Shrinking Violet Absolutely Loves Ancient Egypt by Lou Kuenzler

Author:Lou Kuenzler
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic UK
Published: 2014-07-08T16:00:00+00:00

I was hopping through the market like a grasshopper, searching desperately for Ant, when…

I shot back to right behind the back legs of a camel.

“Careful, she kicks,” cried the owner, who hadn’t seen me growing tall. But the camel gave me a very strange look, as if to say, “How in the name of hairy humps did you do that?”

“Sorry!” I cried, speeding on through the market to look for Gran and Tiff. I kept my eyes open for Anthony too, but I knew there was probably no chance of spotting him if he was still tiny – especially if he didn’t want to be found.

“Violet, there you are.” Gran dashed out from behind a hanging carpet and gathered me into a hug. “I’ve been looking everywhere. I was so worried about you in this crowd,” she cried. She must have guessed that I’d shrunk.

Tiffany rolled her eyes, which made her look a lot like the camel. “You shouldn’t get in such a panic, Gran,” she sighed. “Violet’s always getting lost. I bet she was still looking at that horrible snake in the basket.”

“Something like that,” I said.

“We saw the owner feed it a dead mouse,” shuddered Tiffany. “It swallowed it whole…”

“At least it won’t be hungry for a while,” I said, glancing over Gran’s shoulder at the crowded market. The last I’d seen him, Anthony had been running back in the direction of the snake. If he was still tiddly he’d make a perfect cobra-sized snack.

Gran stopped hugging me at last. “Have you seen your cousin anywhere?” she asked. “He disappeared almost the same time you did. I think he’s sulking because I took away his phone.”

“Anthony has a little problem, Gran,” I said. “Just a small thing. A tiny bit of bother…”

“Gracious me.” Gran’s hand flew up to her mouth. “You mean … like you…?”

I nodded.

“I never guessed,” said Gran.

“What are you talking about?” said Tiffany. “And why are you both staring at the ground. If you’re looking for Anthony he’s not going to be down there, is he?”

“No.” Gran and I both laughed nervously and looked up for a moment. I have always been amazed that Tiff has never guessed about my shrinking. But now I had spent all this time with Anthony and never suspected a thing either, it started to make more sense. I remembered what Gran had said, all those weeks ago when we were searching for the last answer in the wordsearch puzzle: People don’t see what is right under their own noses. It turns out she was right.

“Anthony’s over there anyway,” sighed Tiff. “By that chemist shop.”

“Where?” Gran and I both spun around.

Anthony was back to full size, leaning against the shop with his arms crossed.

“What a time you must have had,” cried Gran, rushing towards him. “Let’s get you back to the boat for a nice cup of tea and a chat.”

“Why is everyone making such a fuss?” said Tiff.

“It’s nothing,” I said.

I smiled at Anthony but he ignored me. It was probably best to leave him with Gran.

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