Take the Mummy and Run

  THE RIOT BROTHERS SERIES

  # 1 Snarf Attack, Underfoodle, and the Secret of Life: The Riot Brothers Tell All

  # 2 Drooling and Dangerous: The Riot Brothers Return!

  # 3 Stinky and Successful: The Riot Brothers Never Stop

  # 4 Take the Mummy and Run: The Riot Brothers Are on a Roll

  Text copyright © 2009, 2017 by Mary Amato

  Illustrations copyright © 2009 by Ethan Long

  All Rights Reserved

  HOLIDAY HOUSE is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

  www.holidayhouse.com

  ISBN 978-0-8234-3949-2 (ebook)w

  ISBN 978-0-8234-3950-8 (ebook)r

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Amato, Mary.

  Take the mummy and run : the Riot Brothers are on a roll / by Mary Amato ; illustrated by Ethan Long. — 1st ed.

  p. cm.

  Contents: The Riot Brothers solve a mystery — The Riot Brothers find a lost mummy — The Riot Brothers have fun at a water park — Bonus.

  ISBN 978-0-8234-2175-6 (hardcover)

  [1. Brothers—Fiction. 2. Cousins—Fiction. 3. Summer—Fiction.

  4. Humorous stories.] I. Long, Ethan, ill. II. Title.

  PZ7.A49165Tak 2009

  [Fic]—dc22

  2008013299

  ISBN 978-0-8234-3868-6

  For my Riot Brother fans with thanks to the Albion family—especially Zoe, Noah, and Michele—for sharing the idea of Amelia.

  —M. A.

  For Alec and Ashley.

  Love, your bro.

  —E. L.

  CONTENTS

  Book One

  THE RIOT BROTHERS SOLVE A MYSTERY

  ONE

  Don’t Stop the Pop!

  TWO

  Who Wouldn’t Love Slobber in a Bucket?

  THREE

  A Rather Curly Surprise

  FOUR

  What’s in Your Backpack?

  FIVE

  A Tempting Trap

  SIX

  Stick ’em Up!

  SEVEN

  Pass the Peas, Please

  Book Two

  THE RIOT BROTHERS FIND A LOST MUMMY

  ONE

  Tut, Tut, Nut

  TWO

  Dung Beetles, Anyone?

  THREE

  Toot, Toot, Tootsies

  FOUR

  I Want My Mummy

  FIVE

  Stares and Stairs

  SIX

  Even Mummies Need a Break

  SEVEN

  Now That’s the Kind of Lava I Like

  Book Three

  THE RIOT BROTHERS HAVE FUN AT A WATER PARK

  ONE

  Gotta Beat the Heat

  TWO

  Please Don’t Eat the Ham

  THREE

  Double Trouble

  FOUR

  Did You Say, “Croak”?

  FIVE

  It’s Raining! It’s Pouring!

  SIX

  Slimy Gifts

  BONUS!

  Riot Brother Games

  Pufferbelly Pointer Punt

  Holey Cheese-n-Peas

  Costume Countdown

  The Curse of the Mummy

  Croak-and-Soak

  Bonus Water Games

  Water Limbo

  Put-the-Tail-on-the-Whale

  Riot Brother Sayings

  Additional Riot Brother Rules

  The Riot Brother Oath

  The Secret Riot Brother Handshake

  Bonus Songs

  Pointer Anthem

  The New Baby Song

  Water Limbo Song

  Who Invented the Riot Brothers, Anyway?

  ONE

  Don’t Stop the Pop!

  Ahhhhhhhhh, the first day of summer vacation! The beginning of fun and freedom for me, Wilbur Riot!

  I woke up and decided to start the day with a bang. So, I lunged toward my brother Orville’s bed.

  My goal was to wake Orville up by pulling his pillow out from under his little head. Unfortunately he woke up at the exact same time with his own idea.

  We headed toward each other like meteors on the same flight path.

  Kapow!

