Read 18 - Monster Blood II for Free Online Page B

Andy!” he cried. “You’re really
bad!”
    Andy grinned proudly. “I know.”
    Evan laughed again. “Can you see the look on Murphy’s face when he comes in
and sees his precious little hamster has grown as big as a cocker spaniel? What
a riot!”
    “So you’ll do it?” Andy asked.
    Evan’s smile faded. “I guess,” he replied thoughtfully. “If you promise we’ll
only use a tiny bit. And we’ll bury the rest right away.”
    “Promise,” Andy said. “Just enough to play our little joke on Mr. Murphy.
Then we’ll never use the stuff again.”
    “Okay,” Evan agreed.
    They shook hands solemnly.
    Then they hurried to the tree. Evan searched the entire park, squinting
against the bright sunlight. He wanted to make sure no one was spying on them
this time.
    When he was sure the park was empty, he and Andy dropped to their knees under the tree and began scooping the dirt off
the hole with their hands.
    They had dug nearly two feet down when they realized the hole was empty.
    “The Monster Blood!” Evan cried. “It—it’s gone!”

 
 
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    “We must be digging under the wrong tree,” Evan said, sweat pouring down his
freckled forehead.
    Andy pushed a wet strand of brown hair off her face with a dirt-covered
finger. “No way.” She shook her head. “This is the right tree. And the right
hole.”
    “Then where is the Monster Blood?” Evan demanded shrilly.
    They both came up with the answer to his question at the same time: “Conan!”
    “He must have watched us bury it,” Evan said, his eyes darting around the
park as if he expected to see Conan jump out from behind a bush. “I thought he hurried away awfully fast that afternoon. He knew the paper bag
wasn’t empty.”
    Andy agreed. “He hid and watched us bury it. Then he waited till we were
gone, and dug it up.”
    They both stared into the empty hole in horrified silence.
    Andy broke the silence. “What is Conan going to do with it?” she asked, her
voice just above a whisper.
    “Probably eat it so he can grow bigger and pound me harder,” Evan replied
bitterly.
    “But he doesn’t know what Monster Blood does,” Andy said. “He doesn’t know
how dangerous it is.”
    “Of course he does. I told him all about it,” Evan replied. He slammed his
hand against the tree trunk. “We have to get it back!”
     
    Before science class the next afternoon, Evan found Conan in the hall. He and
Biggie were standing next to Evan’s locker. They were laughing loudly about
something, slapping each other high-fives.
    Conan wore a tight blue muscle shirt and baggy faded denim jeans with
enormous holes at the knees. Biggie had wavy brown hair down to his shoulders.
He wore a sleeveless white T-shirt and tight-fitting black denims.
    They look like a couple of tag-team wrestlers! Evan thought as he stepped
between them.
    “Hey, look—it’s Air Evan!” Conan joked. “King of the slam dunk!”
    He and Biggie guffawed loudly. Conan gave Evan a slap on the back that sent him sprawling into Biggie.
    “Uh… Conan? Did you find something in the park?” Evan asked, struggling
to regain his balance.
    Conan narrowed his eyes at Evan and didn’t reply.
    “Did you find something that belongs to Andy and me?” Evan repeated.
    “You mean like your brains ?” Conan exclaimed. He and his tag-team
partner roared with laughter over that gem.
    “Why don’t we dribble him to class?” Biggie asked Conan. “Coach Murphy would
like to see us get in some extra practice.”
    Conan laughed gleefully at that idea.
    “Ha-ha. Very funny,” Evan said sarcastically. “Look, Conan—that stuff you
took. It’s really dangerous. You have to give it back.”
    Conan opened his eyes in wide-eyed innocence. “I really don’t know what
you’re talking about, Evan. Did you lose something?”
    “You know I lost something,” Evan replied sharply. “And I want it
back.”
    Conan flashed a sly grin at Biggie. Then he turned back to Evan, his