\u201cI guess,\u201d said Gordy, \u201cone little shot is a small price to pay for a lifetime supply of Koo-Bars.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cNo!\u201d Bea interjected, as quietly as she could to avoid attracting attention. \u201cNo shots! It\u2019s Ugh! It\u2019s \u2018UN growth hormone!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cYou talk to him Kitty,\u201d suggested Odin. \u201cAfter all, this is chemistry…or, I guess, biochemistry. That shot will…\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201c…stunt our growth,\u201d finished Kitty. \u201cYou\u2019re telling me they want to reverse the weird effects by stunting our growth?\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cNot just your<\/em> growth,\u201d said Bea. \u201cEverybody\u2019s growth. They\u2019re going to start putting Ugh right in the Koo-Bar recipe so it won\u2019t give anyone else horns, or wings…\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201c…or red hair?\u201d said Gordy. \u201cBut I don\u2019t care about my hair! Koo-Bars are good!\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIt\u2019s too late to talk any sense into him,\u201d observed Bea. \u201cWe\u2019ll just have to use this \u2018line-up and march\u2019 thing as our chance to break loose.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWhen?\u201d asked Odin.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWhen we get to the fifth floor,\u201d decided Bea.<\/p>\n \n\tTwo humorless-looking members of the Bean-Tek Security Team had entered the room, and were gazing critically at Bea and her whispering circle.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cSssh…\u201d said Odin. \u201cDoctor Ugh\u2019s goons are getting suspicious.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cOkay,\u201d said Bea. \u201cLet\u2019s keep it down. And don\u2019t worry. I\u2019ll tell you when.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tOdin didn\u2019t have time to ask \u2018when what?\u2019 The children had begun to file out of the room, one at a time, with a member of Security at the front and rear.<\/p>\n \n\tOdin snapped into robot-mode, and Bea hoped her spots hadn\u2019t smudged as they fell in line behind Kitty and Gordy.<\/p>\n \n\tTo keep the group together, Dr. Ugh summoned all three elevators at once, and crammed a third of the group into each of the tubular structures.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cHang tight,\u201d advised Bea, as their module zoomed with dizzying efficiency to the fifth floor.<\/p>\n \n\tAs the doors opened, Bea strained to make sure all fifty-some kids were present and accounted for. If Dr. Ugh began to pull them out of the group one at a time, it would completely derail her \u2018create a panic and scramble\u2019 strategy.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cAlright everyone!\u201d said the lady scientist whom Bea had heard speaking earlier in Dr. Ugh\u2019s office. The scientist waved a shiny syringe above her head. \u201cLet\u2019s make a new line and we\u2019ll have you out of here in a jiffy!\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cShould we just not line up?\u201d whispered Kitty.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cCivil disobedience,\u201d whispered Bea. \u201cWhat we\u2019ll do is NOT comply, just like that koohoo up there, totally not where it’s supposed to be.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tShe pointed up at an air conditioning grate in the ceiling where koohoo, most likely from the greenhouse just above, was poking exploratory tendrils into the fifth floor hallway.<\/p>\n \n\tBut then her attention was jerked back to eye-level, as Hiram Scalmo\u2019s voice rang from the direction of the bean statue down the hall.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWhat are you waiting for!\u201d Scalmo bellowed. \u201cLet\u2019s get this procedure started!\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tEvery pair of Bean-Tek kids’ eyes stared at Scalmo, but it was Bea\u2019s eyes that caught the gaze of Dierdre Fidelius who suddenly whipped around the corner near Scalmo and focused, like a laser-beam, on Bea.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cGuards!\u201d said Dierdre, with a snap of her fingers. \u201cWe have an intruder! Dotty down there is NOT one of our Bean-Tek kids!\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe security guys turned, and began to close in on Bea.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cUm…Dotty?\u201d said Odin. \u201cWhat should we do?\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe guards each took hold of one of Bea\u2019s arms.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cYoung lady,\u201d said one, \u201cIt seems to be time to evict you!