Eerie Elementary #2: The Locker Ate Lucy! (A Branches Book) Read online

  “Fine!” He swam over to the largest pipe. It

  was the size of a giant water slide. He climbed

  in. Sam helped Lucy up into the big pipe, too.

  The dark water was still rising. Sam needed to

  hurry. “I’ll be right back!”

  “Where are you going?!”

  Lucy shouted.

  “Trust me!” Sam said.

  Sam took one deep

  breath and dove down.

  For once, he was actually

  thankful for all of those

  swim classes his mom

  had made him take.

  Sam opened his eyes as

  he reached the water heater.

  Earlier, he had turned the

  wheel to the right to lessen

  the water’s strength and

  save Lucy. So if he

  turned it to the left,

  it should make

  the water

  move faster

  through the

  pipes.

  If the water is stronger, it can push us through the

  pipes! The water can carry us to the other end of the

  pipes, hopefully above ground, thought Sam.

  It was a crazy idea, but it was their only

  chance.

  Sam grabbed ahold of the wheel

  and began turning.

  Sam was having trouble turning the giant

  wheel under water. And he was running out

  of air!

  If this plan doesn’t work, my friends and I are in

  serious trouble! he thought. Sam pictured Lucy

  and Antonio and Mr. Nekobi. He pictured

  Ms. Grinker and all of his classmates. Eerie

  Elementary put them all in danger, and only

  he could save them. He was the hall monitor.

  He could feel the school. And he sensed now

  that he could beat the school! If only he could

  turn the wheel!

  DEAD END

  12

  He could not fail.

  He would not fail!

  Sam used all his strength to give the wheel

  another tug.

  SCREECH!

  It worked! The wheel was turning. Then

  Sam saw a dial atop the water heater, labeled

  WATER SPEED. How did I not see that before?

  wondered Sam. As he turned the wheel, a small

  needle on the dial moved from green to red.

  The word DANGER was in the red section.

  Sam pressed his

  feet against the

  water heater and

  turned the wheel

  until the dial’s

  needle was past the

  word DANGER.

  The water heater

  began shaking!

  It’s going to blow!

  Sam thought. I’ve got

  to get out of here!

  Sam turned and

  kicked with all of

  his might. He burst

  through the surface

  and gasped for breath.

  Antonio and Lucy were inside the pipe,

  waiting for him. Water rushed faster and faster

  through the pipes. All around Sam, the water

  was bubbling and splashing. The water heater

  shook.

  “Sam, what did you do?!” Antonio yelled.

  “I’m getting us out of here! We’ll travel

  through the pipes!” Sam said.

  “I hope this works!” Lucy said, sticking out

  a hand. Sam grabbed ahold, and Lucy pulled

  him up.

  He lay down behind Antonio and Lucy

  inside the big pipe. It was like the three of

  them were lying at the top of a water slide.

  But they weren’t going on a fun zip down into

  a swimming pool. No — they were going to

  be rocketed, up, through Eerie Elementary!

  “Where will this pipe spit us out?” Lucy

  asked.

  Sam didn’t answer. He had no idea where

  this pipe would take them. He just hoped it

  was somewhere above ground.

  The pipe started really shaking. The water

  heater would blow at any moment and water

  would be blasted through the pipe!

  “Hold your breath!” Sam shouted. “Here

  we go —”

  BOOM

  !

  The water heater blew! There

  was a giant blast of warm

  water! Sam, Antonio, and

  Lucy were launched

  through the pipe.

  The three friends raced through the pipe at

  100 miles per hour on a wave of water.

  Up ahead, the pipe split into two. Lucy

  shouted, “Sammmmmmmm!!!!”

  VA-ZOOM

  !

  As the pipes split, Lucy was

  carried off in one direction,

  and Sam and Antonio

  went in another.

  Sam held his

  breath as he zoomed

  through the pipe.

  Up ahead, the pipe

  split into two again.

  The water carried

  Antonio to the right.

  Sam tried to follow

  him, but it was too

  late.

  Sam whizzed down a different pipe. Now

  Sam Graves was all alone, flying through

  Eerie Elementary!

  Sam saw darkness

  at the end of the pipe.

  Oh, no.

