Stampede of the Supermarket Slugs Read Online Free

car’s exhaust pipe. Under it, a metal plate had the label 1313 HOUDINI WAY—HALLWAY HOUSE .

    “Incredible!” Keats said. “That’s an old-fashioned pneumatic tube!”
    Henry frowned. “Old new-what?”
    “Pneumatic tubes were a way to send messages fast,” Keats explained. “Air pushes letters from one place to another. This tube says it’s connected to Hallway House.”
    “That’s Mr. Cigam’s place!” Henry said. “See that? Something’s in the tube.”
    He pulled out a rolled-up sheet of paper tied with a string. He slid the string off and opened it. It was a note in Mr. Cigam’s handwriting. Keats leaned closer so they could read it at the same time.
    SLEEP-SLUG POTION
    Mix one part of each ingredient. Sprinkle
    potion over the slug .
    Clementine juice
    Barbecue sauce
    Octopus legs
    Nacho cheese dip
    Warm milk
    Molasses
    Best of luck, Henry and Keats!
    A. Cigam
    “Yes!” Keats tapped the note. “This is what we need! We’ll just grab all these ingredients and mix them up—”
    “—and
blam!
” Henry said with a grin. “The potion will put the slugs to sleep. They’ll be easy to catch. Let’s go!”
    Knock! Knock!
    The sound came from outside the office. Without thinking, Keats asked, “Who’s there?”
    Henry put a finger to his lips and said, “Shhh.” He tiptoed over to the door and peeked down through the small window. “Oh man,” he whispered.
    Henry waved Keats over so he could see, too. It was Squirt! He knocked his eyestalks against the door again. When he didn’t get a response, he sunk his sharp teeth into the lower half of the door. He started tearing at the wood.
    “He’s going to eat his way inside!” Keats yelled. He didn’t bother whispering anymore.
    “And he’s not alone,” Henry said, pointing to the checkout lanes. “Look!”
    A few small bags of pretzels and chips hadn’t been touched. But every snack pack of cheese puffs on the tipped-over racks had been gobbled up. The herd of slugs was oozing toward the office.
    “Hey! There must be twenty slugs now,” Keats said, taking a quick count. “How can there be seven more of them?”
    Henry didn’t have a chance to answer. The office’s front wall shook as the slugs swarmed up it, searching for a way in.
    Keats started to panic. “This is a supermarket
filled
with food! What do they want in here?”
    Henry looked at Keats. “You,” he said.
    “Me?” Keats’s eyes nearly popped out of his head.
    Henry pointed at Keats’s torn jacket. The front was smeared with cheese-puff powder. “I’m guessing cheese puffs are their favorite food. It probably got on you when that slug bit your sleeve.”
    “Ugh!” Keats cried. He ripped off his jacket and threw it on the ground.
    “I’ve got an idea,” Henry said. He picked up the jacket and hurried to the lost-and-found box. Then he rubbed the toy train with cheese-puff powder from Keats’s jacket.
    “What are you doing?” Keats said.
    “See if you can follow my train of thought,” Henry said with a wink. “I’m going to send the slugs to the snack-food aisle. It’s only one aisle away. Bags and bags of cheese puffs are just waiting for them!”
    Henry knelt next to the hole made by the phone. He aimed the train toward the snack aisle and pushed it through. The toy clattered forward a few feet, then crashed to its side in front of the snack aisle. Before the cousins could see anything else—
    An eyestalk jammed through the hole. The slug’s black eyeball glared at the boys.
    Keats jerked back. “The slugs didn’t notice the train! They’re still breaking in!”
    Henry held up a hand. “Wait. Just wait,” he said.
    They heard a long, wet sniffing sound. And then the eyestalk popped back through the hole. Henry and Keats got down to look. Smelling the air, a curious slug squirmed over to the train and bit down. As it chewed the toy, the slug glanced down the snack aisle … and its eyes went wide.
    “Yes!” Keats said. He pumped his fist.