3 The Tick-Tox Box

Chapter 3 THE TICK-TOX BOX Judy and Andrew ran out of the cabin in their pajamas and slippers. The sound was coming from the laboratory. BOOOOOOH-HAH! BOOOOOOH-HAH! BOOOOOOH-HAH! When they got to the laboratory the door was open. Pieces of the Catch-O-Matic were on the floor of the first room. The only thing caught in it was a piece of paper. Judy ran into the big room. Andrew found the alarm switch and shut it off.

"ANDREW!" Judy screamed. "Holy moly!" shouted Andrew when he saw what was happening in the big room. Floating in the air next to the Time-A-Tron was a cube-shaped chunk of blackness! Flashes of lightning flickered inside it. "Uncle Al!" hollered Andrew and Judy. "Unkie!" squeaked Thudd. No one answered. Andrew remembered the paper he'd seen when he came in. He went back to the front room and tugged the paper from the Catch-O-Matic. The thick, creamy paper was folded and sealed with an old-fashioned wax stamp. Pressed into the wax was the face of a clock. Andrew tore open the seal and ran back to the big room. "Look at this!" he said. Judy read the bold black handwriting: Time has power, Time has locks.

Time trapped Dubble In the Tick-Tox Box. Silly children, What can you do? Your uncle is gone And you will be, too! Do you know where he is, This uncle of yours? It's a mammoth place And it's got no doors. It's terribly cold, But you need not worry. There are warm, tusky things That are horribly furry. Will his stay be long? I don't know. How long can you live All crusted with snow?

"Oh no!" said Judy. "Doctor Kron-Tox has kidnapped Uncle Al!" meep… "Unkie!" squeaked Thudd. "That black thing must be the Tick-Tox Box," said Andrew, hurrying back to the big room. "Look what's happening to it!" The Tick-Tox Box was fading. Now it was only as dark as a storm cloud. The flashes inside of it got dimmer and dimmer until the box disappeared completely.

meep… "Understand puzzle!" said Thudd. "Mammoth. Tusky. Uncle Al hidden in time when mammoths live. Could be four million years ago. Or could be four thousand years ago. Mammoths on Earth four million years!" "Oh great!" said Judy. "I'll just set my alarm clock for four million years ago." meep… "Gotta use Time-A-Tron," said Thudd. "We don't know anything about the Time-A- Tron," said Judy. "I guess it's time to find out," said Andrew.