5 EXP-A-A-A-ND

CHAPTER 5 EXP-A-A-A-ND Tell us the idea!" Little John begged Pops. "We're not afraid of danger. Are we, Kaz?" Well..., Kaz thought. But out loud he said, "No. We're not afraid of danger." He could be brave if it meant finding his mom. The sooner they found Mom, the sooner they could go back to the library. "How far can you boys expand?" Pops asked. "Pretty far," Little John said proudly. He expa- a-a-a-a-nded from the floor almost to the ceiling to prove it. "Fabulous. How about you, Kaz?" Pops asked.

Kaz was taller than Little John. He exp-a-a-aa- a-nded from the floor and past the ceiling. His head popped through the ceiling and into Margaret's bedroom upstairs. Margaret was sound asleep in her bed. "Very good," Pops said as Kaz and Little John shrank to their normal sizes. He peered out into the backyard. "This could work." "What could work? What do you want us to do?" Kaz asked. "Yeah, what's your idea, Pops?" Little John asked. "If we all expand as far as we can, and then hold hands really, really tight, we might be able to

stretch from inside this house all the way to the tree house," Pops said. "You mean expand across the whole backyard?" Kaz asked. That did sound dangerous. "Let's try!" Little John said eagerly. "Okay. I'll stay here in the house and make sure we don't all blow into the Outside," Pops said. "Little John, you'll go first. I want you to hold tight to Kaz's hand. Then you're going to pass through this window and expand into the backyard as far as you can. Kaz, you'll grab my hand with your other hand, and then you'll pass through and expand as far as you can. Finally, I'll expand my arm, Little John, and we'll see if you can reach the tree house. If your mother is there, she can grab onto your hand, and we'll pull her back here." "That sounds like a good plan," Little John said. But if anyone let go, or if Pops wasn't strong enough to keep his body inside the house while

holding onto Kaz's hand outside the house, they would all blow away! Kaz remembered how their big brother, Finn, used to stick his arm or leg through the walls of the old schoolhouse because he liked to scare his little brothers. But one day Finn wasn't strong enough to keep the rest of his body inside the old schoolhouse. The wind pulled him into the Outside, and he blew away. Grandmom and Grandpop had tried to rescue him, but they ended up in the Outside, too. Kaz and Claire had found his grandparents at a nursing home near the library a few weeks ago. But no one, including Grandmom and Grandpop, knew what had happened to Finn. "We can do it. Right, Kaz?" Little John said as he reached for Kaz's hand. Kaz gulped. They had to try. "Right," he said. "Okay, let's do this," Pops said. He grabbed Kaz's other hand.

Kaz held tight to both hands as Little John passed slowly through the glass window and expa- a-a-a-a-nded out... out... out... across Margaret and Henry's backyard. "Hey, it's raining out here!" Little John called from the Outside. "I've never felt raindrops pass through me before." He giggled. Great, Kaz thought. He didn't know what Little John was giggling about. He remembered the first time he was inside Claire's water bottle and she turned on the water above him. He didn't like it when the water passed through his body. He didn't like it at all. "Your turn, Kaz," Pops said. "Are you ready? You've learned to do so many things since we've been apart. Wait until your mother sees everything you can do now." Kaz gulped again. He could do this. For his mom. He took a deep breath, then followed Little John through the window and out... out...

out... across the yard. Rain pounded through his head. His arms. His back. It felt like little bits of him were being dropped all over the yard. But Kaz managed to hold himself together and push his brother farther into the yard. Then Pops exp-a-a-a-a-a-nded his arm and pushed Kaz and Little John even farther. But Little John still wasn't past the backyard climbing structure. "Can you guys expand any more?" Little John asked as lightning flashed and thunder rumbled above them. "I'll try," Pops said. Kaz could feel Pops pushing... pushing... pushing. He str-e-e-e-e-e-tched both arms as far as he could. But it still wasn't enough. "I can't expand any more," Kaz said, exhausted from the effort.