“Back! Everyone back!” Mr. Murphy shrieked.
The terrified kids in the classroom pressed back against the walls.
Mr. Murphy picked up a wooden chair in one hand, the torn dog leash in the other. Holding the chair by the back, he came at the grunting monster like a lion tamer.
“Down, Cuddles! Get down! Sit! Sit!”
He poked the wooden chair up at the giant hamster and snapped the dog leash like a whip.
Cuddles’s watery black eyes, as big as soccer balls, glared down at the red-faced teacher. The hamster didn’t seem terribly impressed with Mr. Murphy’s lion-tamer act.
“Down, Cuddles! Get down!” The teacher’s chin quivered, and his big belly bounced up and down beneath his tight gray knit polo shirt.
Cuddles pulled back his huge lips and bared his white teeth. He let out a growl that made the light fixtures shake.
Terrified cries rang out through the room. Evan glanced back to see a horrified crowd of teachers and students jammed in the doorway.
“Down, Cuddles!”
Mr. Murphy shoved the wooden chair up at the raging hamster. He cracked the dog-leash whip near the hamster’s throbbing, fur-covered belly.
The huge black eyes stared down angrily at Mr. Murphy. The pink hamster paws clawed in the air.
Andy grabbed Evan’s shoulder and held on tight. “This is terrible!” she cried. “Terrible!”
Evan started to reply—but frightened shrieks drowned out his words.
Cuddles grabbed the chair with both paws.
“Drop! Drop!” Mr. Murphy screamed. He struggled to hold on to the chair.
Cuddles pulled the chair. Mr. Murphy desperately held tight. He let the leash fall so he could hold on to the chair with both hands.
The teacher and Cuddles had a short tug-of-war.
Cuddles won easily. The hamster pulled the chair up, nearly jerking Mr. Murphy’s arms out of their sockets.
With a loud groan, the teacher toppled heavily to the floor.
Kids screamed.
Two teachers rushed forward to help the gasping Mr. Murphy to his feet.
Evan stared up as the hamster raised the wooden chair to its mouth. The enormous white teeth opened quickly. The pink nose twitched. The watery black eyes blinked.
Then Cuddles chewed the wooden chair to pieces.
Splinters rained down on the floor.
The chomping teeth sounded like a lumberjack’s ax biting into a tree.
Evan froze in horror along with everyone else in the room.
Andy was squeezing his shoulder so hard, it hurt. “This is our fault,” she murmured.
“Our fault?” Evan cried. “Our fault?”
She ignored his sarcasm. He saw the fear in her eyes as she stared up at the hamster. Cuddles had turned the chair into toothpicks!
“We’ve got to do something, Evan,” she whispered, huddled close to him.
“But what?” Evan replied in a trembling voice. “What can we do?”
Then, suddenly, he had an idea.
“Come with me!” Evan cried, tugging Andy’s arm.
She hesitated, staring up at the giant hamster. “Where?”
“I have an idea,” Evan told her. “But we have to hurry!”
Cuddles lumbered over to Mr. Murphy’s desk. The hamster’s heavy footsteps made the floor sag.
“Here, fella! Here!” Mr. Murphy was tossing handfuls of sunflower seeds up to Cuddles. Cuddles glared down at him. The seeds were too small to bother with.
“Hurry!” Evan pleaded. He pulled Andy through the frightened crowd of kids and teachers at the door. Then he began running full speed toward the auditorium.
