Newt Nemesis (7 page)

“Don't push your luck, ugly,” muttered the hedgehog, spitting out frothy blobs.

Josh didn't. He staggered back underneath Petty's arm.

“Eeeeurgh! Human!” shrieked the hedgehog, noticing Petty for the first time. It ran away at high speed. Josh looked at his bleeding belly and checked for entrails. No. It was just a light skin wound this time. But the next thing that came along might not be so picky . . .

“It IS! I bet you it IS!” said Charlie, jumping up and down next to the familiar white spray bottle.

“It could be anything,” said Danny, eyeing the bottle with mistrust. “It could be SpiderSWITCH . . .” he shuddered. “And then we'd be even worse off than now!”

“But look—remember—when Petty S.W.I.T.C.H.ed us all, she said she'd mixed up one of the bottles with her lens cleaning spray for her glasses!” explained Charlie. “So if she had the wrong bottle in her coat, she must have mixed it up with the right bottle. The antidote bottle. And this one is right here next to her lens wipe cloth! It's ANTIDOTE! I know it is!”

Danny gulped. “Or it could be ToadSWITCH. She lost that one too.”

“Only one way to find out,” said Charlie.

“OK,” sighed Danny. “I'll hold it in front of my face and you—jump on the spray button!”

He grabbed the bottle and positioned the nozzle side in front of his face. He shut his eyes. “GO!”

Charlie jumped up and landed both her arms with force on the spray button. Danny closed his mouth and nostrils too and felt the cool spray land on him.

He felt a familiar tingle. “Better move out of the—”

“—WAY!” Danny shot up the walls and nearly hit his head on the ceiling. Well—it felt that way. In fact, he was just his usual boy size, sprawling across the wooden floor. As he lay there, dazed, a frog hopped up on his chest—and went on hopping.

He didn't need a translator to know that Charlie was shouting, “S.W.I.T.C.H. ME now! S.W.I.T.C.H. ME!”

“Oh look! It's Danny! Danny—over here!” called Mom as her son hurtled past with a girl she hadn't met before.

“Can't stop!” yelled Danny. “Saving a life!”

“OK, dear!” laughed Mom. “Where's Josh?”

“Josh is a newt!” yelled back their son.

Mom smiled at Dad. “Those boys! Always living in a fantasy world!”

Petty didn't look good when they got to her. Her face and neck and legs and arms were all swollen, and her skin looked mottled and purple.
Charlie lost no time. She pulled the cap off the EpiPen and, like her friend had shown her, drove the spiky bit hard into Petty's leg, just above the snakebite.

“Is that it? Is she going to get better?” asked Danny, peering down at Petty in alarm.

He got his answer four tense minutes later. Petty's puffiness began to subside very quickly and then her eyes opened and then the whistly noise went out of her breathing. After ten minutes, she was sitting up.

“You took your time!” she said. “I was nearly DEAD!”

“Yeah, well—so were we!” said Danny. He glanced back at Charlie and then noticed that Josh wasn't there. “Hang on! Where's Josh? Where is he?”

“Um . . . I'm not sure . . .” said Petty, looking a little awkward. “But I think he may have been eaten by a hedgehog.”

“WHAT?!” yelled Danny. He sank to his knees, horror struck.

“He might not have been,” said Petty. “I couldn't really see much. He was just behind me. I was NEARLY DEAD myself, you know.”

“This isn't a HOW NEARLY DEAD I'VE BEEN TODAY competition!” screeched Danny, swiping through the long grass desperately. “JOSH! JOSH! Where are you?!”

“Stand back,” said Charlie. “And stand still! You might have just stamped on him!”

Danny peered at the soles of his feet in horror but found no sign of newt squish on them. His heart thundered in his chest as he looked desperately around. Had he lost his twin? How would he ever explain this to Mom and Dad? How would he ever cope with spiders under his bed without Josh? He gulped.

Then Charlie stepped carefully forward and sent a long spray of S.W.I.T.C.H. antidote into the grass. Then another long spray. Then another.

FWUMP! Josh suddenly elbowed Petty hard in the ear.

“Aaargh!” she yelled. “MIND OUT! Don't you know I was NEARLY DEAD?!”

“Well I got chewed by a hedgehog!” announced Josh. But he jumped to his feet and gave Charlie and Danny a joint hug. “We're all ALIVE!” he grinned.

“Yes!” beamed Charlie. She looked at her watch. “And we've got just under a minute to get to the tepee and do the show!”

“Hurry up! Hurry up!” hissed Amy as soon as she saw Charlie, Danny, and Josh running toward the tepee. “Everyone's here and Drill Serg—I mean, Steve, is furious you're holding everything up!”

They flung themselves into their costumes, with great relief that their legs and feet were normal again. One minute later, they rushed to the end of the lineup of caveman dancers. Nobody would have noticed they were late, thought Danny. Nobody would notice anything unusual at all.

Even Petty, looking perfectly normal again and not remotely puffy or nearly dead, had taken a seat among the parents. Mom and Dad waved. Piddle, carefully leashed and sitting nicely between Dad's knees, grinned and lolled his tongue about. Mom got out her video camera.