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Peter to a large box below the loft. It was covered with an old curtain. She pulled back the curtain and shined a flashlight down inside the box. There was the large colored drawing Josh had made of the abaguchie.
    Wally stared. It was hideous and spooky. But Peter wasn't impressed.
    “Where's the abaguchie?” he asked, his voice growing louder. “The message
said
!”
    “It didn't promise the animal was alive, did it?” said Caroline.
    Peter was outraged. “You
said
!” he bellowed again.
    “What this really is, Peter, is a science experiment,” Wally tried to explain. “You're helping Josh and Jake in an experiment they're doing for school.”
    Peter kicked at the box. “I don't
care
! I don't want to help Josh and Jake. I want to see the abaguchie!”
    “Let's go have some cocoa, Peter,” said Caroline quickly.
    That helped, but only a little. Beth went into the house to find some cookies for him too.
    Eddie and Jake exchanged glances. If
Peter,
who was seven, felt cheated, what about the older boys? What if the sixth-graders stood out on the street and told the other kids not to bother? For a while, though, that did not seem to be their problem, for it appeared as though no one else was coming. Three o'clock, three-ten, three-fifteen…
    “What if nobody comes?” said Eddie worriedly.
    “What if this experiment never gets off the ground?” said Jake.
    “What if we flunk sixth grade?” said Josh.
    And then a couple of third-grade boys started up the driveway, and a girl from Wally's class stood uncertainly out on the road.
    “Okay, everybody, get ready,” Eddie instructed. “Beth? Wally? Caroline? Where
is
Caroline?”
    Nobody seemed to know, but the two third-grade boys were coming up to the porch now, to see the abaguchie, and after Jake and Josh and Eddie had recorded their information and Beth had herded them over to the garage, Wally led them inside without any help.
    “It's nothing but a—” Peter said from the steps, a cookie in both fists, but several pairs of hands clapped across his mouth at once.
    “So where is it?” one of the third-graders said. “Where's the abaguchie?”
    “Over here,” said Wally, fumbling his way toward the box in the near darkness, and then he realized he'd forgotten the flashlight. Caroline had it.
    At that precise moment, there was a scritching, scratching sound, a huffing, snuffing noise from the loft, and as the three boys lifted their heads, a small light came on above them. There, half hanging from the ladder that led to the loft, was a grotesque creature like no animal they had ever seen. There were horns on its head, claws on its paws, fangs in its mouth, scales on its back, and whether it was covered in feathers or fur, no one could tell, for the creature, moaning and screeching, swung down right over their heads before the light went out. The three boys went tumbling and yelping out of the garage. The fourth-grade girl, who had just given her name and grade to Eddie, didn't even wait to see the abaguchie at all but followed the third-graders as fast as she could back down the driveway.
    Jake and Josh and Eddie and Beth stared after them, then at Wally, who collapsed on the back steps, breathing hard.
    “What
happened
?” Eddie asked, shaking him by the shoulder. “What
is
it?”
    “The… the abaguchie!” Wally breathed. Then he added, “I…I
think.
”
    The twins got up from their chairs and, followed by Beth and Eddie, went slowly, step by step, into the garage. Carefully, Jake opened the door. Inch by inch, they moved inside. Wally stayed a few feet behind them, just in case. Nothing happened. The garage was as dark and still as a cave.
    “What are you talking about, Wally?” Jake said, turning around. “There's nothing here that—”
    Suddenly the air was split by a half-screech, half-moan; there was a flash of light, and a creature with fangs and claws and scales and feathers swung down over their heads. And then… then Caroline