ILLUSIONS IN THE GARDEN
Once the school was out of sight, Trevor slowed his steps. His breath came in ragged gasps. Nerves, he thought. I have to calm down. He forced himself to walk slower and take deep breaths. He placed Amber’s bag in his T-shirt pocket.
The tips of the leaf jars for the dog and Mrs. Hayworth poked out of the bag’s side pockets. He pulled out the yellow jar, the one for the cat. Its resin seal had a faint crack leaving a thin trail of sparkles down the side. With dismay he saw sparkles on his fingers. Afraid of the powder, but also afraid more would leak out if he put it back in the bag, he gritted his teeth and decided to carry the jar.
He stopped under a tree across the street where he could see the garden. No sign of anyone, but he had a vague sense of something large lurking in the dark and coming closer. He caught glimpses of a shadow passing under cars and slipping into bushes. A faint mew filled him with relief. Brownie joined him as they had planned.
The cat rubbed up against his leg and mewed softly. Trevor followed his gaze to a fuzzy yellow ball under a bush at the far side of the garden. Max. He scratched Brownie’s ears.
“I see him, but there’s no one else out. Maybe he won’t wake up if we’re quiet. We can follow the sidewalk up to the porch. Then just a few stepping stones to the catnip?”
Brownie mewed.
“Just in case, I have the cat dust ready.” He cradled it in his fist. “We don’t have much time before I shrink. Let’s go.”
Any sound from his shoes was drowned out by a mocking bird. It sat on the fence and sang its repertoire of other bird songs. As they approached, it spotted Brownie and began scolding. Trevor waved his arms and it flew to the top of a large tree where it continued its imitations.
The latch grated on the stone when he opened the gate. Trevor froze and looked at the house. The curtains rippled against the kitchen window, but it was only from the evening breeze. They slipped inside and made their way up to the porch. The breeze stirred the bushes and made shadows dance around the garden. Brownie jumped and chased a leaf across the porch.
“What are you doing? Brownie!” Trevor’s voice came out in a harsh whisper. He hurried forward. Just as his foot touched the bottom step, a figure loomed in the doorway. Trevor gasped and his foot missed the step. He fell forward and threw out his hand to catch himself. His hand scraped the iron railing and the leaf jar flew out of his hand. It landed with a tiny snap and rolled across the porch.
The door began to stretch taller. His shirt pocket ripped as the backpack swelled up in front of his face. He pawed if out of his way. As it swung to the side he saw the cement step rising up over his head. Fear swept through him as he realized he was shrinking and was stranded on the bottom step.
A dark form dashed toward him from across the yard. The animal grabbed the bag in its mouth and Trevor screamed. His arm tangled in the strap and he was jerked into the air. With feet swinging wildly he clung to the bag. He was carried up a small knoll and dropped on a pile of mulch chips under an evergreen bush.
Frantically he tried to scramble to his feet. He yelled again as he saw a furry face looking down at him with big teeth.
“Quiet Trevor,” Brownie said. “It’s just me.”
With heart thumping he threw his arms around the cat’s leg. Brownie wrapped his tail around him. “We should be safe here for the moment.”
He brushed the dirt off his shirt and wiped his hands on his pants.
“We have a good view of things from here,” Brownie said.
Trevor climbed out on a branch. Through the leaves he could see the porch. Mrs. Hayworth stood looking out over the garden with her hands on her hips. Something glittered next to her foot. He squinted. It was the broken jar. The one meant for Max.
Maybe she would go back in the house and somehow he could get it back. There might be enough left, if she would just go back in the house. This hope disappeared when she looked down. She stooped and picked up the leaf jar. It crumbled in her hand and a shiny mix drifted through her fingers.
He turned back to Brownie. “That was supposed to be for the cat.”
Brownie poked his head out of the bush and looked across the yard.
Mrs. Hayworth gave a small squeal and cried, “A bobcat!” Then she rushed inside and slammed the door.
Brownie pulled his head back in. “She has me confused with Bob. We look alike you know. Big Yellow is gone.”
“Let’s get the catnip and get out before he comes back,” Trevor said.
“Climb on,” Brownie said. As they started across the garden they could hear Mrs. Hayworth’s voice rising in volume. Something was upsetting her. He hoped she wouldn’t come out with a broom or something worse.
Brownie stopped in front of a patch of plants. A few were crushed where something large had been lying on them. Stems drooped on the ground with unbroken leaves.
Brownie rubbed his face on the leaves and breathed deeply. “This is it,” he said. He started to lie down.
“Get up, Brownie. You’ll be no good at all if you roll in this stuff.”
Brownie snorted and stood up. “Get some extra for me,” he said.
Trevor dropped the bag and dug through it for the knife. Picking an undamaged leaf he started sawing at it. By the time he cut through the stem, his arms were aching. Panting, he picked it up and looked for the bag. Brownie was munching on a leaf with his eyes half closed.
Trevor stabbed the knife into a nearby stem and shouted, “What are you doing?”
Several leaves had been chewed in half and lay at the cat’s feet. Brownie swallowed and scratched his ear. “No need to yell. This is supposed to be a secret mission.”
