The Lonely Lake Monster

by Suzanne Selfors

  “Swim?” Ben looked down at his lab coat and jeans, as if worried about ruining them. “I think you should go get Mr. Tabby. He might have a boat or something like that.”

  “If I go and get Mr. Tabby, then we’ll be fired for sure.” Pearl stomped her foot. “Come on, you can do it. Swim!”

  Ben appeared to have accepted Pearl’s logic because he took off his shoes, tied the laces together, and slung them over his shoulder. He tucked his socks into his pants pockets and stepped into the shallows. The lake monster stopped chewing. As Ben waded up to his ankles, the monster cocked its head.

  “It’s cold,” Ben announced. “Really, really cold.”

  “Hurry!”

  His teeth gritted, Ben waded deeper into the glistening water. And deeper…

  The lake monster grabbed him around the waist and plopped him back onto the island’s beach.

  Ben was quick to respond. Like a boxer, he leaped to his feet. Then he ducked beneath the monster’s neck and stumbled into the water. Splashing, he’d made it up to his knees before the monster grabbed him again and deposited him in the sand.

  They repeated this two more times. The monster smiled as if playing a game of fetch. But Ben didn’t smile. He waved his fist and stared into the basketball-sized eyes. “Let me go!”

  After one more unsuccessful escape attempt, Ben sank to the sand and sat, his shoulders hunched with defeat. “What am I supposed to do now?” he called.

  “I don’t know,” Pearl admitted, having never been in this particular situation. She’d watched the goings-on with a mixture of fascination and horror. Getting away was clearly not going to be easy.

  The lake monster grinned, revealing a row of pointy, green-stained teeth. Then it tore some needles from a tree and set them at Ben’s feet. The monster nudged the needles closer, offering to share. It nudged and nudged until Ben grabbed a handful of needles and pretended to eat. The monster nodded. Was it going to keep Ben the way a kid might keep a frog or a hamster?

  Maybe it was time to get some help. “I’ll be right back,” she hollered. Then she ran up the creaky dock as fast as she could.

  A thistle scraped Pearl’s ankle as she hurried around the building, but the scratch didn’t hurt half as much as the worry that was knotting her stomach. Now Ben would be added to the long list of people who thought of her as a troublemaker. How come no one ever talked about the good things she’d done for the town—like the time she picked up the litter along the highway, or the time she sold lemonade and gave the money to the Buttonville Senior Center? How come people only remembered the bad things—like the time she tried to make a pond behind the Dollar Store and it flooded the street, or the time she climbed onto the roof of the hardware store to collect a bird nest and one of the roof tiles fell off and dented Mr. Wanamaker’s new outdoor grill?

  But this event would be the worst one of all. This would be the one they’d talk about forever—the day Pearl Petal took that nice Ben Silverstein down to the lake, against the rules, and he got kidnapped by a giant green monster.

  She raced around the corner and up to the hospital’s front door.

  “Yoo-hoo!” Mrs. Mulberry called from outside the gate. “I see you, Pearl Petal. Let us in!”

  Without a word or a glance at Mrs. Mulberry, Pearl rushed inside. Then she closed and bolted the door behind her. As she stood in the empty lobby, her frantic breathing echoed off the walls. What should she do? What should she do?

  This time, the door to the Identification Room stood open. No one was inside. Where had Mr. Tabby gone? Surely he could help, but then he’d know that Pearl had broken the rules. And he would probably tell Dr. Woo, and Dr. Woo would probably fire her. Pearl didn’t want to lose the apprenticeship. The chance to work with Imaginary creatures was the best thing that had ever happened in her entire life. Could she figure out a way to rescue Ben without Mr. Tabby’s help?

  But nothing came to mind. Not a darn thing.

  Pearl groaned. Dr. Woo might return from her emergency visit at any moment and find Ben stuck on that island. Time was wasting. If only Pearl could wish this all away.

  Wish it all away?

  She grinned. Why, of course.

  Somewhere in Dr. Woo’s hospital for Imaginary creatures, there was a new patient who could grant wishes.

  13

  This was the second time Pearl had been inside the Identification Room. During the first visit, Mr. Tabby had examined the dragon hatchling. Then he’d set the wounded creature onto a conveyor belt, which had carried the hatchling away to surgery.

