Hamster Magic (4 page)

Celia looked up guiltily.

“Oh, let her have it,” said Abner. “It’s wrecked now, anyway, and it’ll keep her happy while we think of what to do next.”

“It won’t keep
me
happy,” said Derek miserably, watching as his beloved hockey stick began to look like a chew toy.

Tate patted him on the shoulder. “It’s for a good cause.”

“All right,” Abner went on, “let’s figure this out. Hammy said something about a Great Hamster.”

Tate nodded. “She was supposed to approve any wishes.”

“We should have listened,” whimpered Derek.

“Too late now.” Abner gazed at the small hamster in the cage. “I think we should try to find this Great Hamster and see if she can help. If she has the power to approve wishes, maybe she can do something to take them back.”

“But we don’t know where she lives.” Tate bent over the book again. “It says here that hamsters are really good runners. They’ll run as much as five miles for something to eat!”

“Really?” Derek looked at Celia with new respect.

“So think about it. The Great Hamster could be really far away.”

“But she’s not,” said Derek. “She’s—Whoa!”

Celia had dropped the hockey stick to do acrobatics on the couch. She scampered up the arm to the back and flipped off, tumbling into Derek before rolling away. Her claws clicked across the wood floor in a rapid tattoo. She raced the length of the playroom and skidded into the boys’ bedroom at the far end.

“Wow,” said Derek.

Celia came dashing back again, a pale, fuzzy streak darting past in a bundle of fur and paws. She disappeared into the girls’ bedroom on the other side, and there was a faint crash.

In his cage, Hammy was racing, too, but on his hamster wheel. The dry squeal of metal going round and round mixed with Celia’s panting as she came lolloping back.

“Sorry!” she gasped. “It was just the lamp.” And she was gone again, circling the room like a dust mop gone mad.

“Kids? Are you done with those trays yet?” Mr. Willow called from the stairway.

“Coming, Dad!” Tate rattled the plates convincingly. She added to Abner under her breath, “You’ve got to stop her!”

Abner snatched up the blanket and shoved one end in Derek’s hands. Together, they advanced on Celia. She was madly leaping, trying to see how high she could climb up the wall.

“What’s all that noise?” Father’s feet sounded on the steps.

“Oh—they’re all playing hamster,” called Tate. She stacked the trays and staggered to the door with her arms full. Behind her, the room echoed with thumps and squeaks and muffled grunts, but she didn’t dare look back.

The door opened inward, catching her elbow and sending the trays flying. Plates and silverware and cups and bits of uneaten food fell with a clatter to the floor. Father made sure that Tate was all right, then helped to pick up the mess.
When he at last looked up, Abner and Derek were sitting on the couch, breathing hard, with a blanket-wrapped bundle between them.

“Playing hamster seems like a very energetic game,” Father observed. “Celia, are you all right?”

Abner nudged the bundle.

“I’m fine, Dad!” Celia’s voice, while slightly muffled, was clearly happy. “I’m having lots of fun!”

“You’re being true to nature, anyway,” said Father. He glanced at the hamster cage, where the wheel was still going round. “Hamsters do seem to get very active in the evening. And all through the night, of course.”

Abner’s face held a look of doom. “Hamsters stay up
all night?”

Father grinned. “Well, yes. They’re nocturnal. But
you
four hamsters are going to have to go to bed soon, I’m afraid.”

When Father had gone away with the dishes, Abner let Celia out of the blanket on the condition that she stay perfectly still. And just to make sure, two pairs of hands held her firmly in place.

“No more running,” said Abner sternly. “No more crashing into things.”

“And no more climbing the walls,” added Tate, petting her sister between the ears to calm her.

Celia looked from one to the other. “I can’t help it,” she said. “It’s like something comes over me, and I just have to
move.”

“I feel the same way when I play sports,” said Derek. He picked up the hamster book and paged through it. “Hamsters really do need a lot of exercise. Too bad we
don’t
have a giant hamster wheel.”

Celia was wriggling again. She slipped from under Abner’s and Tate’s hands and popped up on the couch, panting. “You can’t make me stay still all night,” she begged. “Please let me run? I’ll be very, very quiet.”

