“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.
Conan wore a tight blue muscle shirt and baggy faded denim jeans with enormous holes at the knees. Biggie had wavy brown hair down to his shoulders. He wore a sleeveless white T-shirt and tight-fitting black denims.
They look like a couple of tag-team wrestlers! Evan thought as he stepped between them.
“Hey, look—it’s Air Evan!” Conan joked. “King of the slam dunk!”
He and Biggie guffawed loudly. Conan gave Evan a slap on the back that sent him sprawling into Biggie.
“Uh … Conan? Did you find something in the park?” Evan asked, struggling to regain his balance.
Conan narrowed his eyes at Evan and didn’t reply.
“Did you find something that belongs to Andy and me?” Evan repeated.
“You mean like your brains?” Conan exclaimed. He and his tag-team partner roared with laughter over that gem.
“Why don’t we dribble him to class?” Biggie asked Conan. “Coach Murphy would like to see us get in some extra practice.”
Conan laughed gleefully at that idea.
“Ha-ha. Very funny,” Evan said sarcastically. “Look, Conan—that stuff you took. It’s really dangerous. You have to give it back.”
Conan opened his eyes in wide-eyed innocence. “I really don’t know what you’re talking about, Evan. Did you lose something?”
“You know I lost something,” Evan replied sharply. “And I want it back.”
Conan flashed a sly grin at Biggie. Then he turned back to Evan, his expression hardening. “I don’t know what you mean, Evan,” he said. “Really. I don’t know what you and that girl lost. But tell you what. I’m a nice guy. I’ll help you look for it.”
He grabbed Evan around the waist with both hands. Biggie pulled Evan’s locker door open.
“I’ll help you look for it in your locker,” Conan said.
He shoved Evan inside the locker and slammed the door shut.
Evan started pounding on the metal door, shouting for help.
But the bell had rung. Evan knew the hall was empty. There was no one to hear his cries.
He decided to try fiddling with the latch. But it was too dark to see anything. And he was so jammed in, he couldn’t raise his arms.
