Case File 13 #3 (9 page)

Angie's eyes went wide as the homunculus changed into a perfect copy of her, tilted its chin, and said, “I guess I lose a chocolate cupcake.”

Carter's mouth swung open like a box on a hinge. “Carter Junior can turn into a girl?”

Angelo grabbed the creature. It glared up at him with a perfect Angie sneer and said, “I bet Dana that at least one of you would get lost in the woods and they'd have to send out search-and-rescue.”

“It's alive.” Angie stared at her tiny double. “Did you . . .
make
it somehow?”

Angelo shook his head. “We found it while we were camping.”

“An imp?” Dana asked. “Or some type of fairy?”

“That's what I thought at first,” Angelo said, pulling out his notebook. “But after more
research I've come to the conclusion that it's either a homunculus or a mandragora.”

“A tiny human,” Dana whispered almost reverently. “Does anyone else know about it?”

“No,” Nick said at once. “And we want to keep it that way. Do you have any idea what people would do if they found out we have this?”

“Found out you have what?” a voice asked snottily. It was Kimber Tidwell. “Obviously not body odor. Because everyone knows you have that.”

Rebel spotted the homunculus Angelo was still gripping. “He has a doll that looks just like Angie.”

Torrie giggled. “Is she your girlfriend, brainiac? Even
you
can do better than that.”

Before Angelo could stop it, the homunculus squirmed out of his grip and turned into Kimber. Waving its hands theatrically in the air, it said, “Soon everyone will be wearing puffy skirts.” Instantly it changed into Torrie. “Even someone like you can do better than that.”

Kimber pulled down her sunglasses. “How did it do that?”

“It's not a doll. It's alive.” Rebel snatched for the homunculus, but it danced out of her reach, bunched up its fists, and, in a perfect impression of Tiffany's comment that morning, said, “Kimber Tidwell is such a twit.”

Nick grabbed the creature. It twisted in his hands, but he refused to let go. “That's enough show-and-tell.” He gave Angelo a desperate look and hid the homunculus behind his back. “If you girls want your own, check eBay.”

“eBay?” Kimber asked. She moved around to get a better look. But Angelo stepped in front of her.

“Right,” Angelo said. “But good luck getting one. The technology prototypes are nearly impossible to find. Especially with the remote control and facial duplication feature. It takes some serious microprocessing power to pull that off.”

Torrie took off her hat. “What are you talking about? Don't try to tell me that thing's some kind of robot. It moved and talked. It's real.”

“Real impressive animatronics technology,” Dana said. “I'm surprised you haven't heard of it. But then again, you three don't pay attention to that kind of stuff. You're too busy with princess dresses.”

Tiffany laughed. “Maybe you should keep up with the trends.”

Kimber's face went bright red. She spun around. “Come on. Let them play with their toys. They're too lame to have any
real
friends.”

Torrie and Rebel followed her across the playground. But Rebel kept glancing over
her shoulder. “I don't think it was a toy.”

As soon as they were gone, Nick gave Carter the homunculus. “Put that thing away and make sure no one sees it.”

Carter patted the creature, which seemed exhausted by its performance. Wrapping it gently in what looked like a doll blanket, he put it inside his backpack. “Don't worry. I think it's going to sleep.”

“What are you guys going to do with it?” Angie asked. “Please tell me burp breath isn't keeping it as a pet.”

“We're returning it to its primary habitat as soon as possible,” Angelo said. “And you three have to swear not to say anything about it.”

Dana tugged at a strand of honey-colored hair. “We won't tell. But are you sure it's a good idea to take it back?”

Nick watched Carter put the homunculus to bed and realized that, just like his friend, he actually felt sort of protective of the little guy—or girl. “What else would we do with it?”

Dana twisted the strand of hair back and forth. “Who knows if it can live in the wild now that it's been around humans? Besides, it
is
an entirely new species. Scientists would go ape to learn more about it.”

“You want to let people do tests on it?” Angelo asked.

“They wouldn't have to do tests,” Angie said. “They could keep it somewhere safe and study it. Even put it on display.”

Carter balled up his fists. “Nobody's doing tests on Carter Junior. And nobody's putting him in a zoo.”

“Fine.” Dana held up her hands. “I'm just saying we should at least give it a little thought before we decide anything.”

“
We
aren't deciding anything,” Nick growled. “Angelo, Carter, and I are taking Carter Junior back to where he belongs, and the three of you are pretending you never saw a thing.”

Angelo tapped his notebook silently.

Angie nodded. “You three found it. You can do what you want with it. Come on,” she said to Dana and Tiffany. “Let's finish our lunch before the bell rings.”

“That was easy,” Carter said. “I've never seen Angie give up on an argument that quickly.”

“Maybe she realized it was the right thing to do,” Angelo said.

“Maybe,” Nick agreed. But part of him wondered if that was all there was to it.

That night, the three boys gathered at Carter's house. Carter lay on his bed reading a comic book. Spread out on Carter's chest, Carter Junior read a miniature version of the same comic.

Nick swept aside a potato chip bag and at least six candy bar wrappers to sit on the floor by Carter's bed. “How do you live in this mess?”

Carter closed his book long enough to check the chip bag for crumbs. “Just fine, thanks.”

Sitting at the desk, Angelo opened a brown paper bag and took out a couple of Tupperware containers. “I brought some food for the homunculus.”

“Really?” Carter sat up, but wrinkled his nose and plopped back onto his pillow when Angelo opened the containers. “Fruits and vegetables? Yuck.”

“I don't want you to feed it any more candy,” Angelo said. “And no more soda either. From now on it's fruit, vegetables, and water.”

