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you.”
    And with that, Sticky jumped off Dave’s shoulder and scurried into the pit.

Chapter 9
THE PIT OF DOOM
    A Komodo dragon senses its prey with its foot-long tongue. It can hear (although not very well) and can see (although what it recognizes, primarily, is movement), but it is the long yellow tongue that tells it the most. Each tip of the forked tongue delivers airborne molecules from potential prey to organs on the roof of its mouth. Organs that can tell, amazingly, if the left tip has more prey molecules than the right tip. Organs that let the dragon know which way to go.
    This is why the Komodo dragon’s tongue flicks in and out so frequently.
    This is why the tongue is forked.
    This is why the dragon’s head swings from left to right as it walks.
    It is looking for something to kill.
    Komodo dragons typically like big prey. Prey that will sustain them for days on end. Prey like deer and boars and goats, and yes, when available, humans.
    And, like a hinge-jawed garbage disposal, the Komodo dragon will consume nearly all of its prey with its large, serrated teeth. From brain to bones, it leaves very little of its victim behind.
    A Komodo dragon does
not
, however, usually bother with little things like mice or toads or speedy gecko lizards. There’s not enough there worth hunting.
    So it was with a certain amount of immunity that Sticky now entered the dragon’s pit and scurried across it toward the den.
    Dave, as you might imagine, knew none of this. All he knew was that he’d risked life and limb totransport a sneaky, talking gecko lizard into a devilish dungeon, where he was now totally alone.
    Well, alone in the sense that he had no one to talk to.
    There were still, of course, the Bandito Brothers.
    And where, you ask, were they?
    A very good question, and precisely the one Dave was asking himself at that very moment.
    To get the answer, Dave crept along, keeping one eye on the dragon’s den into which Sticky had disappeared, one on the dragon chomping ferociously on his feathered prey, and one on the end of the wall ahead of him, wondering what awaited him around the corner.
    (Yes, that would indeed give him three eyes, but under such circumstances, eyes are allowed to dart back and forth doing double duty, so stop counting.)
    What Dave discovered was that all threeBandito Brothers were hanging in separate cages from telescoping cranes. At the moment, the cranes were retracted, but they had the ability to extend out and over the dragon pit and whoosh open, dropping whatever was inside them into the pit.
    Now, being fairly new to the ways of sneaky-peeking around disgusting, devilish dungeons, Dave made the mistake of jerking back when he saw the Brothers. Jerking back is the thing one naturally does when trying not to be seen, but it is also, unfortunately, what usually gives one away.
    â€œDid you see that?” Angelo said.
    â€œIt was a boy!” Pablo replied.
    â€œWhere? Where?” the rocky-brained Tito asked.
    â€œShhh!” the other two commanded.
    Then Pablo said, “Pssst! Boy! We saw you. Now come quickly! Before that insane Mr. Black returns.”
    â€œIf you help us, we’ll help you!” Angelo whispered hoarsely.

    â€œDon’t be afraid,” Pablo coaxed. “Set us free and we won’t tell him you’re here.” Then, in a sly voice, he added, “And if you don’t, we will!”
    Had Dave known the Bandito Brothers, he would have expected this. You see, blackmail was a big part of their repertoire.
    It was a tactic that they used regularly.
    Liberally.
    And, as you might suspect, with great relish.

    Which is to say, they enjoyed using it as much as one might enjoy using mustard or ketchup or chopped pickles on one’s hot dog, as opposed to eating it, say, plain.
    Yes, blackmail, the Bandito Brothers all agreed, made everything so much yummier.
    But to Dave, the thought of setting the Brothers free did make