CHAPTER 16

OPEN

Two weeks later, Tuffin and my mom went on TV and competed against the ladies in the red hats. Tuffin didn’t win, but he had a great time, and unlike his older brother, he was nice enough to let me be on his team. I even got to be on TV when they filmed me chopping onions.

It wasn’t my proudest moment, but it was cool. I hate to say it, but I just might have learned something from the whole Average Chef/Tuffin thing. I’m not sure what I learned, but I feel smarter. My dad said I’m …

I don’t know if it was Hairy or just the books I’ve been reading, but my life is much more interesting than it used to be.

In the two weeks since the competition, I’ve pretty much spent all my time with Hairy. If Trevor is over, we all talk about spells and Han Solo. And when it’s just me and Hairy, we read.

I’ve grown so close to Hairy that I hardly think about Wonkenstein. Every once in a while, I look at Wonk’s cane on my dresser or I eat a piece of candy and think about him, but Hairy really has all my attention now. I’ve even taken him with me to school a couple of times. The first time went fine, but the second time, I almost got caught when Hairy spotted Wilt and did a spell …

I had to quickly explain that Wilt was acting okay now. Hairy then changed him back. Since that day, I’ve not brought Hairy to school. Besides, his spells are getting stronger and stronger, and I’m sort of afraid of what could happen.

Yesterday Janae sat two seats down from me at lunch. I made a joke about school food, and she actually laughed. I then smiled without making a fool of myself. It was a great lunch, despite the food.

Thursday evening after dinner, I went straight to my room and took Hairy from the drawer. I started reading him a part of Harry Potter that I enjoyed. Right as we were getting to a really scary scene, something even scarier happened.

I nearly jumped out of my skin.

My closet door had knocked again. The last time that happened, Wonkenstein had gone in and never come back out. I looked down at Hairy, and he was smiling and moving toward the closet as if he had been waiting for the knock.

I picked him up and put him on my bed. I then continued to read as if nothing had happened.

My heart felt like it was going to burst. I wasn’t going to let Hairy disappear back into my closet. I held his scarf as he struggled to break loose and get to the closet.

Beardy began to rattle and shake.

Then, with one loud snap, the closet door popped open.

I jumped up and quickly pushed my closet door closed. It growled and popped back open. I pushed it closed again, and this time, I leaned against it with my rear to keep it closed. Beardy bit my backside, and I leapt away. The door rumbled and then flung open. Hairy started to walk toward it, and I scooped him up. I opened my front window and crawled out of it, taking Hairy away from my room. I scurried across my front yard and over to the island. I held Hairy tightly and sat down between the palm trees near the Flinger.

I looked at my house and at my open window. I could see my closet door. It was opening and closing as if champing to get at Hairy.

My mind raced. I tried to think of something about Chewbacca or Harry Potter that the books had taught me. Some sort of spell or secret hold that would keep Hairy still. I couldn’t think of anything. Hairy tossed his head back and hit my chin. I yelled, and he slipped out of my grasp. He turned to face me and spoke his mixed-up wisdom.

I stared at Hairy, wondering what he meant. I didn’t know what was now, and I couldn’t see any corners. I begged him to please stop trying to sound wise. Hairy patted my right knee and told me this was just the beginning. I reached out to grab him and stopped. He nodded at me, and I nodded back as if I understood. But I wouldn’t stand for it. He lifted his wand and shouted, “Accio brooms.” The front doors of all the homes around us instantly popped open. Brooms of all shapes and sizes shot out of the doors and flew across the street toward the island.

Hairy was summoning a ride. Brooms pummeled us from all directions. I jumped up and frantically tried to grab as many as possible to keep Hairy from getting them. I had most of them, but when I looked down, I could see that he had thought of another way to travel.

He was standing on the far edge of the Flinger, and there was a huge rock levitating above the near end. Hairy waved his wand and let the rock fall. I dropped the brooms and leapt toward him, but I was too slow. He shot across the street, right through my window and directly into my closet. I then heard the door shut loudly.

I ran across the street and climbed into my window. My closet door was closed, but it wasn’t locked. I threw the door open, and there was nothing but junk.

I turned around to see if by some chance Hairy was in my room. I checked to make sure he hadn’t crawled into his drawer. He hadn’t. When I turned and tried to look in the closet again, it was shut tight, and Beardy wasn’t budging.

I felt mad, sad, and confused all at once. I could hear knocking on the front door of our house. I ran out of my room, hoping someone had found Hairy and brought him back.

When I got to the front door, there was Trevor’s mom. She was complaining to my mom and holding a bunch of brooms. She didn’t look happy.

Trevor’s mom had seen me with them on the island. I started to explain, but it was hard to come up with a believable reason.

It was probably the worst excuse I could have used. My mom was pretty angry. In fact, she called me Robert instead of Ribert and then assigned me a number of new jobs that would keep me cleaning for the next few weeks. I walked back into my room and shut the door. I looked over at Beardy, and he was smiling.

Beardy appeared to be looking down.

I looked down, too. There was something lying on the floor near the closet door.

I smiled and picked up the little scarf. I then folded it carefully and put it on the top of my dresser next to Wonk’s cane.

I looked back at Beardy and asked …

Beardy didn’t answer; instead, I heard a knock on my window. I turned to see all my friends staring at me. I opened the window, and Jack spoke up.

It was an offer I couldn’t refuse.