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The Kountry Bears
Junior Novelization
Adapted by: Kim Ostrow
Pages 37-42

Fred Bedderhead stood near the front of a soundstage that was bustling with people. He was six foot six, and his dark brown fuzzy head stood out above the music cases and all the colored lights.

"Hey Fred," said a stagehand as he walked by the tall bear.

"How's it goin'?" asked another rugged stagehand.

Fred smiled at everyone as they passed. "Okay," he answered. Fred Bedderhead wa sin charge at that soundstage--he was the security guard!

"Excuse me, can I get by?" asked a pretty young woman.

"I'm sorry, but you have to be part of the video shoot to get in," said Fred, raising his Styrofoam coffee cup in her direction.

"I am the video shoot," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, Krystal, hey!" Fred said, realizing he was dealing with the star of the video and not a pesky fan.

"I am so glad to see you!" Krystal said.

Fred raised his eyebrows. "Really?"

"Yeah, can you get my stuff?" she said already walking past to her humongous road case. Fred put all his 750 pounds behind the case and pushed it behind her as she pranced past a bunch of dancers who were warming up.

"So whatcha up to?" she asked.

"Oh stuff...," Fred said, trying to come up with something interesting. "You know, playing my harmonica."

"Really? You play?" Krystal asked.

Krystal was walking pretty fast and Fred was trying hard to catch up with her. He wanted her to know he was more than a security guard. "Oh yeah, I used to be in The Country..."

THUNK! Fred walked right into a post!

"...Bears...," he finished, more than a little dizzy.

As poor Fred was rubbing his head, Krystal picked up the harmonica that fell from his pocket. It was shiny gold and beatifiul--definitely a special harmonica. Krystal admired it for a second until she noticed that it said THE FRED on it.

"The Fred?" she said pensively. "Wait a minute--you're Fred Bedderhead? The Country Bears' Fred Bedderhead?"

"Yeah," Fred sighed.

"You played great harp!" she said. "And didn't you invent the stage dive?"

"Yeah, but I'm too old for that now," Fred said, waving the thought away with his oversized paw.

"You're not too old! C'mon, you should play with us," Krystal said, motioning Fred to follow her.

"Huh?" he said, running toward the stage to catch up with her.

"C'mon, Fred, show us what you got," Krystal said, handing him his shiny harmonica.

Fred's stomach got all jittery. His brown snout twitched. "Ooo. Well, uh. Geez. Okay."

Just then, one of the guys on the stage started playing a little precussion. Fred took a deep breath and nervously started to play. A moment later the band kicked in and Krystal started to sing. A roadie ran in and stuck a microphone in front of Krystal, and the director signaled the special-effects guy to turn on the fog machine. Even the dancers started to strut their stuff. The stage came alive with light and music. A bare stage was turned into a full music video with a Bear wailing on the harmonica! All the dancers surrounded the edge of the stage and started chanting, "Stage dive!" Fred started to get all pumped up and ready to launch into a good old-fashioned stage dive--the one he created. As the band hit their last note, Fred flew through the air--and--hit the ground like a bag of soaking wet cement! Puffs of dust flew around him as Krystal jumped off the stage.

"Fred!" she shouted. "Are you okay?"

Fred Bedderhead started to wheeze like a harmonica. Krystal reached into his huge mouth and pulled out The Fred.

Fred coughed. "The...uh...dive works better..."

"With an audience," finished Krystal flatly.

"Yeah," Fred said, getting his breath back.

"If you're all right, I gotta get ready for the shoot," Krystal said, dusting herself off. And with that, she took off, leaving Fred on the floor alone.

"Oh, yeah, okay," Fred said afte rher. "That was fun. I wish I could play some more."

"I might be able to help you with that," said a familiar voice from behind him.

Fred Bedderhead turned to see who it was. "Henry?"