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coming a fate much worse than death. No one can endure an encounter with
The Stinkl"
"Have you been watching monster movies again?" Julia asked her.
Practical Jokers on the Loose_______________________87
"Transylvanian Slime Demons,"grinned Yo-landa.
"I say who cares?" put in Dave. "This school stinks in every other way; it
might as wellreally stink."
At four-fifteen, when the group was attempting to file out the front door,
Douglas blocked their way. "We need to have a meeting," he informed them.
"We justhad a meeting," snarled Dave. "1 hated it."
"Not the Special Discussion Group," said Douglas. "The Grand Knights of the
Exalted Karpoozi."
"Aw, Doug, not that again!" Commando groaned. "Nobody went for your dumb
knights, so forget it!"
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"But we're in trouble!"
Gerald's normally downcast face snapped to attention. "Trouble?"
"Yeah," Ric chimed in. "How can we be in trouble if we don't even know what
you're talking about?"
The group allowed itself to be hustled into the nearby stairwell. Crouched
under the flight that led to the second floor, Douglas dropped the bombshell.
"Some of you were complaining about the smell in the school." They waited
expectantly. "It's us."
"What is?" asked Commando irritably.
"I was going to cook you guys an authentic Pef-kakian meal to welcome you
into the Grand Knights," Douglas began. He related the story of how the
ingredients for the special lunch wound up sealed into the ceiling of the home
ec room. "The dry ice is gone, and the food is starting to rot. And it's our
fault," he finished.
Commando found his voice first. "Whoa! That's notour fault. That'syour fault.
None of us putany-
88______________________________THE TW1NKIE SQUAD
thingin the ceiling of the home ec room."
"But the action can be attributed to the Grand Knights of the Exalted
Karpoozi," Douglas argued. "There are no Grand Knights of the Exalted
Karpoozi," Commando refuted. "There's onlyyou."
"What was the lunch going to be?" inquired Ric, who was getting hungry.
"Garlic squid with mango and banana." Dave gagged. "Mo wonder!Man, I'm amazed
it doesn't stinkworsel"
The bag containing her cheerleading outfit slung over her shoulder, Beverly
Busby flitted down the front stairsen route to her bus home. Suddenly, she
stopped dead, frozen by hearing the word that had been on her mind all
day KarpoozilA muffled secret conversation was being held directly beneath the
staircase. Beverly strained her ears. This could be about the mysterious Grand
Knights!
"Let me get this straight," came a hushed voice. "As Grand Knights, it's our
fault the school stinks?"
"Exactly," agreed someone. But then several other voices broke into what
sounded like a whispered argument, and it was impossible to make out what any
one person was saying.
Excitedly, Beverly tiptoed back up the stairs and ran off. Had she remained
another minute, she might have heard Commando announce, "Look, Doug, we're
sorry you're up the creek, but you're just not going to convince us this is
our fault."
Basketball practice was just letting out when Beverly burst into the gym.
"Guys! Guys!" called Beverly, beckoning to Waldo,
Practical Jokers on the Loose_______________________89
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Kahlil, and Carol. "You're never going to believe this! 1 just found out what
those Grand Knight guys do!"
"Flower arranging?" wisecracked Kahlil.
"What's wrong with flower arranging?" demanded Beverly. "My dad happens to be
a florist!"
"Sorry," mumbled Kahlil.
"They're a club that plays practical jokes!" grinned Beverly. "And they just
cracked a lulu on the whole school! You know the smell in the home ec room?
It's a stink bomb set off by the Grand Knights!"
"They told you about it?" asked Carol.
Beverly shook her head. "1 just overheard them in the stairwell. 1 can't even
tell you how many kids were in on it. They were whispering, so it was hard to
hear. At least four or five, 1 think."
Waldo was mystified. "Why didn't you just go talk to them?"
Beverly regarded him as though he had a cabbage for a head. "Are you crazy?
These guys areonly the coolest secret club in the whole school! It would be
totally geeky to justwalk up to them!"
Waldo scratched his forehead. "Why?" Beverly had a sense of style that eluded
him.
"Because it just would!" she snapped. "How un-cool can you get? Besides," she
added, "when the time is right, the Grand Knights of the Exalted Kar-poozi
will ask me to join up."
Beverly Busby talked to everybody about everything every day, so the news
spread like wildfire. The first Commando heard of it came at the eight-forty
bell the next morning. As the students entered the school, one sixth-grade
girl declared, "Yeccch! 1 think the smell is getting worse!"
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