\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWilliam Tell!\u201d shouted Bea. \u201cOdin! Play William Tell and play it loud!\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tOdin looked momentarily dazed, then his face lit up. Completely abandoning his robot routine, he pulled the phone out of his shirt pocket and hit a few buttons. The galloping Lone Ranger theme song charged from his phone speaker.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWhat in the world?\u201d demanded Dierdre. \u201cYoung man, turn that off!\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tOnly what she said sounded more like \u201cturn that aw-oof\u201d as she tripped backwards over a sweeping rope of koohoo which had descended from the ceiling grate, and was beginning to encircle Hiram Scalmo.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cHey!\u201d shouted Scalmo. \u201cForget the kid! Cut me out of this stuff!\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe guards dropped Bea and scurried over to Scalmo who by now was in the middle of what looked a twirling spool of leafy koohoo vine.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThe Reel Odin!\u201d said Bea. \u201cPlay the Beatrix Flannery Reel!\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tOdin punched a few more keys, switching the music to the jaunty stepdance. The koohoo paused in its spinning, as if stopping to listen, then began to dance merrily around the mob of humans by the elevators, pushing and jostling as it kept time with the music, like oscillating waves on a graph.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cBean-Tek kids!\u201d shouted Bea. \u201cCome with us!\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tBea began leading the way toward the stairwell door at the end of the corridor, when she noticed that several kids were struggling to make their way through the numerous dancing vines, which had joined the original one from the ceiling grate.<\/p>\n \n\tThe guards, meanwhile, in attempting to free Hiram Scalmo from his bindings, had become hopelessly entangled in the same cluster of vines and leaves which had entwined Dierdre when she hit the floor.<\/p>\n \n\tBea hurried back toward the koohoo noticing, as she pulled a kid from here, a kid from there, that the same vines which were enthusiastically ensnaring everyone else gave way and let her pass as needed.<\/p>\n \n\tTugging the last little boy around a koohoo barrier, she returned to Odin, Kitty, Gordy and the Bean-Tek kids.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cCould we just use the elevators?\u201d wondered Odin. They glanced toward the modules, whose doors had been pried open by dancing koohoo vines and were now blasting the loud alarm that happens when you press the wrong red button.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI don\u2019t think this is the time,\u201d said Bea. \u201cOnto the roof. We can ride Bob down, two at a time.\u201d <\/p>\n \n\t\u201cBob?\u201d said Kitty.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cBob,\u201d confirmed Odin.<\/p>\n \n\tFifty-two children piled into the stairwell, and thundered up two flights to the roof. Bea paused briefly to peek through the doorway into the greenhouse level, only to confirm what she\u2019d suspected: Koohoo had completely taken over the sixth floor. There was koohoo feeding itself, koohoo mixing more plant food, and even koohoo operating the coffee machine.<\/p>\n \n\tThe Bean-Tek kids were cheering, jumping up and down, and making snowballs as Bea emerged onto the roof. Above their heads a police helicopter was hovering slowly toward the landing pad.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWay to go Hort!\u201d yelled Bea, above the propeller din. She and the rest of the kids backed away from the landing pad as the helicopter connected with the roof. \u201cShe and Miles must\u2019ve finally convinced the cops!\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tA police lady jumped out of the helicopter\u2019s cockpit, followed by several members of a machete-wielding SWAT team.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cOkay kids,\u201d said the police lady. \u201cWe\u2019ll be exiting the building by means of the stairs. We\u2019ve gotten several distress calls from within the building…and we\u2019re prepared to chop our way through if need be!\u201d She gave the air a few token whacks, as if to prove her determination.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cKitty,\u201d said Bea. \u201cGrab Gordy and go with everybody else. Odin and I have to bring Bob down the old-fashioned way.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cFlying a horse is old-fashioned?\u201d said Kitty.