  It was a dead end!

  He had to slow down or

  he would smash into the

  end of the pipe. He

  reached out and scraped

  his fingers against the

  pipe. But it was no use.

  He couldn’t stop! He

  couldn’t slow down!

  I

  need to do something, or I’ll be smashed! Sam

  thought. He lay flat as a board. He pushed his

  feet forward as the water rocketed him toward

  the end of the pipe. My sneakers and this fast

  speed just have to help me break through this old

  rusty pipe!

  Sam’s feet slammed into the end of the pipe.

  HANGING

  BY A THREAD

  13

  It cracked open! Sam was shot out into

  the air.

  “Oh, no!” he screamed. He was high above

  the lunchroom.

  He was in midair!

  Thirty feet up!

  And then falling!

  Sam reached out for something, anything

  to stop his fall. He grabbed on to one of

  the huge curtains that covered the room’s

  floor-to-ceiling windows.

  Sam looked up at the pipe end above him.

  Gallons of water were pouring out of the pipe

  and splashing to the floor below.

  But then the flow of water began to slow.

  CRASH!

  The water heater must have run out of

  water. The danger was over!

  I did it! Sam thought, dangling from the

  curtain. He looked down. The lunchroom

  was empty. Phew! I’ll just climb down this

  curtain. Then I’ll find Antonio and Lucy.

  But no!

  Eerie Elementary was not done

  with Sam Graves! The water

  on the lunchroom floor

  began rising. It was taking

  shape. It was becoming

  something.

  Sam gasped.

  The water was taking the

  form of a giant hand.

  “Help!” Sam shouted.

  He tried to climb

  higher up the curtain,

  but the curtain began

  swaying! It was
trying

  to shake Sam off!

  The curtain had

  come to life!

  RIP!

  The curtain

  started to tear!

  Sam looked down at

  the huge watery hand

  of Eerie Elementary. It

  opened wide.

  It was reaching

  for him!

  Sam hung by a thread from the monstrous

  curtain. He was about to be grabbed by the

  enormous hand. But wait! Sam remembered

  something. That morning, Ms. Grinker had

  said, “Today’s weather will be the hottest ever.”

  Sam tightened his grip on the curtain, and

  then he tugged! The curtain tore. The entire

  curtain fell to the ground — along with Sam.

  WATERY HAND

  14

  Sunlight poured through the window. Hot

  rays of sunlight were shining directly on the

  watery hand.

  The hand pulled back as though it were in

  pain. Steam started rising off of it. The sun’s

  heat was turning the water into steam! The

  school howled!

  But still, the hand reached for Sam. It was

  hurt, weakened — but not beaten.

  If I could just bring down the other curtains in

  here, the sunlight would destroy the hand, thought

  Sam. But I’m cornered.

  Watery fingers were about to grab Sam.

  SLAM!

  Lucy and Antonio burst into the lunchroom.

  “We’re coming, Sam!” they yelled.

  “Pull down those curtains!” Sam shouted.

  “Quick!”

  Antonio and Lucy didn’t know what Sam’s

  plan was, but they trusted him. Antonio tugged

  on one curtain! Lucy grabbed another! Soon,

  even more sunlight flooded the room!

  The watery hand was almost beaten! Sam

  just needed to deliver the final blow. He

  spotted a metal cooking tray on the floor.

  Metal reflects light! thought Sam.

  Sam stepped on the edge of the tray,

  popping it up into the air like a skateboard.

  He snatched it and held it up to the sunlight.

  A white-hot beam of light bounced off the

  metal, toward the hand.

  The hand of Eerie

  Elementary screamed!

  It shook! Steam

  clouded the air.

  And then —

  HISSSS!!!!

  The watery hand blew apart! Giant drops

  of water splashed across the room.

  The hand was gone. It was done.

  BOOM-

  SPLASH!

  Sam got to his feet.

  Then he said, “You guys got here just in

  time! Where were you?”

  “The pipe spit me out over in the gym,”

  Lucy said.

  “And I got spit out into the fifth-grade

  hallway,” Antonio said. “Luckily, no one saw

  us!”

  Sam was so tired he could barely stand.

  “Man, I owe you guys big time!” said Sam.

