Gasp of the Ghoulish Guinea Pig (4 page)

CHAPTER SIX

“Weird!” said Toby as they pulled up outside Spiker’s house a few hours later. “Why are you going to Spiker’s house? You hate him!”

“I don’t!” Joe felt his cheeks redden.

“It
is
a bit odd,” added Dad. “I mean, you’ve never wanted to hang out with him before.”

Flash, who was sitting on Joe’s knee, gave a sudden squeak. “They’re home!” He was looking at the Crawfords’ car, which was now parked in the drive outside their house. “I want to see Bolt and Lightning!”

As Joe opened the car door, Flash jumped off his knee, scrambled out and raced up the Crawfords’ path, disappearing into the house.

“Can we go and see George?” asked Toby, undoing his seatbelt.

“No!” said Dad firmly. “You’ll see George tomorrow at the party.”

Toby refastened his belt. “S’pose.”

Joe climbed out of the car and spotted Spiker waiting for him on his doorstep. Joe gulped. He felt like he was about to enter the dragon’s lair.

“All right,” mumbled Spiker. “Want to come upstairs?”

Spiker’s house wasn’t what Joe was expecting. In fact, it was just like his.

“That’s my room,” Spiker said, nodding to the first door on the landing. “Go in, if you want.”

It was bigger than Joe’s bedroom and much tidier. There were posters on the walls of
snakes, lizards and spiders. In the corner was a small TV with a bean bag next to it and a pile of games stacked up. On top of the chest of drawers, Joe noticed several wooden models.

“Is that a lizard?” he asked, picking up the largest one.

“It’s a komodo dragon,” said Spiker. “I made it with my granddad. He’s got an amazing workshop with loads of power tools.”

Joe turned the model round to get a closer look.

“Careful! I spent ages on that.” Spiker took it from Joe and put it back on his chest of drawers.

“Is that a rattlesnake?” Joe pointed to a poster above Spiker’s bed.

“Yeah, it’s an Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake. That’s the heaviest poisonous snake in America!”

“I’ve got a tree python’s tooth at home,” Joe said.

“Yeah, right!” Spiker rolled his eyes.

“No, really! My great-uncle Charlie got bitten by it when he was trekking in the rainforest in Australia! He brought the tooth back as a present for me.”

Spiker shook his head. “Don’t believe you.”

“It’s true – you can come round and see it if you want.”

“Yeah?”

Joe nodded. Then he realized that he’d just invited his least favourite boy in the whole school round to his house. Working together to catch the snake was one thing, but hanging out together was another matter!

“Cool! A tarantula!” Joe said, pointing to another poster to change the subject.

“Yeah! Harley’s got a real one. Do you want to see it?”

Joe followed Spiker back on to the landing.

“We’ve got to wash our hands first,” Spiker said.

“What?” Joe asked, frowning.

“The bathroom’s here. We shouldn’t bring germs into the room,” Spiker explained.

Joe looked at Spiker to figure out whether he was joking, but he was deadly serious.

They both washed their hands and then Spiker led the way to Harley’s room.

It was a bit like a jungle. The curtains were
almost closed and the tank lights gave the room a greeny-yellow glow.

“Don’t touch anything,” hissed Spiker. “Harley’s got everything fixed at the right temperature. All these creatures are very delicate!” Spiker crouched down by a plastic tank that contained an enormous hairy tarantula. “This is Zena,” he said. “She’s awesome, isn’t she! Want to hold her?”

Joe hesitated. He didn’t want Spiker to think he was a wimp, but didn’t tarantulas bite?

“Ha! Only joking,” smirked Spiker.

Joe tried not to look too relieved. “Does she bite?”

“Nah…”

Joe looked round at the other tanks. In one, a small spotty lizard was staring out at them.

“That’s a leopard gecko,” Spiker told Joe. “There are two of them in there, but the other one’s shy. And that’s Cheese next door…”

“Cheese?” Joe peered into the next tank.

