The Slime That Would Not Die by Laura Dower Read Free Book Online

Orange stuff got all over his fingers and lips. Stella and Lindsey took huge handfuls, too.
    â€œMmmmm,” the girls said. “What is this?”
    â€œOne of Oswald Leery’s favorites,” said Walter. “Larva crunch.”
    â€œEwwwwww!” everyone wailed, spitting the stuff out. “Larva?”
    â€œOh, come now! You’re not afraid of a little snack food, are you?” Walter asked.
    Stella grabbed a can of Volt Cola right off the tray and emptied it into her mouth. It would take a case of the stuff to get the taste out of our mouths.
    â€œWould you excuse me for a moment?” Walter asked. “Have a look around. Make yourselves at home. I’ll be back in two shakes of a werewolf’s tail.”
    Then he left the room.
    â€œHow exactly do you shake a werewolf’s tail?” I cried.
    â€œ Very carefully ,” Lindsey said, giggling again as she adjusted her glasses.
    We all groaned.
    â€œWhat does it mean when Walter says to ‘have a look around’?” Stella asked, touching a large, leather-bound book on the table.
    â€œI bet he’s testing us,” I said. “He wants to see what we do.”
    â€œI bet Leery has B-Monster video cams set up all over the castle,” said Damon. “We’ll probably end up on the Internet.”
    Stella found a box and opened it up. Inside were old pictures of actors, special-effects design people, and makeup artists who had worked at B-Monster Studios. Dad told me once that a bunch of old B-Monster actors still live at the Riddle Retirement Village. I bet they have the best stories to tell!
    Hidden behind a large, moving plywood panel, Damon discovered shelves and shelves of back issues of B-Monster Galaxy , Oswald Leery’s famed monster magazine . On another shelf was a giant robot head. Damon stepped near the head and its eyes flashed red.
    â€œCool!” he exclaimed excitedly.
    Lindsey pointed to a line of old black-and-white photographs hanging up on the wall. In one photograph was a man behind a movie camera. Standing next to the man was Oswald Leery.
    â€œWow! That man in the picture is my Grandpa Max!” Lindsey said.
    I told Lindsey how my Great Uncle Rich had worked for Leery, too.
    â€œHis nickname was Danger Ranger,” I joked. “Otherwise known as Danger Man.”
    â€œWhere is he in these pictures?” Damon asked, eyeing all the photographs again.
    I searched the gallery and couldn’t find a photo of him anywhere. But I didn’t need a photograph. I found some amazing props instead! Inside a costume trunk, I picked up this bug mask with giant light-up eyes. Etched inside was the nameRICH “D” RANGER
    â€œNo way!” Damon cried. “Look at this!” He pulled me over to look at a gigantic suit made of steel. “It says right here that this suit was worn by Rich Ranger in Robototron. ”
    â€œWow,” Stella said. “There are little bits of your uncle in everything.”
    â€œYeah,” I mused. “He was a cool guy, wasn’t he?”
    â€œWhen I grow up, I want to be a stuntwoman just like him,” Stella said.
    â€œYou could be ‘Danger Min’!” I cried, goofing around.
    We all laughed, except for Stella, of course. She smoothed down her black hair and shot me a look. “I’m being serious,” she said.
    I spotted a small locked cabinet off to the side of the room. Unable to open it, I grabbed a sharpened pencil and stuck it in the lock. After a few minutes of wriggling, the door opened.
    The cabinet was a treasure trove. It held notebooks and albums crammed with photos and facts, guestbooks signed by all the actors who had made the Bs, and a box of original B-Monster trading cards. I opened the box. I’d been searching for a limited-edition Slimo trading card for months. There were only five ever issued. Two are owned by collectors in Japan, and I had no clue where the other three