Hide and Seek Read online

  ‘This is impossible!’ Todd flopped down on the grass beside Ruby.

  A few feet away, a magpie was trying to tug a worm out of the ground.

  ‘Poor worm,’ Ruby sighed. ‘I bet he wishes he was faster and stronger than that magpie.’

  Suddenly Todd sat up. ‘Look!’ he whispered, pointing at the magpie’s beak.

  Ruby rolled her eyes. ‘That’s a worm, Todd!’

  ‘Not that!’ Todd hissed. ‘Behind it!’

  Ruby craned her neck. Sure enough, a centimetre or two away from the worm was a small circle of soft yellow light.

  ‘A wish!’ cried Ruby, scrambling to her feet. But before she could grab it, a slight breeze picked it up. The wish slipped out of her reach and disappeared into the wormhole.

  ‘Rats!’ Todd groaned. ‘What are we going to do now?’

  Ruby didn’t hear him. She was too busy watching the oddly behaving magpie.

  It had let go of the worm and hopped back in fright, crashing into an upturned bucket. Then it turned and flapped away faster than Ruby had ever seen a magpie fly.

  Ruby and Todd looked at each other.

  A split second later, the worm shot out of its hole like a rocket and zipped across the sky after the magpie.

  ‘A turbo-charged worm!’ Todd grinned. ‘Cool!’

  Suddenly all around them, great clouds of birds rose into the sky, shrieking in panic. Worms shot out of the ground like spears, chasing the birds like arrows shot from a bow.

  Ruby nibbled her fingernail.

  She had really needed that wish to find her other wishes—and Granny—and to put a stop to Jellybean’s mischief! Wishes were proving harder to find than pocket-sized unicorns—and now the one wish they had found was gone. Wasted!

  They would have to find another one quickly.

  ‘Well, at least we know what wishes look like now,’ Todd reminded her.

  ‘Yes,’ Ruby agreed, ‘but the problem is going to be catching one.’

  A warm wind tugged at a dandelion clock, lifting the seeds up, up and away, until they were out of sight.

  Wishes are lighter than dandelion seeds, thought Ruby.

  She turned to Todd.

  ‘We’re going to need a net—and fast.’

  Chapter 12

  ‘How about that pool scoop?’ Todd pointed to a long pole sticking up over the fence next door.

  Ruby beamed at her cousin.

  As they hauled the pool scoop up over the fence, something caught Ruby’s eye. She saw another small circle of soft yellow light. It skimmed across the grass and lifted upwards on a puff of wind. It hovered at the top of a bush, quivering in the breeze.

  ‘Quick!’ cried Ruby.

  Together they eased the net up towards the top of the bush.

  ‘Careful … to the left … up a bit … Gotcha!’

  ‘Yoo hoo!’ a voice drifted over the fence.

  Ruby’s heart stopped. She spun around. Her fingers lost their grip on the pole for a split second and—DRAT! The wish slipped out of the net and drifted off towards the house.

  Todd galloped after it.

  ‘Hi, Mrs Cottesloe,’ Ruby called back, struggling with the pool scoop.

  ‘Oh hello, Ruby dear!’ Mrs Cottesloe chuckled. ‘I thought you were Granny! I’ve lost my glasses again.’

  Thank goodness, thought Ruby. Without her glasses, Mrs Cottesloe was as blind as a bat.

  ‘Catching butterflies, are we?’

  ‘Uh … yes, Mrs Cottesloe!’ Ruby stammered.

  ‘I just adore butterflies!’ Mrs Cottesloe squinted over the fence. ‘My, what a fine net you have there!’

  Ruby stole a glance at Todd, who was pouncing on the grass like a kitten, trying to catch the wish.

  ‘I just wanted to show Granny this beautiful flower I found floating in the swimming pool.’ Mrs Cottesloe smiled. ‘Isn’t it magical?’

  A wish quivered in the palm of Mrs Cottesloe’s hand.

  Todd returned empty-handed. His mouth flew open but Ruby elbowed him in the ribs before he could say a word.

  ‘I haven’t the faintest idea what sort it is,’ Mrs Cottesloe went on. ‘I must ask Henry to look it up on the butterfly net.’

  Henry was Mrs Cottesloe’s gardener.

  ‘I think you mean the Internet,’ Ruby held out her hand. ‘Can I take a closer look?’