Abner shook his head. “Mom and Dad’s room is right under ours. They’ll hear you, for sure.”

Celia kicked her short hind legs, banging them against the couch. “You don’t know how it feels!” she cried in a passion. “I’m a hamster! I was born to run!”

“I’d like to see her run bases,” said Derek. “She
is
fast. Couldn’t we take her outside?”

“Oh, yes!” Celia clasped her paws together. “Please? Please please pleeeeeeeeease?”

“We could take her out after the parents are asleep, maybe,” said Tate, stroking Celia’s back.

“And we were going to look for the Great Hamster, anyway,” added Derek.

“But we don’t know where she is,” said Abner. He leaned over Hammy’s cage, where the little hamster was still racing in his wheel. “You could find the Great Hamster, couldn’t you?”

Hammy threw a startled glance at Abner’s looming face, jumped off the wheel, and dove into a pile of wood shavings in the corner. He burrowed until there was nothing to be seen of him but one furry golden ear.

“I get the feeling he doesn’t want to,” said Tate. “I bet he thinks he’s going to get in trouble.”

Abner stared at the hamster’s quivering ear. “He deserves it,” he said. “And he didn’t even tell us where the Great Hamster lives so we could find her ourselves.”

“Yes, he did,” said Derek. “Don’t you
remember? When he told us he wouldn’t bother her about our wish. He said her burrow was almost to the river, and if we went we would get our feet all sandy.”

Abner looked at the oversized, slightly sweaty hamster that was Celia and thought things over. He wasn’t a boy who liked to sneak around behind his parents’ backs, and he didn’t like doing things that could get him into trouble. But he couldn’t let his sister stay a hamster forever.

“All right,” he said. “As soon as we’re sure Mom and Dad are asleep, we’ll go to the riverbank and look for the Great Hamster.”

Of course, the children had to get into their pajamas and say good night to their parents. Celia, who usually liked to be tucked in and kissed good night, called out from the girls’ room that hamsters did
not
want kisses and hugs.

Mother said, “I hope you’re not still a hamster tomorrow, because I’d like to see my little girl again,” and Celia felt a sudden longing
for her mother so strong that she almost jumped out of bed and ran to her. Abner had a pang somewhere in his chest—what would his mother say if Celia never
was
a little girl again?—and he felt more responsible than ever.

But Tate said, “I’m sure she’ll be your girl again in the morning,” which she felt was a nice thing to say, even if she didn’t quite believe it.

Derek didn’t say anything. He was already fast asleep in the boys’ bedroom, sprawled across the bed with the covers in a bunch. Then after a while Tate went to sleep, too, and it was up to Abner to stay awake. He had to keep Celia quiet and listen for the silence that meant his parents had finally gone to bed.

It was dark and very late when Abner lifted a trembling Hammy from the cage. “Listen,” he said, “we’re going to find the Great Hamster, and you’re going to help us.”

Hammy looked up from Abner’s hand, blinking nervously.

“And no pretending you don’t know where she is, just so you don’t get into trouble,” Abner added.

Hammy wiped his paws over his nose and looked as if he were about to cry.

“I’ll tell her that you didn’t mean to hurt anybody,” said Abner, and he tucked Hammy gently in his pocket.

Three sleepy children and one very large hamster tiptoed down the stairs. Celia’s nails click-clacked on the wooden steps, so Abner picked her up. She was not too heavy to carry if he rested now and then. In the dark, Abner could almost pretend that Celia was a little girl again, dressed in very fuzzy pajamas.

But she wasn’t, of course. And when they got to the front door, Celia turned her head, sniffing.

“What’s that wonderful
smell?”
She wriggled from his arms and slipped to the floor.

Abner reached out, but before he could grab her, Celia had dashed between his legs and down the cellar steps. By the time he caught up with her, she was in the corner with the bag of Woofies dog biscuits, stuffing her cheek pouches full.

“Come
on
!” said Abner. “Don’t be a pig.”

“But they’re so
yummy
, Abner!” Celia said thickly, through falling crumbs. “I can’t explain it, but this is the best thing I’ve eaten in my life!”

From Abner’s pocket, Hammy squeaked agreement.