by Ali Sparkes
“HELP! HELP! HELP MEEEEEE!” Destiny shrieked, as Josh brought his jaws crashing down on the leather sofa she was standing on. She fell into the corner and flapped her legs and arms, wailing, “I don’t waaaant to get eaten by a crocodile! Nooooooooo!”
“It’s NOT a crocodile, Dessy!” snapped Petty. “It’s an alligator! Surely you know the difference, child?”
Destiny’s foot smelled pretty good—warts or not! Josh reckoned it would be a lot like gnawing on a chicken drumstick. He grunted, grinned, and went to take a bite.
“JOSH! Is that YOU?”
Josh looked up at Petty and nodded, grinning madly with his snaggly teeth.
“Well, stop that AT ONCE!”
Petty stood over him. “I will NOT allow you to eat my daughter, no matter how much she deserves it.” Josh closed his mouth and stepped back, feeling rather ashamed. It was the Piddle incident all over again.
“DANNY!” called Petty. “You CAN eat Victor if you want.That is perfectly acceptable.”
Victor Crouch squeaked and then fainted, rolling sideways off the sofa.
“NOOO!” yelled Destiny. “MOM! Don’t you remember? He’s your friend!”
Petty sighed. “There are many things I don’t remember, Destiny. Like you, for instance . . . although you’re starting to look a bit more familiar. But one thing I will NEVER forget is that Victor Crouch is my DEADLY ENEMY. One day I will try to prove it to you . . . to the whole world. But for now . . . I must go.”
Danny’s teeth were about to sink into Victor’s bony leg when Josh bellowed “DANNY! Stop it! You’re not a real alligator—remember!”
“Come on, boys,” said Petty. “I think it’s time we got out of here.” They made their way down from the stage and out across the tent, which was now empty. Even the cameramen had finally run away. There was still plenty of screaming and shouting going on outside. There were some emergency sirens in the distance too.
Petty paused at the tent exit and looked back at Victor Crouch, who was now groggily sitting up again. “A good try, Victor!” she called. “Convincing my daughter to help you trap me. And luring Danny and Josh here so that you could trap them too. But we’re too smart for that! You may have gotten ahold of my marbles. But you can’t understand the S.W.I.T.C.H. formula code in them, can you? And you will NEVER get the solution from me. NEVER! NEVEEEEEEEEER!”
“PETTY! You NEED ME!” Victor bellowed back. “I can help you! I can bring you back to the secret government labs! Can’t you see that you’re just TOO DANGEROUS when you’re left to work alone? For pity’s sake, woman—you’re working with eight-year-olds!”
Josh and Danny turned and grunted at Victor, who shrieked and fainted again.
“Wait!” Suddenly Destiny was running towards Petty. “Mommy—don’t leave me! Not again!”
“Why would I stay, you soft-in-the-head TV twit?” thundered Petty. “You are a traitor to your own mother!”
“But . . . it’s not the way it seems,” sniffed Destiny. “You left your marbles with me . . . years ago,” she said, her eyes darting nervously down at the two alligators at Petty’s feet. “I don’t know why . . . but you left me six of them.”
Petty suddenly thumped her forehead. “Of course I did!” she said. “Of course! I left them with you for safekeeping! I remember now! Rather stupid, though, wasn’t it? You just handed them over to Victor Crouch!”
“Oh, Mother . . . it wasn’t like that!” protested Destiny, her eyes filling with tears. “I was trying to think of ways to make you remember me. Every time I went to your house, you’d accuse me of trying to sell you replacement windows and slam the door in my face! So Victor asked if I had any keepsakes from you . . . something we could use. Then we realized what the marbles really were!”
“But he didn’t know how to use them without me!” said Petty. “I bet he took them away for a while, didn’t he? To ‘examine’ them. And then came back with this insane plan when he realized he couldn’t make the S.W.I.T.C.H. code into formula on his own!”
Destiny gulped. “Yes . . . I suppose he did. I’m sorry—but I thought he was right. That you needed to be in a safe place . . . for people who are a bit mad. I thought we might make you better.”
“So, you were going to chuck me in a loony bin?” snapped Petty. “And what about Josh and Danny?”
“Well, er, I didn’t really think we’d lock up Josh and Danny too,” Destiny said, guiltily. “But I was a bit worried at the way you kept turning them into reptiles. It didn’t seem terribly safe . . .”
“Well, you might not have locked them up,” Petty said. “But Victor would. You don’t know him like I do!”
At this point, there were two thuds. Josh and Danny S.W.I.T.C.H.ed back into boys. Danny was still hissing with his jaws wide open. Destiny gave them both a watery smile.
“Really,” Destiny said, “we only got Josh and Danny involved because you trust them.” She sniffed. “And you don’t trust me.”
“So it was you who followed us around, dropping marble clues into our lives?” Josh said accusingly to Destiny. “At our house, at our school—at Princessland! You even followed us to Cornwall on our holiday!”
“Well . . . it wasn’t always me,” Destiny said. “I mean . . . I have lots of people I pay to do things for me. You don’t think it was me who put marbles in that owl’s nest? Or up in the light in your school gym, do you? Although it was me who sent you the marble in the parachute. I thought that was rather good . . .” She grinned smugly.
