Read Frek and the Elixir for Free Online

poor son? Because of something that a stupid game toon said?”
    â€œThe search doesn’t take long,” said PhiPhi, in a soothing tone. “Calm calm.” She patted Mom’s shoulder and displayed a big, warm smile. “What it is, Lora, the Anvil is real. It might be some kind of alien? Or it’s from the Crufters? We’re uncertain. It came down last night, simultaneous with a warning message regarding Frek Huggins. The message came from an anomalous unidentified vehicle, now vanished. This makes possibles. Maybe just a prank same time as a meteorite, we hope. But, Lora, for your good, and Frek’s good, Gov has to be sure. Zhak and I assigned to stay and watch your home for one or two days. If you kindly permit, we plant a little shelter for ourselves—over here? It remains afterward for your guest room or perhaps shed.” PhiPhi was pointing to a spot between their house tree and their garage.
    â€œNot so close to my garden,” said Mom, not entirely displeased. Recently she’d been talking about needing money for an extra room, with the three kids getting so loud and big. But house tree seeds were expensive.
    â€œThose are all standard plants?” asked PhiPhi, peering at Mom’s vegetables. “Carb not sending down crufty oldbio seeds, huh?”
    â€œAs if oldbio could live on Earth anymore,” said Lora. “Don’t you know anything? Second of all, Carb and I are unwebbed as of three months ago. There’s no link between us anymore.”
    Unwebbed? Mom hadn’t told Frek about this. The news hit him hard. Not only was Dad never coming back, it was as if he’d never been here at all. Frek had no father. His face felt so odd and stiff and silly that he turned away so nobody would see. He coaxed his angelwings into the garage and petted them. They made soft kvarr ing noises, which made him feel better. He stepped back out just in time to see Zhak go slipping into their house. Mom was so distracted by PhiPhi’s chatter that she didn’t notice. For the moment, Frek felt too upset with Mom to warn her.
    In any case, there was nothing for Zhak to find. Or was there? Frek was still thinking about the lumpy shiny purplish-black object he’d glimpsed under his bed. The Anvil? A UFO come to rest under his bed? Impossible. But what if? If the counselors found it, they’d punish him for not telling them. And if they didn’t find it—what then? What was the Anvil really? Frek’s stomach felt cold and hollow.
    PhiPhi wasn’t looking at him right then, which was good. Even though counselors were dumbed down, they had uvvy access to special Gov routines for reading people’s thoughts from their expressions.
    PhiPhi was busy trying to push a house tree seed into the ground. The seed was pointed at one end and flat at the other, about five centimeters long. She was trying to push the seed in sideways. It was like she was impaired. Mom squatted down and helped PhiPhi get the seed properly into the ground, point first. Lora Huggins knew how to do everything right. Frek was lucky to have her for his mother. Even if she had unwebbed from Dad.
    â€œWhere did Zhak go?” said Frek, so that Mom would look up from the seed and notice their house was being searched.
    â€œWhat?” said Mom, standing up. “He’s already started?” She brushed the dirt off her hands and rushed inside to supervise.
    PhiPhi gave Frek an angry look. But all she said was, “Will you get water? The seed needs water.” She tore open a pod of fertilizer-pollen and sprinkled it on the ground.
    Frek attached a snakeskin hose to their house tree’s spout and asked the tree to set a steady trickle of water flowing into the muddy patch where Mom had pushed PhiPhi’s seed into the ground. In a matter of minutes, a pale green sprout appeared. It worked its way upward and unfurled into a tiny, lobed house tree leaf set upon a shiny