We’re getting closer to the release of the fourth Night Buddies adventure! In Night Buddies and Evil School Bus #264, the iguana gang returns to their evil tricks. John and Crosely’s program is to sniff out the iguana’s location and end their slimy ways.

While you’re waiting for the book’s release, we thought we’d share a few pages with you! We peek in on the action in chapter four when John and Crosley come face to green paint with the evil school bus.

“Listen, Cros, why don’t you try your thinkin’ position?”

   He was almost in it anyway, all stretched all out with his back feet up against the instrument panel.

   “Naw, buddy, not right now.” He pointed a claw at his head: “Climbin’ that tunnel’s fogged up my epiphany bone.”

   “E-piff—–Huh?”

   “Epiphany bone. Where my Excelsiors* come from.” He closed his eyes: “It should clear out pretty soon.”

   “Well,” I said, “Excelsiors or not, we gotta try and find that school bus. An’ we gotta figure out what t’ do when we do find it—–Right Cros?———-Cros?”

   He was snoring away like a rock crusher.

   No need to wake him up, right? I could fly the racing blimp as good as the next guy. Maybe head over to the landfill? No, Crenwinkle’s gonna beep us when they’re back there. But hey, we can’t just sit here and float. We’re out on a Program and, man, is there ever trouble.

   Okay, I’ll just hit UPGAS and fly all around till Cros wakes up. Hey, maybe I’ll spot ’em myself.

   When the altimeter got to two thousand feet, I put us in HOVER-LOK and looked out. There the whole Borough was again, the great twinkling rug with the skyscrapers and the River. You could see airplanes zipping everywhere with red and white lights blinking. Yeah, and there was the little Number Two light right off the far end of the River bridge.

   Okay, just fly around! I pushed THRUST.

   “Cros?”

   Snoring. Steady and loud.

   I pointed us away from the River bridge and the Factory toward the outer part of town.

   You could see hundreds of streets crisscrossing if you looked down, and several subway station lights. There was the All-Night Racing Blimp Emporium, down on Crosley’s side. The All-Night Drugstore must be pretty close. Yeah, there it is right over there—–

FFFOOOSH———-SPLATT!

   I never saw it coming. It made the racing blimp bounce around, and I looked and my windshield was all covered over.

   “SNORK!” went Cros. “WUKK!” He jerked himself up in his seat.

“HUKK! WHAZZAT?”

   “Somethin’ came right at us, Cros. Real fast an’ close an’ look there     —–”

   Crosley saw my windshield: “Hey, it’s all green paint!”

   I put us in HOVER-LOK. Crosley’s windshield was still clear, and we looked out through it.

   “John, lookit that speck comin’ here. Gettin’ bigger. Uh-oh, bigger an’ bigger! It’s ———-AW YIGG, IT’S THE SCHOOL BUS! HEADIN’ RIGHT AT US!”

   It sure was. Its four-way flashers were flashing, and its balloons were all blown up, and it came at us so fast we barely saw the cannon shoot  ———-

FFFOOOSH———-SPLATT!

———-before it pulled up and just missed us.

   The racing blimp jumped around again, and we looked, and Crosley’s windshield was painted over too!

   “Low-down lizards,” I said.

   “Rotten reptiles,” Cros said.

 

Get your noseplugs ready for Night Buddies and Evil School Bus #264 coming soon.

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Need to brush up on the Night Buddies vocabulary? Check out our glossary here.