CHAPTER THREE

The Hole in the Earth

Walking home from school with Chloe and Sandro, all I could think about was how I had lied to Miss Dullworth about what had really happened. I wondered how I was going to get out of this one. Was it too late to tell the truth?

“Did you know that geckos and chameleons love to eat crickets?” I said. “That fact was burnt to a crisp, just like all the other amazing facts in my report.”

“Eating crickets? That’s disgusting!” Sandro winced. “But I’m so hungry right now, I’d probably eat some. I’d put bacon on ’em. And cheese sauce, of course. Maybe throw a hamburger in there for good measure. Mmmm, cricket burger…”

“Well, this earthquake hole will take your mind off your impending doom,” Chloe said, trying to get me to smile.

We arrived at the former parking lot of Chow Palace. Now there was just a big hole. It looked like the earth had grown a mouth, and its teeth were made of rocks. Chloe knelt down and studied the opening. “Miss Dullworth was right—this is odd. This doesn’t look like it was caused by an earthquake. It looks forced, as if something dug its way up here.”

“What could be big enough to tear a hole in the earth and cause the entire town to feel it?” I asked.

“I have no idea,” Chloe said. “But the three of us are going to find out.”

I craned my head over the edge of the hole—and noticed a pair of blinking eyes staring back at me from the darkness.

“Uh… you guys…” I stuttered, stumbling backward. “We’ve got problems!”

“Howdy!” said the lizard man, who’d popped his head up from below.

The three of us screamed and started running. We had no interest in getting eaten like crickets. Sandro ran past Chloe and me, moving faster than I’d ever seen him. The three of us ran straight to my house. I almost tripped over Gavin as we barged into the living room.

“Lizard… people… LIZARD… PEOPLE…” I huffed and puffed, grabbing Mom’s arm like a maniac. “I saw one… at school… and another… just now… crawled out of the sinkhole.… It thought… we were food!”

“Whoa, son,” Mom said, always collected. “Take a deep breath, and then talk.”

I explained everything. Then I added, “Lizards are cold blooded, so they don’t like chilly temperatures. Which means I should have used my ice powers to stop them! But I didn’t. I’m a terrible hero-in-training. The lizards are attacking and I’m a failure!”

“Peter, relax for a minute,” Dad said. “Are you sure you saw a lizard person? We’ve had our fair share of strangeness in Boulder City, but that sounds a little far-fetched.”

“He’s telling the truth, Mr. and Mrs. Powers,” Chloe said.

“We should check it out, dear,” Dad said to Mom.

“Want me to help?” Sandro asked. He made a karate chop at the air. “I’ve been practicing.”

“I think we adults have it covered,” Mom said. “You kids stay inside, where it’s safe. Mr. Powers and I will—”

“They’re here!” Gavin said, pointing out the window. A handful of lizard people stood in our front yard, waving happily. They were tall and thin and covered in green scales. They didn’t look like they wanted trouble—but they were lizard people!

“Kids, stay here,” Dad said. “We’re going to chat with our visitors.”

“At least they aren’t naked,” Gavin noted.

“Are you out of your mind?” I said, grabbing Dad’s arm. “They’re lizards, Dad! They’ll swallow you in a single gulp! I should know, I wrote a report on them.”

“Peter, that’s enough,” Mom said. “Just because they’re different from us doesn’t mean they have ill intentions. Even lizard people deserve a chance to explain themselves.”

Mom and Dad went outside to speak to the lizard people while the rest of us watched patiently from inside. After a few minutes, there was laughter and handshakes. What was going on? I expected a big battle!

“What happened?” I asked as soon as my parents walked in. “Are they going to take over the planet?”

“There’s nothing to worry about, Peter,” Mom assured me. “You’ll see soon enough.” She winked at Dad. They both giggled.

Was it possible that my parents had been hypnotized by the lizard people?