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cAnd be careful,\u201d warned Bea. \u201cThat koohoo is totally out of control. Hard to say how it\u2019ll take to bushwhacking.\u201d <\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIn fact,\u201d added Odin as he and Bea ducked carefully away from the cluster of Bean-Tek kids and headed toward where Bob was tethered near the corner of the greenhouse, \u201cit seems to be a little hard to say how koohoo will feel about anything at all, doesn\u2019t it? Including Beatrix Flannery.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIt got out of my way,\u201d agreed Bea. \u201cMore than anyone else. Not like I scared it or anything, but like…\u201d <\/p>\n \n\t\u201c…but like it was just behaving better when you came near,\u201d said Odin. \u201cWhy would it?\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tBob nickered a welcoming greeting as Bea and Odin approached. A vine of koohoo had wormed its way through an impossibly small crack between the greenhouse glass and the concrete roof, and Bob chomped off a large mouthful.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cTaking your koohoo straight these days Bob?\u201d said Odin, giving the pony a pat on his feathery back.<\/p>\n \n\tThe October sun was getting low, and a chilly breeze caught a dusting of snow that remained in Bob\u2019s mane and spritzed it at Bea. At the same time, the breeze wafted a familiar scent to Bea\u2019s nose. The nutty, toasty aroma of the pelinga bark from which the octopus amulet, hanging around her neck, was carved.<\/p>\n \n\tOnce again the words of Mola Peggi replayed themselves in Bea\u2019s memory. We know Koohoo, here on the Waddo Islands…as it grows in the shade of Pelinga trees, and to the trills of Waddo songbirds.<\/p>\n \n\tIn the shade of Pelinga trees,<\/em> repeated Bea to herself. \u201cOdin,\u201d she said. \u201cI think we\u2019re making hasty assumptions again.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cYou mean like hastily assuming ponies can fly?\u201d suggested Odin.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cNo,\u201d replied Bea. \u201cLike NOT noticing that it may be exactly the other things you\u2019d find in the koohoo\u2019s regular habitat that keep it from turning into the plant that ate the world.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cLike what?\u201d asked Odin.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cLike pelinga bark,\u201d said Bea. She twirled her carved octopus pendant near the vine pushing through the greenhouse roof. The vine slowed its pushing, and retreated a bit.<\/p>\n \n\tBob whinnied a protest. He\u2019d had his eye on that vine and was ready for another bite.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cBob,\u201d said Bea. \u201cBill made us promise to get you home in time for dinner, and that is not your dinner.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tAt the mention of dinner, Bob made one more quick grab at the leaves of the koohoo plant, but then perked up his ears and began to step in place.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cShall we?\u201d said Bea. She patted Bob on the back then climbed astride. Odin awkwardly climbed aboard behind her.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cDown boy,\u201d said Odin nervously.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cRight,\u201d said Bea. \u201cSo…tally-ho Bob! Let\u2019s go!\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tShe jiggled his reins and gave him a quick prod with her foot. Bob trotted away from the railing, then unfurled his wings with unmistakable delight.<\/p>\n \n\tBea wondered exactly how Bob would deal with rooftop lift-off. To Odin\u2019s shock and dismay, he did not deal with it at all. Instead, he galloped to the edge while Bea and Odin clung for their lives, and jumped.<\/p>\n \n\tAt first they dropped, with heart-stopping swiftness. Then, Bob\u2019s wings spread and caught the breeze like a kite. First, they soared straight up, then Bob turned and began to descend in an enormous corkscrew toward Nola and Michael-Dan who were waving from the pony cart on the street below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cI guess,\u201d said Gordy, \u201cone little shot is a small price to pay for a lifetime supply of Koo-Bars.\u201d \u201cNo!\u201d Bea interjected, as quietly as she could to avoid attracting attention. \u201cNo shots! It\u2019s Ugh! It\u2019s \u2018UN growth hormone!\u2019\u201d \u201cYou talk to him Kitty,\u201d suggested Odin. \u201cAfter all, this is chemistry…or, I guess, biochemistry. That […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=378"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":417,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378\/revisions\/417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}