And then he saw a police car pull up in front of the house.
“HIC!” Evan cried. He backed off the driveway and crouched low against the back wall of the house. “The police!” he whispered.
His throat tightened in panic. His feathers all stood up on end.
What should I do? he asked himself, pressed against the house, ducking his head. Should I run? Should I give myself up?
“One more try!” Kermit cried, leaping into the house. “Let me try one more mixture. I think I can get it this time!”
The door slammed behind him.
“Hurry!” Andy called from the driveway. “The police—they’re climbing out of their car.”
“How many are there?” Evan whispered. His feathers itched, but he was too frightened to scratch.
“Two,” Andy replied, staring through the gray evening light to the street. “They look kind of mean.”
A sudden cool gust of wind ruffled Evan’s feathers. His huge body trembled.
“They’re walking up the driveway,” Andy reported. “They’re going to be here in a few seconds!”
“I’d better make a run for it,” Evan declared. He took one step away from the house and nearly fell. It was hard to run when your feet were covered with stiff, prickly feathers.
His entire body itched. He pressed himself against the house again. “I’m doomed,” he murmured to himself.
“They stopped to check out the front door,” Andy told him. “You’ve still got a few seconds.”
“Hurry, Kermit! Hurry!” Evan urged out loud.
He turned to the kitchen door. No sign of Kermit.
Would Kermit get the mixture right this time? Could he get the mixture to Evan before the two police officers entered the backyard?
The screen door opened. Kermit burst out. He tripped on the back stoop. The blue bottle nearly went flying.
He caught his balance. He handed the bottle up to Evan. “Good luck!” Kermit called up to Evan. Kermit raised both hands. He had his fingers tightly crossed on both hands.
“Here come the police,” Andy warned. “They’re walking really fast now.”
The bottle trembled in Evan’s hand. He turned it upside down. It puddled in his enormous, feathery palm.
Frantically, he began rubbing it over his feathers, over his blue skin. Splashing it wildly. Pouring it over his body.
Please work! he silently urged it. Please work!
He waited.
Kermit stared up at him hopefully, his fingers still crossed.
“They’re here!” Andy reported from the driveway.
Evan gulped.
The mixture hadn’t worked.
He hadn’t changed. Not a bit.
The two dark-uniformed officers approached the back of the house. “Hello, there,” one of them called to Andy.
Evan heard a loud POP.
He uttered a startled cry as he felt himself falling. Falling to the ground.
He reached out a hand and steadied himself against the house.
It took him a second or two to realize that he hadn’t fallen. He had shrunk.
The two officers stepped into the backyard. One was very tall. The other was short and plump. “Sorry to bother you kids,” the tall one said. “But we got a call from a neighbor.”
“A call? About what?” Andy demanded. She cast a surprised glance at Evan. She didn’t expect to see him back to normal.
“Did you kids see a giant in the neighborhood?” the short officer asked. He narrowed his eyes at them, trying to appear tough.
“A giant? What kind of giant?” Kermit asked innocently.
