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cuz,” Henry said with a wink, just like he had during the race. “It’s in the
bag
.”
    Aha! Keats returned the wink. He unhooked the pin from the medal and held it out like a little sword.
    Squirt’s lips seemed to form a smile at thesilly weapon. And Keats smiled back. Because he had guessed what Henry was going to do.
    “Say cheese, Squirt!” Henry said, and hurled the vacuum bag filled with cheese-puff powder over the heads of the slugs.
    At the same time, Keats tossed the second-place pin like a dart. The pin hit the vacuum bag dead-on. It burst with a
pop!
, and the cheese-puff powder inside exploded all over the slugs.

    For a moment everything in the alley went completely still. Then with a tiny
slurrrp
, one slug stuck out its tongue and licked the skin of a nearby slug.
    Its eyes lit up.
    Kablam!
The slugs burst into motion. They started tasting and then nibbling on each other.
    “Splurp! Splarb! Splarb!” Squirt shouted. But the slugs didn’t listen. Their eyes went blank. They turned their teeth on each other, hungry for more cheese puffs.
    Slugs gobbled up other slugs like piranhas in the Amazon. Squirt shrugged. He stopped
splarb
ing and joined in the feeding frenzy.
    Keats couldn’t watch anymore. He shut his eyes.
    A minute later, the alley went very quiet. Keats opened his eyes. Henry was grinning athim. “How’d you like that World’s Greatest Plan?” he asked.
    Keats looked down.
    “Whoa,” he said. Just one slug remained. It was Squirt. Flopped on his back, he was too fat to turn over.
    Henry crouched next to him. “Wow, that’s amazing,” he said.
    “I know,” Keats agreed. “Squirt ate all the other slugs!”
    “No,” Henry said, his grin getting bigger. “It’s amazing because that’s just what
you
look like after Thanksgiving dinner.”
    Keats rolled his eyes. “Ha, ha,” he said. But then he laughed for real. “We did it!”
    “We saved the town!” Henry clapped Keats on the back. “And we’ll still make it back to the picnic in time for the fireworks!”
    The cousins found a clear plastic box witha lid in a nearby Dumpster. They picked up Squirt. He was as slimy as always but much easier to handle now that he was so full. Into the box he went.
    As Henry and Keats shut the lid with a
click
, a long black limousine rolled into the alley. No one was driving, and the front seat was empty.
    The back window of the limo rolled down. Mr. Cigam’s cheery, diamond-shaped face popped into view. The elderly magician waved to the boys. He had a corn chip in his hand.
    “Greetings, Henry and Keats!” he said.
    “Hi, Mr. Cigam,” Henry and Keats replied. They carried the box with Squirt over to the limo and set it down by a tire.
    “Well done!” Mr. Cigam said. “You two must be hungry after such hard work. Snack?” He held a tray of chips up to the window. Inthe center of the tray sat an open jar of nacho cheese dip.

    Henry groaned. But Keats laughed. Mr. Cigam seemed clueless that they could have used the dip … a half hour ago.
    “No thanks, Mr. Cigam,” Keats said. “And I think you might lose your appetite after you see the store.”
    “Pish,” Mr. Cigam said. “My magic is still good for something. I’ll have the Purple Rabbit shipshape by morning.”
    “It’s
your
store?” Henry asked.
    Mr. Cigam nodded. “I used to visit daily. But lately, I’ve been feeling a bit … I don’t know …”
    “Turned around?” Keats guessed.
    “Precisely.” Mr. Cigam’s smile dimmed. “In the old days, I’d never have feared a Wallenda slug. Even if that one slug
can
become a swarm after eating cheese puffs.”
    Henry waggled a finger at the magician. “Don’t beat yourself up, Mr. Cigam. Those slugs are slime-time scary.”
    Mr. Cigam chuckled. “Too true,” he said. “Now there’s the matter of payment. Here you are.” The chip in his hand changed suddenly into a gleaming gold coin. Henry’s eyes went wide.
    Keats hesitated. “Seriously, Mr.