  The wide belt ran from an examination table and through a large hole in the wall. Had Mr. Tabby put the leprechaun on the conveyor belt? It made sense. Pearl peered into the hole. It was dark in there. She reached her hand inside and felt the sides of a tunnel but nothing more.

  So she climbed onto the belt and sat with her legs crisscrossed. After tucking the hem of her lab coat under her bottom so it wouldn’t get caught on anything, she pushed the conveyor belt’s button. A humming sound arose, like a trapped housefly, and the belt began to move. For a brief moment, Pearl second-guessed herself and almost jumped off. But then what would she do? The leprechaun seemed the best way to fix things without Mr. Tabby or Dr. Woo finding out.

  As Pearl entered the tunnel, she ducked her head and wrapped her arms around her knees. She remembered the Tunnel of Love ride she’d taken at the Milkydale County Fair last summer. But instead of sitting on a conveyor belt, she’d sat in a little heart-shaped boat.

  It was dark inside the tunnel. And cold. The belt moved slowly, deeper into the blackness, then took a turn to the right, then a turn to the left. A few moments later, rays of light greeted her as she emerged into another room.

  This room had nothing in it except for a chalkboard, upon which someone had written in white chalk:

  Amnesia? Pearl thought. She’d heard the term before. A person who has amnesia is unable to remember things, like who he is or where he’d come from. But she’d never heard of an animal having amnesia.

  Then she found what she was looking for.

  Pearl figured that because the conveyor belt hadn’t traveled uphill, she was still on the first floor. After scooting off the belt, she opened the door and peered into a hallway. Directly across was a door labeled OINTMENT ROOM. The next door was labeled PARASITE REMOVAL ROOM. The Steam Room was the third door down. As she tiptoed up to it, she tried to remember exactly what Mr. Tabby had said. If you take a leprechaun’s gold, he will grant you a wish. How difficult could it be? Leprechauns were small, so they couldn’t put up a very big fight… could they? Slowly, she cracked open the Steam Room door and peeked in.

  A very small figure sat on top of a table. He was about the size of the garden gnome statues that Mrs. Froot, the oldest person in Buttonville, kept all over her front yard. His leather apron overflowed with tools of all shapes and sizes, his white shirtsleeves were rolled up, and his black hair was tied back in a knot. A humidifier hummed in the corner, spraying menthol-scented steam into the air.

  Wow, Pearl thought. It’s a real, living, breathing leprechaun. A very small person. Then she remembered that he wasn’t a person after all—he was a fairy.

  “Brrrt.” He blew his nose into a tissue, then wadded the tissue and dropped it onto the floor, where it joined dozens of others. Pearl caught a quick glimpse of his profile as he grabbed another tissue. His nose was red and glistening. “Cobblestone be all snuffly,” he grumbled. “Sniffly and snuffly.”

  Pearl took a quick breath. There it was, a rusty coffee can right next to the leprechaun. Something shimmered from within.

  Gold.

  Pearl dashed into the room. “Ugh,” she groaned as she snatched the can, which was surprisingly heavy. The coins clinked, and glimmering dust rose into the air. The leprechaun spun around, his eyes wide with surprise.

  “Cobblestone’s gold,” he said, pointing to the can. His face turned as red as his swollen nose. “Why do you steal from Co
bblestone?”

  “I’m not stealing,” Pearl said. “I’m… borrowing.”

  “Then return it to Cobblestone.” He got to his feet. Gold dust speckled his black beard and black boots.

  Pearl was confused. “Is your name Cobblestone, or are you talking about someone else?”

  “Cobblestone stands before you.” He held out his arms. “Now give Cobblestone his treasure.”

  Pearl stepped away, hugging the can to her chest. It was as heavy as an armful of bricks. She wasn’t sure how long she could hold it. “I’ll give it back if you grant me a wish.”

  The leprechaun sneezed. A little cloud of golden dust shot out of his nose. “What be the name of the thief who steals from Cobblestone?”

  Pearl didn’t like being called a thief, but she was holding something that didn’t belong to her. “My name is Pearl.”

  “Pearl?” He furrowed his brow. “Pearl be a fairy name. You be a strange-looking fairy. Where be your wings?”

