17 TIME TO CHECK

CHAPTER 17 TIME TO CHECK Mom said there was no telling what the grumplets would do next—we just had to wait and hope. Sassafras and I did our best to keep busy. We went on a lot of hikes, built forts, had playdates with friends, made kale chips, and crafted. It was getting hotter and hotter, so we went to the stream to cool off. I eagerly rolled up my pants and waded into the stream. The merhorses chased me and licked my ankles, which made me crack up. Sassafras was, of course, staying dry on the shore, watching us play. "Hey, Sassafras!" I said between fits of laughter. "It's been a long time since any of our friends have been really grumpy." "Meow!" he exclaimed. He turned to chase a

cricket in the grass. "Do you think Mom will drive us out to check on the grumplets yet?" I asked him as I smiled down at the merhorses in the water. "Mrrowww," he said, distracted by the cricket chase, followed by a much louder "MEOW!" That couldn't be good. I looked over to see Sassafras giving Pip an angry look. "Ah, crickets are delicious." Pip rubbed his belly. "Sorry, old friend." I shuddered, thinking of how crunchy crickets must be. Ew. "Hey, Zoey!" Pip called. "I thought I heard you laughing. I wanted to ask you—are the grumplets officially gone? No one's seen them in the forest lately."

I wiggled my fingers underwater to wave goodbye to the merhorses and carefully waded over to the shore. "We were just talking about asking Mom if she'd drive us over to check. Want to come?" Pip hopped up on my head, and I took him and Sassafras across the stream and back to my house. We all pleaded with Mom until she agreed to take us. We were just getting in the car when I remembered my camera. "One sec!" I said and

dashed off to get it. Once we got to the berry patch, we noticed there were a few ripe ones that were uneaten. "That's a good sign, right?" I asked. "Maybe they've already moved on." "Could be," Mom said, fanning herself. We peeked in the hollow tree trunk. It looked like it had been slept in, but we couldn't see or hear the grumplets anywhere. "Mrrowww!" called Sassafras from farther away. We followed the sound, and I squatted down next to him. "What did you find, buddy?" Sassafras put his nose to a patch of what had once been mud. I brushed aside some grass and branches and sure enough—we saw grumplet footprints that the heat had dried into the mud.

"Mom!" I exclaimed. "These are leading away from the forest, right? Do you think the grumplets have moved on? Maybe they're looking for more berries farther away?" "It looks like it!" Mom gave me a high-five. I reached into my backpack and pulled out my camera. "I forgot to take a photo when the grumplets were around. Do you think you could get a photo of us by the grumplet footprints for my science journal?" Mom took the camera, and Pip and Sassafras

and I gathered around the footprints and grinned. At home, as I went to put the photo into my science journal, I noticed a sweet smell. "No way," I said to myself as I tilted the photo left, then right. Yep. I could just barely make out the sparkly strands of Pip's joy floating around him. After I glued down the scented photo, I opened my science journal to a new blank page so it was ready for the next magical creature we would meet.