فصل 06

Monster Blood 2 - Chapter 6

Evan hung back for only a second.

Then he jumped out the window after the hamster.

Luckily, the science classroom was on the ground floor. Evan landed face down in a low evergreen hedge. Struggling and squirming, it took him a while to climb to his feet.

He took several steps over the grass, then turned and stared back along the bottom of the long hedge. “Cuddles—are you under there?” Evan squatted down to get a better view. The hedge stretched the entire length of the school building. Cuddles could hide under there forever.

And if I don’t find him, Evan told himself bitterly, I’d better hide under there forever, too!

To the right, Evan could hear voices from the playground. Happy, shouting voices. Carefree voices.

Still squatting, he turned toward the happy voices—and saw a fat brown ball wobbling over the grass toward the playground.

No. Not a ball. “Cuddles!”

That fat hamster isn’t getting away this time! Evan decided, jumping up and starting to chase after the creature. I’ll catch him if I have to sit on him!

A picture flashed into Evan’s mind of Cuddles, flat as a pancake after Evan had sat upon him. A little, round, furry hamster rug.

Despite his panic, the thought of Cuddles as a rug brought a smile to Evan’s perspiring face.

As he ran, he kept his eyes on Cuddles. The hamster was wobbling rapidly over the grass toward the playground.

“Oh, no!” Evan cried out in horror as Cuddles darted in front of two girls speeding across the grass on bikes.

Laughing together, they didn’t even see the hamster.

Cuddles is about to be road kill! Evan thought, shrinking back. He shut his eyes and waited for the squish.

But the bikes rolled smoothly on. And when they had passed, Evan spotted Cuddles continuing his journey to the playground unharmed.

“Cuddles—come back here!” he shouted furiously.

The hamster appeared to speed up. He tumbled onto the baseball diamond, all four paws scurrying over the dirt of the third-base line.

Several kids stopped their game to stare.

“Stop him! Grab the hamster!” Evan shouted desperately.

But the kids only laughed.

“Know how to catch him?” a joker named Robbie Greene called to Evan. “Make a sound like a sunflower seed!” “That’s an old joke!” a girl called to Robbie.

“Thanks for your help!” Evan shouted sarcastically. He ran over the pitching mound and had crossed second base when he realized he had lost sight of Cuddles.

He stopped and spun around, his heart thudding wildly in his chest. He searched the grass of the infield. “Where—where is he?” he stammered. “Do you see him?” But the kids had returned to their softball game.

I can’t lose him now! Evan told himself, choked with panic. I can’t!

Sweat poured down Evan’s forehead. He mopped it with one hand, brushing back his curly, red hair. His T-shirt clung wetly to his back. His mouth felt dry as cotton.

Jogging into the outfield, he searched the grass.

“Cuddles?”

No sign of him.

A round, brownish lump in the grass turned out to be someone’s baseball glove.

“Cuddles?”

A kickball game was underway on the opposite diamond. Kids were shouting and cheering. Evan saw Bree Douglas, a girl from his class, slide hard into second base just before the ball.

“Has—has anyone seen Cuddles?” Evan gasped, trotting onto the diamond.

Kids turned to gawk at him.

“Out here?” Bree called, brushing off the knees of her jeans. “Evan, did you take the hamster out for a walk?” Everyone laughed. Scornful laughter.

“He—he got away,” Evan replied, panting.

“Is this what you’re looking for?” a familiar voice called.

Evan turned to see Conan Barber, a pleased smile on his handsome face, his blue eyes gleaming.

Gripping it by its furry back, Conan held the hamster up in one hand. Cuddles’ four legs scurried in midair.

“You—you caught him!” Evan cried gratefully. He let out a long sigh of relief. “He jumped out the window.” Evan reached out both hands for the hamster, but Conan jerked Cuddles out of his reach. “Prove it’s yours,” Conan said, grinning.

“Huh?”

“Can you identify it?” Conan demanded, his eyes burning into Evan’s, challenging Evan. “Prove this hamster is yours.” Evan swallowed hard and glanced around.

Kids from the kickball game were huddling near. They were all grinning, delighted with Conan’s mean joke.

Evan sighed wearily and reached again for the hamster.

But Conan was at least a foot taller than Evan. He lifted the hamster high above Evan’s head, out of Evan’s reach.

“Prove it’s yours,” he repeated, flashing the others a grin.