  “Ow!” Orville said, rubbing his head. “Your head is as hard as a rock, Wilbur.”

  “I’ll take that as a compliment, Orville. I’ve always loved rocks. Your head is as hard as a giant kernel of popcorn. Before it has popped, of course.”

  “Thank you, Wilbur!” Orville cried. “I’ve always loved popcorn.”

  He started popping around the room as we got dressed.

  “This is making me hungry,” Orville said. “Let’s see if Mom will let us make puffers for breakfast.”

  Puffers is Orville’s nickname for popcorn. He came up with it when he was three, and it stuck.

  “And then we can start our summer off by playing Pufferbelly Pointer Punt,” I suggested.

  “Hooray! I love that game!” Orville cried.

  We popped down the stairs.

  “Mom!” Orville yelled. “Can we make puffers for breakfast?”

  She wasn’t in the kitchen or the living room.

  “MOM?” I yelled.

  Orville looked worried. “Do you think she finally went nuts and is now running through the streets of town squawking like a chicken?”

  I looked out the window. “I think she’s gardening.”

  Orville joined me at the window. There was good old Lydia Riot, otherwise known as Mom, kneeling in the dirt, talking to herself and waving one bright purple gardening glove in the air.

  “Well, maybe she has finally gone nuts.”

  Orville opened the window and called out, “Mom, can we make puffers for breakfast?”

  She waved at us. “Shhh! I’m on the phone.”

  “She said, ‘Yes! Leave me alone,’” Orville said with a grin.

  We put some popcorn in the microwave and waited patiently. With every pop, pop, pop, the delicious hot bursty smell increased. Yum . . . Yum . . .

  Ping!

  Finally, the timer went off and the popping stopped.

  We tore open the bag, poured those white fluffy puffers into a bowl, and ate as fast as we could.

  “Time for Pufferbelly Pointer Punt,” Orville said. “What’s your team name?”

  Coming up with a team name is an important part of Pufferbelly Pointer Punt. “This time I’m going to be the Wilbur Weirdos,” I announced.

  “Good choice! You will be playing against the Orville Uh-Ohs.”

  He held out his pointer finger. We locked fingers and shook twice.

  “All rise for the Pointer Anthem,” I said.

  We stood up, put our pointer fingers in the air, and sang,

  We took our places across from each other at the dining room table and put a puffer in the center.

  “Go!”

  We went for it. I was first to the puffer. I flicked it from one pointer to the other. Orville tried to steal it, but I punted it up the field. Aiming for Orville’s belly button, my outstretched pointer struck it—ping! Right in the middle of his stomach!

  “GOAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” I cried, while my pointers did a victory dance. “One point for the Wilbur Weirdos.”

  “The game ain’t over,” Orville said. He put another puffer on the table and we went at it again.

  This time, Orville got it first. Without hesitating, he shot it. Pschew! It shattered into pieces and flew over my head.

  “Out of bounds. The Weirdos get a free kick.”

  I got a new puffer and placed it perfectly. I needed to catch the Orville Uh-Ohs off guard. Quickly, I flicked it.

  “NOOOOOOO!” Orville screamed, and punted in midair. The puffe
r parachuted down and smacked me in the stomach.

  “GOAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Orville’s pointers did a victory dance. “Uh-oh! It’s one to one, baby.”

  I reached for a new piece of popcorn and noticed all the unpopped kernels hanging out together in the bottom.

  “Orville,” I said. “I know we’re supposed to be playing Pufferbelly Pointer Punt, but I’m suddenly distracted by an important question.”

  “You’re wondering why we aren’t wearing knuckle guards?”

  “No. I’m wondering why there are always a few kernels that don’t pop.”

  “It’s a mystery,” he said.

  An idea popped into my head. “I’ve got our next mission!”

  “Does it have to do with puffers?”

  “No.”

  “Good. I’m full.”

  I waved my fingers mysteriously in Orville’s face and said in a mysterious voice, “The Riot Brothers will solve a mystery.”

