“Yes, probably wormed his way in,” said Darren.
Bertie shot him a warning look. “Anyway,” he said, “we’ve got to be going, haven’t we, Darren?”
“Have we?”
“Yes. You know, my mum said I’ve got to go home…”
“URRGHHH!”
Eugene’s mum had suddenly leaped backwards, as if she’d stepped in something nasty.
Bertie looked down and saw the worm dangling from his pocket. He was wriggling around, trying to escape. Bertie quickly pushed him back in.
“There’s a worm in your pocket!” screeched Eugene’s mum.
“Yes, he’s my pet worm,” said Bertie. “He likes it in there.”
“Bertie calls him Eugene, don’t you, Bertie?” said Darren.
“Um … yes,” said Bertie, turning red. “Although he’s not Eugene, obviously. He’s just a worm. Anyway, we better be going…”
He backed away and fled up the garden path.
CHAPTER 4
Back home, Bertie hurried to his room and closed the door. He found his old goldfish bowl – the one that had belonged to his pet worm, Arthur, before Mum threw him out – and filled it with mud, leaves and a dollop of peanut butter. Peanut butter was Eugene’s favourite.
Bertie rushed downstairs. He found the Marvo Book of 101 Magic Tricks in the lounge and flicked through the pages. There were card tricks, vanishing tricks, mind-reading tricks … but not a single mention of worms. Bertie threw the book down in disgust. He was really starting to worry now. What if Eugene was stuck as a worm for ever? How was he going to explain it to Eugene’s mum? She’d probably faint from the shock.
“BERTIE!”
Uh oh. Mum was calling.
“Bertie!” she yelled again. “Come here this minute!”
Bertie trailed into the kitchen. “What?”
“Don’t pretend you don’t know. What have I told you about keeping pets in your room?”
Bertie turned pale. His mum was holding a goldfish bowl – an empty goldfish bowl.
“W-w-where is he?” he gasped.
“If you mean your revolting worm, I threw it out in the garden where it belongs.”
“Noooooooo!” wailed Bertie.
Dashing outside, Bertie searched the flower beds on all fours. Eugene might be anywhere by now. He could have crawled under a rock or been swallowed by a crow. And it would all be Bertie’s fault. Eugene would never forgive him – especially if he was already dead. Bertie scrabbled around in the dirt. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of something.
“Eugene!” Bertie had never been so relieved in his life. But wait a moment, there was more than one worm. There were three! Three fat pink worms – which was Eugene?
“Eugene?” said Bertie. “Speak to me! Wiggle your head if it’s you!”
The worms all wriggled, but not in a way that helped. It was no good. He would just have to keep all three until he could work out which one was Eugene. But where could he hide them? Not in his bedroom, Mum was bound to find them. It had to be somewhere she would never think to look. Bertie smiled to himself – he knew just the place.
DING DONG!
Bertie thumped downstairs and opened the door. Darren stood outside, grinning like mad.
“Hi, Bertie! Where’s Eugene?” he asked.
“Shhh!” hissed Bertie. “Not so loud. He’s safe upstairs.”
“Really?” said Darren. “Are you sure?”
“Of course I’m sure,” said Bertie.
“Are you sure you’re sure?”
“What is this? What’s so funny?” asked Bertie.
“SUR-PRISE!”
Suddenly somebody leaped out from behind the door.
It was Eugene! He looked pretty calm for someone who’d recently been wriggling around in a flower bed. Bertie stared at him in astonishment. “But … but…”
“Ha ha! Your face! Hee hee!”
Eugene and Darren were laughing so much they could hardly speak.
“But how?” stammered Bertie. “You’re a worm! I hid you upstairs!”
Darren wiped his eyes.
“Don’t be stupid,” he said. “We played a trick on you.”
“A trick?”
“It was Darren’s idea,” explained Eugene. “We found a worm and put it in my jumper. I was hiding in the bushes watching the whole time.”
“And you believed it!” giggled Darren. “You actually believed it.”
“I didn’t really,” said Bertie.
“You did!” hooted Darren. “You were in such a panic.”
Bertie laughed. He had to admit it had been a clever trick.
“ARGGHHHHH!”
A deafening scream came from upstairs.
“What was that?” asked Eugene.
“That?” said Bertie. “That sounds like my sister. I think she might have found something in her drawer.”
“BERTIE!” yelled Suzy.
“Come on,” said Bertie. “I think it’s time for a real magic trick. The one where I disappear!”
Copyright
STRIPES PUBLISHING
An imprint of Little Tiger Press
1 The Coda Centre, 189 Munster Road,
London SW6 6AW
Characters created by David Roberts
Text copyright © Alan MacDonald, 2009
Illustrations copyright © David Roberts, 2009
First published as an ebook by Stripes Publishing in 2012.
eISBN: 978–1–84715–400–2
The right of Alan MacDonald and David Roberts to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work respectively has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
All rights reserved.
Apart from any use permitted under UK copyright law, this publication may only be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any forms, or by any means, with prior permission in writing of the publishers or, in the case of reprographic production, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
www.stripespublishing.co.uk
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