Hamster Magic Read Free Page B

Abner, who thumped the blanket-covered mound and hissed something under his breath. Celia fell silent.
    Tate laid a hand on her father’s arm. “We hurt Celia’s feelings,” she said, speaking low. “So she pretended to be a hamster instead of our sister. And then we thought if we went along with it, and let her eat hamster food off a tray, she might feel better. We really do feel bad.”
    She gave Derek a sharp glance, and he arranged his face in a look of sorrow.
    Father raised an eyebrow. “That’s very nice of you kids. I’ll see what I can work out with your mother.”
    “And maybe,” said Tate brightly, “you andMom could have a nice dinner alone, for a change! With candles!”
    Father grinned. “Come on down, then, all of you. You can get your trays.”
    “But not Celia,” Tate reminded him. “Because she’s a hamster, of course.”
    “Of course,” said Father.
    Abner caught at Tate’s sleeve as Father left the room. “How do you do that?” he whispered. “Think on your feet like that, so fast?”
    Tate shrugged. “I don’t know. I just do.”
    “Well, it’s a very useful skill,” said Abner with feeling as he followed her down the stairs.

    Mother had sent up a bowl of fruit with supper, as extra hamster food, and Celia was entertaining Derek by stuffing her cheek pouches with apples.
    “Can you fit in two bananas?” asked Derek with deep interest.
    “Mmph woom,” said Celia.
    Abner eyed Celia’s bulging cheeks with gloom. “We are in deep, deep trouble.” He had finished his supper, but he had not enjoyed it.
    “I know,” said Tate. “And Hammy still isn’t talking.”

    Celia was having a great deal of fun being a hamster, and she didn’t plan to worry until she had to. She spit out the apples and grinned at Derek with her long hamster teeth. “What’s for dessert?”
    Derek lifted the lid of a square pan and whooped. “Chocolate cake!”
    “You can’t have any, Celia,” said Tate. “Chocolate is poison for hamsters. I read it in the book.”
    “No fair!” cried Celia.
    “Can I have her piece?” asked Derek.
    Celia humped her shoulders and rested her nose on her chest. She felt strangely unsatisfied. She wasn’t exactly hungry anymore, but she had a powerful urge to chew something—something hard, like
wood
.…
    “Hey! Stop that!” Abner dragged her away from the sofa leg. “Look at those teeth marks!”
    Tate picked up the hamster book again. “Shecan’t help it. Hamsters need to gnaw. It keeps their teeth from getting too long.”
    Celia had found something new to chew.
    “No! Not my hockey stick!” Derek’s cry was anguished.
    Celia looked up guiltily.
    “Oh, let her have it,” said Abner. “It’s wrecked now, anyway, and it’ll keep her happy while we think of what to do next.”
    “It won’t keep
me
happy,” said Derek miserably, watching as his beloved hockey stick began to look like a chew toy.
    Tate patted him on the shoulder. “It’s for a good cause.”
    “All right,” Abner went on, “let’s figure this out. Hammy said something about a Great Hamster.”
    Tate nodded. “She was supposed to approve any wishes.”
    “We should have listened,” whimpered Derek.
    “Too late now.” Abner gazed at the small hamster in the cage. “I think we should try to find this Great Hamster and see if she can help. If she has the power to approve wishes, maybe she can do something to take them back.”
    “But we don’t know where she lives.” Tate bent over the book again. “It says here that hamsters are really good runners. They’ll run as much as five miles for something to eat!”
    “Really?” Derek looked at Celia with new respect.
    “So think about it. The Great Hamster could be really far away.”
    “But she’s not,” said Derek. “She’s—Whoa!”
    Celia had dropped the hockey stick to do acrobatics on the couch. She scampered up the arm to the back and flipped off, tumbling into Derek before rolling away. Her claws clicked