Dial M for Mongoose by Bruce Hale

Author:Bruce Hale [Hale, Bruce]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9780547480794
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Published: 2010-12-06T00:00:00+00:00

active volcano. The heat swallowed me like a hungry python after a fast.

I hacked and coughed. My eyes watered.

"What—koff!—are you—koff koff!—stuck on?"

Popper grabbed my shoulder. "This caba-aba-abinet!"

Squinting through the smoke, I could just make out the problem. Popper's face and arms hung out the window, but one leg was pinned to the inside wall by a supply cupboard that had fallen against her.

Oh, boy.

Disobeying my every instinct, I thrust my arms and head into the burning room. I gripped the top of the cabinet, anchored my feet against the outside wall, and pushed.

It didn't budge.

"Kick your—koff!—leg, peewee!" I said."One ... two... koff koff koff !"

She kicked, I shoved, and at last the tall cabinet tilted back enough for Popper to snatch her leg out from under.

Whump! The cupboard thunked back against the wall. Flames licked up its side, dancing nearer.

Yikes.

Popper dove out the window.

Time for this detective to make like a grocery checker and bag it.

I tried to squirm backwards, but I felt weaker than a kitten's threat.

"Unh! Aargh!" I thrashed around. My head was spinning. Too much smoke.

A deafening wail tore at my ears. Were my classmates mourning the end of Chet Gecko?

Then, suddenly...

"Oof!" Something yanked on my feet and lifted me out. And...

Sprisssssh! Jets of water blasted like rap music in a rain barrel. A burly bobcat in a yellow firefighter's jacket hauled Popper and me away from the flames and across the grass.

She propped us against a wall by the crowd of onlookers and headed back to work the hoses. A team of firefighters was drenching every building in sight.

Golden flames sizzled out. Everything reeked of smoke.

"Too bad I—koff!—didn't bring ingredients for s'mores," I said.

"Kaff! M-m-marshmallowy goodness, said Popper.

For some reason, this struck me funny. My lip twitched. A chuckle erupted, and soon Popper and I were giggling together like fools.

Must have been the smoke inhalation.

Natalie landed beside us in a flurry. "Chet! Are you all right?"

"I—hee, hee, hee! I—ha!" Laughs kept bursting out of me like cricket popcorn in a skillet.

She scowled. "It's not funny! You could've been fricasseed. What were you doing in there?"

I waved my hand at Popper and the building. "Ha, ha—rescue—hee—mission."

The tree frog recovered first. "I went in to get my coo-caw-cousin's—ha—bracelet. She forgidetty-got it."

"And then?" asked Natalie.

Popper hopped to her feet, vibrating like a paint mixer. "The classroom burn-baby-burned!"

Natalie leaned closer. "Did you see anyone suspicious? Someone who might have set the fire?"

"Yep, yup, uh-huh," said Popper, wiping a smear of soot from her forehead.

I jumped up, shocked sober. "Well? Who was it?"

Popper's mouth dropped open. She pointed across the grass. "Her-her-her."

"Who, her?" I said.

"Maureen De-bubba-Bree!"

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