Gasp of the Ghoulish Guinea Pig (3 page)

CHAPTER FOUR

The next morning, Toby was standing in his pyjamas, watching Joe put on his trainers.

“Where are you going?” Toby asked.

“Out!” said Joe. He was trying not to squish Flash as he leaned over. The guinea pig was tucked inside his hoodie pocket again. “On my bike!”

“Why?”

“Because I want to.”

“But we’re going bowling today,” said Toby, who had slipped on Dad’s shoes and was
clumping about in the hallway next to Joe.

Joe groaned. He’d forgotten that he was supposed to be meeting his mates Matt and Ben at the bowling alley.

Joe glanced at the clock. “That’s not until later. Eleven o’clock, wasn’t it? I’m going out on my bike first. See you!”

Joe slipped out of the front door before Dad appeared.

“I hope we’re not too late,” squeaked Flash, popping his pink nose out and sniffing the morning air. “The snake might have got them already!”

“I doubt it,” muttered Joe. “Or I’d have had two more undead pets in my bed this morning!” He fetched his bike from the side of the house and climbed on. “I hope the Crawfords let me in.”

The plan was to cycle over to the Crawfords’ house and pretend he’d left his cap there.

I
wonder whether they’ll remember I wasn’t actually wearing a cap yesterday
, Joe thought.

As they hurtled down Joe’s road, Flash let out an excited squeal. “Faster, Joe!”

Less than five minutes later, they were outside the Crawfords’ house. Joe took a deep breath and pressed the doorbell. He shuffled impatiently, his confidence disappearing.

Flash wriggled out of Joe’s pocket. “I’ll sneak inside and take a look.”

He scrambled down Joe’s leg and disappeared straight through the front door.

Joe rang the bell again.

“They’re out, loser!”

Joe spun round to find Spiker – the most annoying boy in his class – smirking at him from the garden next door.

“What are you doing here?” Joe spluttered.

“I live here!”

“What?”

Spiker rolled his eyes and nodded to the house next door to the Crawfords’. “That’s mine, dimwit!” Then his eyes narrowed. “What are
you
doing here?”

Before Joe could answer, a smug smile appeared on Spiker’s face. “Are you Erin’s boyfriend?”

“No!”

“Joe loves Erin!” Spiker sang.

Joe felt his face turn beetroot red. “Get lost!”

“Wait till I tell everyone at school!”

“No!”

Just then, Flash reappeared through the wall of the Crawfords’ house. “They’re out, Joe. I saw a window open at the back of the house. Sneak inside so you can hunt for the snake!”

Joe frowned. Even if Spiker hadn’t been there, no way was he going to break into someone’s house!

“Talk to me, Joe!” squealed Flash. “What’s the plan?” He scrabbled anxiously at Joe’s ankles, scratching him through his socks. “Do something!”

Joe gave Flash an exasperated look. Didn’t he understand they were being watched? He bent down and pretended to retie his shoelace. “We’ll come back later!” he hissed.

“Want me to tell Erin you came round?” shouted Spiker.

“What?”

“I’ll tell her you send your LOVE!” Spiker made a soppy face.

“GET LOST!” Joe scooped up Flash, stuffed him back in his pocket and headed for his bike.

“No!” Angry bubbles exploded from Flash’s nose. “What about my friends? Guinea pigs stick together!”

Joe didn’t answer. As he got on his bike, he expected Spiker to tease him again. But
he didn’t. Spiker’s back was turned and he appeared to be looking for something in the bushes.

“Strike!” Matt shouted.

“Wow! You’re on fire! High five!” Ben leaped up to slap palms with Matt.

The bowling alley was packed full of families enjoying the half-term holiday.

Joe heard another yelp of delight from the lane next to them and watched Toby and his friend Ricky high-fiving, too.

“Even my little brother’s doing better than me,” Joe muttered.

Flash was scuttling round Joe’s feet non-stop. “When can we go, Joe?” he was squeaking. “I’m worried – so worried.”

The more Joe thought about the snake, the more anxious he felt. He could just picture
the snake slithering across the kitchen, inching towards the guinea pigs…

“Strike!” yelled Ben, punching the air.

“Awesome!” Matt slapped Ben on the back. “But I’m still beating you.”

“Only just!” Ben replied.

Both boys looked at Joe. It was his turn next.

Joe ran his hands over all the bowling balls and grasped a big purple one that was really too big for him, but looked impressive!

He staggered to the lane.

“Want me to get a strike for you, Joe?” Ben teased.

Joe shot him a glare then lunged forward, aiming as straight as he could. The weight of the ball made him lurch sideways and he dropped it on to the lane heavily.

