by Ali Sparkes
“Oh, and what’s this?” Petty stood up, holding something else that had come out of Josh’s pocket with the spray bottle—a small black fabric bag. She opened it and peered inside.
“A marble . . .” she said. “Not much of a collection, Josh. One marble.”
Danny and Josh sat up and stared at each other. To begin with, they stared at each other because they realized the time had come to tell Petty about the Mystery Marble Sender. But they carried on staring at each other for a completely different reason.
“There’s a note too,” Petty said. “But it’s all blurry. Seawater and ink don’t go well together.”
“Do I look like that?” Josh asked, peering hard at Danny’s chest. His T-shirt had been ripped open, and his chest was . . . different.
Danny glanced down and then back at Josh, whose dripping T-shirt was also half hanging off him. “Yup,” he said. “Mom and Dad are going to turtle-y freak when they see us!”
They both had pale milky scales all over their chests—and across their bellies—and darker brown and gray scales across their shoulders.
“Yes,” Petty said, still gazing at the green marble. “There’s a glitch in the REPTOSWITCH formula. I would have told you about it when you came to the lab next week. I thought it was just the chameleon formula. Remember when you were S.W.I.T.C.H.ed back half-chameleon, half-boy a couple of weeks ago? Well, it seems it’s not just that REPTOSWITCH that has been affected. Hector and Percy are having the same problem with turtle REPTOSWITCH.” And she fished out the two mice by their tails. They looked very, very put out. And scaly.
“How long until this wears off?” Danny sighed. It had been like this with AMPHISWITCH too. They’d ended up with frogs’ legs for nearly a whole day after they should have properly S.W.I.T.C.H.ed back.
Petty sprayed their scaly areas with more antidote spray. “It will have all gone by tomorrow morning,” she said. “Just don’t run around in your undies until then!”
And she put all her bottles and the snorkel and the scissors in her bag and started back along the beach.
“Hey—wait!” Josh called. “You’ve got our marble!”
“Oh—it’s lost in my bag now,” Petty called back. “I’ll dig it out for you later.”
“But . . . it’s a SPECIAL one!” Danny yelled, as they hurried after her.
Petty turned round and looked at them.
“I know,” she said, raising one of her shaggy gray eyebrows. “I made it.”
Josh and Danny gaped at her.
“Not a word!” she yelled back, turning away and walking on up the cliff path. “I will see you next week in my lab. We’ll have a game of marbles then . . .”
“Josh, Danny! Look—Dad’s found a hot tub! We’ve been heating it up!” Mom said as they climbed wearily into the cottage garden with Piddle at their heels. They were bruised and whacked and in need of big cups of tea and even bigger slices of cake.
“What have you both been up to?” Mom asked, suddenly noticing. “Look at the state of you!”
“We fell in a rock pool,” Danny said. It was sort of true.
“And the T-shirts?” Mom asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Sorry,” Josh said. “Things got a bit . . . scrapey.”
Dad pulled the wooden cover off the big round tub. Underneath, the clear, clean water was steaming and bubbling and looked wonderful. Mom was too cheerful to be cross with them. “Well, why don’t you strip off and jump in while I make tea for us all?” she suggested.
Danny and Josh exchanged woeful looks. Suddenly, there was nothing they wanted more than to have a dip in the inviting warm bubbles and ease away the aches and pains brought on by their latest S.W.I.T.C.H. adventure. But they couldn’t. Not unless their parents had always wanted scaly semi-reptilian sons and never thought to tell them.
“Erm . . . maybe later,” Josh said, pulling his T-shirt close around his neck. “I think we need a quick shower—we’re all mucky from the beach.”
“Yeah . . .” Danny said. “We’ll clog up the filter with sand.”
“Oh, well—we’ll have a go then, shall we?” Mom beamed at Dad. And three seconds later their parents, wearing swimming gear, were happily bobbing up and down in the bubbly water.
“Tea soon,” called out Mom. “And I’ll tell you what—how about some shellfish for supper?”
“NO SHELLS!” Josh yelled.
Danny added, “ABSOLUTELY NO SHELLS—PLEASE!”
amphibian: an animal that can live on land and in water
anemone: a sea creature with short tentacles around its mouth
antidote: something that takes away the bad effects of a poison or disease
arachnid: a member of the group of animals that includes spiders and scorpions
cellular: made of cells
crustacean: a shellfish
hijack: to take control of something by force
hologram: a type of photograph made by laser beams. A hologram appears to have depth as well as height and width
mammal: any animal of which the female gives birth to live young and can feed them with her own milk
myriads: a huge number of people or things
predator: an animal that hunts other animals
prey: an animal that is hunted by another animal
reptile: a cold-blooded animal that creeps or crawls, such as lizards and snakes
scales: the thin, overlapping parts on the outside of fish, snakes, and other animals
serum: a kind of fluid used in science and for medical purposes
snout: the front part sticking out from an animal’s head, with its nose and mouth
telepathy: communication of thoughts from one person’s mind to another without speaking, writing, or gestures
transparent: something is transparent when you can see through it
BOOKS
Want to brush up on your reptile knowledge?
Here’s a list of books dedicated to creepy-crawlies.
Johnson, Jinny. Animal Planet™ Wild World: An Encyclopedia of Animals. Minneapolis: Millbrook Press, 2013.
McCarthy, Colin. Reptile. DK Eyewitness Books. New York: DK Publishing, 2012.
Parker, Steve. Pond & River. DK Eyewitness Books. New York: DK Publishing, 2011.
WEBSITES
Find out more about nature and wildlife using the websites below.
National Geographic Kids
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/
Go to this website to watch videos and read facts about your favorite reptiles and amphibians.
San Diego Zoo Kids
http://kids.sandiegozoo.org/animals
Curious to learn more about some of the coolest-looking reptiles and amphibians? This website has lots of information and stunning pictures of some of Earth’s most interesting creatures.
US Fish & Wildlife Service
http://www.nwf.org/wildlife/wildlife-library/amphibians-reptiles-and-fish.aspx
Want some tips to help you look for wildlife in your own neighborhood? Learn how to identify some slimy creatures and some scaly ones as well.
CHECK OUT ALL OF THE TITLES!
Ali Sparkes grew up in the wilds of the New Forest, raised by sand lizards who taught her the secret language of reptiles and how to lick her own eyes.
At least, that’s how Ali remembers it. Her family argues that she grew up in a house in Southampton, raised by her mom and dad, who taught her the not terribly secret language of English and wished she’d stop chewing her hair.
She once caught a slow worm. It flicked around like mad, and she was a bit scared and dropped it.
Ali still lives in Southampton, now with her husband and two sons. She likes to hang out in the nearby wildlife center spying on common lizards. The lizards are considering legal action . . .
Ross Collins’s more than eighty picture books and books for young readers have appeared in print around the world. He lives in Scotland and, in his spare time, enjoys leaning backward preca
riously in his chair.