Chameleon Chaos (8 page)

“Errrm,” Danny said.

“Try to remember that we're not American teen idols,” sighed Mr. Hurford. “You don't need to hug me to avoid detention, you peculiar boy. Shouldn't you be in class, somewhere?”

“Yes—yes, I should,” muttered Danny, leaping to his feet. He was relieved to find that the “being very slow” business seemed to have worn off.

“Run along then,” Mr. Hurford said. “And if you touch my thermostat again, I'll have you shot,” he added mildly.

Danny skidded into the school hall with his heart clattering. That was one very weird moment he'd just had there. Possibly the weirdest yet since getting involved with Petty Potts and the S.W.I.T.C.H. project (and that included being inside a cat's ear when he was a grasshopper several weeks back).

“Danny! Are you back with us?” called out Miss Mellor, pausing with her stopwatch in her hand. She seemed to have been timing a race up and down the climbing bars. “Is your eye all right now?”

“Yes—yes, fine,” Danny said. “Where's Josh?”

Miss Mellor looked around. “I don't know. Has anyone seen Josh?” she called out to the class. Everyone looked around, murmuring—except, Danny noticed, Billy Sutter and Jason Bilk, who just looked at each other.

“Miss! Miss!” squeaked Claudia Petherwaite. “He's up there!”

Everyone turned round and saw Josh. He was hanging from the ceiling.

“I think one arm is longer than the other,” Josh said, screwing up his face as he lifted his arms and compared them. “Or maybe it's just out of its socket.”

“It's not,” Danny said. “And you should be glad they're not both broken. And your legs. And your face. What were you thinking, climbing into the light shade? Are you nuts?”

The spectacle of Josh Phillips dangling from the light had caused quite an uproar. Miss Mellor had screamed, and Danny had shinned up the rope at high speed. He'd hauled himself along the top bar where Josh had been just minutes before in chameleon form. As a crowd of kids and Miss Mellor held their breath, Danny had anchored one arm and one leg around the farthest corner of the
frame and then reached out and grabbed Josh's flailing free hand.

At that moment, the light shade had snapped off its fixing, and Josh had dropped. But Danny had gotten a good grip on him, and his brother only fell halfway, the shade smashing dramatically onto the tumble mat below and making several girls (and one or two boys) scream. Josh wrapped his legs around the climbing frame post and gradually slid to the floor amid a round of applause and whoops.

“What made you do it?” went on Danny as they went out of the school gates and headed for home.

“It seemed like a good idea at the time.” Josh grinned. “And it was really easy—I was a chameleon, you see.”

“You too?” breathed Danny, turning to stare at his twin. “So was I! I was up in the fig tree in the corridor! But nobody saw me—well, not until I fell on Mr. Hurford.” He went a little pink.

“You fell on Mr. Hurford?” repeated Josh.

“Another time,” Danny said, waving his hand. “Did anyone see you when you S.W.I.T.C.H.ed?”

“No!” Josh said, shaking his head. “Nobody! I was camouflaged to match the rope. I was halfway up it anyway … well, thanks to Billy and Jason putting me there, upside down!”

“I knew it! I heard them plotting when I was up the tree. But I was too slow to do anything to help,” shrugged Danny. “Sorry!”

“No—no need!” grinned Josh. “They did us a favor! Remember the clue for the next marble?”

Danny wrinkled his brow, trying to remember.

“Go where many feet are bare. Rise to the light. Slip and you will burn,” recited Josh. “I was halfway up when I remembered. There were kids with
bare feet all over the place—and I've burnt myself on that rope before. Then I looked up and there was the light, and in the light …” He pulled the marble out of his pocket and held it up in front of Danny's face, “… was the marble!”

“Wow! Clever thinking for a nature nerd!” marveled Danny.

“Shall we tell Petty about the marbles now, then?” Josh said. “When we go back in to tell her about the S.W.I.T.C.H. today?”

“Tell me
what
?”

Josh and Danny jumped as Petty suddenly loomed up between them. She was puffing as if she'd been running.

“Erm …” Josh looked around them. They'd wandered along the edge of the woods which ran behind the school. There were other kids around but nobody close by. “That we ended up S.W.I.T.C.H.ing today, in school,” he said.

“Oh dear! I feared as much,” Petty said. “And worse …”

“What do you mean, worse?” asked Danny, looking nervous.

“Oh—oh, nothing to really worry about,” Petty said in her special kind of light and airy voice. The kind that made Josh and Danny want to dive for cover and phone for Fire & Rescue.

“Wha—at?” Josh said, standing still and peering into Petty's eyes through her dusty spectacles.

“Well,” she said, “I ran some tests on the REPTOSWITCH formula for chameleon. At first it seemed fine. Hector, my best mouse, did eventually S.W.I.T.C.H., like you did. It was a delayed reaction, and I now know that the same thing happened yesterday. Then he S.W.I.T.C.H.ed back …”

“OK—he S.W.I.T.C.H.ed back—like we just did,” Danny said. “And …?”

“Well, when I say he S.W.I.T.C.H.ed back,” went on Petty, digging in the inside pocket of her crumpled old raincoat, “I mean he S.W.I.T.C.H.ed back … mostly.”

Mostly? Josh and Danny looked at each other. They checked their legs and arms—everything seemed normal. It had happened once before with AMPHISWITCH. They'd been stuck with frog's legs for a couple of days after S.W.I.T.C.H.ing back,
but there'd been an antidote.

“And then totally,” Petty continued. “And then … inexplicably … right back to mostly.” She pulled something from her pocket. It was a mouse. Mostly. Its little furry body and tail and legs were definitely mouse … but on its shoulders was a chameleon head. Hector looked quite cheesed off. “He's a mouse-eleon!” sighed Petty. “I have created a small monster.”

It was a very odd moment. But it was broken by two boys running past and shoving Josh into Danny as they went.

“Seeyalater, bug freak and loser!” jeered Billy and Jason. “Have fun with your granny!”

A surge of annoyance went through Josh as their enemies disappeared into the corner shop to buy sweets. Maybe that's what did it—because a second later there was a scaly green horn on his nose.

“Uh-oh,” Petty said and swiftly propelled him behind a tree, out of sight. Danny ran after them, and by the time he'd reached the other side of the tree he, like Josh, was a boy-eleon. They both had the body of a boy and the head of a tree-dwelling reptile.

“Don't panic,” Petty said. “I've already got the antidote. It's quick and it stops all this nonsense properly.”

“Wait!” Danny said. His voice sounded odd, coming from his reptilian head—a bit thick and flat.

“Wait?” echoed Josh. “We're boy-eleons! Freaks of nature! Why wait? Are you looking for a job on
Doctor Who
?”