The Boy with 17 Senses (21 page)

Jaq could see the blasts of color rising from where Gunther was searching. “Something has gotten into your stuff out here,” his voice boomed. “Everything looks chewed by tiny mouths. Do you see anything?”

“My office has been ransacked!” Morgo's voice answered. “They could be hiding anywhere. You?”

“Not yet, but they can't have gotten far,” Uncle Gunther
said. “The door was still swinging. I know they're in here somewhere.”

“You got that right, Stinky!” Plenthy called out.

Jaq heard a crash and a yell from Gunther.

He grabbed Bonip and tried to follow the bursts of sound. He sprinted down the aisle until he reached the checkout counter near the front door. From here, he could see Plenthy on the top of a shelf, running away from Gunther.

Jaq felt like all the fears inside him were fighting each other—the fear of the giants, of the snake, of being captured, of seeing Plenthy get captured. He pushed them all down as he watched Gunther charge toward Plenthy.

“You can't get away, little man!” Gunther shouted. “And I'll find your friend, too! And when I do, I'm going to make him pay for what he did to me. My back is covered with itchy boils because of him. I'll make you both pay!”

“Bonip,” Jaq said. “The other wippers are over by that wall.” The wippers were chewing through boxes, and the sound made little jagged swishes of orange appear in Jaq's sight. “I have a plan. Tell them I'll give them enough freeze-dried worms to burst their bellies if they get over here now.”

Bonip bounded off, soaring through the air with those tremendous hops.

Plenthy was still edging away from Gunther's approach. Jaq's heart ached at the sight of so much courage and sacrifice. He couldn't let Plenthy be captured again.

Gunther lunged for Plenthy, but Plenthy jumped out of his reach and across the top of the shelf. Jaq watched as Plenthy ran out of shelf, and Gunther scooped him up.

“Got him!” he yelled.

The back door opened, and Morgo stepped out. He was wearing the giant fang-toothed worm around his neck like a scarf. Jaq had never seen anything more terrifying.

“Where's the other one?” Morgo said.

“I don't know, but I have an idea on how to get him,” Gunther said. “Hey! Little guy! Your friend here is going to be fed to the snake if you don't come out!”

Morgo smiled and nodded. “I've wanted to do that for weeks.” He walked over to Gunther, holding the snake's head in his hand. Gunther held Plenthy tightly. Plenthy struggled, his eyes wide in panic. The snake's head came closer and closer.

The wippers bounded back to Jaq. As he leaned down to tell Bonip his plan, he couldn't take his gaze away from that snake and Plenthy's struggling form. The snake's tongue zipped out of its mouth to taste Plenthy.

Jaq couldn't take it any longer. “Stop!” he shouted, stepping into the aisle where the giants stood. “Put him down.”

“No, Jaq!” Plenthy said. “Run!”

“Grab him, Gunther,” Morgo said. “And then we'll feed the old guy to the snake.”

“Wait—you said you wouldn't if I came out,” Jaq said.

“I never promised that,” Morgo said. “Gunther did. And it isn't Gunther's call. This little guy is worse than my mother for how much he nags me. I don't have to take it anymore. Gunther, give me Plenthy. You go get that kid.”

Jaq watched as the elderly Yipsmixer twisted and writhed in his desperation to get free from Gunther's grip.

“No!” Jaq shouted. “Bonip, wippers—ATTACK!”

The scream startled Gunther, and he froze for a second. He looked around and saw nothing heading his way, so he laughed. “Nice try, mini-boy.”

“Those bites you got yesterday,” Jaq said, “were caused by one wipper. They're highly poisonous to your kind, as I'm sure you know. All that itching, all that nausea—caused by one little wipper. And there are now twelve wippers climbing up your socks. If you don't put Plenthy down, they will start biting. They will bite until I tell them to stop, and then they'll bite your friend.”

“Grab him!” Morgo shouted. “Nothing so small could hurt you.”

“Shut up, Morgo,” Gunther said. “You don't know!”

Gunther was feeling itchy now—Jaq could tell. Gunther scratched his back with his free hand. He looked at his legs, lifting his pants. “I see them!”

“Put Plenthy down. Now!” Jaq shouted. Gunther madly scratched his legs with one hand while holding Plenthy with the other. Morgo bent down to look.

“They're tiny,” Morgo said. “I'll get them with flea spray. Hold on.”

“BITE!” Jaq commanded.

Gunther's eyes went wide. He dropped Plenthy so he could use both hands to scratch, but the wippers were gone from the itchy spot before his hands got close. Jaq knew from experience how wickedly fast they were. He watched Gunther spin and scratch. The giant screamed with frustration and pain as the wippers tore into him.

“I dropped him!” Gunther screamed. “Now make them stop!”

Jaq ran over to help Plenthy up; they both hustled for the door just as Morgo came back with a spray can in his hand.

“Attack the other giant!” Jaq yelled.

Jaq pushed Plenthy through the slot in the door. Gunther was still scratching like crazy, unaware that the biting had stopped. Morgo tried to spray Gunther's legs, but it was difficult because Gunther was jumping around like a madman. His legs probably felt like they were on fire. And then Morgo turned the spray on himself as he felt the stinging attack of the wippers climbing up the inside of his pants.

“Bonip! Wippers! Now!” Jaq called. He watched the wippers crawl out the bottom of Morgo's pants and bound toward him. He caught the first one in the air and eased it through the slot.

“It's so nice to be caught,” the next wipper said when he landed in Jaq's hands. “Thanks.”

