Free Stampede of the Supermarket Slugs by Bill Doyle Page A

of hair on top and a pointy beard. It was Mr. Cigam, the magician! He had hired the cousins to do odd jobs around his house earlier that summer.
    “Stunner,” Henry said. “This must be some kind of magic note!”
    Keats nodded. “It was trying to get our attention during the race.” He put the last piece—the mouth—in place. Right away, Mr. Cigam started to talk.
    Greetings, Henry and Keats!
    I have a new odd job for you. A Wallenda slug has invaded the Purple Rabbit Market! If I cannot get rid of it, the supermarket will be named a hazard zone and shut down .
    Your tasks are to catch that slug and remove it from the supermarket before someone else discovers it. When you complete those two things, I will arrive to pay you for your work .
    Sincerely ,           
Archibald Cigam
    P.S. I’ve left you the recipe for Sleep-Slug Potion in the store’s office. The recipe is in the—
    Mr. Cigam’s voice was cut off. A gust of wind blew the scrap of paper with his mouth off the table.

    “Get that mouth!” Keats said. “He was about to say where the recipe is!”
    The scrap fluttered in the air like a butterfly. Keats dove for it but missed. Henry chased the mouth as it wafted over a big bowl of cheese puffs. It landed in a jug of pink punch. Henry stuck both hands in the punch.
    A little girl licking cheese-puff powder off her fingers watched him splash around. “Yuck,” she said, and ran off.
    “Sorry!” Henry called after her. He plucked the paper out of the jug and put the mouth back in the picture. But the paper was all soggy. The words came out sounding mushy.
    “Theeee … recipeee,” Mr. Cigam’s mouth said, “is … in the …”
    Henry and Keats leaned forward to hear better.
    “… lost Ann fund.…”
    Then the paper lips became so soggy, no words came out at all.
    “The potion recipe is in ‘lost Ann’s fund’?” Henry said. “Who’s Ann?”
    Keats shook his head. “I have a bigger question. Do we even want to do this?” he asked. “The last time we worked for Mr. Cigam, we almost got eaten by a crazy shark-headed zombie!”
    Henry’s face turned serious. “Cuz, we have to do it for our moms,” he said.
    The cousins looked over at the snack table. Their moms were laughing with the other workers from the Purple Rabbit Market. If the store were shut down, they would all lose their jobs.
    Keats sighed. “We don’t have a choice,” he agreed.
    “I’m sure it will be fine,” Henry said,scratching his chin. “After all, how tough can it be to catch one slug?”
    Keats’s stomach flip-flopped again. When Henry scratched his chin, it was a sure sign that he was lying.

2
THE PURPLE RABBIT
    THE COUSINS HOPPED on their bikes and pedaled up and down the hills of Main Street. The library, the basketball court—all of Keats’s favorite spots sat empty. It felt like riding through a ghost town.
    The supermarket had closed for the picnic, too. The front doors were locked, so Keats and Henry went around to the back of the store, where trucks made deliveries. The bigmetal door slid open with a loud squeak.
    Inside, the Purple Rabbit was quiet and dark. Keats shivered. He’d never been in the store when no one else was around.
    Henry flicked on the lights. The ends of thirteen shopping aisles stretched out in front of them. Each had high shelves packed with cans, boxes, bags, and jars.
    “How are we going to find a tiny slug in this huge place?” Keats asked.
    Henry shrugged. “Mr. Cigam gave us that magic wand after our last job. Maybe we should have brought it along.”
    “I left the wand at home this morning,” Keats said. “I knew you’d use it to win races at the picnic. Or for one of your nutty World’s Greatest Plans.”
    “My World’s Greatest Plans are
not
nutty!” Henry protested.
    Keats rolled his eyes. “What about your idea to make our own cotton candy from cotton? Or raffle off a playdate with bats? Or when—”
    “Okay, okay, I get it.” Henry