Danger Guys and the Golden Lizard Read Online Free Page A

jungle—with the black Rover just inches behind us!



SIX
    I guess we were lucky that Mommy was such a crazy driver.
    Every time the black Rover pulled up close, she did something wild with the steering wheel.
    Like spin it. ERRKKK! We went slicing through some low bushy trees.
    When the Rover caught up, Mommy jammed her foot on the gas and gave the wheel another spin. Errrrkk!
    â€œThis old jungle jalopy still has what it takes!” she called out.
    â€œI don’t know if I do!” screeched Zeek.
    Then Mommy swung a hard left, and the Jeep jumped off the road and headed down. And I mean down !
    WUMPA! WUMPA! WUMPA! We hurtled down a steep hill. I bounced. Then my backpack bounced—and flew off into a tree.
    â€œMy gear!” I screamed.
    â€œMy rear!” Zeek screamed.
    â€œOne more turn up ahead,” shouted Mommy, “then I’ll slow down and you jump.”
    â€œBetter than speeding up and we jump!” Zeek snorted.
    Mommy made one last crazy spin on the wheel and swerved down another hill. “Now!” she yelled.
    We jumped.
    Umph! Umph! We slammed into the ground and started to tumble.
    I nearly swallowed a bush.
    RRRR! The Rover tore off after Mommy’s Jeep. When we stopped rolling, I could hear her laughing far into the distance.
    â€œWell, Zeek,” I said, pulling a big juicy leaf from between my molars. “Until those guys discover that we’re not in the Jeep, I think we’re pretty safe.”
    Zeek stood up and looked into the jungle. “I think we’re pretty lost.”
    â€œMaybe,” I said, “but we’ve got something they don’t.”
    â€œYou mean the map?”
    I shook my head, forging ahead through the jungle. “No, it’s that danger thing. No one has it but us. We were born with it.”
    Swish! Swish! I pushed through the leaves, slithering like a snake. I was getting into it.
    Little spider monkeys swung from branch to branch above me as I went.
    â€œBut Noodle?”
    â€œDon’t worry, Zeek,” I said, weaving through a thicket of vines. “Danger is what separates us from the rest of the world. Those guys will never even get close. We’ll dart here and there, creep all around them until—ta-dah!—we rescue the Emersons.”
    â€œNoodle?”
    â€œZeek, we’re on a mission. And we’re good. We are so good that—”
    â€œNOODLE!”
    I stopped. I turned around.
    Zeek was standing between two ninja guys. They were dressed in black from their ninja caps to their ninja boots, and they were holding Zeek off the ground.
    Fingers came huffing up behind them. “Take them to the hut,” he snarled. “I’ll find out where that Lizard is if it kills them!”
    He laughed a little at that. “Get it? If it kills them !” he said again. He thought he was pretty funny.
    Zeek and I didn’t think he was so funny.
    They dragged us far away from Maribo City, even deeper into the jungle. About an hour later we came to a small broken-down hut. It was a mess. All falling apart.
    â€œSo that’s where you live,” Zeek said.
    â€œNot funny, kid!” Fingers snapped. “My house is bigger than this, way bigger!”
    Then Fingers got angry. He started to stomp his feet.
    I guess that’s what Zeek was waiting for.
    In that instant, he twisted, flipped, ducked, and ran, just like when the quarterback yells “Hut-hut!” and Zeek leads our team, the Mayville Marmosets, to another amazing victory.
    In a flash all that was left of Zeek was an empty space.
    â€œRun, Zeek, run!” I yelled, just like at games.
    â€œGet him!” shouted Fingers. Two ninjas ran through the trees where Zeek had disappeared.
    Fingers pushed me into the hut.
    I crashed right into some people inside.
    It was the Emersons! They were being guarded by two more huge guys.
    â€œAre you okay?” I asked.
    â€œWe’re fine,” said Mr.