Anaconda Adventure (2 page)

“Although we're not sure why you want to do
it
here
,” Danny added. They were in the reptile house at The Wilderness Zoological Park. “I mean—surely it would be safer to do this S.W.I.T.C.H. in the lab?”

“It would,” Petty said. “But I'm working on a new theory. Will your behavior patterns be affected if you S.W.I.T.C.H. in proximity to a real snake?”

Josh and Danny stared through the glass and shivered with excitement … and a little fear. On the far side, a yellow and black scaly face rose up, staring back at them through almond-shaped
eyes. A black forked tongue waved in the air, trying to scent them.

“A yellow anaconda,” read Danny, peering at the little information plaque next to the display. “Grows up to two or three yards in length and eats birds, reptiles and mammals. Non venomous. Kills prey by constriction. Not large enough to kill humans. Aaaw!” He turned to Petty. “I want to be large enough to kill humans! Why can't I be large enough to kill humans? It's not fair.”

Josh thwacked the back of his twin brother's head with a rolled-up Wilderness Zoological Park souvenir guide, briefly flattening Danny's spiky blond hair. “You're not planning to kill any humans, are you? So it's not really a problem!”

“I know …” pouted Danny. “I'd just like to know we could if we wanted to …”

“Which is precisely why you're getting this S.W.I.T.C.H. spray,” Petty said, holding out a small, white plastic bottle with a spray nozzle on the top. The letters “Y A” for yellow anaconda were written on it in permanent marker. “I do have a green anaconda spray too, and they're the
huge, human-eating size. But that's for later. For now, I don't want you getting overexcited and deciding to crush me to death on a whim. And in any case, you're only going to be S.W.I.T.C.H.ed for half a minute. This bottle has a very precise spray button, and I've calculated the dose for exactly thirty seconds and no more.”

When Josh and Danny had first been S.W.I.T.C.H.ed, it was by accident—into house spiders. It had been utterly terrifying to be the unwitting guinea pigs for Petty's Serum Which Instigates Total Cellular Hijack—and it would never have happened at all if Piddle, their dog, (named after a rather unfortunate habit he had when he got excited) hadn't run into their neighbor's back garden. It was while rescuing him that they'd stumbled into Petty's secret underground laboratory—and right into a jet spray of S.W.I.T.C.H.

Now, months later, it was hard to imagine how they'd resisted getting involved with Petty's S.W.I.T.C.H. Project. Since they'd helped her find the missing code to the Reptile S.W.I.T.C.H. formula, they'd been more and more excited
about taking part in the experiments. Being S.W.I.T.C.H.ed into reptiles was going to be amazing!

Even so, today Josh felt a twinge of worry—a zoological park was a bit public for a brand new S.W.I.T.C.H.. “Are you sure about this?” he asked Petty. “It will definitely only last thirty seconds?”

“Certain!” Petty said. “Now—check there's nobody coming and we'll give it a blast.” While Josh and Danny poked their heads out past the door of the reptile house—a humid hexagonal building filled with large glass-fronted displays containing all kinds of exotic cold-blooded creatures—Petty put her bag down on a table in the center of the room. It was used as an education center too, so there were tables and chairs and benches along one wall.

“Nope—nobody around,” Danny said, coming back in. “Good thing we're off school on a teacher training day. This place would be full of kids on the weekend.”

“Yes—but school groups sometimes come in too,” Petty said. “And I saw one back by the
entrance gate. Still—if nobody was anywhere near the bottom of the path, we know we have a minute or more. It's a long walk up here. So—climb on the table please. As soon as you S.W.I.T.C.H., pay attention to the yellow anaconda. Look at it. And let it look at you. I will be filming to see if there are any differences in behavior. And you'll S.W.I.T.C.H. back in half a minute—so no chance to get chummy with my windpipe!”

Danny and Josh sat cross-legged on the table, grinning with excitement. They'd been looking forward to this moment for weeks and weeks—ever since they'd found the last REPTOSWITCH cube and Petty had begun working on the new formula. Josh decided to stop worrying and just have fun.

He fixed his blue eyes on Petty and said, “Ready!” Petty sprayed him in one short burst—then Danny.

Three seconds later, two yellow anacondas were coiling on the table, black and yellow scales gleaming in the soft light, diamond-shaped heads swaying back and forth and black forked tongues flickering in the air.

“YESSSSSSSSSSSS!” hissed Danny.

“This is SSSSSSSSSSO cool!” hissed Josh.

Although it was weird to have no arms or legs, Josh could feel the immense strength and agility of his sleek body. He lifted his head, feeling the muscles contract and relax in waves just under his beautiful gleaming scales, and rose up majestically to stare at Danny.

“Look at my toooongue!” Danny poked out his forked tongue and waved it around. It was like a tiny snake in itself—strong and agile.

“We're quite small,” Josh said, eyeing his tail. “About three feet, I think. Not big enough to kill much more than a mouse. Oooh—quick—look at whatsisface! We've only got about ten seconds left.”

Whatsisface, the real anaconda, was now staring at them through the glass with interest. He'd risen up higher, and his tongue was going crazy … but he couldn't hope to get much information through it, thought Josh. Not with that thick glass between him and them. Petty's experiment would have worked better if he and Danny had been able to get in with the other snakes, behind the glass. But as anacondas occasionally ate each other, it was probably just as well they hadn't.

“How are we talking this time?” asked Danny, writhing around in great excitement, his scales
rubbing together with a soft whispery noise.

“Oh, like most reptiles—through scent and body language and a bit of hissing,” explained Josh. “You're smelling through your tongue!” Josh was mad about wildlife and knew a lot of this stuff. “Ooh—I can't wait to do this back in Petty's garden. We can go into the stream at the back. You know anacondas are brilliant swimmers, don't you? They spend more time in water, in the wild, than on land!”

“Hmmm—but will she let us?” asked Danny. “Since she's moved her secret lab to the attic above Princessland, she's not doing any experiments in the old lab at home anymore, is she? In case government spies are watching her!”

“Well … we'll just have to go off down the park and have a swim in the lake,” Josh said.

“Um … shouldn't we have S.W.I.T.C.H.ed back by now?” asked Danny. “It's been more than thirty seconds, hasn't it?”

Josh turned to look at Petty and saw that she was legging it out of the room. “WRONG SPRAY BOTTLE!” she shouted, as she went. “GETTING
ANTIDOTE FROM CAR! HIDE!” The last they saw of her was the back of her purple beanie hat—and even that looked quite panicky.

“Oh, great!” Danny stared back at Josh. “She's done a runner!”

“We'll be fine.” Josh gulped. “She'll be back soon. We just have to hide in case anyone else comes in.”

The real anaconda was swaying about even higher now, behind the glass. Its eyes glimmered, and its tongue was still dancing. It seemed to be laughing at them.

“Come on …” Josh said. “Get down!”

They worked their way down the table legs, coiling around them to reach the floor. Under the table wasn't a good hiding place. They might easily be seen by someone walking in. “This way!” Danny
hissed, sliding across the cold tiles and under one of the long wooden benches against one wall of the reptile house. Soon Josh and Danny were hiding in the shadows.

“She won't be long,” Josh said. “She'll be back any minute. It'll be fine! Hey—I can feel her vibrations now.” And he
could
feel the vibration of steps back up the path outside. Of course, snakes were excellent at picking up vibrations—sometimes from far, far away. Josh knew that it was one of the things that helped them hunt.

“Erm … isn't that quite a
lot
of vibrations for one genius scientist?” Danny queried.

And then the door crashed open, and two dozen sets of feet pounded into the room.

And not one of them was Petty's.