Chapter 4

Burble-Burble-Glurp-Glurp!

As they ran through the woods, Poo-Poo, Stripes, Karen, and Mutt snapped their heads left and right, searching for the fish tree.

Stick Dog did not. He simply followed after them. He thought it might be best to let them not find the, umm, fish tree for a little while. But after several minutes of fruitless searching, Stick Dog was ready to change their approach.

“Hold on, everybody,” Stick Dog called after dropping that paper sleeve from his mouth.

They were all tired and happy to take a break. Conveniently, there was a small grass-covered meadow where they stopped.

“What is it, Stick Dog?” panted Stripes. “Did you find the fish tree?”

“No. I didn’t find the fish tree,” he answered.

“Then what is it?” Poo-Poo asked with a tinge of impatience in his voice. “We’re on a bit of a mission here.”

“I just think there might be a better way to search for the source of those flavorful sticks,” he said. “I was looking at this—”

“Wait a minute,” Karen said. “I think I might know a better way myself.”

“You do?” asked Stick Dog.

“I think so,” Karen said, and began to pace back and forth in that small meadow. “Instead of running around all over the place looking for the fish tree, why don’t we just stay right here and call to the fish tree and wait for it to answer. When we hear it, we’ll just follow the sound!”

“Great idea,” Poo-Poo said, and flopped down on his belly. He seemed quite happy to have a little rest.

Stripes and Mutt thought it was a good idea too.

“We wait for the tree to answer?” Stick Dog asked.

“That’s right,” confirmed Karen.

“But trees don’t, you know, talk.”

“Of course the fish tree doesn’t talk, Stick Dog,” Karen said. She seemed a bit surprised at Stick Dog’s lack of fish tree knowledge.

“Then how will it answer your call?”

“It’s not the tree that answers, silly,” Karen said. “It’s the fish in the tree that we’ll hear.”

“You mean the fish that grow in the tree and hold their breath for days and days to survive?”

“Exactly.”

“Okay, then,” Stick Dog said, and nodded. He figured it was probably easier just to stop questioning any of this. He wasn’t frustrated. He had, after all, listened to plenty of his friends’ bizarre theories and strategies over the years. “Why don’t you go ahead and call the fish tree, Karen? And we’ll see if it answers.”

Karen nodded, pleased that Stick Dog was accepting of her plan. She took a deep inhale of air, preparing to yell out into the woods. She waited and held her breath.

And then let that great gush of air out.

“What’s the matter, Karen?” asked Stripes.

Mutt asked, “Is something wrong?”

Poo-Poo yawned.

“I don’t speak fish language,” Karen explained. You could tell she was disappointed. “How am I supposed to call to the fish in the fish tree if I don’t even speak their language?”

Stick Dog hung his head. He realized this might take longer than he originally thought. As he gazed down, he examined that paper that had held those flavorful sticks. The more he thought about it, the more he believed he might just know where those sticks came from.

And he was anxious to find out if he was right.

“Karen,” he said, lifting his head. “You know, I think fish often blow bubbles when they’re swimming around. I’ve seen bubbles rise and pop on the surface of the creek. And I’m pretty sure some of those bubbles come from fish. Maybe you should yell out some bubbly sounds. Maybe the fish in the, umm, fish tree would respond to that.”

“Great idea, Stick Dog!” Karen exclaimed. She had gone from disappointed to excited in an instant. “I’ll give it a try!”

She took another big breath of air—and then yelled out.

“Burble-Burble-Glurp!” she called. “Burble-Burble-Glurp-Glurp!”

She tilted her head to the left to listen for a response. Stripes, Mutt, and Poo-Poo listened intently as well.

“Did anybody hear the fish tree answer?” Karen whispered.

Nobody had.

Karen tried again.

“Burble-BURBLE!” she yelled even louder. “Glurp-GLURP!”

Silence.

And more silence.

“The fish in the fish tree don’t seem to be listening,” Karen announced to the group. “What should we do, Stick Dog?”

“Well, first I want to tell you something very important,” he said to Karen.

“What’s that?”

“I just want you to know that those bubble sounds were excellent,” Stick Dog said. “I mean, I thought there were actual bubbles coming out of your mouth for a minute. It’s a great skill that I didn’t know you had.”

“Wow, thanks,” Karen responded proudly. “You know what else I’m good at?”

“What?”

“Chasing my tail!” she exclaimed. “Watch this!”

Then Karen chased her tail.

While she did that, Stick Dog picked up that slender paper sleeve and brought it closer to the group. He situated himself in the center of his friends, dropped the paper, and waited for Karen to finish.

When she was done chasing her tail after a minute or so, Stick Dog said, “That was fantastic, Karen.”

“Thanks,” she panted.

“Even though I’d like to continue our search for the fish tree,” Stick Dog said, “I think maybe this paper package might help lead us to those flavorful sticks. I think it has a clue on it.”

“It does?” Stripes asked. “Why did you wait so long to tell us?”