  Orville held up a piece of popcorn. “About puffers?”

  “No. A real mystery of some kind. Something that takes two things that we’ve got.”

  “Pointers?”

  “No. Courage and intelligence. Otherwise known as guts and brains.”

  “I’ve got guts and brains!” Orville cried, punting a piece of popcorn into the air. “Mystery, here we come!”

  TWO

  Who Wouldn’t Love Slobber in a Bucket?

  Mom came running into the room. “Guess what?” she asked.

  I looked at the popcorn on the table. “You’re going to yell at us for playing with our food?”

  “No. Although that reminds me: You guys need to stop leaving the shed door open. Three days in a row, I’ve noticed that it’s been wide open. But guess what?” She was actually smiling.

  “You’re taking us to China for our summer vacation?” Orville asked.

  “No.”

  “You’re not taking us to China?” I asked.

  “No! I mean yes. I mean—”

  “Mom. Are you or aren’t you taking us to China?”

  “Of course I’m not.”

  “Then why do you keep talking about China?”

  Mom rolled her eyes and pulled a Riot Rewind.

  What’s a Riot Rewind, you ask? It’s a little something we invented, which our mom even finds handy. To do a Riot Rewind, you pull both ears and say, “Rewind!” Then you back out of the room while making your voice sound garbled, as if you’re talking backward. After that you get to come in and have a fresh start.

  Mom stopped when she got out of the room. Then she ran back in.

  “Guess what?” she asked, but she didn’t wait for us to answer. “Your cousin is on her way. Your second cousin, actually.”

  “What cousin?”

  “The one who is coming to stay with us while her parents attend that conference in the hotel downtown. Remember I told you about this two weeks ago?”

  Our mom talks so much it’s hard to keep track of what’s important.

  “Older or younger than us?” I asked.

  “In between the two of you.”

  “Nice or mean?” Orville asked.

  “Nice, I’m sure!”

  “Not all females are nice, you know,” he said. “Did you know that only female horseflies bite?”

  “No, I didn’t,” Mom said.

  “And only female mosquitoes bite,” Orville added. “Did you know that?”

  “No, I didn’t,” she admitted.

  “Boring or funny?” I asked her.

  Orville interrupted. “Wait, Wilbur. Are you asking about horseflies or mosquitoes?”

  “I’m asking about our cousin, Orville. Is she boring or funny?”

  Mom put her hands on her hips. “How am I supposed to know? We saw her once when she was two. Wilbur, you were three. And Orville, you were just starting to walk.”

  “Well, was she funny?”

  Mom laughed. “As a matter of fact, she was. We were at a park with a lot of pigeons, and she found a feather on the ground and kept running after a pigeon trying to put the feather back on.”

  Orville laughed.

  “Can she do any tricks?” I asked.

  “You’ll have to ask her.”

  “What if she won’t talk to us?” Orville reasoned.

  “Why wouldn’t she talk to you?”

  “Maybe she only speaks Chinese.”

  “She’s from Kansas!”

  “Well, why didn’t you say so!”

  Mom’s eyes went for another roll.

  “When is she coming?” Orville asked.

  “Any minute. They arrived last night and stayed at the hotel together. And they just called to say that Amelia is on her way here.”

  “Who’s Amelia?” Orville asked.

  “Your cousin!”

  I interrupted. “The important question is, when will she leave?”

  Mom went nuts. “Wilbur! That’s not nice. She is going to be our guest for three days, and the two of you will be excellent hosts, I’m sure.”

  “THREE DAYS!” I wasn’t really trying to be mean. It’s just that it was the first day of summer vacation, and I didn’t want to be stuck taking care of a boring guest.

  Orville turned to Mom. “So, what do hosts do?”

  “They chitchat, Orville,” I said. “And they show their guests where to freshen up.”

  Mom laughed.

  “Perhaps we should buy some candy and new games for excellent hosting.” Orville fluttered his eyelids.

  “Forget it,” Mom said.