  “I’m not a fairy,” Pearl said. “I’m just a regular girl.”

  “Human?” The word hissed out. “Cobblestone doesn’t like humans.”

  “You like Dr. Woo, don’t you? She’s a human.”

  “Dr. Woo never tries to steal from Cobblestone.”

  “I only did it because you’re supposed to grant me a wish if I get your gold.” One wish would take care of everything. Pearl chewed on her lower lip as she noticed the tools hanging from the leprechaun’s apron. Some looked supersharp. What if he got mad and tried to poke her? He was a level three on the danger scale, after all, and not fond of human beings. “My friend is in trouble, and I need a wish so I can set him free.”

  “Cobblestone has no wishes. His magic be clogged with sniffles and snot.” He blew his nose into a tissue.

  Pearl remembered Mr. Tabby’s warning: Leprechauns are notorious tricksters and getting a wish granted is nearly impossible. It almost always ends badly for the human. Was the leprechaun lying about his magic? Was he trying to trick her? “Then I guess you don’t want your gold. I’ll just be leaving. There’s a nice bank in town where I can deposit it.” She lifted her foot, preparing to take a step.

  “Wait.” He rubbed his red nose. “Cobblestone has no magic. But Cobblestone will trade with you instead.” He pointed to her feet. “Your human shoes be hideous. Cobblestone will make you a pair of leprechaun shoes if you return his gold.”

  A pair of leprechaun shoes?

  The little guy smiled sweetly. “Would Pearl the regular girl like a pair of dancing shoes made from lightning-bug wings or a pair of running shoes made from the wind? How about a pair of slippers made from spun clouds?”

  Spun clouds? Nothing in the Dollar Store was made from spun clouds.

  “Cobblestone be the best cobbler in all the Imaginary World. He can make shoes from anything.” He puffed out his chest. “You will be the envy of your friends.”

  Her friends? Pearl looked away for a moment. She’d gotten her only friend trapped on an island with a lake monster, and now she was thinking about shoes? “I don’t need new shoes.” She rattled the can. “I need a wish. Are you going to grant me a wish, or am I going to use this gold to buy myself a chewing-gum factory?”

  He folded his arms. “What be your wish?”

  Pearl smiled with satisfaction. Now they were getting somewhere. “My friend, Ben, is stuck on an island because a lake monster took him and won’t let him go. I want you to grant me a wish to get Ben off the island without Dr. Woo or Mr. Tabby or anyone else finding out.”

  “A lake monster, you say?” He sneezed, and this time the gold dust shot out of his ears. “Lake monsters have tiny fish brains. They be easy to trick. Take Cobblestone to the lake monster.”

  Pearl knew it was wrong to take an Imaginary creature out of the hospital. When the sasquatch had escaped, Mr. Tabby had said that Imaginary creatures were not allowed in the Known World. But the lake monster was living in the lake, so it must be safe out there on the hospital grounds. Pearl simply had to keep the leprechaun from going beyond the wrought-iron fence and into the town of Buttonville. If a leprechaun was spotted running around, magazine and television reporters would show up and Dr. Woo’s hospital for Imaginary creatures would be discovered, no doubt about it.

  “You must follow me,” she told him with a stern look. “Don’t go anywhere else.”

  He nodded.

  Everything will be okay, Pearl told herself as she walked back up the hall, the gold’s weight making her footsteps wobbly. A wish would be granted, a boy set free. She didn’t have to turn around to know the leprechaun was following, because his high-heeled boots made little clacking sounds.

  After they’d both climbed onto the conveyor belt, Pearl pushed the button. The belt hummed and began its return journey. Pearl ducked her head as she entered the dark tunnel.

  There was still no sign of Mr. Tabby as Pearl and Cobblestone made their way from the Identification Room and through the lobby. Pearl unbolted and opened the hospital’s front door. Unfortunately, Mrs. Mulberry and Victoria were still waiting behind the gates. Were they going to sit there all day? Didn’t they have anything better to do? The leprechaun peeked around Pearl’s knee. “Humans,” he grumbled as he spied the pair. “Cobblestone doesn’t like humans.”