The ball began rolling slowly towards the pins.

Matt snorted and Ben stifled a giggle.

Eventually the ball drifted left and dropped into the gutter.

“Unlucky, Joe!” called Dad from the next lane. “Try a lighter ball!”

“Maybe you need the rubber buffers, too,” giggled Matt. “Like the little kids have!”

Joe scowled.

“Sorry, mate,” Matt said. “Just kidding.”

Joe grabbed another ball and stepped back on to the lane to bowl it. As he let go, Flash
shot out from between his feet and zoomed down the lane in front of the ball.

“That looks better!” called Dad.

Joe’s ball was much straighter this time, but it still lacked power – it certainly wasn’t going fast enough to knock all the pins down.

BANG!

The ball slapped into the front pin. Three pins fell and a couple of others wobbled…

“Nah – you’re not gonna get them all,” said Matt. “Shame.”

“Wait!” said Ben. “Look!”

More pins were falling.

Flash was streaking in and out, head-butting the pins. In seconds they were all down.

Ben and Matt stared.

“How did you do that?” Matt asked with a frown. Then he grinned. “High five!”

CHAPTER FIVE

“You were awesome, Joe!” said Toby as they got into the car to go home. “You smashed Matt and Ben!”

Flash gave a happy squeak. “Guinea pigs stick together!”

Joe grinned. For once he didn’t mind being counted as a guinea pig. Thanks to Flash, Joe had won that game – and the one after. He’d even beaten his dad’s score! Being Protector of Undead Pets had got Joe into many tricky situations so it made a change for one of the
pets to actually do something to help him!

“Can we go for pizza?” Toby begged.

“Not today,” said Dad. “But we are going to stop off at the shops on the way home. Mum asked us to pick up something for George’s birthday. Any ideas?”

“Guinea pigs!” shouted Toby.

“What?” Joe jumped. Could Toby see Flash?

“Let’s get George something for his guinea pigs – some toys or something…”

Phew!
Joe thought.

“Good idea!” said Dad. “We’ll go to the pet shop and have a look.”

They pulled into a parking space.

“Don’t worry,” Joe whispered to Flash, putting the guinea pig back into his hoodie pocket. “It won’t take long.”

They got out of the car and Joe hung back behind Dad and Toby, pretending to fiddle with his watch. “Maybe the shop will have a book
about snakes,” Joe whispered. “We might get some ideas for where to look.”

“The snake’s behind the fridge!” snapped Flash. “I told you!”

“Yeah, but it might not have stayed in the same place. If it did, I reckon the Crawfords would have spotted it by now.”

Joe ran to catch up with Toby and Dad.

The pet shop was enormous.

“Joe!” called Toby. “Come and look at the guinea pigs!”

Flash gave an excited squeal. “Let me see, let me see!”

He scrambled down Joe’s leg and hurtled after Toby, squeaking loudly.

Inside the pen was a gang of baby guinea pigs, munching hay. By the time Joe arrived, Flash was already in there, sniffing and nuzzling and making happy squeaky noises.

“Some of them are hiding!” said Toby,
pointing to a pair of smaller guinea pigs that were peeking out from under a plastic pet house.

“They must be scared,” chuckled Dad. “I would be, too, with your ugly mug staring at me!” He ruffled Toby’s hair.

“Can we have one, Dad? Please!”

“Don’t be silly, Toby. Come and choose some toys for George…”

Toby’s shoulders slumped. Then he spotted another pen. “Wow! Rabbits!” he said, and raced over.

Joe lingered, looking at the guinea pigs. They were chasing each other round the pen now, with Flash joining in as though he was still alive.

Then Joe noticed a series of large tanks, right at the back of the room. He went over to take a closer look.

Two small geckos stared back at him out of the first tank, their tiny ink-spot eyes following his every movement. Joe went over to the next tank where a bright green chameleon sat on a log. The last tank was empty.

Joe was just about to go back to the chameleon when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

“Didn’t see her, did you?” A young shop assistant was standing there with a cleaning spray in one hand and a bucket of soapy water in the other. She smiled at Joe. “She’s good at hiding.”

Joe peered into the last tank again. Finally he spotted a small stripey orange snake right at the back, half hidden under a curved piece of bark. It poked its tongue out at him. It was similar to the one he’d seen on the internet only much smaller – it looked like a shoelace.

“Is it a corn snake?” asked Joe.

“Yep, just a baby. She’ll grow much, much bigger.”

Joe glanced over his shoulder to make sure Dad and Toby weren’t listening. “Do pet snakes ever escape?” he asked.

