12 DATA

Chapter twelve, data "That's more like it," I said when I finished writing in my science journal. Pip looked over my shoulder at the data chart. "So we need to retry the first two fixes?" "Exactly. This time I've got a chart and a stopwatch so we can actually measure whether the cures work or not—and how well." Sassafras purred. We retested having Wishy hold her breath and drink a cup of water through a straw, and I added the data to my chart:

Cure.1 Hold2 your3 breath4 as5 long6 as7 possible.8 Hiccups9 per10 minute11 before12 thirty13 eight14 hiccups15 per16 minute17 after18 forty19 five,20 drink21 a22 cup23 of24 water25 through26 a27 straw28 hiccups29 per30 minute31 before32 forty33 six34 hiccups35 per36 minute37 after38 thirty39 one I closed my science journal and went back into the barn. I knelt down and whispered to tiny Tiny, "How do unicorns cure hiccups?" Tiny shook his little head. "What is hiccup?" I explained with my lung model, but Tiny still shook his head. "Unicorns no hiccup." I sighed and walked around the barn until I found the monster siblings' hiding spot. "I think it's safe for you guys to come out now. As long as you don't get close to Wishy, you should be fine. She's outside so you could totally hang out in the barn if you want." They shook their heads no. "Umm, we'd

rather stay over here if that's OK," said the girl. The boy monster shivered. "I do not want to end up laying chicken eggs." I shrugged. Then I asked, "How do you guys cure hiccups?" "We hold our breath!" they said at the same time. "OK, thanks," I said, trying not to sound disappointed. I walked back outside. "Unicorns don't get hiccups, and monsters seem to use the same cure my family does. Which means we have one hiccup fix that kind of works, and one that definitely doesn't," I said. "Should we ask around in the forest and see if other magical creatures have new things for us to try?" Pip and Wishy nodded, and Sassafras meowed. As we walked through the forest, Wishy was careful to stay several feet away from Pip, who marched by my side with his enormous feet. Suddenly Pip stopped. "Do you hear that?" "Is that… someone laughing?" I asked. Pip smiled. "Yep. I bet those are chortles!

Let's go find out." We all followed Pip, and the sound of laughter got louder and louder. I soon spotted a group of six creatures that looked a bit like a goat and a fox mixed together. But smaller, and with eight legs each! Even though I was worried about poor Wishy, I couldn't help but feel a little burst of excitement at being introduced to a new kind of magical creature. "Hello there!" Pip called, while I quietly timed and counted Wishy's hiccups and added that information to my chart. "Our friend Wishy has a bad case of hiccups, and it's making her magic do silly things." Pip paused and held up one of his giant feet and wiggled it, and the chortles giggled. "We were wondering how you get rid of hiccups?"

The chortles looked at each other and laughed. The one on the far left said, "Well, first you put one finger on your nose." Wishy, who was still a good distance away, put one finger on her nose. Another chortle said, "Then you put your other hand on your hip." Wishy did that as well. The next chortle said, "Then you flap your elbows." Another added, "Don't forget to hop on one foot!"

A fifth chortle said, "And you have to do all that while you spin around." The last chortle looked at our group. "It works best if you all do it at the same time." Pip, Wishy, and I did our best to follow all of those directions while Sassafras just galloped in circles. Then Pip tripped over Sassafras and they landed in a pile, which made me start laughing, and I tripped over a small branch and fell, too. The whole group of us, even Wishy, couldn't stop laughing for a full minute. Pip wiped laughing tears away from his eyes. "Is that really what you do every time you get the hiccups?" he asked the chortles. "Well… not really," said one. "We do cure them by laughing, though," said another. "Because laughter is the best medicine!"