The cage shook again as Cuddles turned around. Evan watched in horror as the cage nearly toppled off its table.
I’ll kill Andy! Evan thought bitterly. How could she do this to me?
When the bell rang, the other kids all gathered up their books and headed out the door. Evan stood up and walked over to Cuddles’ cage.
Panting loudly, Cuddles stared up at him. He’s too big to fit on his wheel, Evan realized. If he grows any more, he’ll burst out of the cage!
How much Monster Blood did Andy feed him? Evan wondered. He had to find out.
He turned to Mr. Murphy, who was reading over some papers at his desk. “I’ve got to find someone,” Evan called up to him. “I’ll be right back.”
“Don’t take too long,” the teacher replied without looking up.
Evan hurried from the room—and ran into Conan. “Hey, I was looking for you,” Conan said, sidestepping to the right, then the left, and stretching out both arms to keep Evan from getting away.
“No time now,” Evan said sharply. But Conan wouldn’t let him pass. “I’m kind of in a hurry,” Evan told him. “I don’t have time to be stuffed into my locker right now.”
A big grin crossed Conan’s handsome face. “Hey, I’m sorry about that,” he said, his blue eyes twinkling.
“Huh? You’re sorry?” Evan’s mouth dropped open in shock.
“Yeah. No hard feelings,” Conan said, lowering his eyes. “Shake.”
Evan stuck out his hand. Then remembered Conan’s crushing handshake. He tried to pull back his hand.
Too late.
Conan gripped it tightly and began to squeeze. As he squeezed Evan’s hand, his grin grew wider and wider.
Down the hall, Evan saw Andy heading out the door. He tried to call to her. But all that came out of his mouth was a squeak of pain.
Andy disappeared out the front door of the school.
The bones in Evan’s hand cracked and crunched.
When Conan finally let go, the hand looked like a sad lump of soft red clay.
“Wow! That’s some handshake you’ve got!” Conan cried, laughing. He pretended his hand hurt. He shook it hard and blew on it. “You killed me that time! You been working out or something?”
Conan headed off to basketball practice, laughing and shaking his hand.
He really cracks himself up, Evan thought. An angry cry burst from his throat. He slammed his good hand into a locker. He was so furious, he thought he could feel steam pouring out his ears.
“Evan—you’re keeping me waiting!” Mr. Murphy called in a singsong from the classroom doorway.
“Coming,” Evan muttered miserably, and slunk back into the room.
He tried calling Andy for hours that night. But there was no one home.
In his sleep, he dreamed that Trigger ate a big glob of Monster Blood and grew to giant size. Evan tried to stop him. But the enormous dog took off after the mailman.
It wasn’t much of a chase. Trigger caught the mailman easily. The mailman was the size of a hamster.
Evan woke up drenched with sweat. He glanced at his bedtable clock. Only six in the morning. He normally didn’t get up until seven.
He climbed out of bed, anyway, feeling shaky and scared.
He decided he had to get to school before everyone else. He had to see if Cuddles had grown any bigger.
“Evan—where are you going?” his mother called sleepily as Evan headed out the front door.
“Uh—school,” Evan replied. He had hoped to sneak out before she woke up.
“So early?” She padded into the room, struggling with the belt to her blue cotton robe.
“Well… I have a science project I need to work on,” Evan told her. It was almost the truth.
“A science project?” She eyed him suspiciously.
“Yeah. It’s… big!” Evan replied, thinking quickly. “It’s really big! So I couldn’t bring it home.”
“You’re going without any breakfast?” Mrs. Ross demanded, yawning.
“I’ll grab something at school,” he said. “Later, Mom.” He disappeared out the door before she could ask any more questions.
A red sun was just climbing over the trees in a gray sky. The air still carried the chill of the night. The lawns Evan passed shimmered wetly with morning dew.
He jogged the whole way, his backpack flopping heavily on his shoulder. There were no other kids on the playground or on the walk heading into the building.
He crept into the school and made his way down the silent, empty hall. His sneakers echoed loudly as he trotted toward the science classroom.
