Revenge of the Tiki Men! by Tony Abbott Page A

Liz said.
    Mike stood up and frowned at the ground. “Sounds hollow …”
    Liz pounded the plate some more. Boom-boom-boom! The ground around them started to shake and shift. Their legs wobbled as they tried to keep their balance.
    â€œThis isn’t right.” Mike threw down his glove and picked up the other bat. He started to pound the plate, too.
    â€œHey!” Jeff shouted. “One batter at a time.”
    But with every hit of the two bats, the ground rumbled and boomed louder and more deeply.
    â€œStop joking, you guys!” Sean yelled. “My fastball is gonna slow down if we don’t start!”
    â€œBut—it’s hollow under here!” Liz shouted.
    RRRRR! The earth rumbled sharply. It swelled under the plate and shifted with a suddenness that caught Mike off balance.
    â€œM-M-Mike, watch out! C-c-c-cave in!” Liz stammered. “The g-g-g-ground!”
    The g-g-g-ground exploded!
    KA-BOOOOM!
    Home plate shot up like a rocket and the earth erupted from below with a loud wumping sound. Huge chunks of dirt and rocks blasted out everywhere.
    The ground sunk beneath Mike suddenly and he tumbled into a deep dark hole.
    â€œHelp!” he screamed.
    But he wasn’t down there for long.
    Something was coming up out of the ground.
    Something very big.

2
    Head’s Up!
    â€œM ike, what is going on?” Liz screamed, scrambling back to the backstop for protection.
    â€œSomething’s down here! Something big! And it’s moving!” he screamed from down below.
    Dirt exploded out everywhere. The rumbling shook the earth under the field. Sean, Jeff, and Holly came running over.
    A second later— whoom! —Mike rose up into view, sprawled on top of a giant flat stone. He leaped off when the stone came to the surface.
    But the giant stone kept rising. It pushed itself up out of the ground and continued to blast up, higher and higher into the air. Ten feet. Twenty feet. Thirty feet!
    It was big! It was huge! It was enormous!
    Finally— RMMMM! —the stone stopped. The ground thundered once more, then fell silent. The dust cleared around the huge stone.
    It towered over the field.
    â€œWhoa!” Liz gasped when she saw the size of the stone. “That was under us? It’s … it’s …”
    â€œIt’s humongous!” Mike cried, looking up from the ground. Then he squinted. “It’s also carved like a statue.”
    Mike was right. The stone was a giant carved head. In the middle of the face was a long nose rising between sharp, high cheekbones. Underneath was a broad mouth and a jutting chin.
    But those weren’t the most striking features.
    â€œCreepy!” muttered Holly, running over to Liz and Mike. “The eyes. The eyes are so deep and creepy!”
    â€œFor once, I’ve got to agree with you,” Sean said, moving up next to his sister. “Deep eyes are always creepy. Remember that movie our dad made? The Creepy Creep with Eyes So Deep?”
    â€œYeah, but that creep didn’t show up to ruin a baseball game,” Liz said. She looked up. Way up. “Talk about odd? How did this thing get here? And what even is it?”
    Jeff jerked back from the big head. “Maybe he’s … you-know-who. Grover.”
    â€œGrover?” Sean said. “Who’s Grover?”
    â€œYou know, the original Grover of Grover’s Mill?” Jeff said. “Maybe it’s a statue of him.”
    Liz shook her head, circling around the big stone. “I don’t think so. I’ve seen pictures of this kind of statue. But they’re normally far away on jungle islands in the Pacific Ocean.”
    â€œWell, normally doesn’t work around here,” Holly said. “Remember where we live?”
    Liz made a face. “You’ve got a point.” She stared at the big head.
    Snap! Snap!
    The kids turned and squinted into the sunlight. There they saw a man standing on the