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For Jane Kamensky, with thanks for so many years of rich friendship
—E. B.
To adventurous Anna
—K. M.
Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
CHAPTER ONE
James Says Good-bye
CHAPTER TWO
In the Study
CHAPTER THREE
Trapped!
CHAPTER FOUR
A Way Out
CHAPTER FIVE
Homecoming!
Copyright
CHAPTER ONE
James Says Good-bye
Marvin is sad.
James is going away.
“Just to the beach,” James tells him.
Mrs. Pompaday and William are going too.
Only Mr. Pompaday will stay. Marvin does not like Mr. Pompaday.
James says, “I will be back in a week.”
That does not make Marvin feel better. A week is a long time! He will miss James.
He rolls into a ball, like this:
James leans close to Marvin. “Don’t be sad, little guy. When I come home, I’ll bring you a surprise!”
Even that does not make Marvin feel better. What will he do without James? James is his best friend.
“You can help me pack,” James says. He lifts his suitcase onto the bed.
Marvin does not want to help James pack. But at least it is something they can do together.
James has a list of everything he needs to pack. He puts the list on his desk.
“Now, when I say something, cross it off,” James tells Marvin. He opens the bottle of ink on the desk. He puts the cap next to Marvin with a little ink in it.
Marvin can’t read, but he is good at crossing things off. He dips his front legs in the ink.
“One,” says James. “Socks.” He puts socks in the suitcase.
Marvin draws a line through the first word on the list.
“Two,” says James. “Underwear.” He puts underwear in the suitcase.
Marvin draws a line through the second word.
“Three … swimsuit.” James puts his swimsuit in the suitcase. It has dragonflies on it. Marvin thinks it would look nicer with beetles. He draws a line through the third word on the list.
“Four … pajamas.” James puts his pajamas in the suitcase.
Marvin draws a line through the fourth word.
“See? You are really helping!” James tells him. “That is half my list. Five … shirts.” He puts shirts in the suitcase.
Oops! Marvin has no more ink on his legs. He dips them in the cap again. He draws a line through the fifth word on the list.
“Six … shorts. My suitcase is almost full.” James squeezes his shorts into the suitcase.
Marvin draws a line through the sixth word on the list.
“Seven … toothbrush. I always forget my toothbrush,” James tells Marvin. “That’s why I made a list in the first place.” He puts his toothbrush in the suitcase.
Marvin draws a line through the seventh word.
There is only one word left.
“Eight … book! That’s everything,” says James. He takes a book from his shelf. Marvin draws a line through the last word on the list.
“There’s no room,” James says. He puts the book on the floor and moves things around in the suitcase.
“James!” Mrs. Pompaday calls. “Are you ready? We can’t be late for the plane.”
“Coming, Mom,” James says. He zips his suitcase shut.
Uh-oh! The book is still on the floor. James will forget his book! Marvin runs over the list. All the words are crossed off. He taps his legs on number eight.
James sees him. “Good job!” he says. “You crossed off everything.”
Marvin keeps tapping.
James puts on his shoes.
Marvin runs around in circles.
“Don’t worry,” James says. “I’ll be back soon.”
Marvin runs to the cap of ink and dips his legs in it.
James stands up. “Time to go.”
Marvin runs back to the paper and draws this:
Finally, James understands. “Oh!” he says. “I forgot my book!”
He finds the book on the floor and puts it in his suitcase. Marvin sighs.
“Thanks, little guy!” James smiles at Marvin. “You are a big help.”
He pats Marvin’s shell. “Good-bye! See you in a week.”
Marvin lifts one leg and waves good-bye. He is still sad. But at least he helped James pack, and James did not forget his book.
CHAPTER TWO
In the Study
Marvin is bored. Without James, there is nothing to do. It has been days and days since he went away.
“Marvin, cheer up!” Mama says. James will be home soon. Why don’t you draw something?”
Under the kitchen sink, where the beetles live, there is an art studio just for Marvin. James gives him paper and ink. He can draw and draw. Marvin loves making pictures. But today he just doesn’t feel like it.
“I miss James,” he tells Mama.
“I know, darling,” Mama says. “But you have to stop moping! Only boring beetles get bored.”
Marvin frowns. Mama sometimes says things that don’t make sense. A boring beetle would not have an interesting life in the first place. Why would he get bored?
“I’m not boring,” Marvin says in a small voice.
“I know you’re not.” Mama hugs him. “So why don’t you think of something to do? Go play with Elaine.”
Elaine is Marvin’s cousin. Sometimes she is fun. Sometimes she is annoying. But there is nobody else to play with, so Marvin agrees.