Carter crossed his legs. “I can try. But I don't think he's going to go for that stuff. The little guy's got a serious sweet tooth.”

Carter Junior crossed his legs. “Fruits and vegetables? Yuck.”

Carter chuckled. “See?”

Angelo looked at the homunculus before signaling the other boys. “Can we, um, talk in private? Without you-know-who listening?”

“Sure.” Carter lifted the miniature version of himself off his chest and set him on the floor. “Go get us some Cheetos.”

“Cheetos,” the homunculus repeated before trotting out the door.

“Is that safe?” Nick asked. “What if your family sees him?”

Carter brushed the idea away with a wave. “Mom and Dad are on a date, and my sisters wouldn't look away from the television if the house was on fire. Besides, I've trained Carter Junior to sneak around without being seen.”

“Really?” Angelo jotted something in his notebook. “I wondered if it might be learning. If it is, that makes what I have to say even more important.” He steepled his fingers in front of his chest, almost as if he was praying. “We have to assume the homunculus is capable of more than we think.”

Nick felt something jabbing him in the back and pulled out a Popsicle stick from under the bed. “What do you mean?”

“I think it's doing more than learning about our food and our mannerisms—what we say, how we act. I think it understands
what
we're saying.”

Carter searched under his pillow for a snack. “Of course he does. I've been teaching him all kinds of stuff. How to use the remote control and play video games. He's pretty
good at
Need for Speed Most Wanted
.”

Angelo nodded. “Which means it could know what we're planning.”

Nick sat up straight, understanding dawning on him. “He knows we're planning on returning him to the forest?”

Angelo frowned. “And it's entirely possible the homunculus doesn't want to go back to a place where there won't be any more sugar, snacks, or video games.”

“Are you saying we can keep him?” Carter asked.

“No. The homunculus is a wild creature.” Angelo gave Carter a meaningful look. “Whether we like it or not, being removed from the wild is not good for it. However, we must at least consider the possibility that the creature may try to stop us from returning it to its home.”

“Wow,” Nick said. He checked the hallway to make sure the homunculus wasn't outside listening. “What should we do?”

Angelo got up from the desk. “I checked the bus schedule, and we can get dropped off at the exit where your dad got off the freeway. But getting there and back will be an all-day trip. We can't pull it off until this weekend.”

He shut the bedroom door. “Until then, we need to keep it either where we can see it or locked up at all times.” He turned to Carter. “Do you have a cage or tank of some kind?”

Carter thought for a minute. “I have an aquarium I used to keep turtles in. I don't have the turtles. But I still have the aquarium in my closet.”

Angelo walked to the bed and placed a hand on Carter's shoulder. “I know this might be difficult for you. But from now until Saturday, anytime you are sleeping, at school, or anywhere you can't see it, Carter Junior needs to be locked in the aquarium. And make sure you put something heavy over the top of the tank. I think the homunculus could be a lot stronger than he lets us see.”

Tuesday morning, Nick woke up early with a weird craving for chocolate-coated Cheetos. Either he'd been having bizarre dreams or Carter was rubbing off on him. Determined to resist the temptation, he reached for a box of Rice Chex for breakfast. But he hadn't even poured the milk when Carter himself came busting through the kitchen door, tennis shoes squeaking on the kitchen tiles as he raced across them.

“Is Angelo here?” he gasped, looking around wildly.

“No.” Nick checked the clock on the wall. “And you shouldn't be either. School doesn't start for more than an hour.”

Carter grabbed Nick's arm. “You have to help me before Angelo finds out.”

Nick felt a ball of ice form in his gut as all thoughts of food disappeared. “Before Angelo finds out
what
?”

“Okay, here it is.” Carter took a couple of deep breaths to steady himself and said, “Carter Junior is gone.”

“Are you kidding me?” Nick leaped to his feet. “Didn't you put him in the aquarium?”

“Of course I did,” Carter said, panting as if he'd run all the way from his house. “I put a little bed in there and water and vegetables just like Angelo said. I gave him the Nintendo DS, and a bag of Skittles to hold him over. I don't think he liked it when I put the board on top. But I did it anyway. I even put, like, ten pounds of books on top of the board.”

Nick squeezed his hands together, trying not to blow up. “How did he get out then?”

“I don't know,” Carter said. “When I woke up this morning, the board and the books were still there. But Carter Junior wasn't.”

Nick tried to think. “Was there another opening in the aquarium?”

Carter shook his head. “Nothing. I left a crack at the top for air. But it was so tiny a grasshopper couldn't have squeezed through.”

“Go back to your house and look again,” Nick said. “Maybe he's just hiding. I'll call Angelo and we'll meet you there.”

“But . . . ,” Carter said, clearly not wanting Angelo to know what he'd done. He hung his head. “I guess we need all the help we can get.” Ten minutes later, Nick skidded to a stop in front of Carter's house. Angelo's bike was already parked out front. Inside, Carter's four sisters were fighting over the bathroom, while his little brother was glued to cartoons. Nick found Carter and Angelo poking around under Carter's bed and inside his closet. “Find anything?” he asked.

Carter shook his head miserably. He glared at Angelo. “This is your fault. Until I locked him up, Carter Junior never even considered leaving. You scared him off.”

Angelo polished his glasses furiously on the front of his shirt. “You have no way of
knowing what it was thinking.”

“Well, I know now,” Carter said. “He hated me closing him in that glass prison and he left.”

“Come on, guys,” Nick said. “This isn't helping.” He examined the aquarium. It was just as Carter had described. The crack was big enough to let in air and no more. “How could he have escaped without moving the books?”