“Yeah, his mate’s called Pickle.”

Joe smiled. “Is he a turtle?”

“No, he’s a terrapin. Want to hold him?”

This time he wasn’t joking.

“Remember, be careful!” growled Spiker. “Look, I’ll show you…” He picked the terrapin up out of the tank. “You support him under his body like this.”

He handed the terrapin to Joe, watching him like a hawk. “If you drop him, he’ll die.” Spiker glared menacingly at Joe. “And so will you!”

“He’s amazing!” said Joe, peering at the tiny creature in his hand. “How do you know so much about all these animals?”

Spiker put the terrapin back in the tank. “Harley works at the Reptile Rescue Group in town. They rehome reptiles and amphibians.”

“What do you mean?” Joe asked.

Spiker looked at Joe as if he was a moron. “They save abandoned pets! Some people don’t want them when they get bigger. Or they don’t look after them properly. So Reptile Rescue finds them new homes. Most of Harley’s creatures come from there. He’s just looking after them till they find permanent homes.”

Joe looked around. It was strange to think these cool creatures were all unwanted pets.

“I’m gonna help the rescue group, too, when I’m old enough,” Spiker said proudly.

“So what happened to Thor?” Joe asked.

Spiker looked embarrassed. “Harley’s away for a few days on a training course. Me and Dad are looking after the animals for him. It’s pretty easy. I can manage most of them myself. But I’m not allowed to touch the snakes without Dad.”

“Then how did Thor escape?”

Spiker shrugged. “Thor’s my favourite.
I only had him out for five minutes. I must have forgotten to put the brick on the lid of his vivarium when I put him back.”

“And he pushed his way out?” asked Joe.

“Don’t tell my parents! They’ll never let me get a snake of my own if they find out!”

“Haven’t they noticed?”

“No. Mum doesn’t like the reptiles so she never comes in here and Dad trusts me. The snakes don’t need to be fed every day…”

Joe nodded. He remembered reading that on the internet.

“Most of the time Dad just pops his head in and checks the sheet.” Spiker pointed to a clipboard lying on the bed. “Harley makes me tick a feeding and care sheet for them all.” Spiker frowned. “Anyway, we’re gonna find Thor, aren’t we! We’ve got to,” growled Spiker, “or Harley will kill me!”

CHAPTER SEVEN

“Joe, Joe!”

Flash had appeared in Harley’s bedroom. “You’ve got to come and look for the snake. I can smell it, but I can’t see it!”

Suddenly Flash froze. He glanced round at all the strange creatures in the room then threw himself at Joe’s feet, shaking like a jelly. “What is this place? It’s horrible!” Perfumed bubbles exploded out of Flash’s nose.

Spiker sniffed the air and looked at Joe suspiciously.

Joe coughed. “Should we start searching for Thor now?” he said to Spiker. “I bet there are loads of places a snake could hide in here.”

Flash gave an indignant snort. “The snake’s not in here!” He head-butted Joe’s ankle angrily. “The snake’s next door!”

“Let’s wash our hands again, then we’ll start looking,” said Spiker.

“What?” Joe frowned. “But we just washed them!”

“But we touched the terrapin. They can spread salmonella,” Spiker replied.

Spiker is never this sensible at school!
Joe thought.

“You go first,” said Spiker. “I’ve got to check the terrapins’ tank to make sure the lid is on properly.”

Flash followed Joe into the bathroom. “You’ve got to come and find that snake! Now!”

Joe turned on the tap then scooped Flash
up. “Listen, Flash,” he whispered. “Thor might have come back here again – he could be in Spiker’s house now. We’re going to look for him!”

“The snake is
not
here,” Flash snorted. “It’s next door!”

“Well, maybe I can find out how he got next door and then put some food down to tempt him back. That’s what the pet- shop man told Spiker to do. It’s worth a try!”

For the next hour they looked everywhere. Luckily Spiker’s mum was too busy gardening to notice.