“Come on,” Elaine says, grabbing one of Marvin’s legs. “Let’s have an adventure!”
“What kind of adventure?”
“I’ll show you. I found a new place for us to play.”
Elaine leads the way to Mr. Pompaday’s study. The beetles seldom go in there because there is no food. There is only Mr. Pompaday, working at his desk. Marvin thinks Mr. Pompaday is a good example of a boring person.
But he is not there. Today the study is empty.
Elaine crawls up the side of the big desk. “Marvin!” she shouts. “Look at this!”
Marvin follows her.
He sees something strange on the desk. It’s a black box with a hole in it. Elaine climbs up the side and disappears through the hole.
“Elaine!” Marvin cries. “Where are you?”
He can hear her laughing. “Come on! It’s fun!”
Marvin looks around. It seems safe.
He crawls up the side of the black box. It is smooth and slippery.
He peeks in the hole.
It’s dark inside the box, and the air is full of dust. Marvin crawls through the hole.
He is in a short, bumpy tunnel. At the end is a big, black space. Far below, Elaine is jumping and rolling in a pile of something.
“It’s so soft!” she calls to Marvin.
“What is that stuff?” Marvin asks.
“Wood!” Elaine says.
Wood? Why are there little pieces of wood in this funny black box? Marvin watches Elaine. She is doing somersaults.
“Come and see,” she says. “Here, I’ll show you.”
She climbs back up to where Marvin
is waiting.
“Look,” she says. “Like this.”
Elaine puts her front two legs together and dives. She flies through the air and lands with a soft ffft!
“Wheeeeeeee!” she shouts. “What are you waiting for?”
It does look fun.
“Okay,” Marvin says. “Here I come.” He puts his front two legs together and dives.
For a second, he is flying through the air … like a butterfly or a dragonfly or just a plain old fly. He feels fast and free.
Then he lands in a soft pile of wood shavings. Ffft! Dust rises in clouds all around him.
“Hey, this is GREAT!” Marvin says, crawling back up the inside of the box.
“Told you so,” says Elaine, following him.
“What is this thing?” Marvin asks.
“I don’t know,” Elaine says, “but isn’t it the best?”
They perch at the edge of the tunnel, then dive, one after the other.
First Elaine does a belly flop. Marvin copies her.
Then Marvin does a somersault. Elaine copies him.
They jump holding hands.
They jump, then spin three times.
They even jump backwards.
They have never had such a good time.
As they are jumping and diving and rolling in the soft wood shavings, they hear a noise.
Marvin freezes. “What was that?” he asks Elaine.
“I don’t know,” she says.
They hear footsteps close to the desk. A chair moves. A lamp clicks on, and light shines through the hole above them.
“It’s Mr. Pompaday,” Marvin whispers. “He’ll hear us.”
“Oh, drat!” Elaine says. “Maybe he’ll go away.”
They wait. They can hear Mr. Pompaday working. He does not go away.
“Do you think we can sneak out?” Elaine whispers.
“Not if he’s right there,” Marvin says. “He’ll see us.”
“I’ll climb up and find out what he’s doing,” Elaine says.
But as she climbs the inside wall of the box, something comes through the hole, completely blocking it. It is pitch– black inside the box. And then, suddenly, there is a very loud noise.
The box shakes and shakes. Marvin thinks it is going to explode.
CHAPTER THREE
Trapped!
Elaine is thrown off the wall, but Marvin can’t see where she lands.
There is dust everywhere. Bits of wood fall through the air like snow. They land on top of Marvin.
Help!
He can’t see. He can’t breathe. The noise goes on and on. It’s the loudest noise Marvin has ever heard.
Then, just as suddenly, it stops.
Light still shines into the box, which is quiet now and cloudy with dust.
Where is Elaine?
Before Marvin can find her, something blocks the hole again. WHIRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!
The shaking and the noise start up again. Marvin crawls as fast as he can to one side of the box. Here, he is safe from falling bits of wood. What in the world are they inside of?
This time when the noise stops, Marvin is ready. He runs over the pile of wood shavings. “Elaine? Elaine? Where are you?”
Three legs are poking up through the soft wood. They are waving wildly.
“It’s okay. I see you,” Marvin says. He grabs one of Elaine’s legs and pulls her out just as the noise and shaking start again. Together, they run to the side of the box.
“What is going on?” Elaine cries.
“I don’t know,” Marvin says. “I’ll climb up and have a look.”
Marvin tries to climb the side of the box but it is shaking too much. Every time he gets an inch up the wall, he is knocked back down. The noise is so loud, his head hurts.
