Read Online Shrunk! by F. R. Hitchcock - Free Book Online Page B

away.’
    â€˜Please.’
    â€˜Go away, Tom. You wouldn’t play with me, so I’m never, ever going to play with you.’
    â€˜But I’m not asking to play with you. I’m asking for a game.’
    Silence.
    â€˜Tilly?’
    More silence.
    I go back to my room.
    â€˜No luck with the game,’ I say.
    â€˜You just don’t know how to deal with her,’ he says.
    â€˜You try,’ I say.
    â€˜Are we going to school?’ he asks.
    I nod.
    â€˜Oh goody. I can tell everyone about my adventures with Uncle Tom and Uncle Eric.’
    â€˜No.’ I shrink three comics, and a slightly broken cracker toy. I drop them into a camera case, with an apple, a torch and some jelly beans. Jacob should fit down the side, but I have to take out the apple, because he’s not as small as I thought. ‘You can’t tell anyone anything. Jump in, and keep quiet.’
    I wonder if you can catch a sheep with a corned beef sandwich?
    The animals have moved down into the crazy golf – I can hear them baaing and mooing like mad down there. It’s amazing that Grandma hasn’t spotted them. I’ll have to do something with them later; they can’t live in the model village for ever.
    Eric’s on the bus. We’re all wearing polo shirts, no sweatshirts today, even though it’s the first of November. The henchmen sit on the back seat, muttering. Without Jacob they seem smaller.
    He’s singing in my pocket. ‘
I want to break free . . .
’ No chance. Luckily the grindy gears on the bus drown him out.
    I walk into school, staring up at the sky. In the day it’s all less frightening – you can’t see the meteorites crashing through the atmosphere. It almost feels normal. It’s almost normal to have a tiny devil in my pocket. It’s almost normal to have lost a planet. It’s just very warm.
    During registration, everyone’s talking about Jacob going missing. The police are here, they want to talk to us all. Apparently, Jacob’s been taken by a gang from London and sold into child slavery. Apparently, he’s so clever he’s been taken by boffins from an American university and wired into their computer.
    As if. Why would anyone want Jacob Devlin?
    My insides are knotted with worry now. We still haven’t found Jupiter, so I stare out of the window, pretending to be bored, but actually I’m ready to click on an asteroid if it decides to crash here.
    The police come into our classroom, they’re all sweaty. Three men, three women. I expect they work as a team. Together, they’re achieving more.
    They break up and start questioning us. There’s no getting away from it; they’re going to want to speak to us all. Mr Bell takes them round, he looks all serious and mournful.
    â€˜The poor little lamb,’ he says. Lamb? I’d always seen Jacob as more of a pig.
    â€˜Now, lad,’ says one particularly tall policeman, bending down to talk to me. He smells of aftershave and bacon sandwiches. ‘I’m sure it’s distressing, I’m sure it’s a worry, but you’re not to bother yourself – it won’t happen to you.’
    I nod. I try to look sorry. I keep my eyes turned down. In my pocket I can feel Jacob jumping up and down inside the camera case. I give him a gentle squeeze to shut him up.
    He bites me.
    OW! Shivers run up and down my spine and I feel myself start to cry. Ow, that hurt. The policeman takes one look at my face and pulls a chair up. He sort of folds on to it, and puts his head on one side, giving me that ‘I understand’ look. ‘Don’t cry, lad, it’ll be fine, you’ll see.’
    I keep my mouth shut and nod my head.
    â€˜Thing is, we’re wondering if you saw young Jacob last night, out and about? Were you trick or treating?’
    I shake my head. Then nod. I can’t pretend I wasn’t out – Eric might say we were