by Edward Lee
thunk!
—was where the thunking sound was coming from!
But then came another sound, a much louder one:
Ka-CRACK!
Patricia shrieked to herself. The trapdoor slammed up an inch with the sound, and that’s when she realized the most frightening thing of all—
Something’s under that door, and it’s trying to get out!
And when she heard the sound again—
Ka-CRACK!
—the padlock broke off, and the trapdoor violently flew open, and Patricia thought her heart would stop when she saw what was now climbing up into the room…
««—»»
“Oh, I’m sorry, Terri, but Patricia can’t come to the phone now,” Patricia’s mother said. “She’s not feeling well.”
Terri’s eyes thinned as she held the phone to her ear. She’d dialed Patricia’s number right after breakfast, remembering their plans to go to the town library.
“What’s wrong?” Terri asked. “Is it her knee?”
“No, we don’t know what’s wrong with her,” Patricia’s mother worriedly replied. “We couldn’t get her out of bed this morning. We think she may have come down with the flu. The doctor’s coming over shortly. Why don’t you call back this afternoon? Maybe she’ll be feeling better then.”
“Okay,” Terri said. “’Bye.”
Terri hung up, raising an eyebrow. That’s funny, she thought. Yesterday Patricia had had to go to the hospital to get stitches in her knee, and today she’d caught the flu. She didn’t look sick when I saw her last night. She looked fine.
Oh, well. There was nothing Terri could do about it. She hoped Patricia would get better soon, but it was still disappointing because Terri was looking forward to going to the library with her today, to find out more about those words. Now, she’d have to go by herself.
“Hi, honey,” her mother said, walking into the kitchen.
“Hi, Mom,” Terri replied but then paused. Her mother was dressed in jeans and an old blouse, not one of the usual dresses she wore to work. “How come you’re dressed like that, Mom?”
“Oh, I guess I forgot to tell you, but I won’t be going to work today.”
“Your mother’s taking the day off, Terri,” her Uncle Chuck said, coming into the kitchen himself. “But we’ll both be working down in the boathouse most of the day.”
As usual, Terri thought.
“It’s for that special project I’ve told you about,” her mother added.
Yeah, right, Terri thought sarcastically. “What kind of project is it, exactly?” she asked.
Uncle Chuck and her mother looked at each other, as they had many times in the past.
Like they were hiding something.
“Never you mind about that,” her uncle cut in. “It’s complicated stuff that you wouldn’t understand. Say, aren’t you going to the library with Patricia today?”
“No, I’ll have to go by myself,” Terri said. “Patricia’s got the flu.”
“Oh, that’s too bad,” her mother said. “We’ll get pizza tonight for sure, okay?”
“Great!” Terri said enthusiastically. It would be the first time in months that they’d had dinner together.
“Well, have fun at the library,” Uncle Chuck said. “Remember to be home before dinner time.”
“Okay,” Terri said.
Then her mother and uncle, both toting the familiar black briefcases, went out the back sliding door and walked down to the boathouse.
Terri frowned after them. Why would her mother be taking a day off work only to spend the entire day working with Uncle Chuck in the boathouse? And it was weird the way Uncle Chuck had cut Terri off when she’d asked about this “special project.”
Things are just getting weirder and weirder, Terri thought. But at least there was one good thing: they’d be having pizza together tonight, and that was something they hadn’t done in a long time. It would make things feel more like a family for a change.
She took her piece of notebook paper and left the house, walking down the street. The day was so beautiful—bright, warm, and sunny—it was hard to believe how weird things seemed at night, how unreal and scary.
It didn’t take her long to get to the town library; it was just a short walk. The air-conditioning momentarily chilled her when she entered the narrow-windowed, gray-brick building. It didn’t look like many people were here right now, probably because it was still pretty early. Mr. Seymour, the librarian, said hello to her when she passed by the check-out desk. Terri returned the greeting and went on her way. One of the library’s wings, called the Natural Science Wing, was devoted completely to science, zoology, and biology books, and this was definitely where she’d be able to find out more about the words she’d found in her uncle’s briefcase. She walked directly to the wing, but then stopped in her tracks.
“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” she moaned out loud.
The wing’s doors were locked, and there was a sign which read: WE ARE SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE BUT THE NATURAL SCIENCE WING IS CLOSED FOR RENOVATIONS. THE WING WILL REOPEN IN TWO WEEKS.
Terri couldn’t believe her luck—it just got worse and worse, didn’t it?
I can’t wait two weeks! she thought. She had to find these things out now. Mumbling to herself, she walked back to the check-out desk. Maybe Mr. Seymour could help her.
“Excuse me, Mr. Seymour,” she asked. “But I need to know about these words, and the Natural Science wing is closed.”