  “There are good humans and bad humans,” Pearl said. “And those are definitely bad humans.” How could she sneak the leprechaun past the Mulberrys? “Stay behind me,” she told him. Then, like a crab, she walked sideways along the front of the building, shielding the leprechaun from view. Victoria never looked up from her book, but Mrs. Mulberry continued to spy through her binoculars.

  “Yoo-hoo! I see you, Pearl Petal. And I see…” Mrs. Mulberry fell silent.

  Pearl moved as quickly as she could. Once they’d turned the corner and were out of sight, she led the way down the path that she and Ben had trampled earlier. The leprechaun’s tools clanked and clinked as he followed. “Perhaps you want a pair of princess shoes made from dwarf crystals. They sparkle and be pink.”

  “Princess shoes?” She rolled her eyes. “Why would I want sparkly pink princess shoes?”

  “She who wears princess shoes be destined to meet a prince.”

  “A prince?” The gold’s weight pulled on Pearl’s arms. “A real prince?” There were no princes in Buttonville, unless you counted Harvey Dill, who’d been crowned Prince of Buttons in last year’s Founders Day parade. He got to wear a button-covered cloak and a plastic crown from the Dollar Store.

  “Of course a real prince. Results be guaranteed in seventy-two hours.”

  “Hold on a minute.” Pearl stopped walking and looked down at the leprechaun. “Are you saying that if I wear a pair of shoes called princess shoes, I will meet a real prince in…” She counted the hours in her head. “In three days?” He nodded.

  While Pearl had no desire to wear sparkly shoes, the result sounded interesting. Would the prince arrive in Buttonville on a horse? Would he fly in on a private jet? Maybe he’d spend a lot of money at the Dollar Store. That would be great.

  “Never mind rescuing the boy named Ben.” The leprechaun held out his hands. “Give Cobblestone the gold and you will have a pair of princess shoes.”

  A breeze blew across Pearl’s face. She imagined a front-page photo in the Buttonville Gazette of her and Prince Whatever-His-Name-Was. This time the headline wouldn’t be about her troublemaking. “Well…” She wiggled her toes against the Dollar Store flip-flops. “Well…”

  “Help!” Ben’s voice shot through the air.

  14

  As far as Pearl could tell, things weren’t going well over on the island. The lake monster was licking the side of Ben’s face the way a momma cat would lick her kitten.

  Poor Ben, Pearl thought.

  Then the monster stuck its green head into the lake and emerged with a wiggling fish in its mouth. After dropping the fish next to Ben, it blinked its huge eyes expectantly. Ben picked up the fish and pretended t
o take a bite. The monster smiled and licked Ben’s face again.

  “There he is,” Pearl told the leprechaun as they stood at the end of the dock. “I need you to get him off that island. As soon as you do that, you can have your gold.” Then she called, “Hi, Ben!”

  Ben looked across the narrow expanse of water that separated the dock and the island. He dropped the fish and stared, openmouthed, at Cobblestone. Pearl could guess what he was thinking: Oh no, what has she done now?

  “Don’t worry! He’s a leprechaun. He’s going to grant me a wish. I have his gold.”

  “Are you crazy?” Ben shouted. Another lick from the creature toppled him onto the sand. He wiped his face with his sleeve. Pearl wondered if they had any shampoo at the Dollar Store that would wash away lake-monster slobber.

  “Go ahead,” she urged the leprechaun. “Do your magic.”

  “Cobblestone told you he has no magic. Why do you not believe?”

  She didn’t want to call him a trickster to his face. “There’s no time to argue about this. Just help me. Please.”

  He shrugged. “Cobblestone thinks you should leave the human boy on the island. He be fine.”

  “Leave him on the island? I can’t do that.”

  “Why not?”

  She frowned. “Because he doesn’t have a sleeping bag or a toothbrush. And he can’t eat raw fish and pine needles. And if he doesn’t go home this afternoon, his grandfather will come looking for him. Then the police will come looking. And if they find out about this hospital, Dr. Woo will have to move again, and I don’t want her to move. I want to keep working here.”

  She couldn’t hold the coffee can any longer. With a grunt, she dropped it between her feet. As she did, the can’s rusty rim fell off. “Sorry,” she said, trying to put the piece back into place. The leprechaun glowered at her. “I said I was sorry. Why do you keep your gold in this cruddy old can anyway?”