Maybe Cuddles didn’t grow overnight, Evan told himself.
Maybe he didn’t grow at all. Maybe he shrank. Maybe he shrank back to his old size.
It was possible.
It was possible that Andy had fed the hamster only a teeny tiny speck of Monster Blood. Just enough for Cuddles to swell up to the size of a fat rabbit—then shrink right back down to cute, cuddly hamster size.
It was possible—wasn’t it?
Yes! Yes! Evan crossed his fingers on both hands. He wished he could cross his toes.
By the time he reached the classroom, he was breathless. His heart thudded loudly in his chest.
He hesitated at the door.
Please, Cuddles—be small. Be small!
Then Evan took a deep breath, held it—and stepped inside.
20
Evan stepped into the room, staring at the cage against the far wall. At first, he didn’t see Cuddles.
Had Cuddles shrunk? Had he?
Sometimes prayers are answered, Evan told himself. Sometimes good things happen.
Evan took a few hesitant steps closer. Then a few more steps.
Every muscle in his body had tensed. He was so frightened, it was actually hard to walk.
He could feel the blood throbbing at his temples. He mopped the cold beads of sweat off his forehead.
He still couldn’t see Cuddles. Where was he?
Where?
Gray morning light filtered in through the windows. The floor creaked under Evan’s sneakers.
Evan took another hesitant step toward the cage.
Another step.
Then he cried out in horror.
Evan hadn’t seen Cuddles at first—because Cuddles was too big!
Cuddles filled the entire cage.
Evan held back, gaping in disbelief.
The hamster groaned noisily with every loud breath. It let out several disgusting grunts as its body pressed against the wire cage.
Its big, furry head pushed up against the top of the cage. Evan could see one enormous black eye, the size of a jar lid, staring out at him.
“No!” Evan cried out loud, feeling his knees begin to tremble. “This is impossible!”
The hamster uttered a few more low grunts.
The cage shook on its table.
The big black eye glared out at Evan.
And then as Evan stared in horrified disbelief, the hamster reached up its two pink paws. The toes slipped around the wires of the cage.
Cuddles let out an ugly groan.
Evan saw its spongy pink nose twitch. He saw a flash of big white teeth.
Another groan.
The two front paws pushed against the cage wires.
The wires bent away.
Cuddles grunted again, wheezing loudly, excitedly.
He pushed the cage wires aside. Then he started to squeeze his big, fur-covered body through the opening. What do I do? Evan frantically asked himself. What do I do now? Cuddles is escaping!
21
“So what did you do?” Andy asked.
They were sitting together in the tall grass of the tiny park, watching the brown creek trickle past. The late afternoon sun felt warm on their backs. Crickets chirped in the trees behind them.
Three boys rolled past on bikes on the other side of the creek, heading home from school. One of them waved to Evan. He didn’t wave back.
Andy wore a bright red sleeveless T-shirt over white denim jeans. She had slipped off her yellow sneakers and was digging her bare feet into the soft ground.
“So what did you do?” she repeated.
Evan picked up a hard clump of dirt and tossed it into the creek. Then he leaned back, his hands planted firmly behind him on the ground.
“I got a dog leash,” he told Andy. “In the supply closet.”
Andy’s eyes widened in surprise. “Murphy keeps a dog leash? What for?”
Evan shrugged. “He has all kinds of junk back there.”
“So you put the leash on Cuddles?”
“Yeah,” Evan told her. “He was just the right size. As big as a dog. Maybe a little bigger.”
“As big as Trigger?” Andy demanded.
Evan nodded. “Then I tied the other end to the leg of Murphy’s desk—and I ran out of there as fast as I could.”
Andy laughed. But she cut it short when she caught Evan’s angry glare. “What happened when you went to science class?” she asked, turning back to the creek.
“I didn’t,” Evan muttered.
“Huh?”
“I didn’t go,” Evan said softly. “I was afraid to go. I didn’t want Murphy to start blaming me in front of everyone.”
