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“Okay, where is the stupid growth stuff?”

“Middle of the aisle, third shelf from the top.” Dewey jabbed a finger in her direction.

Paige stared at the tail that reached to the middle of the aisle, then up to the shelf above where the boxes sat askew, heaving a sigh. “Of course it is.”

She flicked her gaze at Dewey who floated next to her. “You go look.”

Dewey snapped his eyes to her. “What? Why me? He’s your cat!”

“You can fly! I’d have to try to avoid his tail and reach up to the top.”

Dewey smashed his lips together, letting his arms dangle from his slumped shoulders. “You’re such a baby. Fine!”

He buzzed down the aisle and rose to the shelf. His eyes narrowed as he shoved a few boxes around. He picked up a small, round glass container. A glowing yellow residue coated the inside.

He peered into the bottle, squeezing one eye closed before he shoved it back onto the shelf. After shifting a few more items aside, he spun and searched the area around the shelf.

“What is it?” Paige hissed.

“I can’t find the pouch of growth powder!”

“Maybe he didn’t eat that.”

“Then why isn’t it on the shelf?”

Paige shrugged, holding her palms up. Dewey gave her a dismissive wave, shaking his head as he flitted around the aisle.

He dove toward the floor, grasping something from a low shelf. “Found it!”

He waved a dark-brown sack in the air before turning it upside down and shaking it. “Empty.”

Paige straightened and nodded as Dewey returned to the end of the aisle. “So, he took the powder.”

“He definitely took the powder.”

Paige clasped her hands together under her chin. “Perfect. So we give him shrinking powder. Where is it?”

Dewey wrinkled his nose and shook his head. “Not exactly. There’s another problem.”

Paige dropped her hands, her chin jutting forward. “You’re kidding me. What now?”

“Well, he definitely ate the powder.”

“Yeah? So, what’s the problem?”

Dewey winced as he traced the outline of the leather pouch. “He also ate the serum.”

Paige’s eyes went wide, and she pressed a hand against her forehead. “Okay. So, what do we do? Give him both shrinking powder and shrinking serum?”

“No,” Dewey shouted, his eyes bulging out of his teal head. “Oh my gosh, Paige! Are you trying to kill him?”

“What? No!” Paige answered. “But I have no idea what that means! How can we counteract both?”

“Carefully.” Dewey tossed the pouch on a nearby shelf as he flew in a circle. “Oh, this is a disaster. If we only had a shrinking cupcake!”

“Well, we don’t!” Paige shouted, stamping her foot on the floor. “So, what are our other options?”

“We can’t give him the powder or the serum,” Dewey said as he rubbed his chin with a claw. “No cupcakes available. We need to research this. There should be a solution.”