Return of Mega Mantis by Laura Dower Read Free Book Online Page A

disappointed,” Principal Pickle said. “I phoned your parents. They should be here any minute. Why don’t you wait in the other office?”
    The principal shuffled us into an empty room and shut the door.
    Lindsey looked miserable. “I told you this would happen!” she said, collapsing onto a chair.
    “Everyone remain calm,” Ranger said, pacing. “We’re not in any big trouble yet.”
    “I’m not in big trouble ever !” Stella crossed her arms. “I didn’t even participate in that stupid food fight anyway!”
    “Wait one minute,” I growled. “ You threw the first lunch tray, Stella Min. So don’t go playing Miss Innocent, because you’re guilty just like the rest of us.”
    Stella’s face dropped. Lindsey and Ranger looked stunned, too.
    “We’re in this together, right?” I said to everyone. “That means good and bad, right?”
    “You’re right,” Lindsey said. She lifted her camera up to take my photograph. “Say cheddar, Damon!”
    I made a face.
    The room fell silent for a moment, until Lindsey cracked, “So what’s up with the principal’s pickle suit?”
    We all chuckled at that one. Even Stella was grinning.
    Then the door swung open.
    “I hope you aren’t laughing at this situation, students,” Principal Pickle said. I spotted my dad standing just behind him. Ranger’s dad was there, too, next to Stella’s and Lindsey’s mothers.
    “Your parents and I agree,” Principal Pickle declared, “that the four of you can return to classes as normal for the rest of the day, but you will report to the school cafeteria lunch staff to help serve and clean for one full week.”
    I imagined being up to my elbows in a vat of our school’s superglue mashed potatoes. Could there be any worse torture than that?
    The girls took off with their moms. Ranger and I faced our dads.
    “I’m sorry, Dad,” Ranger started to say. His dad interrupted.
    “Jesse, I think you learned a valuable lesson here, don’t you?” his dad said.
    “Indeed,” my dad piped up. “Never start a food fight, unless you can’t get caught!”
    Both dads laughed hard. Ranger and I just rolled our eyes. Welcome to Embarrassment City, I thought to myself. Then I got an idea. I turned to Ranger’s dad.
    “Mr. Ranger, you’re a scientist, right?” I said. “Well, can you answer a scientific question?”
    “I will certainly try,” Ranger’s dad said to me.
    “Can mantids grow to be extra large?” I asked.
    “Extra large?” Mr. Ranger said, laughing. “What? Like Mega Mantis?”
    My dad laughed even louder. “Do you watch those old flicks, Ranger? Damon loves B-Monsters, don’t you, son?”

    Ranger and I shifted uncomfortably.
    “Seriously, Dad,” Ranger butted in. “Can mantids attack people for real?”
    “Gee,” Ranger’s dad said thoughtfully, “I know of only one real Giant Mantis attack. It took place in a remote village in . . . Malaysia, I think. A colleague of mine told me about it once . . .”

    Malaysia? That was where Leery had last seen Mega!
    “Why the sudden interest in insects, boys?” my dad asked. “Damon, I thought you hated bugs . . .”
    “Yeah, well,” I turned back to Ranger’s dad. “Who was that colleague you mentioned?”
    “Name is Dr. Von Rosenhof. And I do believe he just returned from a research trip. He has studied mantids extensively throughout his career.”
    “Really?” This sounded like a guy we needed to meet.
    “Believe it or not, Dr. Von Rosenhof lives right here in Riddle, right up the road from the school,” Ranger’s dad added.
    “That’s a coincidence!” my dad chuckled.
    Ranger flashed me a look. I knew exactly what he was thinking.
    This was no coincidence.
    It was a clue!

CHAPTER 11
    SQUAD FOR ONE, SQUAD FOR ALL
    It took all my strength to get through the rest of the school day. After our temporary detention, I had to take that vocabulary quiz. What a bust. I didn’t recognize half the words.
    When the end-of-day bell rang, I met up with