Quickly, his heart in a panic, Jaq caught and lifted the wippers through the slot, counting them as he did. He turned to look at the giants. Gunther had stripped off his shirt, and Jaq saw that he was covered with blistering red dots. Morgo took a break from spraying his ankle to spray Gunther's back.

“OUCH! That stings! Stop it!” Gunther swung his arms at Morgo, clocking him on the side of the head, which enraged Morgo, who swung at Gunther.

Jaq jumped through the slot.

“They're getting away!” Morgo yelled.

In the hallway, Fiona scooped up Jaq in one hand. The other hand held Plenthy. The wippers clung to her pants, the way they had earlier. She pushed off on her skateboard just as the pet store door burst open.

“There they are!”

Jaq turned and saw Morgo dash out of the pet store. He was so close, but Fiona was faster on her skateboard, and they zoomed away.

“You'd better stop or else!” Morgo yelled after them.

Fiona reached the intersection and then turned the wrong way. Instead of going left—toward the moving staircase and safety—she went right.

“Where are you going?” Jaq yelled.

“I need to draw them away from the wormhole,” she said. “You don't want them to find out where you guys came from. Hang on!”

They were moving so fast, but Fiona seemed sure-footed on her wheeled board. Jaq watched Morgo chasing after them, but he was falling farther behind. Gunther had probably been immobilized by itchiness and nausea back at the pet store.

Fiona stopped at the top of a staircase. She put Plenthy on
her shoulder, picked up the board, and raced down the stairs to the lower level. “Now we'll head to the wormhole. But first I'm going to open the back door. Maybe they'll think I left. Plus, it will set off the alarm, and the police will come.”

At the lower level, Fiona opened the glass door. “He can't hurt me if the police are here. My mom will kill me for getting us kicked out of his place, though.” She got back on her board and pushed off.

“Don't worry!” Jaq yelled as they zoomed toward the fountain. “I brought the diamonds. They're buried by the wormhole.”

“Really?”

They reached the fountain. As soon as Fiona stopped, Jaq jumped off and ran for the bushes. He quickly dug up his bundle of diamonds and brought them out for Fiona.

“Ah! Well done, Jaq,” Plenthy said.

“Wow. Wow, wow, wow!” Fiona said in awe. “There are so many! Thank you, Jaq.” Fiona clutched the small bundle.

Jaq looked at the wormhole, ready to rush for it, but first he turned to Fiona. “Are you going to be okay?” he asked.

“My mom will be here soon, and the police, too. Gunther can't do anything to me.”

“Guess again,” a deep voice said. Gunther jumped out
of the bushes and grabbed Fiona. “I knew you'd head back here.”

“Let her go!” Plenthy screamed.

“Not until I see what you little creeps gave her,” Gunther replied, trying to pry Fiona's hand open with one hand while tightly holding her other arm so she couldn't get away. He became a spastic display of reaching for Fiona's hand, then releasing it to scratch, then grabbing her again, over and over.

Fiona looked terrified. Jaq froze, then looked at Plenthy for help. The elder Yipsmixer shook his head.

“Just what do you think you're doing, Gunther?”

Jaq looked behind him and saw another giant walking toward them.

“Mom!” Fiona yelled.

“Let her go,” Fiona's mom said. “Or I'll have you arrested for assault.”

Gunther's face twisted in anger, and for a moment it seemed like he wasn't going to let her go. But when Fiona's mom walked over to him and grabbed her daughter, he released her.

“What's going on?” Fiona's mom said.

Gunther pointed a finger at Fiona. “She's a complete
delinquent,” he said. “She skateboards around like she owns the place, she set off the mall alarm, and she destroyed a pet store upstairs. You are going to have to pay, and pay big.”

They argued, with Fiona trying to explain and Gunther interrupting. More commotion followed as the police arrived to see why the mall's alarm had sounded, and Gunther had to rush over to them to explain that everything was fine.

Fiona's mom looked at her daughter. “Fiona? Tell the truth, did you destroy that pet store?”

“No, Mom,” she said. “I didn't destroy the pet store. They did.” She pointed to Jaq and the wippers.

Jaq waved at Fiona's mom, whose jaw dropped open at the sight of the small Yipsmixers.

Plenthy stepped forward. “Madam, it is thanks to your daughter's heroic efforts that we were able to escape from the pet store manager, Mortimer, who is not only a sadistic maniac but also a terrible magician. We have rewarded her with a collection of diamonds from our planet. But we really must get back. I just checked the wormhole, and it's nearly vanished.”

“Yes, we have to go now,” Jaq said. “Good-bye, Fiona. I'll never forget you.”

“And I'll never forget you two, too.” She smiled and crouched down, putting a hand around each Yipsmixer.

Jaq hugged her hand and then turned to Plenthy. “Let's go.”

The wippers led the way into the bushes, and together they all approached the wormhole.

“Oh, Smolders, I hope this thing still works,” Jaq said.

They dove in.

30

WHEN THE GREAT SMOLDERS CLOSES A DOOR, SOMETIMES HE OPENS A WORMHOLE

T
hey all fainted upon coming out of the wormhole and didn't wake up until much later, when Jaq's sense of time told him that it was morning.

Jaq woke first, in the dark. He flicked on his flashlight and saw the bodies of Plenthy and the wippers next to him. The shimmering oval was gone.

Jaq shook Plenthy, and the older man woke with a start. “Great Smolders, that was a terrible transfer.” He sat up and looked around. “It's gone, isn't it?”

“Yes,” Jaq said. “It used to be right there. Bonip, are you okay?”

Bonip lay facedown in the dirt. “Ouch,” he said. “Can't move.”