Trevor rolled up his leaf and shoved it into the bag. “Stop eating that stuff.” He snatched the broken leaves away from Brownie and stuffed them in the bag. This would have been so much easier if he hadn’t shrunk.
Halfway through cutting another stem, he heard sirens in the distance. A low growl made him stop. The sirens were getting closer. Afraid to look and afraid not to, he slowly stood up and turned.
Rex, the Pekinese, was sitting on the steps sniffing the air. Trevor tugged on the leaf. The oil from it coated his hands making them slippery. He gave it a last jerk and the leaf tore. Grabbing the bag, he stuffed it inside and climbed onto Brownie.
Loud barking erupted as Rex spotted them. Growling and snapping he jumped off the porch and tore across the yard.
Through the kitchen window he heard Mrs. Hayworth yelling.
“I tell you there’s a sabertooth tiger and a caveman in my yard. They are threatening my poor little dog!”
What about poor little me, Trevor thought. He dug his fingers into Brownie’s fur. Rex charged and Brownie leaped into the air. The dog passed underneath with jaws snapping.
Mrs. Hayworth was now on the back porch with a broom in one hand and a cell phone in the other. “Yes, a sabertooth tiger,” she yelled into the phone. “A sabertooth tiger and a caveman.”
Brownie dashed up an ornamental tree and out along a branch. Barely supporting them, the limb swayed and dipped dangerously close to the snapping teeth as the dog leaped in the air. Fur came away in Trevor’s hand, and he felt himself slipping. Digging his fingers deeper into Brownie’s coat, he managed to pull himself back.
“Try the dust,” Brownie yowled as he slipped and dug his claws into the wood.
With each dip of the branch, they came closer to the snapping teeth. Trevor fumbled at the bag and finally pulled out another jar. As the branch dipped and Rex jumped, the snapping teeth came within inches.
“Me-now!” Brownie howled.
Trevor threw. As it left his hand he saw it was green. Wrong again. That was the jar for Mrs. Hayworth. The jaws snapped. Rex’s teeth clamped down on the jar and he shook his head. The jar burst and sparkles scattered over his tongue and nose making him sneeze and cough. Whining, he rubbed both paws over his nose and sneezed some more. Then his eyes closed and he rolled over.
“They killed Rexie!” Mrs. Hayworth screamed. “The caveman threw something at my dog and killed him.” The whine of sirens stopped in front of the house and red and blue lights swept over the yard in wide arcs.
“Now’s our chance,” Trevor said.
Brownie jumped down from the tree. Trevor bumped his nose on the cat’s neck when they landed. His head was spinning and his eyes watered. They were moving toward the gate when Brownie stopped suddenly and growled.
Trevor peered around the cat’s neck and his fingers tightened. Max rose up in front of the gate and stretched. He pulled back his lips in a hiss showing sharp teeth. The yellow fur stood out from his body, and his tail twitched in rapid jerks.
Trevor could feel Brownie’s muscles tense beneath him. He reached for the last jar. The one meant for the dog. It was supposed to suggest digging for bones. What effect, if any, would it have on a cat?
Brownie sat back on his haunches. Max lay back his ears. A low menacing growl came from the yellow throat like a rumbling volcano. Trevor leaned sideways. The jar felt light. He drew his hand back. There would be only one chance and he dare not miss.
As the yellow madness charged, he threw the jar as hard as he could straight at the cat’s face. A massive paw came up and swatted it aside like a bothersome fly.
It burst. The dust exploded into the air, showering the cat with sparkles that settled on his face and lodged in his fur. A breeze caught some of the dust and blew it back in their direction. Brownie sneezed and rubbed his nose.
Max shook his head sending more sparkles into the air. His eyes narrowed as he sat back and looked at Brownie. He took a step forward, then growled and sat down. One paw scratched in the dirt. He sneezed again.
Trevor tugged on Brownie’s fur. Car doors slammed and the sound of heavy boots came from the house. A second police car pulled up on the side street, blocking the gate.
Brownie took a few steps away and bounded onto the wall. He crawled under a hanging vine and they peered out.
Max was digging a hole next to the Pekinese. Mrs. Hayworth shook the policeman’s arm and pointed. “There’s another mountain lion. It’s going to bury my dog.”
The hole was quite deep, but Max had moved on. He was now digging in the primroses. Rexie rolled over and slowly tumbled into the hole where he lay on his back with feet in the air. Loud snores came from his puckered little nose.
Mrs. Hayworth swooned and the policeman staggered as he lowered her into a lawn chair.
The gate opened, and the other police officers came through waving flashlights and looking under bushes and in the tree.
“Come on Brownie,” Trevor said. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Shouldn’t I help find the bone?”
“Forget the bone. We have to get to the woods.”
“Okay,” Brownie said reluctantly. “But a nice juicy bone would go down really nice right now.”
Max had moved on to the catnip. He made a few half-hearted scratches in the dirt, then stretched out on the plants. Lazily he swiped at the leaves and licked his paw.
Brownie jumped off the fence and they slipped between the police car and fire truck and headed down the street.
A Sprinkling of Thought Dust Page 45
