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“Not to mention if he took the serum and we don’t counteract it within five days, he may not be able to shrink even with the shrinking serum.”

“Wait, what? So, if he took the serum and we don’t act within five days, he’ll stay huge, and if we give him the wrong stuff, he’ll explode. If he took the powder, the serum will make him stay huge.”

“Yes. But he’ll be huge for two weeks.”

“And if he doesn’t shrink, we’re stuck.” Paige pressed her hand against her forehead. “Well, we can’t give him the powder. It may kill him.”

“And we can’t give him the serum because it may make him bigger.”

“But we have to make a decision in five days.”

“Or we may be stuck with Thickens over there.” Dewey thumbed toward the massive eye peering around the corner.

Paige heaved a sigh, parading up and down the aisle as Dewey fluttered back and forth in his own airborne version of pacing.

“What a nightmare,” Paige said as she spun to amble in the opposite direction.

Dewey circled and floated past her.

“There must be something we can do,” she cried, flinging her hands out.

Dewey snapped his fingers, coming to a stop as he hovered in the air. “I’ve got it.”

Paige’s eyes lit up, and the corners of her mouth pulled back into a slight smile.

“You go over and see if you can find any trace of what he ate, and maybe that will give us a clue as to which one to use.”

The smile on her face faded, and she crossed her arms, cocking a hip as she stared at him with narrowed eyes.

He flung his arms out to the sides. “What?”

“What? Your big idea is for me to go over to the giant cat and sniff his breath?”

“No, of course not,” Dewey said. “See if there are any traces of powder on his chin or sticky dots that may be remnants of the serum.”

Paige held her hands up in the air. “Wait! We’ll just check to see which container is open! Solved!”

She stuck her hands on her hips and smiled triumphantly.

“Okay, let’s try that. Although…”

Paige slumped her shoulders, and she spun back to face him. “Now what?”

“I don’t know how much of either was in each container, so unless he ate all of it, we won’t know.”

Paige’s features turned stony. “Let’s think positive, shall we?”

Dewey held his hands up in defeat. “Thinking positive thoughts. Both of them are in the next aisle over.”

He tapped a chubby digit in the air over Paige’s shoulder.

Paige rolled her eyes at the location before she paraded down the aisle, heading away from the cat that still hid around the corner and slipped around the shelf. Both she and Dewey peered down the corner.

The cat’s giant tail swished back and forth across the floor as he awaited another chance to swipe at Paige and Dewey.

“Look at him,” Paige breathed, “with his ears flattened back against his head and his tail swatting back and forth. He can’t wait to claw me.”

“He’s a bugger,” Dewey agreed.