Then the noise and shaking stop. The phone is ringing. Marvin hears Mr. Pompaday say, “Hello?”
A chair scrapes the floor, and footsteps leave the room.
Phew!
But something is still blocking the hole. There is no light in the box. Thank goodness, beetles can see in the dark.
“Let’s try to get out,” Marvin says.
“Okay,” says Elaine. But she sounds scared.
They climb up the inside of the box. The hole is blocked by a pointed piece of wood. It has a dark tip.
It looks like something Marvin has seen before. But what?
“Oh!” says Elaine. “It’s a pencil.”
A pencil! Suddenly, Marvin knows what the black box is. James has a little one on the desk in his bedroom. It’s a machine that makes pencils sharp … a pencil sharpener!
“We have to get out of here,” Marvin tells Elaine.
“How?” Elaine cries. “The pencil is there. Marvin—we’re trapped!” She covers her face with her legs. “That hole is the only way out. Oh, Marvin! We’re going to DIE!”
CHAPTER FOUR
A Way Out
“Elaine, stop that,” Marvin says. He crawls along the point of the pencil. It’s jammed into the hole. There’s no room for a beetle to squeeze out.
“We are going to die here, all alone,” Elaine sobs.
Marvin sighs. Elaine is not good in an emergency. Maybe this is the opposite of Mama’s saying—exciting people always get excited.
“Elaine, you’re not helping,” Marvin says. “Let’s try to push the pencil out.”
Elaine stops crying. “Okay,” she says.
She crawls up next to Marvin. They use their legs to try to move the pencil.
“Push!” Marvin says.
“I am!” Elaine says.
The pencil does not move.
“Harder,” Marvin says.
“I AM!” Elaine cries.
They push with more legs.
But the pencil still does not move. It’s stuck.
“Oh, Marvin, we will never get out of here! This box will become our grave.” Elaine starts to cry again. “Nobody will ever find us.”
“They will find us,” Marvin says. “Mr. Pompaday has to pull out the pencil sometime.”
“Really?” Elaine cheers up. “Do you think he will?”
“Yes,” Marvin says. But he thinks to himself, By then, it may be too late.
They keep trying to push the pencil out of the hole, but it doesn’t move. Soon they are too tired to push anymore.
“What if you’re wrong?” Elaine asks. “What if Mr. Pompaday doesn’t pull out the pencil in time?”
Here she goes, Marvin thinks.
“Our family will never see us again,” Elaine says sadly, rolling into a ball. “I’ve had a good life. Good-bye, sweet world!”
Marvin shakes his head. “Elaine, will you please stop?”
There has to be another way out of the box.
Marvin looks at the pencil and thinks. Far away, he can hear Mr. Pompaday talking on the phone.
“I know!” he says. “We’ll EAT our way out.”
Elaine looks at him. “Eat the pencil? Ewww. It’s not food.”
“If we chew bits off it, we can make enough room to squeeze out,” Marvin tells her.
Elaine does not look happy. “Ewww,” she says again.
“Come on, Elaine,” Marvin says. “We have to try. You don’t want to stay here forever, do you?”
So they crawl to the place where the pencil is stuck in the hole.
Marvin takes a small bite. The wood is hard and dry. Yuck! He spits it out.
Elaine takes a bite. She makes a face and spits it out too.
“Keep going,” Marvin says.
Together, they take bites of the pencil. Crunch, crunch, crunch.
“It tastes awful,” Elaine says.
“I know,” Marvin says. “But look! We’re making a space.”
Where they have been biting the pencil, they can see a tiny sliver of light.
They keep chewing on the pencil.
“Okay, that’s enough,” Marvin says. He pushes the pencil to make more room. “Now try to squeeze through.”
Elaine tries to crawl through the space. She can’t fit.
Marvin sighs. They chew some more.
“You try,” Elaine tells him. “Then you can pull me through.”
So Marvin crawls over to the space. He tries to fit.
It’s too tight.
He sucks in his breath and tries again.
This time, HOORAY! The pencil moves a little, and he squeezes through the hole, into the bright light of the study.
“I made it!” he cries to Elaine.
Then he hears Mr. Pompaday’s footsteps coming back.
“Hurry, Elaine!” Marvin says. He reaches into the hole and grabs her front legs. He pulls and pulls.
Elaine does not move.
He pulls harder, pressing his shell against the pencil to move it over.
Finally, POP! Elaine comes flying through the hole.
“Ow!” she says. “That hurt!”
“Run,” Marvin whispers. They race behind the lamp.
“Good,” Mr. Pompaday is saying. “I’m glad you’re having a nice time. And James made some new friends? That’s a surprise. All right. See you Saturday.”