Free Fly Frenzy by Ali Sparkes Page B

please, both of you. What are you waiting for? She said there’s cake!”
    â€œDON’T YOU TRY ANYTHING, MISS POTTS!” warned Josh, the moment Petty Potts’s front door closed behind them. Her hallway was dark and old-fashioned. It smelled like damp wood.

    â€œOh, do call me Petty. And stop being such a ninny,” she said. “I have no intention of wasting good S.W.I.T.C.H. spray on you again. I’ve already tried it on you and it worked. No need to repeat the experiment.”
    â€œWhy are you being all nice to Mom, then?” asked Danny, with a suspicious glare.
    â€œI’m just trying to be a good neighbor.” She beckoned them down the hall and into her warm kitchen. There was, indeed, an iced sponge cake on the table. And cups of orange pop next to it. Petty sat down at the table. She waved her guests toward two neighboring chairs. “But—all right—if you must know. I have been wondering whether your little spider adventure has had any aftereffects. How have you been?”

    â€œFine,” grunted Danny. He sat down as Josh took the seat beside him. He eyed the cake, tormented. It looked so good but . . . “Have you put something in that?” he asked. “Are you trying to turn us into spiders again?”
    Petty stood up and looked at them squarely. “Now, listen. I know you both think I’m some kind of old witch. But I am merely trying to work on my experiments. I didn’t ask you to come running into my lab and stand in front of the S.W.I.T.C.H. spray jet, did I?”
    â€œNo,” said Josh. “But you were trying to spray Piddle!”
    â€œI beg your pardon?” Petty raised an eyebrow behind her spectacles.
    â€œOur dog! Piddle! You were trying to spray him , weren’t you?”
    â€œAll right, I’ll admit it,” she said. She sat back down at the table and cut the cake. “But let’s not bicker about it. It would only have been temporary. I promise I won’t try to spray Piddle again. Or either of you.” She took a big wedge of cake and bit into it. “Sheee?” she said. “It’sh quite shafe to eat!”

    The cake was too good to resist. After a few bites, they started to relax. Petty also sipped from one of their cups of pop to prove these weren’t full of S.W.I.T.C.H. juice.
    â€œAll quite safe. However,” sighed Petty. She had a wistful look on her face. “A little part of me was hoping . . . ”
    â€œHoping what ?” asked Josh, his cake frozen halfway to his mouth.
    â€œNo—no, it doesn’t matter,” said Petty. She picked up crumbs by squashing them together on her finger. “Nothing.”
    â€œ What ?” demanded Danny.
    Petty licked the crumbs off her finger. She eyed them both as if she was adding something up. “Well, the fact is, I need help.”
    â€œYou’re not kidding,” grunted Danny.
    â€œI meant I need help with my amazing research,” said Petty. “I’ve been working alone for far too long. If I had some assistance . . . Well, put it this way, we wouldn’t just be talking about spiders or ants or flies.” She paused dramatically. “We’d also be talking about . . . dragons.”
    Josh and Danny stared at her.
    â€œClose your mouth, Danny,” said Petty. “I can see your munched-up cake.”
    â€œDragons?” echoed Josh. “You mean you could make us turn into dragons?”
    â€œDoesn’t matter, though, does it?” said Petty, briskly cutting another slice of cake. “Because you don’t want anything to do with the S.W.I.T.C.H. Project. It’s far too dangerous.”
    â€œH-how? How can you turn us into dragons?” gulped Danny.
    â€œWell, in fact, I can’t,” said Petty. “Not yet. Not until I’ve found something which I lost. Once I’ve found it, there will be no stopping me! I will work my way up from