The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp by Kathi Appelt Page B

golden, like a fresh fried pie.

47
    B INGO AND J’ MIAH DIDN ’ T NEED a sign to know that there was trouble brewing. All night long there had been rumble-rumble-rumble-rumbling. The horrible, terrible, very bad, no good Farrow Gang was closing in.
    It was time to launch Operation Rumble-Rumble-Rumble into action. With the sun filtering its way through the trees’ branches, with only their wits and their whiskers, Bingo and J’miah set out to find the Sugar Man. They scampered through the entryway of the DeSoto and stepped into the warm, wet air.
    They were not at all used to such brightness. It took a moment for their eyes to adjust. They also felt very exposed, out in the open as they were. They had to pause for a moment to adjust to this idea that they could actually be observed by any of the daytime creatures, creatures they only vaguely knew about.
    J’miah pulled his invisible thinking cap around to shield his eyes. It wasn’t very helpful, being invisible and all. Theymay have stood there all morning, in the unfamiliar light of day, but finally Bingo took a step forward, and that seemed to break the spell.
    Tally ho, young Scouts.
    And forward they went. Without any solid directions, they simply started walking. Whenever the trail reached a fork, they turned toward whichever lane seemed darkest. They walked and walked and walked, and sure enough, the forest grew thicker. It began to close in on them, blocking out the light above.
    Hours passed, and the shadows grew longer and longer. As the trees and bushes became ever more dense, the forest grew quieter. Bingo strained his ears to hear crickets. Not a single chirp. J’miah listened hard for cicadas. Nary a buzz.
    Dark.
    Quiet.
    Dark.
    Quiet.
    Bingo was extremely glad that he had J’miah with him. J’miah was over-the-moon happy that he was with Bingo. Suddenly in the dark and quiet, they heard, chichichichi.
    Bingo looked at J’miah. J’miah looked at Bingo, and together they said, “Gertrude!”
    And Gertrude said, “Sssscccouts! Just who I need.”

48
    R ACCOONS ARE ONE OF THE largest members of the Procyonidae family, a family that includes ringtails, kinkajous, olingos, coatis, and cacomistles. (Don’t you just love those names?) They are such a handsome group, with their thick fur and their stripy tails; but despite their relatively long claws, and their sharp teeth, their primary form of defense is to go into emergency poof mode, which makes them look five or six times larger than they actually are. The second that Bingo and J’miah came nose to nose with the world’s most itchy rattlesnake, their fur went POOF and POOF , respectively.
    While they stood next to each other, trembling and poofing, Gertrude circled them with her long, sleek body and said this unexpected thing: “I’ve been waiting for ssssssomeone to drop by. And what do you know? Here you are.”
    Of course Bingo and J’miah immediately thought she had been waiting to have them for dinner, and not to share dinner either.
    Bingo blurted out, “I don’t think we’d t-t-taste very good.”
    But to their surprise, Gertrude started laughing. “Sssssilly Sssscout, I don’t eat anything with fur. It getsss ssstuck in my throat.”
    That, it goes without saying, was a relief . . . but not a whole lot. Okay, some. A little. There was still a lot of poofing, not to mention shivering, still occurring between the daring duo.
    Then J’miah said, “What did you need us for, then?” Bingo could feel his tuft standing straight up.
    â€œI need ssssomeone to admire my new sssskin,” Gertrude said. And with that, she pulled the brothers together even more tightly inside the circle of her body. That way they could get a very up-close-and-personal look at all of her black diamonds. The raccoon brothers were effusive in their praise.
    â€œMy, those diamonds are definitely