The Boy with 17 Senses (20 page)

“Mortimer, you are—”

“MORGO!” Jaq heard something slam. “Don't ever call me Mortimer. I am Morgo the Magnificent.”

“You are Mortimer the cruel pet shop manager, nothing more.”

“Say hello to Squeezer. Here she comes.”

“Hello, Squeezer,” the softer voice said. “Tell me, do you despise Mortimer as much as I do?”

“I'm going to get some food,” the giant voice said. “If you were nicer, I'd bring you something. But you're not, so all you get is food pellets. Or some of these freeze-dried worms I feed the fish. That'll teach you to cooperate.”

“Thank you. That will make it much easier for me to starve myself—”

“Arrgh! Shut up, you stupid old man. We could be rich and famous, if you'd only just work with me.”

“Your lust for fame has clouded your sense. It has made you evil. To keep another person prisoner just so you can hear applause is evil. And this act will not work forever, you—”

“I said, shut up! I'm not listening to you anymore. And you're not a person. You're nothing but a pet who can talk.”

Jaq heard approaching footsteps, so he ducked behind a shelf just as the door swung open. The giant Mortimer stomped past him and out of the pet shop. Jaq saw that the door was still swinging, so he darted into the back room.

The heartbreaking song started playing again, and Jaq felt himself swooning with sadness. His eyes filled with tears. He was barely able to get his bearings and look around.

The back room was an office. Shelves filled with boxes of all sizes covered the wall that faced the door. Along the wall to Jaq's right was a long desk, and on the desk was a cage, and inside the cage was a very sad Yipsmixer. It was Plenthy. From across the room Jaq could just see him over the edge of the desk. He was staring at a large bright screen positioned just outside his cage. He frowned and then pushed a flattish plastic box around a pad on the floor of his cage. He pushed down on a button on the top of the box, and Jaq heard a click. Music came out of the screen until Plenthy clicked again. The music stopped.

Somehow, Plenthy was making music come out of the screen by rolling a plastic box around on a pad inside his cage. It was like magic.

“Plenthy?” Jaq said.

Plenthy moved to the edge of his cage. “What? Who's that? Who's there?”

“I'm Jaq Rollop, from Yipsmix. I'm here to rescue you. How do I get you out of there?”

“Never mind me!” Plenthy said. “Get out of here! Now!”

“But I've come to save you. I found your note.”

“Run, you fool!”

“I'll free you, and we'll both run.”

“There's no time! Run! Mortimer's snake is heading right for you!”

28

THIS IS NOT A GOOD TIME TO SENSE THAT YOUR BLADDER IS FULL

J
aq looked where Plenthy was pointing. Sure enough, at the far end of the desk the giant fang-toothed worm of his nightmares was slowly sliding past the loosely secured lid of its cage and down toward the floor. Every bit of Jaq froze in fear. He couldn't move, he couldn't breathe, he couldn't even form a thought. Terror engulfed him. He watched the hideous monster as its head landed gently on the floor, the rest of its enormous body following with a sickening thump of doom. The beast seemed stuck for a moment, waiting for its body to straighten itself out.

“MOVE!” Bonip yelled right into Jaq's ear.

Jaq's vision filled with a blast of yellow and red sparklers, and that was enough to melt whatever had frozen him. He ran for the door and tried to push it open.

“I can't budge it!” he said. “What do I do?”

“The storage shelf!” Plenthy yelled.

With Bonip clinging to his shoulder, Jaq ran for the shelving unit that faced the door. As the snake slithered toward him, Jaq climbed onto the top of a box on the first shelf. From there he jumped to the second shelf. The boxes were smaller here; some of them had been opened. He grabbed the edge of one . . . and the whole thing tipped over, dumping chew toys and rubber balls to the floor. The next box was almost empty, so Jaq threw it to the floor. Anything to slow that monster down.

The snake wound its way around the obstacles, taking its time because it knew its prey was trapped.

The next box was heavy, but Jaq squeezed behind it and pushed it off the shelf. He looked down just as it hit the floor and broke open, spilling round containers decorated with pictures of fish. He knew he needed to get higher. He tipped another box over to make a step and then climbed on top of it so he could reach the next shelf.

Jaq glanced down and saw the enormous snake's head stretching to the second shelf. It was climbing up with ease.

The third shelf held strange contraptions made of wood and covered with carpet. Perfect! Jaq thought. He climbed up one easily and made it to the fourth shelf, which held a row of books. Now he was a bit higher than the top of the desk.

The snake followed, slithering over boxes much more easily than Jaq had. It was now on the shelf just below him, its head swinging back and forth, searching for its prey.

“Hurry!” Plenthy called, his face as pale as the fingers that gripped the bars of the cage. “Hurry!”

Jaq took off his backpack and removed the rope. “Bonip, I'm going to tie this rope around you and toss you onto the desk. You give that end to Plenthy, and have him tie it to something strong. Then I can swing over.”

“Toss me? That's an insult,” Bonip said. “I jump farther than that in my sleep.” He grabbed the rope with his teeth, crouched down on his back legs, and sprang forward like something shot from a cannon. He landed with a thump and a roll, popping up right next to the wire cage that held Plenthy.

“You brought a wipper?” Plenthy said. “How unconventional!”

Jaq turned around and saw that the snake's head had reached the other end of his shelf. Its cold eyes locked on him. He quickly tied the rope around his waist and got ready to jump.

“Hand it to me, wipper,” Plenthy said.

