Anaconda Adventure (9 page)

“STOP!” Josh yelled. “Stay ABSOLUTELY STILL!”

Danny froze. Was he about to be blinded by stick insect spit?

Josh gently collected all the creatures clinging to his brother, carefully put them back in the display, and closed the panel. “It's OK—they're all safe!” he sighed.

“THEY'RE all SAFE?” Danny spluttered. “What about ME? I could have been blinded!”

“Nah—none of these are American walkingsticks,” Josh said.

“Well, thanks for telling me that NOW!” Danny stared at Josh, twitching.

“Go on,” Josh said. “Freak out. Just do it quietly, OK?”

Danny freaked out. Quietly.

“Well done!” Josh said a minute later when his brother had stopped doing his little dance. “You were brilliant!” And he gave Danny a rough hug. “I mean … you did get it, didn't you?”

Danny grinned, held out his fist, and opened it up.

“Aha!” Petty said, her eyes gleaming in the dim light. “Number five!”

Back in Petty's lab in the attic above Princessland (a huge shop filled with stuff for girls, which was almost as horrifying as stick insects as far as Danny was concerned), they examined the marble.

“Yes—another hologram—another bit of code,” confirmed Petty, peering through her powerful microscope.

Josh and Danny took a look. The hologram this time was of a cat of some kind. A tabby … or a tiger. It was hard to tell.

Petty looked thoughtful. “Only one more to go,” she said. “So I'm guessing our Mystery Marble Sender will reveal himself soon. And then what? This … feels dangerous to me. Very dangerous.”

“Maybe whoever it is just wants to help,” suggested Danny with a hopeful shrug.

Petty gave a hollow laugh. “Ooooh, I doubt that! Nobody ever just wants to help. Everybody's out for themselves! I learned that the hard way when my so-called best friend betrayed me and stole my work—or what he thought was my work—and burnt out my memory!”

She picked up a picture in a shattered glass frame. In it was her old friend, Victor Crouch, his arm around a younger Petty, smiling. He wore a hat but no eyebrows.

“Do you think it
is
Victor Crouch?” asked Josh. “That he survived being S.W.I.T.C.H.ed into a cockroach and then found your MAMMALSWITCH code in marbles?”

Petty stared at the picture and narrowed her eyes. “I'm not sure,” she said. “It doesn't seem quite like his style. But then … maybe I've just forgotten what his style is.”

“Well,” sighed Danny. “I guess we're going to find out soon, aren't we? It won't be long now before the Mystery Marble Sender isn't a mystery anymore.”

“Yes,” agreed Petty. “But I have a nasty feeling we're not going to like the revelation. Go home now, both of you. Come to the house tomorrow after school. And remember, wherever you go … someone is watching!”

Josh and Danny were back home in time for dinner, and afterward they went down the garden with Piddle.

“It's been such a freaky few months, hasn't it?” Danny said, as they sat on the grass by the climbing frame and Piddle ran around them, trying to persuade them to throw his ball. “Nobody would ever believe what's happened to us—that we've been S.W.I.T.C.H.ed into spiders and all kinds of insects, amphibians, and reptiles.”

“Nope,” Josh said. “But they will one day—when Petty goes on TV. And we'll be part of it. Everyone will know then. We'll be famous.”

“Maybe Charlie will be on TV with us too,” Danny said. “She ought to be!”

“Danny! Josh!” called Mom from an upstairs window. “Get up here now and tidy your room! It's revolting. It's a snake pit! Really!”

BOOKS

Want to brush up on your reptile knowledge?

Here's a list of books dedicated to creepy-crawlies.

Johnson, Jinny.
Animal Planet™ Wild World: An Encyclopedia of Animals
. Minneapolis: Millbrook Press, 2013.

McCarthy, Colin.
Reptile
. DK Eyewitness Books.

New York: DK Publishing, 2012.

Parker, Steve.
Pond & River
. DK Eyewitness Books.

New York: DK Publishing, 2011.

WEBSITES

Find out more about nature and wildlife using the websites below.

National Geographic Kids

http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/

Go to this website to watch videos and read facts about your favorite reptiles and amphibians.

San Diego Zoo Kids

http://kids.sandiegozoo.org/animals

Curious to learn more about some of the coolest-looking reptiles and amphibians? This website has lots of information and stunning pictures of some of Earth's most interesting creatures.

US Fish & Wildlife Service

http://www.nwf.org/wildlife/wildlife-library/amphibians-reptiles-and-fish.aspx

Want some tips to help you look for wildlife in your own neighborhood? Learn how to identify some slimy creatures and some scaly ones as well.

Ali Sparkes grew up in the wilds of the New Forest, raised by sand lizards who taught her the secret language of reptiles and how to lick her own eyes.

At least, that's how Ali remembers it. Her family argues that she grew up in a house in Southampton, raised by her mom and dad, who taught her the not terribly secret language of English and wished she'd stop chewing her hair.