  ‘Yes, that’s it!’ Mrs Cottesloe chuckled. ‘You children are so clever with computers. In my day, we did somersaults and cartwheels to keep ourselves entertained. I was the only girl at my school who could do a triple somersault and land perfectly on my feet! How I wish I were nimble enough to do that again!’ Her eyes sparkled magically.

  Ruby’s heart sank like a stone. Now another wish had been used!

  ‘Well, Mrs Cottesloe, maybe you still can.’

  ‘My dear girl,’ Mrs Cottesloe chortled. ‘I’ve had both knees and hips replaced! Though I must say, I am feeling rather limber all of a sudden.’

  Ruby and Todd looked at each other and grinned.

  In a blink, Mrs Cottesloe hitched up her skirts and tucked them into her stockings. She took off across the garden and somersaulted once, twice … three times before landing perfectly on her feet!

  Ruby and Todd cheered.

  ‘Goodness me!’ Mrs Cottesloe giggled. ‘I feel like a young girl again.’

  She pulled out a handkerchief to dab her brow, then took off again across the garden.

  Todd and Ruby enjoyed Mrs Cottesloe’s acrobatics. They almost forgot what they were supposed to be looking for.

  ‘Come on, Todd,’ Ruby reminded him. ‘We had better find Granny and the rest of my wishes.’

  Todd looked around the garden.

  ‘Ruby, where’s Jellybean gone?’

  Chapter 13

  Todd ran across the lawn and leapt over the garden hose.

  ‘Stop, Jellybean!’ Ruby cried. ‘You’ll fall!’

  Jellybean was trying to climb up onto Dad’s bike, which had been leaning against the side of the shed. When he heard Ruby and Todd, he looked up and scowled.

  ‘NOT little! Jellybean BIG!’

  ‘Let’s find your little bike, Jellybean,’ Ruby said brightly, gently prising his fingers off the seat and lifting him onto her hip.

  ‘NO!’ Jellybean squirmed, reaching out for the bike.

  ‘Don’t be silly!’ Todd scolded him, taking hold of the handlebars. ‘You’re not big enough to ride it. You’ll hurt yourself!’

  Jellybean clenched his fists and glared at Todd.

  ‘Jellybean big!’

  Todd put the bike in the shed and closed the door firmly after him.

  Jellybean wriggled free of Ruby. He ran to the shed door and reached for the handle. Realising he wasn’t tall enough to reach it, Jellybean sat down on the grass and cried.

  ‘JELLYBEAN BIG!’ he wailed.

  Uh-oh, thought Ruby.

  Jellybean’s wails quickly turned into screams.

  His screams got louder and louder and louder.

  Jeepers, thought Ruby, blocking her ears. My eardrums are about to pop!

  ‘BIG! BIG! BIG!’ Jellybean threw himself onto his belly. He kicked his legs and hammered his fists. Then, he began tearing out fistfuls of Dad’s carefully manicured lawn.

  Ruby and Todd pushed their fingers deeper into their ears. They squeezed their eyes shut, hoping Jellybean would soon grow tired and the tantrum would come to an end.

  They didn’t see the wish drift across the grass and catch on a lock of Jellybean’s hair.

  ‘JELLYBEAN BIG!’ he roared.

  The ground beneath Ruby’s feet shuddered. Her eyes snapped open in fright. Before she had a chance to collect her thoughts, the ground lurched so violently that she fell to her knees beside Todd and looked up
.

  Trembling, Ruby followed her cousin’s terrified gaze upwards.

  Her little brother had wished to be big. But big didn’t even begin to describe him.

  He was gigantic!

  ‘JELLYBEAN BIG!’ he bellowed, pummelling his giant fists into the ground.

  Suddenly, he ripped a huge clump of lawn out of the ground and hurled it at Ruby and Todd.

  The children scrambled backwards in panic.

  It landed in front of them with a heavy thud, sending dirt flying out in all directions.

  Ruby’s jaw dropped as Jellybean rose to his full monstrous height. Stomping towards them, he plucked the washing line out of the ground as easily as if it were a daisy. Then he lifted it high above his head and brought it crashing down on the roof of the shed.

  Ruby and Todd looked at each other in terror.

  Each knew exactly what the other one was thinking: ‘RUN!’

