The Extincts by Veronica Cossanteli

Author:Veronica Cossanteli
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781627795234
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)

“I found it in the woods,” she told me. “On my way home from Wormestall that first day, when you took the bike. Mrs. Lind says Grissel’s losing her teeth all over the place because of being old, and because of all the sweet stuff she eats. She said I could keep it.”

Slightly envious, I wondered if I could persuade the ichthyosaur to spit out a tooth.

“Be careful” was all I said. “You’d better hide it. What if Mintzer or your stepmother sees?”

* * *

The trouble was, after that, Prudence seemed to think we’d stopped Not Talking. She kept popping up beside me when I was being goalie on the playground, or behind me in the lunch line.

“Don’t you think that cloud looks like a flying dragon?” she’d say, or “Don’t forget to save your apple core for Big Nigel,” or “It’s your turn to feed Tail-Biter today. I’ve still got porridge in my hair from yesterday.”

People began to notice. Josh and Matt started making jokes. The girls were worse. Somebody put a piece of paper in my pencil case with a heart drawn on it and a G and a P. Mum found another one when she emptied my PE bag. Harry and Frank thought it was funny, and they started in on me as well. Chants of “George likes Prudence. Prudence likes Geo-orge” followed me wherever I went.

I hadn’t liked her to start with. Now I liked her even less.

* * *

And then, suddenly, Prudence wasn’t there.

For three days in a row, she didn’t come to school. She hadn’t been seen at Wormestall, either.

“Something’s wrong, I know it,” declared Mrs. Lind. She had boiled up a new batch of Depetrifaction Ointment and lugged it out to the stables, where she was experimenting on the stone rabbit. She had covered it from nose to tail in green slime, while we coughed and gasped in the fumes, but it still wasn’t showing any signs of depetrifying.

“She’s probably just sick,” I suggested. “Aisha puked in the bus on the way back from swimming the other day. Prudence was sitting next to her.”

Mrs. Lind shook her head. “It’s something else. Something worse. You know, this rabbit really ought to be showing signs of life by now.” She poked it and frowned. “Not even the twitch of a whisker. I’ll run out of rue at this rate. Lo, are you positive that it was weasel pee you gave me? Not stoat … or ferret?”

“Mmm,” said Lo. He was writing a label to go around the latest stone animal’s neck, and not really listening. “Number 35 Ashmole Road. Or was it 33?”

“Hey, I live at 33 Ashmole Road!” I looked at the stone cat at his feet. “And that’s Next-Door’s Cat!”

“Maybe you can stop by Prudence’s house on your way home, George,” suggested Mrs. Lind, “just to check nothing’s wrong?”

I wasn’t thrilled about the idea.

“What if Mr. Mintzer’s there? He wants to feed me to the Squermington Wyrm.”

“He’ll have to find it first,” said Mrs.

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