“Yes—it was!” admitted Danny, slipping Josh the case. “But today was just nuts. Who do you think you are, kidnapping Petty and putting her on your stupid TV show?”
“Your whole plan was ridiculous,” added Petty. “You even acted it out in front of a studio audience!”
Destiny sighed. “I can’t help it . . . it’s such great TV!”
“You’re dim, Destiny,” sighed Petty. “Always were. Nice enough . . . but dim.”
“At least I’m fabulously rich and famous,” pointed out Destiny. “And maybe I wouldn’t ever have become Destiny Darcy, TV star, if I’d been as clever as you are. But anyway . . . take this.”
Destiny put the last MAMMALSWITCH marble—an orange one—into Petty’s hand and closed her fingers over it. “The others onstage are just ordinary marbles. For effect,” she said. “This is the last one. I don’t think I should keep it. You did just stop me from being eaten by a croc—I mean, an alligator . . .”
There was another anguished shout behind them. “DESTINY!” wailed Victor, staggering across the stage. “Don’t let her GO!” He stumbled across the stage—and then slipped on a marble and landed flat on his face. His wig fell off, revealing his bald head.
“Go,” said Destiny, her eyes shining. “And one day, come back and tell me what happened next! Maybe we can do a follow-up show . . .”
Petty raised one eyebrow, pocketing the final marble. “Erm . . . Josh, Danny . . . could you cause a distraction so I can slip away unnoticed?”
Josh and Danny grinned. Five seconds later, Petty smiled and gave their scaly snouts a pat. “You won’t see me for a while . . . but I will be in touch . . .” she whispered.
Danny and Josh rushed out of the tent and caused an uproar. The two huge alligators thundered through the terrified crowd, made for the lake, and plunged into the water. Petty Potts slipped away unnoticed.
Josh and Danny had been underwater before . . . as great diving beetles, frogs, and even anacondas. But this . . . was something else!
Leaving the uproar behind them, they slid swiftly down into the lake, sending a flock of freaked-out ducks high into the air above them. In just seconds, all that could be seen of the alligators were two long wakes in the water, fading fast as they paddled away.
The noise of the crowd was replaced by the gurgling, booming, singing serenity of their underwater world. Josh and Danny tucked their legs in close to their bodies and undulated through the water at speed. It felt cool and sil
ky and wonderful as they powered along with almost no effort. Bright autumn sunlight shafted down through the water, flickering fingers of gold through the greenish-blue haze.
Fish darted away from them. A few alarmed deep-diving birds sped back up to the surface in plumes of bubbles. But Josh and Danny weren’t after snacks. They were just thrilled to be swimming alligators, kings of their domain, absolutely unstoppable!
They almost forgot the madness that had led them here. It was, without a doubt, their most exhilarating S.W.I.T.C.H. ever.
“You know . . . I could stay like this,” Danny said. He turned over in the water, spinning his body around and around as he moved like a log in a river. His lower parts were paler—almost yellowy—compared with the chocolate-brown upper parts. And there was muscular ribbing all the way down his throat and chest.
“We could make a gator hole as a den,” Josh said.
“Ooh—what’s that? Sounds good,” replied Danny, still gently rotating in the water. He knew this was something alligators did when they had prey in their jaws, to drown it before eating it.
“Alligators dig right into banks, sometimes, and make these sort-of caves,” explained Josh. “Right up under the bank where nobody can find them.”
“That would be amazing!” Danny said. “We should make one now!”
“Yeah . . .” said Josh, his tail arching lazily in the water behind him. “But we haven’t really got enough time. Any second we’re going to—”
SPLOOSH!
“—S.W.I.T.C.H. back,” gasped Josh as soon as his head was above water.
Danny climbed onto the bank, taking the case from his brother so Josh could get himself out as well. “We could always have another go . . .”
“Not now,” Josh said, looking at his watch (happily a waterproof one). “We’d better get back.”
They climbed out in the farthest corner of the lake and made their way back home, keeping well away from the crowds and the yellow tents and the police on the other side of the lake. They spotted an animal-control van too. Obviously, the hunt for the alligators was on.
Back at home, they got into the house and managed to shower, dry off, and change before Jenny had even finished watching TV. The Darcy Show episode she was watching had been recorded some time ago. So she had no idea about the amazing show she had just missed in her own town.
“So,” Danny said as he made cups of tea in the kitchen. “Do you think we’ll ever see Petty again?”
“Not for a while,” Josh said, cutting them both a bit of ginger cake. “But one day—definitely. After all”—he pointed to the lunchbox on the table—“we’ve still got the whole S.W.I.T.C.H. spray set.”
“We’d better hide it—really well,” Danny said. “In case Victor Crouch comes after us again.”
“Yes,” agreed Josh. “But on the other hand . . . if he does come after us, we probably should have just a little bit of S.W.I.T.C.H. spray on us. “We’ll never know when we might need it . . .”
BOOKS
Want to brush up on your reptile and amphibian knowledge? Here’s a list of books dedicated to slithering and hopping creatures.
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 precariously in his chair.