انتقام کوتوله های حیاط فصل 21

Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes - Chapter 21

Mindy thrashed her arms and kicked her legs. But the giggling gnomes had surprising strength.

“Help me!” Mindy called back to Moose and me. “Don’t just stand there—help me!” I swallowed hard. The pain in my side faded.

Moose and I didn’t say a word. We just started chasing after them.

They had already carried Mindy to the street. Their feet slapped on the pavement. In the light from the street lamp, I saw Mindy struggling to free herself.

Moose and I hurtled down the driveway. “Put her down!” I shouted breathlessly. “Put my sister down—now!” More giggles. They scurried past the McCalls’ house. Past the next two houses.

Moose and I ran after them, shouting, begging them to stop.

And then—to our shock—they did stop.

In the shadow of a tall hedge, they set Mindy down. And turned to us. “We mean you no harm,” Chip said.

The gnomes’ expressions were serious now. Their eyes peered at us through the darkness.

“I don’t believe this!” Mindy cried, straightening her robe. “This is crazy! Crazy!” “Tell me about it,” I muttered.

“Please listen to us,” Hap rasped.

“We mean you no harm,” Chip repeated.

“No harm!” Mindy shrieked. “No harm! You just dragged me from my home! You—you—” “We only wanted to get your attention,” Hap said softly.

“Well, you’ve got it!” Mindy exclaimed.

“We mean you no harm,” Chip said once again. “Please believe us.”

“How can we believe you?” I demanded, finally finding my voice. “Look at all the trouble you’ve caused. You’ve ruined the gardens! You splashed paint everywhere! You—” “We can’t help it,” Hap interrupted.

“We really can’t,” Chip echoed. “You see, we’re Mischief Elves.”

“You’re what?” Mindy cried.

“We’re Mischief Elves. We do mischief. That’s our mission in life,” Hap explained.

“Wherever there is mischief in the world, we’re there,” Chip added. “Mischief is our job. We can’t help ourselves.” He bent down and broke off a chunk of the concrete curb. Then he pulled open the mailbox across from us and shoved the piece of concrete inside.

“See? I can’t help myself. I have to do mischief wherever I go.”

Hap giggled. “Without us, the world would be a pretty dull place—wouldn’t it?” “It would be a much better place,” Mindy insisted, crossing her arms in front of her.

Moose still hadn’t said a word. He just stood and stared at the two talking lawn gnomes.

Hap and Chip made pouty faces. “Please don’t hurt our feelings,” Chip rasped. “Our life isn’t easy.” “We need your help,” Hap added.

“You want us to help you do mischief?” I cried. “No way! You’ve already gotten me into major trouble.” “No. We need you to help get us our freedom,” Chip said solemnly. “Please—listen and believe.” “Listen and believe,” Hap echoed.

“We lived in a land far from here,” Chip began. “In a forest deep and green. We guarded the mines and protected the trees. We performed our mischief innocently. But we also did a lot of good.” “We were hard-working people,” Hap told us, scratching his head. “And we were happy in our forest home.” “But then the mines were closed and the forests were cut down,” Chip continued. “We were captured. Kidnapped. And taken far from home. We were shipped to your country and forced to work as lawn ornaments.” “Slaves,” Hap said, shaking his head sadly. “Forced to stand all day and night.” “That’s impossible!” Mindy cried. “Don’t you get bored? How do you stand so still?” “We go into a trance,” Chip explained. “Time passes without our realizing it. We come out of the trance at night and go about doing our job.” “You mean mischief!” I declared.

They both nodded.

“But we want to be free,” Hap continued. “To go where we want. To live where we choose. We want to find another forest where we can live in freedom.” Two tiny gnome tears rolled down his fat cheeks.

Chip sighed and raised his eyes to me. “Will you help us?”

“Help you do what?” I demanded.

“Help our friends and us escape?” Chip replied.

“There are six others,” Hap explained. “They’re locked in the basement. At the store where you bought us. We need your help to set them free.” “We can climb into the basement window,” his friend continued. “But we are too short to climb back out. And too short to reach the doorknob to let ourselves out through the door.” “Will you help us escape?” Hap pleaded, tugging the bottom of my T-shirt. “You just have to climb down into the basement. Then help our six friends out the basement door.” “Please help us,” Chip begged, tears in his eyes. “Then we’ll be gone. To a deep forest. And we will never cause you any more mischief.” “That sounds good to me!” Mindy exclaimed.

“So you’ll do it?” Hap squealed.

They both began tugging at us, chirping, “Please? Please? Please? Please? Please?” Moose, Mindy, and I exchanged troubled glances.

What should we do?