lift bird from ground. Bat wing different. Bat gotta spread wings and fall to fly.”

  “Look,” said Andrew softly. “Our little guy is snoozing already. I wonder why bats don’t let go of the ceiling when they’re asleep.”

  meep… “Drewd and Oody gotta use muscles to grab stuff, hold stuff,” said Thudd. “Bat feet not use muscles to hold on to stuff. When bat hang upside down, weight of bat make foot claw lock. Like hanging from hook.”

  Another mother bat was creeping through the crowd toward a pup nearby. The hairless little one scuttled clumsily toward her, pushing past Andrew and Judy’s bat.

  Suddenly they were falling. Their baby bat had gotten knocked off the ceiling!

  BEETLE BATTLE

  Flump…

  Andrew’s brain clunked against his skull as they hit the ground. It was a surprisingly soft landing.