The Berenstain Bears in the Wax Museum (5 page)

“What is it?” said Fred.

“Those three workbears,” said Brother. “They look familiar … I can't really see their faces, though. But I just got a pretty good look at their supervisor—he's the one barking all the orders—and he looks kind of familiar, too … Never mind, my eyes must be playing tricks on me. But this is awesome, Fred! Just think: we're the first bears in town to see this!”

Just then Fred said, “Uh-oh. Look what I found.”

Fred pointed to some words that had been carved into the inside of the barrel. Brother let out a groan. The carving read:
TOO-TALL WAS HERE
.

Chapter 8

The Too-Tall Seal of Approval

Once they had exited Madame Bearsaud's the way they'd entered, Brother and Fred hurried to the schoolyard, hoping to find some cubs to tell about their exploits. The schoolyard was always a good place for sports during summer vacation, and, sure enough, a softball game was in progress on one of the diamonds. Too-Tall and his gang were playing a team that included Barry Bruin and Gil Grizzwold. Too-Tall was at bat.

“Hey, big guy!” called Brother. “We just saw your name carved in a barrel!”

Too-Tall dropped the bat and came over, the others following. “You two snuck into Madame Bearsaud's?” he said. “Nice work.”

“Wait a minute, boss,” said Skuzz. “They could be lyin'.”

“Yeah,” said Smirk. “How do we know they really snuck in?”

“Because I didn't tell nobody about carvin' my name in that barrel,” said Too-Tall. “Not even you guys.”

“Right, boss!” said Vinnie. “That means these two are the real thing!”

“Hey, boss,” said Skuzz. “How 'bout we invite 'em to Madame Bearsaud's grand opening with us?”

Brother and Fred beamed with pride. Too-Tall and the gang may have been jerks and bullies a lot of the time, but it still felt good to be accepted by cubs with tough-guy reputations.

“Well, it's okay with me if they tag along,” said Too-Tall. “Except for one thing. There may not
be
a grand opening.”

“What?” said Barry Bruin. “Why not?”

“Because Mayor Honeypot just called a special session of the zoning board for tomorrow afternoon,” said Too-Tall. “The word's out that Mrs. Ben strong-armed Farmer Ben into changing his vote. And you know what that means.”

“Yeah,” said Gil Grizzwold gloomily. “No Madame Bearsaud's in Beartown.”

“We gotta do somethin', boss!” said Smirk.

“Yeah!” said Vinnie. “We can't let that ABATE gang push us around!”

“For once I agree with you boneheads,” said Too-Tall. “Now, listen. The meetin's in the town hall, and it's open to the public. I hear Madame Bearsaud herself is gonna be there. And her hunchback assistant, Igor.”

“Hunchback assistant?” said Fred. “Hey, this is getting to be like a horror movie.”

“Yeah,” said Too-Tall. “He's this weird, spooky, bent-over guy. Goes everywhere with Madame Bearsaud.”

There were cries of “Cool!” and “Awesome!” from the cubs.

Too-Tall instructed each of them to contact as many friends as possible. His plan was for all of them to show up at the zoning board session and cheer and applaud like crazy every time Madame Bearsaud's name was mentioned. They might not be as well organized as ABATE, but if push came to shove, they could be twice as loud and obnoxious.

Chapter 9

A Strange Turn of Events

The next afternoon, it didn't take long for the town hall's auditorium to fill up with concerned citizens. The members of ABATE, wearing large ABATE buttons, arrived before anyone else and took up the front row of seats. Well, not exactly the whole front row. In fact, they took up just the middle five seats. That's because ABATE had only six members: Lady Grizzly (who was seated on the stage with the other zoning board members), Mrs. Ben, Mrs. Honeypot, Grizzly Gramps, Miss Glitch (Bear Country School's English teacher), and Fred Furry (owner of the Bearjou Theater).

Not only were there just six measly members of ABATE, they didn't seem to have any supporters in the rest of the audience. When the mass of cubs started up a chant of “Fun for you and fun for me! Cast your vote for Madame B.!”, many of the grownups joined in, and those who didn't join in showed their approval by nodding and smiling.

“Well, well!” said Papa to Mama. “Looks like the Beartown public is solidly behind Madame Bearsaud. That means Mayor Honeypot won't change his vote.”

“That's true, dear,” said Mama. “But it was Farmer Ben you were worried about, wasn't it?”

“Oh, right,” said Papa. “How does he look?”

As the pro-Madame Bearsaud chant filled the auditorium, Farmer Ben sat in his chair on the stage, looking meekly down at his hands, which were folded in his lap.

“Uh-oh,” said Papa. “He looks exactly like a bear who has let his wife talk him into going against the public will and his own conscience.”

“That's not fair,” said Mama. “Maybe Ben has really changed his mind. Maybe he has better taste than you think.”

“Nonsense!” said Papa. “Ben's taste is every bit as rotten as mine! We used to hang out together at those tacky traveling carnivals when we were young. Ben's a bear who knows how important bad taste is to cubs growing up.”

Brother and Fred, sitting with their friends, were more concerned with getting a look at Madame Bearsaud and Igor than with Farmer Ben. But when Mayor Honeypot stepped up to the microphone on the podium, the famous duo was still missing.

“Ladles and Gentle Ben—er, I mean, ladies and gentlemen,” said the mayor, who tended to get his words mixed up. “We've gathered today for a revote by the boning zord—er, zoning board—on the matter of Madame Bearsaud's Wax Museum and Entertainment Center. In the interests of open public debate, I've scheduled two speakers from the audience—one for and one against. Madame Bearsaud is for, and Miss Glitch is against. Madame Bearsaud doesn't seem to have arrived yet, so at this time I invite Miss Splitch to geek—I mean, Miss Glitch to speak.”

Miss Glitch stepped up to the microphone that had been placed at the foot of the stage and addressed the audience. “Ladies and gentlemen. I wish to talk about the issues of morals, values, and good taste …”

“I wish she'd talk about 'em somewhere else,” muttered Papa in the audience.

“Shush, dear,” whispered Mama.

But by the end of Miss Glitch's long-winded speech, even Mama was rolling her eyes. As the teacher returned to her seat, only the five other members of ABATE applauded.

“Madame Bearsaud seems to be tumwhat sardy—er, somewhat tardy,” said Mayor Honeypot. “Perhaps we should wait a bit before we vote.” He glanced over at Lady Grizzly, who was glaring at him. “Er, on the other hand, it really isn't fair to hold up an important vote just because a speaker is late. So, to start the voting, I cast my vote in favor of Madame Bearsaud!”

The mayor beamed as cheering and applause filled the auditorium. Then he turned to Farmer Ben. “Ben, how do you vote?”