“Oh yeah! Lucky, my boa constrictor, got
out once. We tried all the tricks – laying out food, dusting the floors with flour to see if we could spot where she’d been… Then Mum found her at the back of the airing cupboard snuggled into the warm towels!”

Joe grinned. He could just imagine what would happen if his mum found a snake in their airing cupboard! “Where else do they hide?” he asked.

“Anywhere warm. Snakes hate the cold. Behind the fridge is another hiding place – the motor makes it hot there.”

So
that was why Flash saw the snake sneak behind the fridge!
thought Joe.

“Down the back of the sofa,” the girl went on, “under floorboards… Bigger snakes are quite strong. If you don’t put a brick on top of the vivarium lid, they can push their way out! Are you thinking of getting one?”

Before Joe could answer there was a shout from the other side of the room. “Caitlin!” It was the pet-shop owner, calling from the cash desk. “Can you fetch a box of pinkies for this boy?”

Joe glanced over and gasped.

It was Spiker!

He hadn’t noticed Joe yet. He was too busy counting out a pile of change.

“Gotta go!” the girl said, and she disappeared into the back of the shop.

Joe headed over to Dad and Toby, who were comparing guinea-pig toys. But as he
passed the cash desk he heard Spiker talking to the pet-shop owner.

“And you reckon if I put out more snake food he’ll come back?” Spiker asked.

Joe froze. Did he really just say “snake food”?

The man nodded. “Yep, if he’s been missing for a few days, he’s bound to get hungry soon. Just put some of his usual food – a couple of dead mice – near his tank. You can try other places, too. Corn snakes usually come back when they smell grub!”

Joe gasped. Spiker had lost a corn snake… And he lived next door to the Crawfords! That meant it was probably his snake that Flash had seen.

“What are you staring at?” Spiker growled, peering at Joe.

Joe shrugged. Then he had an idea. If he could somehow tempt the snake out of the
Crawfords’ house and back to Spiker’s then all his troubles would be over!

“Did you say you’ve lost a snake?” asked Joe.

“No!” Spiker glanced round nervously. “You heard wrong.”

“Here you go!” said Caitlin, arriving with a cardboard box. “Remember to defrost them before you feed them to your snake, OK?”

Spiker’s face went beetroot and he glared at Joe.

“Five pounds, please,” said the pet-shop owner.

Spiker was in such a rush to pay he dropped the coins on the floor. He bent down and scooped them up then counted them out. But one coin was missing – he was twenty pence short.

“Must have gone under the counter,” he mumbled.

“Here,” Joe dug in his pocket and handed over a coin.

“Thanks,” Spiker muttered. Then he snatched up the box and turned to go.

“Wait!” said Joe. “My cousin lost his pet corn snake once…” He hoped the fib wouldn’t show on his face. “I found it for him!”

“What? How?”

Joe shrugged. “You’ve just got to look in the right places.”

“I’ve tried that—” Spiker stopped abruptly
when he realized he’d just admitted that he
had
lost a snake.

“I know loads of secret places that snakes hide,” said Joe. “And there’s always the flour trick!”

“The what?”

Before Joe could explain, a woman appeared in the shop.

“Bradley, there you are!” It was Mrs Piker – Spiker’s mum. Joe giggled – no one at school ever called Spiker by his real name. “We’ve only got a few minutes left on the parking meter – come on!” She glanced at Joe and immediately recognized him from Spiker’s class. “Joe, isn’t it?” she smiled. “Enjoying half-term?”

“Yes, thanks.”

“Lovely. Well, we’ve got to go now. Come on, Bradley!”

“Can Joe come round to our house?” Spiker said suddenly.

“What?” Joe turned to look at Spiker.

Mrs Piker looked shocked, too. “Well, I…” she stuttered.

“Joe wants to see Harley’s pets,” Spiker said. “As I’m looking after them while he’s away, maybe I could show Joe today.”

Joe remembered now that Spiker had once done a school presentation about his brother’s collection of exotic pets.

“Joe’s thinking of getting a corn snake!” Spiker added. “Aren’t you, Joe?”

“Er, yeah.” Joe nodded, uncertainly.

“And he’d like to come and meet Thor!”

Joe wondered why Spiker didn’t just say that he wanted Joe to come round and help look for his brother’s lost snake… But then it hit Joe like a thwack on the head with a cricket ball. Mrs Piker didn’t know the snake had escaped!

“You boys and your snakes,” she sighed, shaking her head. “Why you can’t just have a nice hamster or a rabbit, I’ll never know!”

“Can he come?” Spiker asked. “After lunch?”

“I suppose so,” Mrs Piker replied. “You’d better ask your dad, Joe. Is that him over there?”