Read The Sasquatch Escape (The Imaginary Veterinary) for Free Online Page B

Mr. Tabby said. “This hatchling was in our nursery. The cat must have gotten in somehow.”
    “Probably through one of the broken windows,” Pearl said.
    Ben still couldn’t believe they were talking about dragons. Real, living, breathing dragons. “I don’t understand something,” he said. “If this is a worm hospital, how come you had a baby dragon in your nursery?”
    “Another bothersome question.” Mr. Tabby removed the gloves. “The hatchling will need surgery to treat the broken wing and the cat bite.”
    “Can I have it back after the surgery?” Ben asked.



“No.”
    “But—”
    “If I gave the hatchling to you, I would be breaking the law,” Mr. Tabby said. “Creatures from the Imaginary World are not allowed to live in the Known World. Look what happened with the Loch Ness monster.”
    “What?” Pearl said with a gasp. “You’re telling us that the Loch Ness monster is real?”
    Mr. Tabby cleared his throat. “Again, I shall ignore that question.”
    “But the big dragon is living here,” Ben pointed out. “In the…Known World.”
    “The
big dragon
has Dr. Woo’s permission to live here. Oh dear, I shouldn’t have told you that.” Mr. Tabby folded his arms and stared at the two kids, who wore equal looks of surprise. “Even if I agreed to give you the hatchling, which I would not do, but even if I did, how would you take care of it?”
    “I don’t know,” Ben said with a shrug.
    “I could keep it in my bedroom,” Pearl said. “I have a big bedroom.”
    “My dear girl, do you live in a castle?”
    “No, I live above the Dollar Store.”
    Mr. Tabby raised a red eyebrow. “The tiny creature you see before you will grow to be fifteen feet long, with a twenty-foot wingspan and the weight of one ton. When it reaches puberty, more barbs will sprout on its tail. Flames will shoot from its snout when it is frightened, angry, or simply bored. Unless the Dollar Store is made of stone, you will have constant visits from the fire department. And then there is the issue of feeding it.”
    “We can make dragon’s milk,” Ben said. “We can use your recipe.”
    “The recipe will only help you for a few days. The milk must be served boiling hot, which is a dangerous feat. The hatchling will grow very quickly and will require fresh meat. Squirrels, rats, and rabbits will do at first. But a full-grown wyvern will eat a cow a day.”
    “Wow,” Ben said. “That’s a lot of meat.”
    “Exactly.” Mr. Tabby picked up the cookie tin and set it on the conveyor belt. “I will send the wyvern to the surgery room.”
    “But you said that Dr. Woo is making a house call,” Ben pointed out. “Who will do the surgery?”
    “The splinting of a wing and the stitching of a wound are simple matters.” He pressed a button, and the conveyor belt began a steady roll, carrying the cookie tin and its occupant into the tunnel. Ben wanted to grab the tin and not let it go. But he knew the baby dragon was going to get the help it needed. He and Pearl stood at the tunnel’s entrance, watching until the hatchling disappeared.
    “I didn’t even get the chance to hold it,” Pearl said sadly.
    “Good-bye,” Ben whispered.
    “Now I will escort you two from the building. Most certainly your parents are wondering about your absence.”
    “I’m supposed to get home to do chores,” Pearl said. “I’ll be in big trouble if—”
    An alarm rang and a nasal voice shot out of aspeaker that was set high in the wall. “Emergency code yellow, emergency code yellow. Sasquatch escape. All personnel needed immediately.”
    Pearl and Ben shared a stunned look.
    Normally, someone shouting “Sasquatch escape” would have made Ben laugh. But very few “normal” things had happened since he’d come to Buttonville.
    “Oh dear,” Mr. Tabby said. “Well, no need to worry. As long as the front door is bolted, we should not have any cause for concern.”
    Ben gulped. His mind raced to the front door and its