The Trimoni Twins and the Shrunken Treasure by Pam Smallcomb

Author:Pam Smallcomb
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2005-11-09T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

“But what about Gaidic?” Wiliken said. “She’s still downstairs.”

“You’re quite right,” Uncle Hoogaboom said. “We can’t have her in the house. Not with the practicing and all.”

“You could just send her home a little early,” Wiliken said. “She won’t mind. Close up the shop.”

“Yes,” Uncle Hoogaboom said. “That’s just what I’ll do.”

“Excuse me, Uncle,” Hector said. “What practicing?”

“You’ll need to practice shrinking things around the house.” Uncle Hoogaboom nodded decisively. “You can’t stroll around the city with that kind of magic in your fingertips without practicing first.”

“Are you sure you want to give it to me right now?” Hector seemed less than pleased. “I thought you wanted to find the treasure first,” he protested. “You wanted to be the one to unshrink it. You told us that.”

Uncle Hoogaboom shook his head. “That was my dream for many years. Pieter’s and mine. But more important is keeping the Shrinking Coin and the Changing Coin a secret from the world. It’s what we’ve always done.” He shook his head. “I swear it! No one is going to prove there is shrinking magic on my shift!”

“That’s the spirit, Hoogaboom!” Wiliken said as he opened the apartment door and started down the stairs. “Let’s send Gaidic home and lock up!”

They trooped down the stairs to Hoogaboom’s shop. Hector and the twins stood by the hall doorway as Uncle Hoogaboom did everything but shove poor Gaidic out the door.

As she said, “Goedenacht!” she glanced over at Hector with a definite “What is going on?” look on her face.

“Good night, Gaidic! See you tomorrow!” Wiliken called as Uncle Hoogaboom shut the door after her and locked it.

“Wiliken,” Uncle Hoogaboom said, “may I have a word with you alone, please?” Uncle Hoogaboom and Wiliken talked softly together in a corner of the detail room for a few minutes.

Beezel and Mimi turned to Hector and saw a stricken look on his face.

“What’s wrong?” Beezel asked.

“Gaidic knew we were up to something,” Hector said sadly. “I don’t like her feeling left out. Or that we don’t like her.”

“Or that you don’t like her,” Mimi said as she patted his back.

Hector nodded and whispered, “And I’m not sure I want the Shrinking Coin. I’ve seen the trouble the Changing Coin has gotten you two into. What if I bungle the whole thing up? What if I’m the one who accidentally blurts out the five magic words and the magic is lost forever?” He wiped his hands over his face. “See? I’m sweating just thinking about it.”

“Don’t worry,” Beezel assured him. “You’ll do a great job of protecting the coin. And we’ll help you, won’t we, Mimi?”

Mimi hugged Hector. “You bet. And don’t forget, at home we’re just in the next trailer over!”

“I apologize for excluding you,” Uncle Hoogaboom said as he and Wiliken walked over to them. “We’ve made a decision. Wiliken and I have something further to discuss with all of you before we transfer the shrinking magic to Hector.”

They followed Uncle Hoogaboom into his apartment. He led them into a small front room.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.