“Check the bin!” said Joe as they peered inside the kitchen cupboards. “And round the back of the fridge, too. The motor makes it warm.”

“It’s not there!” grumbled Flash from Joe’s pocket. “I’ve told you – the snake’s next door!”

“Where did you find your cousin’s snake?” asked Spiker.

Joe blushed. He hated fibbing. “It was inside the airing cupboard,” he said, remembering where the girl in the shop had found her boa constrictor.

“Right, we’ll look there, too!”

Ten minutes later they were back upstairs in Harley’s room.

“Nothing,” groaned Spiker. “Harley’s going to go ballistic!”

Joe didn’t reply. He was on his hands and knees, peering behind Thor’s vivarium. He could see a large crack in the skirting board. He stood up and patted the wall. “This leads through to next door, doesn’t it?”

Spiker nodded.

“What if Thor crawled through the gap
behind the tank? Maybe he got through to the house next door.”

“Ha!” scoffed Spiker. “I think I’d have heard if a snake had appeared in the Crawfords’ house!”

“It has, it has!” squealed Flash.

“Yeah,” said Joe. “But what if he’s found somewhere cosy to hide? Maybe they don’t know.”

“Mum would go crazy!” Spiker replied.

“Fetch some snake food,” said Joe, “and leave it by this crack. Maybe the smell will make Thor come back. When did you last feed him?”

“A few days ago. So he’ll be getting hungry,” said Spiker. “I’ll go and fetch some dead mice to put out for him.”

“Dead mice!” squeaked Flash. Joe’s pocket began to quake.

“AHHHHH!” Joe sat bolt upright in the darkness.

“What is it, Joe?” Flash poked his head out from under the bedsheet.

“SNAKES!” spluttered Joe. “EVERYWHERE!”

Flash gave a squeal and dived back under the covers.

“Joe?” His bedroom light went on. Dad stood in the doorway.

Joe blinked a few times, then realized he’d been dreaming.

After spending the afternoon at Spiker’s house, all he’d been able to think about was snakes! Now he was dreaming about them, too.

“Snakes,” Joe said, suddenly feeling a bit silly.

“They were everywhere! Under the floorboards, popping out of the taps, in the toilet…”

“I think you’ve been spending too much time with Spiker and his scary pets!” said Dad.

“They’re not scary – they’re amazing, really…”

“I’ll take your word for it, Joe! Goodnight!” Dad turned off the light and shut the door.

“You can come out now!” whispered Joe.

Flash gave a squeak. “Not until the snakes have gone!”

“There weren’t any snakes. I was just dreaming.”

Flash scrabbled up. “Are you sure? Poor Bolt and Lightning – I wonder if they’ve seen the snake. They’ll be terrified! And what if it’s already eaten them?” grumbled Flash.

“Thor’s probably back in Harley’s room by now,” said Joe. “You’ll be gone by the morning!”

“What?”

“Well,” mumbled Joe sleepily. “If Thor goes home, your problems will be solved.”
And I’ll get my bed back to myself
, he thought with a smile.

But when morning came, Flash was still there.

“I don’t want to go to the dentist today!” wailed Toby, who was sitting at the kitchen table, squishing the last bits of his breakfast
cereal with the back of his spoon. “Why do we have to go? It’s the holidays!”

Mum ignored him. “Hurry up with your breakfast, Joe,” she said, picking up Toby’s bowl and putting it in the sink. “And Toby, go and brush your teeth.” Then she turned to Dad. “Don’t forget you’re dropping Toby at George’s party this afternoon – I’ve got clients until five o’clock. Are you sure you don’t want to go, Joe?”

“What?” Joe was thinking about snakes again.

“The party – at George and Erin’s house?”

Joe frowned. Maybe he
should
go. To see if he could spot the snake…

“Don’t you want to see Doctor Franken-Bubble?” asked Toby, prodding Joe’s arm. “The monster party’s going to be so exciting!”

Yeah
, thought Joe,
especially if an enormous snake shows up!