Mr. Seymour was sort of tubby, and he was always reading poetry books behind the desk. He was nice to all the town kids, and he always went out of his way to help people out with their school assignments or whatever they needed to look up. He wore glasses and had long brown hair in front that sometimes hung in his eyes. “Yeah, I’m afraid so, Terri,” he said. “Each year we have one section of the library repainted and recarpeted, and this year, the Natural Science section was on the list. They always do it late in the summer because that’s when we have the fewest people in.” He leaned over the desk, pushed his glasses up on his nose, and took the piece of paper from her. “Hmmm, what have we got here?” he said and began reading the words on the paper. His forehead seemed to crunch up as he read. Then he said, “Well, these are some mighty sophisticated words for a twelve-year-old. Do you know what genetics are?”
“Not really,” Terri answered. “Just that it has something to do with genes, and all living cells have these things in them called genes.”
“Right,” Mr. Seymour agreed. “Genes are like little codes in our cells which give us the special traits that make each person different. And animals and plants too. For instance, a tomato has different genes than a banana, and you have different genes from me.”
“Because you’re a man and I’m a girl?” Terri figured.
“Exactly, and because of lots of other things too. Like because you have blue eyes and I have brown, and I wear glasses and you don’t. And today there’s a special science called genetics, which involves changing the way genes are arranged in living cells.”
“Changing,” Terri said, “like that one word there, mutation. That means change, doesn’t it?”
“Right again,” Mr. Seymour said. “And this word here, transmission, refers to how this mutation, or change, is transferred from one type of cell to another.”
Hmmm, Terri thought. “Can genetics change how big things get?”
“Why, sure, and that’s why genetics are good for the world. Today, genetic scientists can change all kinds of genes, so farmers can grow rice that’s more nutritious, they can grow wheat that grows faster in different climates, they can grow bigger ears of corn, bigger heads of lettuce, things like that, so that food is cheaper and more plentiful. There are a lot of countries in the world where people don’t have as much to eat as we do, and it’s the science of genetics that will help those poorer countries.”
This sounded like a truly great thing to Terri, helping feed poorer countries
that didn’t have as much food as America. She’d seen commercials on TV advertizing for charity money for a lot of these poor countries, to help feed kids that didn’t have any food to eat, or running water, or medicine when they got sick. Or anything, for that matter.
Mr. Seymour went on, “And not only will we have more food to give to people who don’t have enough to eat, genetic scientists can make better seeds too, so people in countries with less food can grown their own vegetables. See, some countries can’t grow many vegetables because they don’t have good soil, or enough water, but now, with genetically changed seeds, they’ll be able to grow vegetables that don’t need as much water or fertilizer, and vegetables that can grow in different kinds of soil. Plus, all these vegetables grow better and bigger.”
“What about bigger animals?” Terri asked the next logical question.
“Well, sure, the same goes for livestock, too, like cows and chickens. With genetics, we can grow cows and chickens that are bigger and healthier and more resistant to disease.”
But, of course, this wasn’t what Terri meant. “What about other animals. Like…toads? And salamanders?”
Mr. Seymour scratched his chin, and pushed his glasses back up on his nose because they kept slipping down. “Well, yes, probably toads and salamanders too. It’s a fairly new science, but it’s progressed enough that they could probably do that too. They can probably make any kind of animals bigger by using special genetic scientific methods.”
Terri leaned over and pointed to the word reagent on her piece of notebook paper. “And would scientists use reagents to do it?” came her next question.
Mr. Seymour nodded. “Yes, I guess they probably could. They could make a special reagent that could change the genes in a toad or salamander that would make them bigger, or smaller, or stronger, or…well, just about anything. And of course, a counter-reagent, would be a substance that would reverse the change, like an antidote.”
More and more, it was sounding like Terri was right all along. That’s what Mom and Uncle Chuck have been doing in the boathouse, doing experiments to make special reagents that make toads and salamanders bigger, and—
Her thoughts stopped short then.
“What about carnivores?” she asked next. “A carnivore is an animal that eats meat, right? And has…teeth?”
Again, Mr. Seymour nodded. “It sure is. You seem to know an awful lot about this kind of stuff, Terri. See, there are four different kinds of animals. But remember, most of them have teeth. Carnivores, as you already know, eat only meat. Herbivores are like rabbits, animals that only eat plants and vegetables. Then there are omnivores, animals that eat both meat and vegetables. Human beings are omnivores. And—”
“Insectivores,” Terri cut in, “are animals that only eat insects, right?”
“Right, just like, well…” Mr. Seymour’s forehead wrinkled up again. “Just like toads and salamanders,” he said.
««—»»
Terri’s excitement carried her back home like a rocket.
She knew!
Now she knew exactly what was going on!
Experiments! she realized. There could be no other answer. Her mother and Uncle Chuck had invented a reagent that could change the genes of toads and salamanders, make them bigger, and make them carnivores—with teeth! Yes, Terri was excited about finding this out, but she had to admit it was a scary sort of excitement. She knew what was going on, yes, but there was still one thing she didn’t know.
Why? Why were they doing these experiments?
For what reason? she wondered, still running along as fast as her sneakered feet could carry her. This question bothered her. It didn’t seem right, to change toads and salamanders into things that they weren’t. Obviously, as Mr. Seymour had told her, there were a lot of good things that genetics could do for the world, like making bigger vegetables and livestock so poor people had more to eat. But—
Toads? she wondered. Salamanders?