  I whispered, “How are we going to keep our mission a secret or even complete it with a guest hanging around?”

  Orville nodded, getting it. “What should we do?”

  My brother directed his question at me, but it was Mother-with-Big-Ears who answered. “The first thing you should do is sweep the floor,” she said. “It looks like you guys were throwing popcorn around in here.”

  I guffawed. “Of course not. We wouldn’t throw popcorn—”

  “We punted it,” Orville said.

  For some reason, Mom didn’t see the logic of this. Sometimes trying to explain the concept of fun to grown-ups just doesn’t pay.

  While I was sweeping unpopped kernels of popcorn into a dustpan, I got a brilliant idea.

  “These kernels remind me of peas,” I whispered to Orville. “And peas remind me of the story of the princess and the pea.” I dumped the kernels into the trash can. “And that gives me an idea.”

  Orville looked horrified. “You want to dress up like a princess?”

  “No. I want to create a test for our cousin to see if she’s the kind of cousin we like.”

  “Aha!” Orville said. “We’ll make her sleep on a bed full of peas!”

  “No. We’re not trying to find out if she’s a princess. We’re trying to find out if she’s fun. So we’ll play a funny trick on her, and if she laughs, then we’ll like her.”

  Orville’s face lit up. “Bingo bongo! What’ll we do?”

  Too bad I can’t sell tickets to my brain because sometimes the ideas just roll in there like little movies.

  I told my plan to Orville, and then we carried it out.

  First, we put Slobber in a bucket full of water. (Note: Slobber is the name of our pet rat, who happens to be made of rubber. If you think it’s disgraceful that we do not have a real pet, then please write a letter to our mother, Lydia Riot, explaining that children need at least one dog, one cat, one iguana, one Burmese python, and one naked mole-rat in order to grow up and become normal healthy adults. Thank you.)

  Second, we put the bucket on the front step, next to the door.

  Third, we put a sign on the bucket saying, FREE CANDY!

  Fourth, we walked to the driveway to see how it looked. From a distance, you could see the bucket and the sign, but you couldn’t see what was floating in the bucket.

  “Perfect,” I said. “Now, she’ll walk up to the front door. The sign about the candy will make
her look in the bucket, and then she’ll see old Slobber!”

  Orville did what any good Riot Brother would do. He laughed like a madman.

  THREE

  A Rather Curly Surprise

  We wanted to hide in the bushes and wait for the cousinly arrival. But Mom made us clean more. And then she asked us to look for her missing gardening glove.

  I was checking the bushes by the Overhosers’ house when Mrs. Overhoser came out.

  She gasped. “Are you tromping on my petunias?”

  “No. I’m just looking for a missing glove,” I explained.

  “Hmph!” she said. “I’m missing a glove, too.” She pulled one blue gardening glove out of her apron pocket and looked at me suspiciously.

  “I didn’t take it,” I said.

  All she said was “Hmph.” Hmph is the Overhosers’ favorite word.

  We didn’t find any gloves, but all that looking made us hungry again. So, we went inside and made peanut butter toast. While we were eating toast, we made a list of possible mysteries to solve.

  Before we could even finish our list, the doorbell rang. I looked at Orville. Orville looked at me. We had forgotten about the test we’d set up for our cousin.

  “Slobber!” I tried to say, but my mouth was full, so I ended up slobbering. We jumped up and ran into the living room, where we bumped into Mom.

  “She must be here,” she said.

  “But nobody screamed,” Orville said.

  Mom gave us a look. “Why would anybody scream?”

  “Yes, why would anybody scream, Orville?” I poked him with my elbow.

  We ran to the front door and peered through the window.

  Nobody was standing on our steps, and a taxi was just pulling out of our driveway.

  “Uh-oh,” I said. “Maybe we scared her off.”

  Mom tapped me on the shoulder. “For heaven’s sake, why would she be scared? Maybe the taxi is confused about the address. Just open the door, Wilbur.”