  Chapter 14

  ‘Duck!’

  The only thing worse than a tantrum-throwing toddler, thought Ruby as she ran down the driveway after Todd, is a GIANT tantrum-throwing toddler!

  As Jellybean’s plastic sandpit bounced along the driveway, sand whipped around Ruby like a desert storm.

  It was difficult to look out for wishes while a giant tantrum-throwing toddler was hurling things at you—especially when you had sand in your eyes.

  ‘This way!’ Todd grabbed Ruby’s arm and pulled her down.

  They scrambled under the house and collapsed in the darkness, panting.

  ‘Double phew!’ Ruby gasped.

  ‘We need a wish,’ puffed Todd. ‘And fast!’

  It was certainly not safe to have wishes floating about in the yard. There was no telling where—or what—they might end up being!

  ‘I only hope we can find one before they’re all gone!’ Ruby wriggled through the dust and dirt on her belly, trying hard not to bump her head.

  She couldn’t see any wishes anywhere.

  Ruby paused to peer through a gap in the weatherboards.

  Jellybean’s giant-sized tantrum showed no signs of slowing down. He had ripped all of the vegetables out of poor Dad’s garden and now he was kicking the shed around the yard—as if it were a ball!

  ‘Holy donuts!’ whispered Todd, who had wriggled up beside her.

  Suddenly, the back door opened and Dad stepped out.

  Uh-oh, thought Ruby, all that noise must have woken him up!

  Dad yawned and scratched his head. Then his face turned the colour of vanilla ice cream. He staggered backwards and clung to the railing, his eyes as wide as swimming pools.

  ‘Dadda!’ Jellybean hollered, stomping towards him with his giant arms outstretched.

  Mr Wishfingers stared up in terror. Suddenly, his eyes rolled back in his head. He slumped to the ground, as limp as a ragdoll.

  Todd gasped. ‘He’s fainted!’

  Jellybean plucked Dad from the back steps and lifted him high into the air. Then he rubbed Dad against his enormous, tear-stained cheeks.

  Ruby and Todd watched helplessly as Jellybean clambered onto the roof of the house, with Mr Wishfingers clutched tightly in his fist.

  Above them, the house creaked and groaned.

  Todd looked up in panic.

  ‘Let’s get out of here—before we’re squashed like bugs!’

  But Ruby didn’t move. She didn’t speak, either.

  She was staring at the gap between the weatherboards.

  ‘Ruby?’

  Slowly, Todd followed her gaze.

  A giant eye was staring straight back at them.

  Chapter 15

  Todd gulped.

  The giant eye flashed red.

  ‘W-w-w-what’s that?!’ he stammered.

  Ruby had seen that same eye flashing at her from Jellybean’s hands many times. She hoped she was wrong!

  Then there was a low roar. Uh-oh!

  ‘It’s Jellybean’s Tyrannosaurus,’ Ruby whispered. ‘One of my wishes must have landed on it!’

  Todd trembled like a dandelion in the wind.

  ‘B-b-but toys don’t make wishes!’

  ‘Neither do worms!’ Ruby reminded him.

  The Tyrannosaurus snorted. Its eye narrowed. Through the gap they could see its nostrils flaring.

  Ruby wished her aunt and uncle had chosen a train set or a book as Jellybean’s birthday present, instead of a Tyrannosaurus rex! Now, thanks to one stray wish, they were face to face with the most fearsome carnivore ever to walk the earth!

  The Tyrannosaurus curled back its lip, revealing rows of sharp, plastic teeth.

  Ruby shivered. It looked hungry. After all, it had only ever eaten gumnuts.

  ‘Would a toy Tyrannosaurus eat … meat?’ Todd whimpered.

  ‘I don’t know,’ Ruby whispered, creeping slowly backwards. ‘But I’m not hanging around to find out!’

  Suddenly, the eye disappeared.

  Ruby and Todd stared at each other.

  Wham!

  The whole house shook.

  Wallop!

  It rocked on its foundations.

  Crack!

  A monstrous head with flashing red eyes burst through the weatherboards, splintering them into matchsticks.

  Screaming, Ruby and Todd wriggled backwards through the dirt like a pair of turbo-charged worms. There was no question in either of their minds what this Tyrannosaurus wanted to eat!

