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Authors: Suzy Kline

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BOOK: Horrible Harry and the Dungeon

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“Your first butterfly!
Bravissimo!”
Mr. Cardini said. “What a miracle of life!”

Suddenly, the school secretary's voice came over the intercom. “Mr. Cardini?”

The principal went over to the silver box and pressed it once. “Yes?”

“Mr. Skooghammer just arrived. Shall I take him down to the Suspension Room?”

Everyone in Room 2B was pin quiet.

“Yes,” Mr. Cardini replied into the silver box. “I'll get the two fifth-grade boys who will be joining him.”

“The first two prisoners!” Harry whispered.

I nodded. “I wonder what Skooghammer looks like.”

“I'll find out,” Harry whispered back.

One minute later, Harry raised two fingers. That means, May I go to the bathroom, please?

Miss Mackle frowned. “Can't you wait until I take the whole class down in fifteen minutes?”

Harry got out of his chair and jumped up and down. “It's a real emergency.”

Mary made a face. “Harry will never get a bean. He's so gross!”

As soon as Miss Mackle gave Harry a nod, he took off.,

While the rest of the class watched a second butterfly hatch, I watched the doorway. I couldn't wait for Harry to come back and tell me about Mr. Skooghammer and the Dungeon.

Mr. Skooghammer

I almost didn't recognize Harry when he showed up at the door. His hair was standing on end.

His eyes were bugged out.

When he walked over to his desk, he was shaking.

I looked back at the class. They were still watching the painted ladies.

Harry plopped down in his seat next to me.

“I saw him.”

“Mr. Skooghammer?”

“Mr. Skooghammer.”

Harry's head clunked on the desk like a dropped bowling ball.

I looked at Harry's hair. It was wet. “What happened?” I asked.

When Harry turned his head, I noticed how big his black pupils were.

Just when he opened his mouth to speak, Miss Mackle made an announcement. “It's time now for our science clubs.”

“What happened?” I repeated in a whisper.

“I'll tell you later....”

I made a face.

I wanted to find out about Mr. Skooghammer now.

Song Lee, Mary, and Ida pushed their desks near the butterfly net. They were in the Butterfly Club.

Sidney and Dexter moved to a table for their Eagle Club. They had a huge framed picture of an eagle that Sidney brought from home.

Harry and I moved to the round table. We had twenty pages of notes about snakes. We were the Snake Club. Miss Mackle was waiting for us with her clipboard. It was our turn for a teacher visit.

“Why is your hair wet?” she asked Harry.

“I was hot so I cooled off a little.”

“You know you're not supposed to get your hair wet in the boys' bathroom sink.”

“I didn't.” Harry half smiled. “I got it wet in the drinking fountain.”

“Harry!” Miss Mackle exclaimed. “I'm losing my patience with you and your antics.”

I tried to change the subject. “See all the notes we took? Twenty pages.”

Miss Mackle flipped through our folder. “Boys, I appreciate your hard work, but it's not necessary to copy every word out of the book. Be choosy. Copy only the facts that you think are
really
important about snakes.”

When Miss Mackle moved on to the Dolphin Club, I scooted my chair closer to Harry's. “Give me the scoop about Skooghammer.”

“He has a red beard.”

“Yeah?”

“He's young and hairy.”

“Hairy?”

“He was wearing Bermuda shorts, and I saw his legs.”

“He has hairy legs?” I said.

“Yes, and ...” Harry paused. “A big black shoulder bag. It bulges.”

“What do you think is in it?”

“Maybe whips, a sledgehammer, and chains. It was heavy. I know because I tried to pick it up.”

“You did?”

“I did.”

“Where were you?” I asked.

“Downstairs in the basement. I watched him check out the Suspension Room. Then he walked through the gym and into the boys' bathroom.”

“You followed Skooghammer into the boys' bathroom?”

Harry nodded. “He left his black shoulder bag on the floor outside the stall. It was open a little, so I stuck my hand inside.”

“Yeah, go on.”

“That's when I pricked it on something sharp.”

“Really?”

“It felt like that spiked weapon the knights used.”

“A mace? Whoa!”

“Anyway, Skooghammer came out of the stall, so I dashed over to the sink and washed the blood off my fingers.”

“Did you get a look at his face?”

“I sure did. The guy had an earring in his eyebrow.”

“HIS EYEBROW?”

“Yup. His hair looked like a bunch of S.O.S. pads sitting on his head. The dude's weird. After Skooghammer went back to the Dungeon, I stuck my head in the fountain to cool off. I wouldn't want to spend a day with that guy.”

“But I bet you'd like to see what's in his big black bag,” I said.

Harry nodded. “I'm working on a plan.”

“Really?”

“Yup, and when I figure one out, I'll raise my eyebrows three times. Just go along with whatever I need you to do. Okay?”

“Okay,” I said slowly. But I wasn't looking forward to it.

Harry's Big Black Bag Plan sounded dangerous.

Clash, Flash, and the Big Black Bag Plan

That afternoon, while we were working on math, Harry kept rolling balls of clay and then chopping them in half with a ruler.

“I hate fractions,” Harry whispered. “They're boring.”

“You're making some right now,” Miss Mackle said behind us. “Halves.”

Harry took out his math paper. Not one problem was done.

“Would you rather work in the Suspension Room?” Miss Mackle suggested.

Harry suddenly got busy.

A few minutes later, I heard Mr. Cardini's voice at the door, so I looked up. He was standing there with a woman who was holding a camera. “Room
2B,
this is Mrs. Kamaya, from the newspaper. I called her up so she could see the new butterflies and your interest in science.”

As soon as the principal left, Miss Mackle went over to greet the woman. “Come in, Mrs. Kamaya. Boys and girls, we can have our science clubs meet now, if you like.”

“Yeah!” Harry blurted out. “Take a picture of our Snake Club. It's the best!”

Sidney turned around. “Our Eagle Club is the best. We have better pictures. Besides, eagles eat snakes.”

Harry put up a fist.

“Boys!” Miss Mackle exclaimed.

I could tell the teacher was embarrassed. She was rolling her eyeballs.

When she turned to the newspaper woman, she shook her head. “Welcome to the classroom. June is a challenge.”

Mrs. Kamaya smiled. “I have three children. I know. They clash over the silliest things.”

Harry walked over to Sidney and Dexter at the Eagle Club table. “Snakes eat eagles.”