Chapter 1 CHAPTER 1
“IT CAME!” VAMPYRA SQUEALED. SHE was very excited. She was so excited that she ran in circles. Three circles to be exact. That is something you should keep in mind for the next time you are so happy that you cannot contain yourself—run in a circle, three times. Not four. That’s too much, and you’ll probably just get dizzy.

Franky waved down at Vampyra from the window of Doctor Frankenstein. He was helping his grandfather with a new experiment.



“Is that what I think it is?” Franky called down.

“All the way from the desert sands, halfway around the world!” Vampyra said. She waved the postcard back and forth. “Hold on, I’ll be right up.”



Vampyra closed the mailbox. Then she wiggled her toes, snapped her fingers, and closed her eyes. POOF! Vampyra turned into a bat. She flew straight up and through the laboratory window of Castle Dracula.

“Ta-da!” she said, handing Franky the postcard.

“Wow!” said Franky. “This is the coolest!”

“Looks hot to me,” said Doctor Frankenstein, peeking over their shoulders. The postcard showed a great big pyramid in the middle of a desert. “All that sand? And sun? Do you know how warm I’d be in my lab coat if I lived there?”

“No, Grandpa,” said Franky. “?‘Cool’ means that it’s something really awesome. It’s, um… It’s neat. You know, like something really great.”

“If you say so,” Doctor Frankenstein said with a shrug.

“We have to show Wolfy,” said Vampyra.

“Can I go out and play, Grandpa?” Franky asked.

Doctor Frankenstein lifted his goggles from his face. “Would I be a ‘cool’ grandfather if I said yes?”

“The coolest!” Franky said.

Doctor Frankenstein winked at Franky and Vampyra. “Go on, then,” he said. “I can take care of the rest of this contraption.”

Franky wasn’t sure what Grandpa was building, but it had a lot of springs and bolts and bubbling tubes and coils.

“Thanks, Grandpa!” said Franky.

He and Vampyra raced all the way down the spiral steps and through the main hall and out the front gate of Castle Dracula.

“Wolfy, look!” said Vampyra.

Wolfy had just been on his way to visit his friends.

“Is that from Neveen?” he asked.

“Just arrived,” said Franky. “She’s going to be here in two weeks!”

Wolfy howled in delight, and then he and Franky and Vampyra put their paws and claws together and danced in a circle. Three circles. Not four. That just would have made them dizzy.



Why were they so happy? What the heck was going on?

The Junior Monster Scouts were about to have an exchange scout come stay with them for the summer. They would get to have a Monster Scout from another place visit Castle Dracula while they learned about each other’s customs and culture. It was very exciting, and the first time they’d ever had the chance to do it. Neveen was their soon-to-be-guest’s name, and she was from a great big pyramid in an even bigger desert that was halfway around the world!

Isn’t that cool?