7 HOW LONG

We hiked a long way to a large gathering of rocks. Pip stopped at the bottom and turned to me and Sassafras. "Magical creatures are usually really shy. Hippogriffs are some of the shyest forest creatures and they are very protective of their nests. You guys can come, but stay really far back and stay low to the ground. And be VERY quiet, OK?" I nodded and Sass purred in reply. We scrabbled up the rock. Luckily, Sassafras was able to hop from one little ledge to another

and follow us up. Once we got to the top, Pip held up a webbed hand to motion for us to stop. Sassafras and I stayed on our bellies as Pip hopped over to a HUGE nest of sticks and branches. Pip coughed quietly and then called out gently, "Um, hello there, hippogriffs? Just Pip here, a friendly forest frog." I gasped and Sass pressed himself further into the rock when a large eagle head popped out of the nest and watched Pip hop closer. "Oh, uh… hello, sir," Pip said. "There's been a slight problem with the bips and the forest roses. The hophops came through and ate most of the bips…" The eagle head shrieked in reply. All of Sassafras' fur immediately poofed out. I reached over and put a calming hand on him.

"I know, I know." Pip shook his head. "My friends Zoey and Sassafras and I are all working on fixing it right now. We were just wondering— how long do you think before the eggs start hatching?" The eagle head disappeared into the nest, and we heard some rustling. It reappeared and the hippogriff shrieked again. Pip gulped. "In that case, we'd better hurry. Thank you, sir!" As Pip turned and hopped over to us, a giant shadow glided over the rock. All three of us looked over in time to watch the hippogriff mama land in the nest. The dad and mom spoke back and forth in eagle calls. For a full minute, none of us said anything because we could only stare at the enormous and beautiful hippogriffs. I felt a webbed hand on mine and looked over to see Pip looking worried. "He says three days, maybe four before the eggs start hatching. Is it

enough time, Zoey?" Three or four days? My stomach did another flip. It would have to be enough.