  When they reached the other side of the house Ruby and Todd scrambled through a gap and back out onto the driveway.

  Triple phew!

  The gardening stakes Ruby had seen that morning were still leaning against the house. They each grabbed one and held it like a sword, their eyes darting back and forth in panic.

  But after a few moments, they lowered their weapons and looked at each other.

  Ruby frowned. ‘Why isn’t it coming after us?’

  Holding her breath, she crept along the side of the house.

  Not wanting to be left alone for a second, Todd scuttled quickly after her. Slowly, they peered around the corner.

  They could see the dinosaur’s monstrous body, two giant back legs and a wildly thrashing tail. But its head was still firmly wedged underneath the house, bellowing with frustration.

  Todd turned to Ruby, grinning from ear to ear. ‘It’s stuck!’

  Jeepers, thought Ruby. This plastic T rex wasn’t very smart.

  Todd strode boldly up to the Tyrannosaurus. He stuck out his tongue and blew a giant raspberry.

  The Tyrannosaurus thrashed its tail and growled.

  ‘Todd,’ Ruby warned. ‘Don’t tease the Tyrannosaurus!’

  ‘Why not?’ Todd gave the dinosaur a little poke with the gardening stake. ‘He’s not going anywhere, are you Rexy?’

  The Tyrannosaurus jerked its head furiously, making the house shudder again.

  ‘Look!’ Todd grinned, pointing to the giant red button on the Tyrannosaurus’s belly. ‘It’s not a REAL dinosaur. See this button? All I have to do is push it—’

  But before Todd could finish his sentence, the Tyrannosaurus gave another vigorous jerk.

  There was a terrible grinding noise and, this time, its head popped free.

  Before he could blink, Todd was pinned by his board shorts beneath a giant claw.

  Chapter 16

  The Tyrannosaurus let out a monstrous roar.

  It lunged at Todd, like a magpie would at a worm, snapping its enormous jaws.

  ‘Help!’ shrieked Todd, madly wriggling side to side.

  Ruby looked around in panic. If only she still had that pinkie wish up her sleeve! Or at the very least something to throw!

  Suddenly, she had an idea.

  Carefully dodging the dinosaur’s thrashing tail, Ru
by swiped Granny’s knickers from the washing line. Then she hurried over to the pile of painted rocks that had been left to dry in the sun. She loaded a pet rock into the elastic waistband and stretched it back as far as she could. Squinting, she aimed it at the Tyrannosaurus and let go.

  ‘Bullseye!’

  The first rock hit the dinosaur’s shoulder and bounced straight back off.

  Trembling, Ruby loaded another pet rock, and another.

  Ping! Ping! Ping!

  It’s no use, thought Ruby. Pet rocks probably felt like gumnuts to a Tyrannosaurus rex. Especially one made of plastic.

  Then Ruby noticed Jellybean’s giant foot hanging off the edge of the roof.

  ‘Nathaniel Wishfingers!’ Ruby bellowed, doing her best impression of Mum’s cranky voice.

  ‘Don’t leave toys lying around! Come down here and pick up this dinosaur at once!’

  Marvelling at her own cleverness, Ruby ducked behind a bush out of sight, and waited.

  Sure enough, Jellybean’s enormous face peered cautiously over the side of the house and looked around. Then it disappeared, replaced by two giant feet and an enormous bottom as he slid off the roof.

  He was still clutching Dad, who by now was a concrete shade of grey. Dad took one look at the Tyrannosaurus rex and passed out cold again.

  Jellybean reached out with his free hand and grabbed the Tyrannosaurus by the tail. As the dinosaur was lifted skyward, it let go of Todd’s board shorts.

  Ruby raced to her cousin’s side.

  ‘Holy donuts,’ Todd gasped. ‘That was close!’

  ‘Push the button!’ Ruby shouted up to Jellybean, forgetting all about Mum’s cranky voice.

  Jellybean spun around. Realising he had been tricked, he glared at Ruby and tossed the dinosaur over his shoulder.

  The Tyrannosaurus sailed across the yard and bounced off the fence, sending the compost bin flying. It landed on its feet beside the upturned shed.

  There was a brief silence, followed by a humming noise. Then the dinosaur’s eyes flashed red. Its legs jerked and suddenly it moved again.

  ‘It’s coming back!’ Ruby cried.

  There was nowhere to hide.