انتقام کوتوله های حیاط فصل 24

Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes - Chapter 24

Fun?

What did he mean by fun?

Hap and Chip pushed their way back to the front and stepped up beside us. They clapped their hands together to silence the giggling, chattering crowd.

The basement instantly turned silent.

“You tricked us!” Mindy screamed at the two gnomes. “You lied to us!” They giggled in reply and slapped each other’s shoulders gleefully.

“I can’t believe you fell for our sad story,” Hap said, shaking his head.

“We told you we’re Mischief Gnomes,” Chip sneered. “You should have known we were playing mischief!” “Great joke, guys,” I said, forcing a hoarse laugh. “You fooled us. Way to go. So now let us go home, okay?” “Yeah. Let us go home!” Moose insisted.

The whole room erupted in laughter.

Hap shook his head. “But the mischief has just begun!” he declared.

Cheers and giggles.

Chip turned to the crowd of excited gnomes. “So what shall we do with our lovely prisoners? Any ideas?” “Let’s see if they bounce!” a gnome called from near the back of the room.

“Yeah! Dribble them!”

“A dribbling contest!”

“No—bounce them against the wall. Bounce and catch!”

More cheers.

“No! Fold them into tiny squares! I love it when we fold humans into squares!” “Yes! A folding contest!” another gnome cried.

“Fold them! Fold them! Fold them!” several gnomes began to chant.

“Tickle them!” a gnome in front suggested.

“Tickle them for hours!”

“Tickle! Tickle! Tickle!”

The room rang out with their excited chants.

“Fold them! Fold them! Fold them!”

“Tickle! Tickle! Tickle!”

“Dribble! Dribble! Dribble! Dribble!”

I turned to Moose. He stared out at the crowd of chanting gnomes, dazed and frightened. His eyes bulged and his chin quivered.

Mindy had her back pressed up against the basement wall. Her blond hair was matted to her forehead. Her hands were jammed into the pockets of her bathrobe.

“What are we going to do?” she asked me, shouting over the excited chants.

Suddenly I had an idea.

I raised my arms high over my head. “Quiet!” I screamed.

The room instantly grew silent. Hundreds of red eyes glared at me.

“Let us go!” I demanded. “Or the three of us will scream at the top of our lungs. We will wake up Mrs. Anderson. And she will be down here in a second to rescue us!” Silence.

Had I frightened them?

No. The gnomes burst into loud, scornful laughter. They slapped each other’s shoulders, hooted, and giggled.

“You’ll have to do better than that!” Hap grinned up at me. “We all know that Mrs. Anderson can’t hear a thing.” “Go ahead and shout,” Chip urged. “Shout all you want. We like it when humans shout.” He turned to Hap, and the two of them slapped each other’s shoulders and fell on the floor, giggling gleefully, kicking their feet in the air.

Over the vast basement, the chants started up again.

“Tickle! Tickle! Tickle!”

“Fold them! Fold them! Fold them!”

“Dribble! Dribble! Dribble!”

With a long sigh, I turned to my frightened sister and friend. “We’re doomed,” I muttered. “We don’t have a chance.”