“There’s Cuddles!” Andy cried, pointing.

Evan turned to see Cuddles huddled against the wall. “He’s a little hamster again!” Evan exclaimed happily. He took three quick steps, bent down, and grabbed Cuddles between his hands. “Gotcha!”

Holding the hamster in front of him, he turned back to Andy and the others. “What happened? Why did we shrink back?”

Andy was studying the blue Monster Blood can. Suddenly she tossed back her dark hair, her brown eyes lit up, and she started to laugh. “It’s the expiration date!” she cried happily. “The expiration date on the can—it’s today! The Monster Blood stops working today! The magic has worn out!”

Evan let out a whoop of joy.

Mr. Murphy, a wide grin on his round face, hurried over and put his arm around Evan’s shoulders. “Fine job, Evan! Fine job!” he exclaimed. “You saved the school. I’m proud of you!”

“Thanks, Mr. Murphy,” Evan replied awkwardly.

“You’ll never make a basketball player now that you’re short again,” Mr. Murphy said, smiling. “But that was quite a good match with Cuddles. Have you ever thought of trying out for the wrestling team?”

*  *  *

Andy came to Evan’s house for dinner that night. He greeted her at the door, eager to tell her how all the kids had apologized for not believing him about the Monster Blood.

But before he could say anything, she held up a large brown envelope and grinned at him.

“What’s that?” he asked, following her into the living room.

“It’s a present my parents sent me from Europe,” she replied, her grin growing wider. “You won’t believe what it is.”

She started to pull open the envelope. But the front doorbell rang.

Evan hurried to see who it was.

“Mr. Murphy!” he cried in surprise.

“Hi, Evan,” the teacher said, his round body nearly filling the entire front stoop. “Hope I’m not interrupting your dinner.”

“No,” Evan replied. “Want to come in?”

“No thanks,” Mr. Murphy replied. His expression turned solemn. “I came by because I thought you should have some sort of reward, Evan. You were a real hero at school today.”

“Aw, not really,” Evan said awkwardly. He could feel his face growing hot and knew he was blushing.

What kind of reward? Evan wondered, staring back at the teacher. A cash reward?

Mr. Murphy raised the hamster cage into Evan’s view. “I’ve decided to reward you with Cuddles,” the teacher said. “I know how fond of him you are.”

“No, please!” Evan started to plead.

“It’s a small token,” Mr. Murphy said. “To show how grateful I am. How grateful we all are.”

“Please—no—!”

But before Evan realized it, the hamster cage was in his hand, and Mr. Murphy was walking back down the driveway to his car.

“He gave you Cuddles?” Andy asked as Evan returned to the living room carrying the cage. He set it down on the coffee table.

“It’s my reward,” Evan told her, rolling his eyes. “Do you believe it?”

“Well, you won’t believe this!” Andy declared. “Look what my parents found in Europe!”

She reached into the envelope and pulled out a blue plastic can. “It’s Monster Blood!”

“Oh, no!” Evan wailed.

“They wrote that they remembered how much fun I had with the old can,” Andy said, holding up the blue container. “So when they saw this can in a toy store in Germany, they decided to send me a new one.”

Evan’s eyes went wide with fear. “You—you’re not going to open it?” he demanded warily.

“Already did,” Andy replied. “Just to take a look. But I’m not going to use it. Really. I promise.”

Evan started to say something—but he was interrupted by his mother’s call from the kitchen. “Dinnertime, you two! Wash your hands and come to the table!”

Andy set the can of Monster Blood down on the desk in the corner. They obediently hurried to wash their hands.

They had a lively dinner. There was lots to talk about. They laughed and joked about all that had happened at school. It was easy to laugh about it now that it was all over.

After dinner, Evan and Andy returned to the living room.

Andy was the first to see that the door to the hamster cage was wide open. The cage was empty.

Evan was the one who spotted Cuddles on the desk.

“Cuddles—what are you eating?” he cried. “What are you eating?”

R.L. Stine’s books are read all over the world. So far, his books have sold more than 300 million copies, making him one of the most popular children’s authors in history. Besides Goosebumps, R.L. Stine has written the teen series Fear Street and the funny series Rotten School, as well as the Mostly Ghostly series, The Nightmare Room series, and the two-book thriller Dangerous Girls. R.L. Stine lives in New York with his wife, Jane, and Minnie, his King Charles spaniel. You can learn more about him at RLStine.com.

GOOSEBUMPS®

MOST WANTED

#1 PLANET OF THE LAWN GNOMES

#2 SON OF SLAPPY

#3 HOW I MET MY MONSTER

#4 FRANKENSTEIN’S DOG

#5 DR. MANIAC WILL SEE YOU NOW