Free The Case of the Bone-Stalking Monster by John R. Erickson Page A

our own now. “Swiss Cheese, this is Grease Rag. What’s the situation now?”
    â€œI want to go home!”
    â€œWhat’s the Bone Monster doing, over?”
    â€œWell, let me see. He’s . . . oh my gosh, he’s coming this way and he’s . . . he’s grinding his teeth together and he’s . . . he just said he wants to eat a COWDOG!”
    Yikes.
    I switched off the radio and turned to Ralph. “Ralph, are you there?”
    â€œUh-huh, and if I ever get out of here alive, I ain’t ever leaving the dog pound again.”
    â€œHow fast can you run?”
    â€œWell, usually not too fast, but I think I can feel a burst of energy comin’ on.”
    â€œGood. We’re surrounded. We’ve got to make a run for it. Drover, we’re coming out.”
    â€œAre you talking to me?”
    â€œOf course I’m talking to you!”
    â€œI thought I was Cheese Ball. I’m all confused.”
    â€œDrover, do you want to be confused or do you want to run for your life? You can’t do both.”
    â€œI’ll take Number Two.”
    â€œFine. Then quit squeaking nonsense. We’re coming out.” We came flying out of the bunker. My eyes probed the darkness around us. “Where is he, Drover? Give me exact coordinates.”
    â€œWell, first he was over there, then he moved over here.”
    â€œIs that longitude or latitude?”
    â€œI think so. Anyway, he was huge and ugly.”
    â€œGot it.” I faced my little band of troopers. “Okay, men, we’ve got to bust out of here. It’s our only chance. We’ll make a run for the yard gate, regroup there, and scale the fence.”
    Drover spoke. “I ate a fish scale once. Couldn’t swallow for a whole day.”
    â€œExactly, so on this mission we must avoid all fish and swallows. Are we ready to move out? Let’s make a run for it, and don’t speak to any strangers. Good luck, men.”
    And with that, we ran for our lives.

Chapter Twelve: I Unmask the Bone Monster

    W e fought our way up the hill. Boy, what a scary deal it was. See, our intelligence reports had spoken of only one Bone Monster out there, but by the time we reached the yard gate, I was pretty sure that we had encountered more than one.
    Several.
    Dozens of Bone Monsters, each one bigger and meaner and uglier than the first one.
    Pretty scary, huh? You bet it was.
    Well, our squad had been encircled and en­trapped by a whole bustallion of Bone Monsters. They were everywhere! I mean, in the darkness up ahead, we could see their yellow neon eyes flickering on and off.
    And you probably think they were fireflies, but they weren’t. I know a firefly when I see one.
    These were the murderous yellow eyes of a whole bunch of Bone Monsters.
    Ten feet out, I knew we were in big trouble. We would have to fight for every step, every inch of ground.

    â€œOkay, men, I had hoped that we could make this a silent run, but they’ve got us surrounded and outnumbered. When I give the word, we’ll go into Heavy Duty Barking.”
    â€œWhat’s the word?”
    â€œThe word, Drover, is ‘bark.’ What else would it be?”
    â€œWell, I don’t know. Blue Cheese or Ham­burger Bun or Lettuce Leaf. You use all these codes and sometimes I don’t know what’s going on.”
    â€œYes, but what’s more important is that THEY don’t know what’s going on. It’s all part of a grand strategy and you don’t need to worry about it. Just bark.” He barked. “Not yet, you moron, you’ll give away our location.”
    â€œThey can have it! I want to go home, and this leg is killing me!”
    â€œOkay, men, ready on the left? Ready on the right? Commence Heavy Duty Barking! Give ’em the full load and don’t hold anything back!”
    We cut loose with a withering barrage of barking. Boy, you should have heard us! I was especially