The Berenstain Bears in the Wax Museum (3 page)

“Awesome!” cried Brother so loudly that it brought Mama out of the kitchen and Sister down the stairs. “Go ahead, Papa, read the article!”

Papa cleared his throat and read, “‘Madame Bearsaud—'”

“You say it
Bear-so
, dear, not
Bear-sawd
,” interrupted Mama.

“Oh,” said Papa. “Must be a misprint. Anyway, here's what it says:

“‘Madame Bearsaud, the world-famous owner of Madame Bearsaud's Wax Museums, is building a new branch of her entertainment empire right in the middle of Beartown. Not only will the wax museum be larger than the one in Big Bear City, but attached to it will be an old-fashioned movie palace, called the Screaming Room, that will show only horror and sci-fi movies. Also attached will be a theme restaurant, Chez Bearsaud, where diners will be served by waiters dressed like the famous monsters, villains, and heroes in the wax museum. Of particular interest in the museum itself will be the statue of Queen Elizabear, adorned with priceless replicas of the great queen's crown jewels.

“‘Never before has a business of this type or size been located in Beartown, but the Beartown zoning board has given Madame Bearsaud the go-ahead to build on the vacant lot at the corner of Bruin Street and Grizzly Avenue. The board's vote was two to one in favor of Madame Bearsaud, with Mayor Honeypot and Farmer Ben voting yes and Lady Grizzly voting no.'”

Papa looked up from the paper and smiled at Brother and Sister. “Well, cubs, what do you have to say about that?”

“Hurray for Madame Bearsaud!” cried Sister.

“And hurray for the Beartown zoning board!” added Brother.

Chapter 4

Lady Grizzly's Challenge

But the cubs' hurrays weren't the last word on the subject. Mama shook her head and said, “The new entertainment center certainly sounds exciting, but one thing worries me: Lady Grizzly's no vote.”

“Who cares about Lady Grizzly's no vote?” said Papa. “She lost fair and square, two to one. Case closed.”

“I understand that,” said Mama. “But it's more what the vote represents than the vote itself that worries me.”

“You're talking in riddles, dear,” Papa complained.

“Yeah,” said Sister. “What do you mean, Mama?”

“Just this,” said Mama. “That single no vote represents an anti-Madame Bearsaud attitude that I expect is shared by some other Beartown folks. Mark my word: there will be protests against the new entertainment center. And it's quite possible that one of the other members of the zoning board will change his vote.”

“Oh, my goodness,” said Papa. “Mama's right.”

“I don't get it,” said Brother. “Why would anyone be against the entertainment center?”

“You'd understand if you were a grownup,” said Papa. “Why, I can just picture Lady Grizzly complaining to the squire: ‘A wax museum? How vulgar! How tawdry! All those awful wax statues of monsters and villains will corrupt Beartown's cubs …'”

And if truth be told, across town, in Squire Grizzly's study, Lady Grizzly was at that very moment complaining to her husband. “A wax museum?” she was saying. “How vulgar! How tawdry! All those awful wax statues of monsters and villains will corrupt Beartown's cubs! Dear, we must stop this Madame Bearsaud from completing her infernal project!”

Squire Grizzly, sitting behind his big wooden desk, shrugged and shook his head. “But I don't see what we can do about it, dear,” he said. “After all, the zoning board has already voted—”

“Nonsense!” snapped Lady Grizzly. “The zoning board, as you well know, is perfectly free to change its vote within a month if it sees fit. And to have it do just that, I shall organize an anti-Madame Bearsaud campaign the likes of which our sleepy little town has never seen!”

“But, dear,” said the squire, “think of the boost the new center will give to the Beartown businesses that I own. Madame Bearsaud's will put Beartown on the map. Folks from all over Bear Country will flock to town, and Madame Bearsaud's theme restaurant won't even begin to be able to serve all of them. The overflow will wind up in my Burger Bear and my Pizza Shack. And they'll wind up shopping in Grizzworth's, my five-and-dime store, and at 8-Twelve, my convenience store. Furthermore, Madame Bearsaud has taken out a handsome loan from my bank, Great Grizzly National, to finance her project, and the interest she pays on that loan will provide us with a steady stream of money for years and years to come—”

“Not another word!” shouted Lady Grizzly. “Money, money, money! Is that all you care about in life?”

The squire was silent for a moment.

“Well?” prodded his wife.

“Hold on,” mumbled the squire. “I'm thinking it over …”

“Humph!” said Lady Grizzly, stalking from the room. “I've heard quite enough from you!”

Lady Grizzly marched into the drawing room and went straight to the telephone. First she'd call Mrs. Ben, then Mrs. Honeypot. And when they got through with Farmer Ben and Mayor Honeypot, those two would wish they'd never heard of the Beartown zoning board!

Chapter 5

ABATE vs. BAD?

Later that evening, the phone rang in the Bears' living room, where the Bear family was watching television. Mama answered. “Oh, hello, Lady Grizzly,” she said. “Oh, no, you're not interrupting anything. We were just watching
Bear Country's Funniest Home Videos
, but it's a rerun. Yes … uh-huh … I see … but before you go any further, Lady Grizzly, I should tell you that Papa and I are not really against the new entertainment center. Thank you, anyway. That's quite all right. Goodbye.”

Mama replaced the receiver and looked up with a sly smile. “Well,” she said, “what did I tell you? Lady Grizzly has already organized an anti—Madame Bearsaud campaign. Her new group is called ABATE. It stands for All Bears Against Tacky Entertainment.”

“Humph!” said Papa. “She oughta call it ABAF. All Bears Against Fun!”

“Right on!” cried Brother and Sister in unison.

“Not so fast, you three,” said Mama. “Lady Grizzly is just worried about the effect of the new center on cubs.”

“Baloney!” said Papa. “She's just worried about her own stuck-up ideas about what's in good taste and what isn't!”

“Well,” said Mama, “that may be part of it, too. But it isn't just Lady Grizzly now. Mrs. Ben and Mrs. Honeypot have already joined ABATE. And you know what that means …”

“Oh, no!” groaned Papa. “That means they're gonna try to get Ben and the mayor to change their votes … Hmm. I'm not worried about the mayor. He'll do whatever he thinks will get him re-elected, no matter what Mrs. Honeypot thinks. But Farmer Ben—that's a different story altogether. He's liable to crack under the pressure …”

“And you know what Mrs. Ben is like when she gets a bee in her bonnet,” said Brother. “Talk about pressure!”

“Hey, you two!” scolded Mama. “That's not very nice.”

“You know what they say,” said Papa. “‘Nice guys finish last.' We're gonna get a counter-campaign going—in favor of Madame Bearsaud. And we'll call it … what should we call it, cubs?”

“I know!” said Brother. “BAD. Bears Against Dullsville.”

“Yeah!” said Sister. “We can have T-shirts printed up that say WE BAD!”

“I don't know,” said Mama, shaking her head. “That might put off a lot of folks …”