انتقام کوتوله های حیاط فصل 12

Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes - Chapter 12

Black paint. The same color as the smiley faces on Mr. McCall’s casabas!

I swallowed hard. What’s going on here? I wondered. How could the gnomes’ hands be covered in paint?

I’ve got to show someone, I decided.

Mom! She’s in the house. She’ll help me figure this out.

As I reached our front door, I heard a scraping sound coming from the McCalls’ yard.

“Buster! No!” I shouted.

Buster circled Mr. McCall’s vegetable patch, his leash dragging behind him.

I quickly shoved my hand under my T-shirt and yanked out my dog whistle. I blew it hard.

Buster trotted right back to me.

“Good boy!” I cried in relief. I shook my finger in his face. I tried to be stern. “Buster, if you don’t want to be tied up, you have to stay out of that garden!” Buster licked my finger with his long, sticky tongue. Then he turned to lick the gnomes.

I watched Buster slobber all over them.

“Oh, no!” I cried. “Not again!”

Chip’s and Hap’s mouths gaped wide open. In the same terrified expressions I had seen before. As if they were trying to scream.

I slammed my eyes shut. I opened one slowly.

The terrified expressions remained.

What was going on here? Were the gnomes afraid of Buster? Was I going crazy?

My hands trembled as I quickly tied Buster to the tree. Then I ran into the house to search for Mom.

“Mom! Mom!” I panted breathlessly. I found her upstairs, working in her office. “You’ve got to come outside! Now!” Mom whirled around from her computer. “What’s wrong?” she demanded.

“It’s the gnomes!” I cried. “There’s black paint on their hands. And they’re not grinning anymore. Come out. You’ll see!” Mom slowly shoved her chair away from the computer. “Joe, if this is another joke…” “Please, Mom. It will just take a second. It’s not a joke. Really!” Mom led the way downstairs. She gazed at the gnomes from the front door.

“See?” I cried, standing behind her. “I told you! Look at their faces. They look like they’re screaming!” Mom narrowed her eyes. “Joe, give me a break. Why did you get me away from my work? They have the same dumb grins they always have.” “What?” I gasped. I ran outside. I stared at the gnomes.

They stared back at me. Grinning.

“Joe, I really wish you’d stop the dumb gnome jokes,” Mom said sharply. “They’re not funny. Not funny at all.” “But look at the paint on their fingers!”

“That’s just dirt,” she said impatiently. “Please, go read a book. Or clean your room. Find something to do. You’re driving me crazy!” I sat down on the grass. Alone. To think.

I thought about the casaba seed on one of the gnome’s lips. I remembered the first time their mouths had twisted in horror. That was the first time Buster had licked them.

And now they had paint on their fingers.

It all added up.

The gnomes are alive, I decided.

And they’re doing horrible things in the McCalls’ garden.

The gnomes? Doing horrible things? I must be losing my mind!

Suddenly, I didn’t feel too well. Nothing made any sense.

I stood up to go inside.

And heard whispers.

Gruff whispers. Down at my feet.

“Not funny, Joe,” Hap whispered.

“Not funny at all,” Chip rasped.