By the time I realized I’d better start running, the current was already too fast. It started around the croc’s feet and quickly built speed until the whirlpool encompassed the entire cul-de-sac, spinning strongly enough that I could feel it pulling me sideways. As Percy raised his arms, the water began swirling counterclockwise. It sloughed into the storm drains but just kept spilling from the croc’s skin. The brackish stuff was up to the curb now, up to our ankles. If nothing else, we would die knowing that we’d confused this monster many, many times. He just stood there and looked up at the crocodile as if to say: Here I am! I’m tasty! The crocodile seemed momentarily surprised.
I figured he was planning some kind of magic, but he spoke no command words. He stopped in front of the crocodile and raised his arms. As it turned out, I didn’t need to ask what kind of distraction Percy had in mind. The petsuchos turned toward us, roaring in anger, and Percy charged straight at him. ” “As soon as what starts?” Then the crocodile sneezed, launching the wax hippo across Long Island. “You’ll die!” Percy managed a crooked smile. ” “You don’t even have your sword,” I protested. “Guess it’s my turn to distract the croc,” he said. The cul-de-sac was filling with water that poured from the monster’s hide. But if I can get to that clasp, I think I can open it. “Anything else in your bag of tricks?” “Nothing,” I said dismally. “You’ve got some moves, Carter,” Percy admitted. Under that much stress, the hippo would soon melt back to wax. The crocodile was still distracted by its nasal intruder, but I doubted the shabti would last much longer. After the kids raced off, I managed to say, “Good call. He sounded a bit like Horus-a natural commander. Maybe they were just happy to have something to do, but the way Percy spoke, I got the feeling he was used to rallying outnumbered troops. Stall them!” For some reason, the kids listened.
“You guys,” Percy told the kids, “you hear those sirens? You’ve got to run down the road and stop the police. One of the kids offered me his Super Soaker. The crocodile kept thrashing and wiping out homes as it tried to clear its nostril. Amazingly, none of them seemed to be hurt. We jogged to the opposite end of the cul-de-sac, where the mortal kids had gathered. The crocodile whipped around, and Percy grabbed me just in time, pulling me out of the trampling path.
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I stared in horror as my wax creature, now a living (though very misshapen) hippo, either tried to wriggle free of the croc’s nostril or work its way farther into the reptile’s sinus cavity-I wasn’t sure which. The crocodile hissed and stumbled, shaking his head, as Percy dropped off and rolled away, barely avoiding the crocodile’s stomping feet. Not exactly my finest tactical move but having a hippo shoved up his nose must have been sufficiently distracting. It sailed headfirst into the crocodile’s left nostril and lodged there, kicking its stubby back legs. Instantly the world’s most deformed hippopotamus sprang to life in midair. As he lunged, I threw my shabti, only half formed, and barked a command word. I was still shaping the clump of wax, trying to make it into a figurine, when the crocodile decided to stop savoring the moment and just eat me. Whatever and whoever Percy was, he was no magician. It would take a magician to figure it out and open it. “Some kind of magic?” That was the smartest thing he’d said all afternoon (not that he’d said a lot of smart things to choose from). I didn’t dare take my eyes off the croc’s, but in my peripheral vision I could see Percy pounding his fist against the base of the necklace. I dropped my pack and started working the wax furiously with both hands, trying to soften it. I didn’t have time to build a proper shabti, but I had no better idea. The only thing I found was a clump of wax. His lamp-yellow eyes filmed over, maybe from happiness. His hide shed water like the grossest fountain in the world, making my shoes slosh as I walked.
I backed up to the curb and tried-ridiculously-to stare down the monster. It just meant more mortals were racing here as fast as they could to volunteer as crocodile snacks.
Somebody had called the police, which didn’t exactly cheer me up.
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