Bonip edged through the bars of the cage, and Plenthy grabbed the rope from the wipper's mouth and tied it to one of the bars of his cage.

“Young man!” cried Plenthy. “Swing off the shelf. I'll pull you up.”

The snake was moving faster now, crossing the shelf and heading right for Jaq.

Jaq jumped just as the snake's tongue flicked out to taste him. He swung down and under the desk before swinging back up toward the bookshelf.

The snake had reached his jumping-off spot and was stretching his head out for Jaq.

Jaq tucked his legs into his body, ready to kick the snake's head if he swung too close, but his swing didn't make it back up to the shelf. He felt the rope yank.

There were
umph
s and
ugh
s coming from above, but Jaq didn't feel himself pulled toward the cage. He wrapped his foot around the rope and started climbing. He kept using
his foot on the rope as a brake as he pulled himself higher and higher. At last, he reached the edge of the desk.

“Well done!” Plenthy cried as Jaq pulled himself over the edge. “I don't know what I was thinking. My muscles have completely atrophied in this cage.”

Jaq rolled onto his back and took a few deep breaths. Then he got up and looked over the side of the desk. The snake had coiled itself back onto the shelf. “What do we do now?” he asked.

“The key to my cage is in that little cubby in the desk hutch,” Plenthy said, pointing to the wooden storage unit that sat at the back side of the desk, nestled against the wall.

Jaq nodded. He ran around the cage and searched the square compartments until he found the key; then he ran back and opened the cage.

Plenthy stepped free.

“Bonip?” Jaq looked around. “Where are you?”

“Over here.” Bonip was still in the cage, clinging to a brownish cube. It looked like he'd eaten half of it. “It's so goooooooood.”

“Freeze-dried worms,” Plenthy said with a shudder. “They're disgusting. But if you eat them while reciting a poem by Florinxa Clow, they're passable.”

Jaq saw more cubes by a round canister that had toppled over. He stuffed as many as he could into his backpack. “Let's get out of here,” he said to Plenthy. “Maybe the two of us can move that door.”

They lowered themselves to the floor, keeping an eye on the snake, who had twisted behind some boxes and was trying to turn itself around to get down.

Jaq looked at Plenthy. He had to be as old as Grandpa. Jaq remembered how heavy the door was and had a terrifying feeling that they wouldn't be able to escape.

When they got to the door, they both put their hands on it. “Ready?” Jaq said. “Push!”

The door barely moved . . . but it did move a little. Jaq kept looking back at the snake.

“Bonip, call the other wippers here,” he said. “They can help from the other side.”

“A hundred wippers couldn't budge this door,” Plenthy said. “But you and I can do it. We just need to get into a rhythm.”

Jaq pushed with all the panic and strength he had. He pushed and rested, pushed and rested, pushed and rested. Each time, the door opened a bit more. Even Bonip got off Jaq's shoulder to push.

“Next time, we run through.”

They pushed, the door edged open, and they ran through, leaving the fearsome giant fang-toothed worm behind. Jaq's body flooded with relief.

But the moment was brief, because there in front of them were Morgo the (not so) Magnificent and Uncle Gunther, the extremely itchy and angry.

29

A PRISON OF HEARTBREAK

“
H
ey! Why is that door swinging?” Gunther said.

The two giants hadn't seen the diminutive Yipsmixers on the floor yet.

“Someone's stealing my little man!” Morgo said. “There were three rival magicians at my last act. I knew they wanted to know how I did it!”

“No, you idiot,” Gunther said. “It's Fiona—and that other little guy. He's come to rescue your prisoner. I knew Fiona was up to something. She never skateboards down this hall
at night. She's lurking around here to help him! C'mon—let's look.”

Plenthy pushed Jaq forward toward a stand-alone shelf of collars and clothes for pets. They jumped up onto the bottom shelf and wedged themselves behind a hanger of dog hats.

“He's gone!” they heard Morgo say from inside the office.

Jaq pressed himself back as far as he could go. The giant voices returned to the front room. “They could be hiding somewhere,” Gunther said. “I'll check out here, you check back in there. And put that damn snake away before he eats your moneymaker!”

Thank Smolders for that
, Jaq thought.

“He'll find us,” Plenthy whispered. “It'll be back to the cage for me.”

Jaq's body felt electric with panic. The thought of being a prisoner here was terrifying. Bonip crawled up to his shoulder.

Gunther was making a horrible racket as he threw things off the shelves to look behind them. He was going to reach their shelf soon, and Jaq and Plenthy would be sitting there like prize eggs at the annual egg hunt.

“Young man . . . I have a plan,” Plenthy whispered, grabbing Jaq's arm. “I will distract the giant. You run for the door.”

“I can't leave you now,” Jaq said.

“And I cannot be responsible for your capture,” Plenthy replied. “Please, I would rather stay here than risk your life.”

Jaq couldn't say anything. He couldn't leave Plenthy behind to be recaptured by those cruel giants. The music Plenthy had played told Jaq exactly what Plenthy had been experiencing, and it was something no Yipsmixer should have to endure. The idea that Plenthy would sacrifice himself surrounded Jaq with walls of heartbreak. It was too much to feel, and Jaq felt a slow fury rise inside him.

“Wait for my signal,” Plenthy said. “I want to make sure he's not looking your way.”

“No, Plenthy, don't—”

But Plenthy had already eased himself out of their hiding place and disappeared around the shelf.