Megan McDonald - Stink and the Great Guinea Pig Express (Book #4)

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the authors imagination or, if real, are used fictitiously. This book is not intended as, nor should it be used as, a guide for the proper care of guinea pigs.

The publisher wishes to express its gratitude to Kathy Anderson and Lyn Zantow for their insightful feedback regarding guinea pig adoption and the proper care of guinea pigs.

Text copyright 2008 by Megan McDonald
Cover and interior illustrations copyright 2008 by Peter H. Reynolds
Stink. Stink is a registered trademark of Candlewick Press, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in an information retrieval system in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, taping, and recording, without prior written permission from the publisher.

First electronic edition 2010

The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:

McDonald, Megan.
Stink and the great Guinea Pig Express / Megan McDonald ;
illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds. 1st ed.
p. cm.
Summary: Stink Moody, friends Webster and Sophie, and Mrs. Birdwistle visit tourist attractions in Virginia as they try to find homes for 101 guinea pigs rescued from a laboratory, although Stink is very reluctant to give away his favorite, Astro.
ISBN 978-0-7636-2835-2 (hardcover)
[1. Guinea pigs Fiction. 2. Animal rescue Fiction. 3. Automobile travel Fiction. 4. Virginia Fiction. 5. Humorous stories.]
I. Reynolds, Peter, ill. II. Title.
PZ7.M478419Sst 2008

[E] dc22 2007040413

ISBN 978-0-7636-4234-1 (paperback)
ISBN 978-0-7636-5191-6 (electronic)

The illustrations for this book were created digitally.

Candlewick Press
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Somerville, Massachusetts 02144

visit us at www.candlewick.com

Shake!

Rattle!

Squeal!

Stink could hardly see as he carried a Leaning Tower of Cereal Boxes up to Websters front door. Ding-dong, he called out.

Whoa! said Webster. Cmon in. Sophies here, too. This is going to be the most fun ever.

How many cereal boxes did you collect? Sophie asked.

Umpteen, said Stink.

All I brought was Cheerful Os, said Sophie of the Elves. My dad says theyre heart healthy.

Carrying all these boxes is not heart healthy, said the out-of-breath Stink. Why couldnt we just use sugar cubes?

Stink, were building the Great Wall of China! Do you know how long it would take to build a wall out of teeny-tiny cubes?

Well, it took hundreds of years in real life, said Stink.

Ours is only going to take one day, said Webster.

Just then, Stinks giant stack of cereal boxes crashed to the ground. Somebody sure likes Mood Flakes! said Webster.

My sister, Judy, said Stink. They change color when you pour milk on them.

Weird! said Webster.

Interesting, said Sophie.

Stink pulled two shiny silver-gray rolls of tape out of his back pockets. I brought super-sticky duck tape!

In our family, we call it goose tape, said Sophie. Stink and Webster cracked up. The three friends lined up the cereal boxes in the backyard and goose-taped them together.

The Great Wall of Goose Tape! said Stink. Did you guys know that you can see the Great Wall from outer space? He wondered if any aliens or Martians would be able to see the Great Wall of Cereal Boxes when it was done.

The real Great Wall is more than two thousand miles long, said Webster.

We have about a thousand miles to go, said Sophie.

Webster stood up. His arm was stuck to Sophie. Sophies shoe was stuck to Stink. Stinks shirt was stuck to Websters sleeve.

Oh, no! said Sophie. Were stuck to each other.

Dont worry, said Stink. Friends should stick together.

When they finally got unstuck, Stink looked at the Great Wall. He could not believe his eyes. The Great Wall was moving. The Great Wall was shaking. The Great Wall was quaking. Look! he said, pointing.

Why is it moving? asked Webster.

Maybe its the wind, said Sophie.

Does the wind go wee, wee, wee, wee, wee? asked Stink.

All three of them heard the squeaking sound now. Wee, wee, wee, wee, wee. There it is again! said Stink. Somethings inside the Great Wall!

Sounds like a baby bird, said Sophie.

Or a creepy rat, said Webster.

Stink and his friends crawled on hands and knees through the grass. Stink peered into an empty box of Mood Flakes at one end. A furry hair ball with dark brown eyes, a wet pink nose, and twitchy whiskers peered back at him.

All I found is... a guinea pig! said Stink.

I found one, too! said Sophie.

I found one, three! said Webster.

Guinea pig party! said Sophie, holding up a tricolor guinea pig that looked like it was wearing a wig.

Guinea pig palooza, said Webster, putting a black-and-white guinea pig in his lap.

The Great Wall of Guinea Pigs! said Stink, holding a little fur ball with blue eyes and spiky hair.

When did you get three guinea pigs? Sophie asked Webster.

And how come you didnt tell us? asked Stink.

Theyre not mine, said Webster. I never saw them before. I dont know how they got here.

If we were at my house, said Stink, Id say my sister, Judy, was trying to clone guinea pigs again. One time, she put guinea pig hairs in the microwave to make more guinea pigs.

Maybe they escaped from the circus, said Webster.

Maybe they escaped from a mad scientist, said Sophie.

Maybe theyre alien guinea pigs from the planet Squeak, said Stink.

They look like plain old earthlings to me, said Webster. He ran into his house to get an apple and some broccoli. The hungry guinea pigs munched down the apple in a flash.