  “Are you kidding?! You two saved me

  today!” Lucy said.

  “It was all Sam,” said Antonio. He began

  clapping. “Sam Graves, hall monitor hero!

  Give him a hand!”

  Sam groaned. “I never want to hear the

  word hand again.” The friends smiled.

  They were safe.

  But not for long.

  SLAM!

  The door flew open. Ms. Grinker burst into

  the lunchroom. She looked around, eyes wide.

  Her frizzy hair was standing on end. “Sam!

  Antonio! Lucy! Where have you been?!” she

  yelled. “What happened to the curtains? Why

  is everything wet?!”

  ALL WET

  15

  Just then, Mr. Nekobi rushed in. He began

  calmly mopping up the water. Then he said,

  “Ms. Grinker, Sam was helping me wash the

  windows. Didn’t I tell you?”

  Ms. Grinker was still upset. “No! You didn’t

  tell me! And Sam should’ve asked me if he

  could leave class. He missed our entire weather

  lesson.”

  “I’m becoming forgetful in my old age,”

  Mr. Nekobi said. Sam smiled and looked to

  the floor. Mr. Nekobi to the rescue!

  “What about Antonio and Lucy?” Ms.

  Grinker said. “They’re not hall monitors so

  they shouldn’t be helping you.”

  “I’m making them assistant hall monitors.

  They’ve proven to be very helpful to Sam.”

  Antonio and Lucy looked at each other

  with big, excited smiles.

  Ms. Grinker was mad. She turned on her

  heels and stomped out of the lunchroom.

  As soon as Ms. Grinker and the other students

  left, Sam told Mr. Nekobi everything.

  “You’ve learned a lot about the school,”

  Mr. Nekobi said. “And you seriously hurt the

  school this time. Hopefully, the evil will stay

  asleep for a while.”

  “And hopefully assistant hall monitors don’t

  have to wear these ugly things!” Lucy said. She

  tugged on Sam’s bright orange sash.

  “Hey!” Sam said. Soon all four of them

  were laughing.

  After school that day, Sam, Lucy, and

  Antonio sat on the swings.

  “We did well today,” Sam said. “But I don’t

  think we’ll ever be able to really defeat Eerie

  Elementary.”

  Lucy hopped down off her swing. “I don’t

  think that’s true,” she said.

  Antonio nodded. “We’re a team. And now

  we know Orson Eerie is the school. There

  must be a way we can undo whatever he did.”

  Sam stared at the school building: Eerie

  Elementary, the strange creation that was mad

  scientist Orson Eerie.

  “You guys are right,” he said. “There must

  be a way to beat Eerie Elementary, once and

  for all. And, together, we will find it!”

  Jack Chabert was a hall monitor

  at Joshua Eaton Elementary School in

  Reading, Massachusetts. But unlike our

  hero, Sam Graves’s, school, Jack’s school

  was not alive. Jack is very thankful that

  none of his friends were ever swallowed up

  by lockers.

  Today, Jack Chabert monitors the halls of

  a different building: a strange, old apartment

  building in New York City that he calls

  home. His days are spent playing video games, eating

  junk food, and reading comic books. And at night, he

  walks the halls, always prepared for the moment when

  his building will come alive.

  Sam Ricks went to a haunted

  elementary school, but he never got

  to be the hall monitor. As far as he

  knows, the school never tried to eat

  him. Sam graduated from The University

  of Baltimore with a master’s degree in

  design. During the day, he illustrates from

  the comfort of his non-carnivorous home.

  And at night, he reads strange tales to his

  four children.

  What do Sam and his friends learn

  from the book Eerie: A Town History?

  What is the terrible truth about

  Orson Eerie and Eerie Elementary?

  How does the sun

  hel
p Sam, Antonio,

  and Lucy save the

  day?

  Pretend your school comes to

  life. Use sound-effects words to

  write an action-packed story.

  Sam, Lucy, and Antonio visit

  the library to research their town.

  Visit your local library to see

  what interesting

  facts you can

  uncover about your town!

  scholastic.com/branches

  How muCH do you know abouT

  The L

  o

  c

  k

  er

  ATE

  Lucy?

  scholastic.com/branches

  www.scholastic.com/readinglevel