By: Molly Beachum & Lauryn Gettel

The characters Puddle Jumpers- a small elf-like creature, about the size of a ruler, that can jump into a puddle. When they jump into the puddle, its like a big hole that was dug up/ the earth opens up. Some of their names are: Root Runnel Chop Cully Minor Puddle jumpers Buck Pav Main Characters Ernie Banks- is a 13 year old trouble maker who was living at a orphanage for 10 years, Joey Russ Frazier Betty – Joey’s mom Minor characters -Villians/Neighbors Harvey Holsapple Angus Axel Dickey Cobb

Molly & Lauryn

Ernie lives at Lakeside, an orphanage for boys. He doesn’t like it there at all. The council decides he will be sent to a summer program. He will work on a farm for 3 weeks in the summer. This is Ernie’s only chance to get away from Lakeside orphanage, so he is happy. He gets sent to Russ Frazier’s farm. Russ’s son was taken when he was just 6 months old. They call him the Quilt baby, because they found his quilt in the woods by a puddle.

Ernie banks finds a small creature named Runnel. Runnel is a puddle jumper. Ernie helps Runnel with her cuts and scrapes, and discovers a spiral tattoo on the creatures foot. Ernie has one on his foot too, and he wonders why they share this in common.

Ernie and Joey sneak into Harvey Holsapples’ house, and they each get separated into different rooms. Ernie escapes, but Joey does not. Joey gets locked into the room by the dogs. Harvey finds Joey inside the room, and later kills her. Everyone else thinks Joey is missing. They think that Ernie kidnapped her, because he was the last one with her. Harvey puts Joey’s body into the mine to hide her. Ernie sees this, pulls her out, and he takes her home, to Russ’s farm. The puddle jumpers put together a potion that brings Joey back to life. Russ and Betty come home to find Joey with Ernie at home. They still don’t believe Ernie, so the Sheriff comes and arrests Ernie. After the Sheriff comes and arrests Ernie, the Puddlejumpers help Ernie escape from the Sheriff’s car by knocking a tree down in the middle of the road and stealing his keys.

Ernie follows some clues that the Puddlejumpers lead to a puddle. The clues are pieces of his torn up Ernie Banks baseball card. When Ernie gets to the puddle, he realizes that the spiral tattoo on his foot has special power. When he puts his foot in the puddle, the earth opens up to a magical underworld with puddlejumpers. He meets Mother Earth. She tells him the potion in the crystal acorn “This is the way home”. If he drinks the potion to become a puddlejumper, then he can bring the rain back. He is scared to become a puddlejumper, because he just figured out that Russ is his Dad. If he shrinks, he may never go back to being human. But he is also scared of Holsapple’s, and finally decides to drink the potion, and he shrinks in size. This turns out to be a good thing.

In order to bring the rain back, Ernie must go to the “Most Dark Place” and “plant your Crystal acorn where the fire burns hot and forever.” Mother Earth told Ernie this was what he had to do to make it rain again. So Ernie goes into Holsapple’s basement down the ladder to find the furnace. He is chased by Trogg’s and Grunts. Holsapple and the others turn into Trogg’s too. When Ernie gets down close to the furnace, he sees lots of puddlejumpers in cages. This is the “Most Dark Place”. He frees the puddlejumpers from the cages, and they help him battle the Trogg’s and Grunt’s to get near the furnace. Ernie is swallowed alive by a furnace called Hagdemonia, but he has the crystal acorn with him so he puts it in the Hagdemonia’s stomach. The crystal acorn sprouts into a giant oak tree that pours out water from every leaf, blossom and branch. The tree keeps growing and growing and pouring water out. The water kills the furnace,the Troggs and theGrunts. The rivers are no longer dry and the rainmaker made rain!

Molly and Lauryn

The puddle jumpers lose the beloved rain maker to the Troggs. They want Ernie to come back to them. 

Some troggs die from the rain and grunts die too!! 

Ernie is being blamed for kidnapping Joey, but really it was Holsapple. Russ and Betty are the ones blaming Ernie, because he was the last one with Joey. He tries to explain to Russ that he is Shawn Frazier, and that Holsapple is bad, but no-one believes him. They think Ernie isn’t telling the truth.

The Puddlejumpers and Mother Earth want Ernie to become a Puddlejumper in order to bring back the rain, since he is the rainmaker. Ernie is scared to become a puddlejumper because he just found out that Russ is his Dad, and that he isn’t really an orphan. He has a family, but he doesn’t want to leave it!

Molly and Lauryn

Because Ernie doesn't like Lakeside home for boys orphanage, and this is one of his only chances to get away from it (Lakeside).

Ernie and Joey find a chest in the neighbors house and and find some things about “Quilt Baby”(Shawn Frazier) This is important to Ernie and Joey because Quilt baby was a huge mystery in there town, and this is one clue for Ernie that he is the puddlejumper’s rain maker and Russ’s son. Also, Ernie now believes Joey that the Holsapple’s house is bad. They are really monsters.

Ernie becomes a puddle jumper This is important because he was originally the rainmaker but he got separated from the puddle jumpers when he was young. Now he is back with his crew, the puddle Also he was going to drink the potion out of the acorn to make him a puddle jumpers years ago, but now he finally is a puddle jumper At first he did not want to do it, but then he decided to do it when he was scared of Holsapple’s place.

Warning: if you are reading puddle jumpers you may not want to read this line! Russ finally believes that Ernie is his long lost son, Shawn Frazier. They are happy to be together. Because this is his long lost family, some people can’t find their long lost family, so it’s very important to Ernie/Shawn. It also finally rains, so the wheat can grow on the wheat farm. It is a happy ending for everyone but the Sheriff who loses his car in the lake. Oh and the Holsapples.