The late afternoon sun beamed down on them as they walked. Andy stopped to watch two monarch butterflies, their black-and-gold wings fluttering majestically as they hovered over a patch of blue and yellow wildflowers along the creekbed.

Even the trickling brown creek looked pretty on this bright day. Tiny white gnats sparkled like diamonds in the sunlight over the shimmering water.

Evan kicked at a fallen tree branch. Everything looked dark to him today.

Dark and ugly.

“It just wasn’t fair,” he grumbled, kicking the branch again. “It wasn’t a fair tryout. Mr. Murphy should have given me a better chance.”

Andy tsk-tsked, her eyes on the sparkling creek.

“Someone should teach Mr. Murphy a lesson,” Evan said. “I wish I could think of some way of paying him back. I really do.”

Andy turned to him. A devilish grin crossed her face. “I have a plan,” she said softly. “A really neat plan.”

“What is it?” Evan demanded.

“What’s your idea?” Evan demanded again.

Andy grinned at him. She was wearing a long, lime-green T-shirt over a Day-Glo orange T-shirt, pulled down over baggy blue shorts. The sunlight made all the colors so bright, Evan felt like shielding his eyes.

“You might not like it,” Andy said coyly.

“Try me,” Evan replied. “Come on. Don’t keep me in suspense.”

“Well …” Her eyes wandered over to the tree where they had buried the Monster Blood. “It has to do with the Monster Blood,” she said reluctantly.

He swallowed hard. “That’s okay. Go on.”

“Well, it’s a pretty simple plan. First, we dig up the Monster Blood,” Andy said, watching his reaction.

“Yeah?”

“Then we take some to school,” she continued.

“Yeah?”

“Then we feed it to Cuddles.”

Evan’s mouth dropped open.

“Just a little bit!” Andy quickly explained. “We feed Cuddles a tiny glob of it. Just enough to make him the size of a dog.”

Evan laughed. It was a terrible idea, a truly evil idea—but he loved it!

He slapped Andy on the back. “You’re bad, Andy!” he cried. “You’re really bad!”

Andy grinned proudly. “I know.”

Evan laughed again. “Can you see the look on Murphy’s face when he comes in and sees his precious little hamster has grown as big as a cocker spaniel? What a riot!”

“So you’ll do it?” Andy asked.

Evan’s smile faded. “I guess,” he replied thoughtfully. “If you promise we’ll only use a tiny bit. And we’ll bury the rest right away.”

“Promise,” Andy said. “Just enough to play our little joke on Mr. Murphy. Then we’ll never use the stuff again.”

“Okay,” Evan agreed.

They shook hands solemnly.

Then they hurried to the tree. Evan searched the entire park, squinting against the bright sunlight. He wanted to make sure no one was spying on them this time.

When he was sure the park was empty, he and Andy dropped to their knees under the tree and began scooping the dirt off the hole with their hands.

They had dug nearly two feet down when they realized the hole was empty.

“The Monster Blood!” Evan cried. “It—it’s gone!”

“We must be digging under the wrong tree,” Evan said, sweat pouring down his freckled forehead.

Andy pushed a wet strand of brown hair off her face with a dirt-covered finger. “No way.” She shook her head. “This is the right tree. And the right hole.”

“Then where is the Monster Blood?” Evan demanded shrilly.

They both came up with the answer to his question at the same time: “Conan!”

“He must have watched us bury it,” Evan said, his eyes darting around the park as if he expected to see Conan jump out from behind a bush. “I thought he hurried away awfully fast that afternoon. He knew the paper bag wasn’t empty.”

Andy agreed. “He hid and watched us bury it. Then he waited till we were gone, and dug it up.”

They both stared into the empty hole in horrified silence.

Andy broke the silence. “What is Conan going to do with it?” she asked, her voice just above a whisper.

“Probably eat it so he can grow bigger and hit me harder,” Evan replied bitterly.

“But he doesn’t know what Monster Blood does,” Andy said. “He doesn’t know how dangerous it is.”

“Of course he does. I told him all about it,” Evan replied. He slammed his hand against the tree trunk. “We have to get it back!”

*  *  *

Before science class the next afternoon, Evan found Conan in the hall. He and Biggie were standing next to Evan’s locker. They were laughing loudly about something, slapping each other high-fives.