17 The Belly of the Beast

The Belly of the Beast This particular rumble of the beast's belly was an awful, scratching sound that echoed in listeners' ears and caused them to lose track of their thoughts. Bethany, Ebenezer, and the bird-keeper were forced to their knees. The birds in the shop continued to squawk, screech, quack, and coo in distress.

"Oh no nosies!" said the beast. "Shhhh, naughty belly. Shh shh shushykins!" The belly continued rumbling. It seemed to be making up for lost time. "That sound is making my ears bleedin' well bleed!" said the bird-keeper. "Oh botherkins!" said the beast. "I don't know how to make it stopsies!" The beast quickly waddled out of the shop. Bethany came to her senses. "I knew it!" she said, as she scrambled to her feet and headed in a dazed fashion toward the door. "I knew it was the same old beast! Don't let it escape!" Ebenezer followed hot on Bethany's sneakers. Outside, the beast was trying to silence its belly by thwacking it with its tiny fists.

"We have to call Nickle!" said Bethany. "He gave me this in case of an emergency," said Ebenezer, producing the thumb-sized button from his pocket. "But I'm not sure that—" Bethany snatched the button and pressed it as hard as she could. A moment later, a puddle grew out of the street. Mr. Nickle popped out of it—swishing one of his walking sticks as if it were a sword. He winced at the sound of the beast's belly rumbling. "What happened?" he asked, turning to Bethany and Ebenezer. "Exactly what I said would happen!" said Bethany. "The beast sniffed a shop full of things it wanted to eat, and its true

personality came out. Looks like you're gonna have to put it back in its cage." "Owwwsies," said the beast. "Don't let my belly do any more damage to Bethany and Ebenezer." Mr. Nickle wrinkled his already wrinkly brow. "Has the beast had anything to eat today?" asked Mr. Nickle. "I thought you said it didn't eat anymore," said Ebenezer. "It doesn't eat meat, but it still needs to eat, you fools!" said Mr. Nickle. He aimed one of his sticks at a spot above the beast and opened a puddle portal in the air. A few moments later, a mountain of scrap metal fell into the canoe.

The beast excitedly gnawed on the metal, like a dog with a collection of juicy bones. Within the space of ten seconds, the entire mountain was inside its belly. Pretty soon after that, the rumbling shuddered to a halt. "Oh, thank you so much, Nickle-Wickle!" Mr. Nickle opened another portal filled with metal, just to be sure. "What are you doing?" asked Bethany. "Don't give it food—give it the cage!" "Did the creature actually eat any of the birds?" asked Mr. Nickle. "No, but—" began Bethany. "So you're saying that you took the hungry beast into a room full of animals, and it didn't take so much as a bite? That is most encouraging," said Mr. Nickle. "How's the rehabilitation campaign going?"

"Up until now, it was going rather well, actually," said Ebenezer. "It's been vomiting useful things for the neighborhood all day." "Good. Very good," said Mr. Nickle. "Yes, and I don't wish to tootle my own horn," said Ebenezer, as he prepared to give himself a tootle. "But several of the neighbors have been complimenting me on—" "Have you two lost the flipping plot?" said Bethany. "The beast proved it hasn't changed! Look at the shop!" "Better tidy that up," said Mr. Nickle. He pointed one of his sticks at the window to seal up the crack. He hobbled into the shop and returned a few moments later. "Little memory wipe for the bird-keeper. He won't remember the rumbling at all. Now then, better get back home."