“Give me a break, Conan,” Evan pleaded. “I’ve been chasing this stupid hamster for hours. I just want to get him back in his cage before Mr. Murphy—” “Do you have a license for him?” Conan demanded, still holding the squirming hamster above Evan’s head. “Show me the license.” Evan jumped and stretched both hands up, trying to grab Cuddles away.

But Conan was too fast for him. He dodged away. Evan grabbed air.

Some kids laughed.

“Give him the hamster, Conan,” Bree called. She hadn’t moved from second base.

Conan’s cold blue eyes sparkled excitedly. “I’ll tell you how you can get the hamster back,” he told Evan.

“Huh?” Evan glared at him. He was getting really tired of Conan’s game.

“Here’s how to get old Cuddles back,” Conan continued, holding the hamster tightly against his chest in one hand and petting its back with the other. “Sing a song for it.” “Hey—no way!” Evan snapped. “Give it to me, Conan!”

Evan could feel his face growing even hotter. His knees started to tremble. He hoped no one could see it.

“Sing ‘Row, Row, Row Your Boat’, and I’ll give you Cuddles. Promise,” Conan said, smirking.

Some kids laughed. They moved closer, eager to see what Evan would do.

Evan shook his head. “No way.”

“Come on,” Conan urged softly, stroking the hamster’s brown fur. “‘Row, Row, Row Your Boat.’ Just a few choruses. You know how it goes, don’t you?” More cruel laughter from the others.

Conan’s grin grew wider. “Come on, Evan. You like to sing, don’t you?”

“No, I hate singing,” Evan muttered, his eyes on Cuddles.

“Hey, don’t be modest,” Conan insisted. “I’ll bet you’re a great singer. Are you a soprano or an alto?” Loud laughter.

Evan’s hands tightened into hard fists at his sides. He wanted to punch Conan, and punch him and punch him. He wanted to wipe the grin off Conan’s handsome face with his fists.

But he remembered what it had felt like to punch Conan. It had felt like hitting the side of a truck.

He took a deep breath. “If I sing the stupid song, will you really give me back the hamster?” Conan didn’t reply.

Evan suddenly realized that Conan wasn’t looking at him anymore. No one was. They had all raised their eyes over Evan’s shoulder.

Confused, Evan spun around—to face Mr. Murphy.

“What is going on here?” the teacher demanded, his tiny black eyes moving from Evan to Conan, then back to Evan.

Before Evan could reply, Conan held up the hamster. “Here’s Cuddles, Mr. Murphy,” Conan said. “Evan let him get away. But I rescued Cuddles just as he was going to get run over.” Mr. Murphy let out a horrified gasp. “Run over?” he cried. “Cuddles? Run over?” The teacher reached out his chubby pink hands and took the hamster from Conan. He held the hamster against his bulging shirt and petted it, making soothing sounds to it.

“Thank you, Conan,” Mr. Murphy said after calming Cuddles. He glared at Evan. “I’m very disappointed in you, Evan.” Evan started to defend himself. But Mr. Murphy raised a hand to silence him. “We’ll talk about it tomorrow. Right now I must get poor Cuddles back into his cage.” Evan slumped to the ground. He watched Mr. Murphy carry the hamster back to the school building. Mr. Murphy waddles just like the hamster, Evan realized.

Normally, that thought would have cheered him up.

But Evan was far too unhappy to be cheered up by anything.

Conan had embarrassed him in front of all the others. And the big, grinning hulk had managed to get Evan in trouble with Mr. Murphy twice in one afternoon!

The kickball game had started up again. Evan climbed slowly to his feet and began trudging to the school building to get his backpack.

He couldn’t decide who he hated more—Cuddles or Conan.

He had a sudden picture of Cuddles stuffed inside a muffin tin, being baked in an oven.

Even that lovely thought didn’t cheer Evan up.

He pulled his backpack out of the locker and slung it over his shoulder. Then he slammed the locker shut, the sound clanging down the empty hallway.

He pushed open the front door and headed for home, walking slowly, lost in his unhappy thoughts.

What a horrible day, he told himself. At least nothing worse could happen to me today.

He had just crossed the street and was making his way on the sidewalk in front of a tall hedge—when someone leaped out at him, grabbed his shoulders hard from behind, and pulled him roughly to the ground.

Evan let out a frightened cry and gazed into his attacker’s face. “You!” he cried.