know what.
14
Jasper, Felix and Saffy continued along the tunnel. It seemed to be growing darker. Maybe their torches were running out of batteries?
âShhh,â said Felix. âI can hear something.â
âThe whispering, yeah?â asked Jasper.
âNo, itâs more like a squelching.â
They all stopped to listen, but the sound was gone. Felix shrugged and checked the blueprint again. âThis way,â he said, bravely taking the lead. He turned around the corner into another pipe. Saffy and Jasper followed close behind.
As they rounded the corner, Saffy and Jasper smacked straight into Felix, who had stopped dead in his tracks.
âUm, change of plans,â whispered Felix.
There, squelched in front of them, was the Grubbergrind. It thrashed its tentacles in the air as it moved towards them. It looked bigger than when Jasper had seen it dropped into the toilet. In fact, Jasper wasnât sure how it had even fitted down there.
âPerhaps the rats arenât so bad after all,â Felix whispered.
Saffy slowly pulled the net from her backpack. âEasy now,â she cooed. Jasper and Felix stayed frozen to the spot. The Grubbergrind looked like some sort of mutant octopus. A mutant octopus that ate people. Maybe thatâs why it had grown. Had it eaten another Task team?
Saffy crept in closer to the monster, keeping just out of reach of its giant nipper-ended tentacles. She raised the net over its head. The Grubbergrind seemed to smile. Jasper didnât know monsters could smile.
As Saffyâs net came down over the monsterâs head, it opened its mouth wide and shot a long line of goo towards her. The goo went straight through the netting and hit Saffy squarely in the face.
There was a tense moment as everyone waited to see what would happen. âGross,â said Saffy, wiping the goo out of her eyes.
âDoes it taste like fish?â Jasper asked.
But Saffy didnât reply. Instead, she began to shrink. Bit by bit.
Her arms shrank first, and Saffy yelled in surprise as her arms shrank to the size of two pins. Then the determined look on her face grew smaller as her head shrank away. There was a POP, and her body shrank to the size of an orange pip. Saffy was nothing more than a pair of legs with a miniature body and head attached. And then, with a swoosh , her legs seemed to wind in on themselves, and Saffy was no more than the size of a fly.
And drowning in the stinky water.
âSaffy!â screamed Felix and Jasper together.
Jasper didnât stop to think. He stretched his arm towards the flailing Saffy. He picked her up on his finger, like you would a caterpillar. He was relieved to see she looked OK. Trying to resuscitate someone that small would have been tricky.
âAaaaargh!â Felix yelled in some kind of war cry. Jasper looked up just in time to see Felix fly at the monster and deliver a fierce karate kick at its head.
âGo Felix!â he yelled, forgetting about Saffy for a moment and almost dropping her. A tiny sharp bite to his finger brought him back to his senses.
Jasper had felt the force of Felixâs karate kicks before, and didnât think the blubbery octopus had a chance.
That was, until Felixâs leg bounced off the monster and he was instantly covered in swirling goo. Felix gave Jasper a look of despair, before following Saffyâs performance of shrinking bit by bit into the water.
Jasper knew that if he got shot by goo, they would all drown. He grabbed Felixâs tiny body from the water and put both Felix and Saffy into his hoodie pocket. Then he reached carefully into his pack.
âChicken, my beauty?â he growled, doing his best impersonation of Mr Golag. Jasper remembered the tender look that had crossed Mr Golagâs face when he looked at the monster, and tried to imagine himself feeling the same sort of affection for something so horrible. The Grubbergrind closed its mouth and
14
Jasper, Felix and Saffy continued along the tunnel. It seemed to be growing darker. Maybe their torches were running out of batteries?
âShhh,â said Felix. âI can hear something.â
âThe whispering, yeah?â asked Jasper.
âNo, itâs more like a squelching.â
They all stopped to listen, but the sound was gone. Felix shrugged and checked the blueprint again. âThis way,â he said, bravely taking the lead. He turned around the corner into another pipe. Saffy and Jasper followed close behind.
As they rounded the corner, Saffy and Jasper smacked straight into Felix, who had stopped dead in his tracks.
âUm, change of plans,â whispered Felix.
There, squelched in front of them, was the Grubbergrind. It thrashed its tentacles in the air as it moved towards them. It looked bigger than when Jasper had seen it dropped into the toilet. In fact, Jasper wasnât sure how it had even fitted down there.
âPerhaps the rats arenât so bad after all,â Felix whispered.
Saffy slowly pulled the net from her backpack. âEasy now,â she cooed. Jasper and Felix stayed frozen to the spot. The Grubbergrind looked like some sort of mutant octopus. A mutant octopus that ate people. Maybe thatâs why it had grown. Had it eaten another Task team?
Saffy crept in closer to the monster, keeping just out of reach of its giant nipper-ended tentacles. She raised the net over its head. The Grubbergrind seemed to smile. Jasper didnât know monsters could smile.
As Saffyâs net came down over the monsterâs head, it opened its mouth wide and shot a long line of goo towards her. The goo went straight through the netting and hit Saffy squarely in the face.
There was a tense moment as everyone waited to see what would happen. âGross,â said Saffy, wiping the goo out of her eyes.
âDoes it taste like fish?â Jasper asked.
But Saffy didnât reply. Instead, she began to shrink. Bit by bit.
Her arms shrank first, and Saffy yelled in surprise as her arms shrank to the size of two pins. Then the determined look on her face grew smaller as her head shrank away. There was a POP, and her body shrank to the size of an orange pip. Saffy was nothing more than a pair of legs with a miniature body and head attached. And then, with a swoosh , her legs seemed to wind in on themselves, and Saffy was no more than the size of a fly.
And drowning in the stinky water.
âSaffy!â screamed Felix and Jasper together.
Jasper didnât stop to think. He stretched his arm towards the flailing Saffy. He picked her up on his finger, like you would a caterpillar. He was relieved to see she looked OK. Trying to resuscitate someone that small would have been tricky.
âAaaaargh!â Felix yelled in some kind of war cry. Jasper looked up just in time to see Felix fly at the monster and deliver a fierce karate kick at its head.
âGo Felix!â he yelled, forgetting about Saffy for a moment and almost dropping her. A tiny sharp bite to his finger brought him back to his senses.
Jasper had felt the force of Felixâs karate kicks before, and didnât think the blubbery octopus had a chance.
That was, until Felixâs leg bounced off the monster and he was instantly covered in swirling goo. Felix gave Jasper a look of despair, before following Saffyâs performance of shrinking bit by bit into the water.
Jasper knew that if he got shot by goo, they would all drown. He grabbed Felixâs tiny body from the water and put both Felix and Saffy into his hoodie pocket. Then he reached carefully into his pack.
âChicken, my beauty?â he growled, doing his best impersonation of Mr Golag. Jasper remembered the tender look that had crossed Mr Golagâs face when he looked at the monster, and tried to imagine himself feeling the same sort of affection for something so horrible. The Grubbergrind closed its mouth and
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