“So you cut class?” Andy asked, startled.
Evan nodded.
“So what did you do?” Andy asked. She pulled up a handful of the tall grass and let it sift through her fingers.
“I sneaked out and came here,” Evan replied, frowning.
“Everyone was talking about Cuddles all day,” Andy reported. Her dark eyes flashed. She couldn’t keep an amused grin off her face. “Everyone had to go in and see him. The stupid hamster practically caused a riot!”
“It isn’t funny,” Evan murmured.
“It’s kind of funny!” Andy insisted. “Mr. Murphy was bragging that Cuddles could beat up any other hamster in the country. He said he was going to try to get Cuddles on TV!”
“Huh?” Evan jumped to his feet. “You mean Mr. Murphy wasn’t upset?”
“I heard that he was at first,” Andy replied thoughtfully. “But then I guess he got used to Cuddles being so big. And he was acting kind of proud. You know. Like he had the biggest pumpkin at the fair or something. A blue-ribbon winner!” Andy snickered.
Evan kicked at the grass. “I know he’s going to blame me. I know it!”
“Everyone was feeding Cuddles carrots all day,” Andy said, not seeming to hear Evan’s unhappy wails. “The hamster ate the carrots whole. One big chomp. Then it made this really gross swallowing sound. It was a riot.”
“I can’t believe this!” Evan groaned. He lowered his eyes angrily to Andy. “Why did you do it? Why?”
Andy gazed up at him innocently. “I wanted to give you a laugh,” she replied.
“Huh? A laugh?” he shrieked.
“You were looking pretty down. I thought it might cheer you up.”
Evan let out an angry cry.
“I guess it didn’t cheer you up,” Andy muttered.
She pulled up another handful of grass and let the blades fall over the legs of her white jeans.
Evan stomped over to the edge of the creek. He kicked a rock into the water.
“Come on, Evan,” Andy called. “You have to admit it’s a little funny.”
He spun around to face her. “It’s not,” he insisted. “Not funny at all. What if Cuddles just keeps growing and growing? Then what?”
“We could put a saddle on his back and give everyone hamster rides!” She giggled.
Evan scowled and kicked another rock into the creek. “You know how dangerous that Monster Blood is,” he scolded. “What are we going to do? How are we going to get Cuddles back to hamster size?”
Andy shrugged. She pulled up another handful of grass.
The sun sank lower behind the trees. A shadow rolled over them. Two little kids chased a white-and-red soccer ball on the other side of the creek. Their mother shouted to them not to get wet.
“Where’s the Monster Blood can?” Evan demanded, standing over Andy. “Maybe it tells the antidote on the can. Maybe it tells how to reverse the whole thing.”
Andy shook her head. “Evan, you know it doesn’t say anything on the can. No instructions. No ingredients. Nothing.” She climbed to her feet and brushed off the legs of her jeans. “I’ve got to get home. My aunt doesn’t know where I am. She’s probably having a cow.”
Evan followed her toward the street, shaking his head. “How big?” he muttered.
She glanced back at him. “What did you say?”
“How big will Cuddles be tomorrow?” Evan asked in a trembling voice. “How big?”
22
“Andy—will you hurry up?”
Evan had agreed to meet Andy at her aunt’s house the next morning so they could go to school early. But Andy had found a spot on her jeans and had gone back up to her room to change.
And now they were no longer early.
“Sorry,” she said, hurtling down the stairs two steps at a time. She had changed her entire outfit. Now she had on a red-and-black-striped vest over a yellow T-shirt, pulled down over pale blue shorts.
“Didn’t you leave out a color?” Evan demanded sarcastically, grabbing Andy’s backpack for her and hurrying to the front door.
She made a face at him. “I like bright colors. It suits my personality.”
“Your personality is late!” he declared.
She followed him out the door and down the front lawn to the sidewalk. “At least I have a personality!” she cried. “What’s your hurry, anyway?”
Evan didn’t answer. He adjusted his backpack on his shoulder, then began running toward school.
“Hey—wait up!” Andy called, running after him.