Terri just couldn’t figure it.
But I’ll find out, she told herself.
When she got back home she wasn’t surprised to find the house empty; her mother and uncle were obviously still down at the boathouse and probably would remain there till dinnertime, if not longer. By now, Terri realized she had only one course of action.
I’ll have to confront Mom and Uncle Chuck, she knew. I’ll have to tell them that I know what they’ve been doing down there, and then they’ll have no choice but to tell me why.
This was a daring move; Terri knew they might get very mad at her for snooping in their business, but what else could she do?
I’ll have to go down to the boathouse, she thought. I’ll have to go down there right now and get to the bottom of this.
Boldly, then, Terri went out the sliding door and marched across the back yard. Yes, she fully remembered that she was forbidden to ever go down to the boathouse but, again, she knew she had no choice. She stepped onto the gravel path between the trees and began to descend.
She had to know why. Her curiosity wouldn’t let go of her, and it was just a moment later when her questions actually began to scare her.
What reason can there be to do what they’re doing? she asked herself, marching on over the gravel trail. Why make toads and salamanders bigger, and give them teeth?
It almost seemed…evil.
It almost seemed as though her mother and Uncle Chuck were doing evil experiments on the toads and salamanders to turn them into—
Into…monsters, she thought with a sudden and very creepy chill.
Like the toad she’d dreamed about last night. Huge. As big as a car. And with giant fangs…
Monsters, she thought again.
Suddenly the path seemed darker and more narrow. The sunlight barely filtered at all through the branches of the trees overhead. She began to get scared; she began to think that she was being watched, not by people but by toads.
By giant toads with fangs…
But Terri knew this was only her imagination, so she forced herself to go on and continue down the path. Eventually, a great glare of sunlight shimmered across her eyes—the lake.
Terri stopped at the front of the pier. The door to the boathouse was closed, but one of the side windows stood open, and she could hear voices.
Her mother, and Uncle Chuck—
“This is terrible, Chuck,” her mother was saying with anxiety in her voice. “How could this have happened?”
“I don’t know,” Terri’s uncle replied. “Somehow the bottle must’ve fallen off the shelf, and when it broke, the reagent seeped into the tank beneath the trapdoor.”
What? Terri thought. At first she didn’t understand. She’d seen the tanks on the shelves of the backroom. And she remembered the trapdoor on the floor, with the padlock on it. But—
Wait a minute, she thought then. That’s what he means. There must be another tank, under the floor, and they keep it locked shut with the trapdoor.
And this possibility scared her even more. Because she knew that the trapdoor was big…
So the tank under the trapdoor must be big too, she concluded. Real big.
Big enough to hold a really big toad or salamander…
But the rest she didn’t understand. What were they talking about?
What? One of the bottles of reagent broke?
Terri’s heart was fluttering. More and more it seemed she was right. But there was only one way to find out for sure.
I’m going in there right now, she determined herself. And I’m going to ask them…
But just as she was about to step forward and approach the boathouse door, she heard—
“Pssssssssst!”
Terri spun around. But she didn’t see anything except the trees. And what was that sound? It sounded like someone whispering.
Then she heard it again:
“Pssssssst! Over here!”
And that’s when Terri noticed the figure standing in the shadows, looking at her.
; ««—»»
The dark figure waved at her. “Psssssssst! Terri! Over here! It’s me, Patricia!”
Patricia? Terri thought. What would she be doing down here? And why was she standing in the shadows?
Terri walked quickly up the path, to see her friend, but then Patricia held her hand up. “Stop! Don’t come any closer!”
“Oh, yeah,” Terri recalled. “I called your house this morning and your Mom said you had the flu. I guess you don’t want me to get too close. Shouldn’t you be home in bed?”
“It’s not the flu,” Patricia said. “I snuck out of the house.”
“Why?”
“Never mind that. I have to talk to you. It’s real important.”
“Okay, but—” This was aggravating. “At least step out of the shadows.”
“No,” Patricia said. “Just listen. My parents are looking for me, and I haven’t got much time. I have to tell you what happened last night.”
Terri was instantly confused. “Last night? You mean when I came over to use your dictionary?”
“No, after that. It was real late, like way past midnight.” The shadow paused. “I—I snuck out of the house and I came down here.”
“You came here? To the boathouse? At night?”
“Yeah. I brought my Dad’s digital camera. I thought if I took some pictures of the toads and salamanders, then I could prove to them that something’s really messed up down here. But—but I never got the chance.”
“Patricia!” Terri exclaimed. “Are you crazy? You know how dangerous it is down here at night!”
Patricia’s shadow nodded. “I did something really bad. I used my library card, like you did, and got into the boathouse.”
“No!”
“Yes,” Patricia countered. “And I also got into the backroom where all those tanks and bottles are. And then—” Patricia hesitated again. “I accidentally dropped one of the bottles on the floor, and it broke, and all that gross gunk spilled all over the place.”
Then it dawned on Terri. That’s what her mother and Uncle Chuck were talking about just a moment ago.