“How much Monster Blood did you give Cuddles, anyway?” Evan demanded without slowing his pace. “The whole can?”
“No way!” Andy called breathlessly. “Just a spoonful. He seemed to like it.”
“I guess he liked being as big as a dog, too,” Evan said, turning the corner. The tall, redbrick school building came into view.
“Maybe he’s back to normal today,” Andy said.
But as they came near the building, it was easy to tell that things were not normal.
Evan heard a loud crash from the side of the building. It sounded like glass shattering.
Then he heard excited shouts. Loud kids’ voices filled with alarm.
“What’s going on?” Andy cried.
They dove up the stairs and burst into the building. Running full speed, they turned the corner and made their way to the science classroom.
Evan reached it a few steps ahead of Andy. Hearing excited shouts and cries, he lurched into the room—and then stopped with a startled cry.
“No! Oh, please—no!”
“Stand back! Everyone stand back!” a red-faced Mr. Murphy was screaming.
Cuddles uttered a loud grunt and flailed his giant legs wildly in the air.
“He—he’s ten feet tall!” Evan heard Andy scream at his side.
“Al-almost!” Evan stammered.
The grunting, groaning hamster towered over Mr. Murphy. Its pink paws batted the air. Its monstrous mouth opened wide, revealing two enormous, sharp white teeth.
“Back! Everyone back!” Mr. Murphy shrieked.
The terrified kids in the classroom pressed back against the walls.
Mr. Murphy picked up a wooden chair in one hand, the torn dog leash in the other. Holding the chair by the back, he came at the grunting monster like a lion tamer.
“Down, Cuddles! Get down! Sit! Sit!”
He poked the wooden chair up at the giant hamster and snapped the dog leash like a whip.
Cuddles’ watery black eyes, as big as soccer balls, glared down at the red-faced teacher. The hamster didn’t seem terribly impressed with Mr. Murphy’s lion-tamer act.
“Down, Cuddles! Get down!” The teacher’
s chins quivered, and his big belly bounced up and down beneath his tight gray knit polo shirt.
Cuddles pulled back his huge lips and bared his white teeth. He let out a growl that made the light fixtures shake.
Terrified cries rang out through the room. Evan glanced back to see a horrified crowd of teachers and students jammed in the doorway.
“Down, Cuddles!”
Mr. Murphy shoved the wooden chair up at the raging hamster. He cracked the dog-leash whip near the hamster’s throbbing, fur-covered belly.
The huge black eyes stared down angrily at Mr. Murphy. The pink hamster paws clawed in the air.
Andy grabbed Evan’s shoulder and held on tight. “This is terrible!” she cried. “Terrible!”
Evan started to reply—but frightened shrieks drowned out his words.
Cuddles grabbed the chair with both paws.
“Drop! Drop!” Mr. Murphy screamed. He struggled to hold on to the chair.
Cuddles pulled the chair. Mr. Murphy desperately held tight. He let the leash fall so he could hold on to the chair with both hands.
The teacher and Cuddles had a short tug-of-war.
Cuddles won easily. The hamster pulled the chair up, nearly jerking Mr. Murphy’s arms out of their sockets.
With a loud groan, the teacher toppled heavily to the floor.
Kids screamed.
Two teachers rushed forward to help the gasping Mr. Murphy to his feet.
Evan stared up as the hamster raised the wooden chair to its mouth. The enormous white teeth opened quickly. The pink nose twitched. The watery black eyes blinked.
Then Cuddles chewed the wooden chair to pieces.
Splinters rained down on the floor.
The chomping teeth sounded like a lumberjack’s ax biting into a tree.
Evan froze in horror along with everyone else in the room.
Andy was squeezing his shoulder so hard, it hurt. “This is our fault,” she murmured.
“Our fault?” Evan cried. “Our fault?”
She ignored his sarcasm. He saw the fear in her eyes as she stared up at the hamster. Cuddles had turned the chair into toothpicks!
“We’ve got to do something, Evan,” she whispered, huddled close to him.