29. Chapter 29 - Minnie
We head out onto Main Street, invisible, but not silent. My chipmunk friends chirp constantly, complaining about how hard it is to walk down the street when they’re carrying a bunch of my stuff and how everything around them is the wrong size.
My heart races, waiting to be found out at any moment, but aside from a few confused looks, we do okay.
I focus on lugging my heavy suitcase filled with potions across the street. It’s my most expensive possession—and one I can’t live without—so I decide to handle it myself.
I almost make it to the alley that leads behind Jewels Cafe when a man with short brown hair nearly crashes into me.
I have to dive out of the way a split second before I make contact with his blue “Silver Springs Aquarium” t-shirt—but my suitcase isn’t so lucky.
The man’s smiling to himself, but the look quickly turns to shock when he trips over my invisible suitcase.
I cringe as he regains his balance.
“The waves sure are choppy here,” he says.
Which is a lot better than, ‘you may be invisible, but I know you’re out there, and I’m going to find you, figure out what you’re up to, and call the police on your squatting ass.’
I wait for him to leave, but he turns around to stare at the even pavement where my suitcase sits. He reaches for it, and I quickly yank it out of the way, so he only gets air.
He shrugs and takes a step backwards, only to bump into one of the invisible chipmunks.
“Watch where you’re going!” the chipmunk shouts. Or maybe another chipmunk shouts at the chipmunk who bumped into the man. I can’t really tell.
Either way, he doesn’t speak chipmunk… so he just looks confused. It’s not like he can watch where he’s going if he can’t see any of us.
“Careful, Hudson,” he mutters to himself. He eyes the ground suspiciously, almost like he expects an entire invisible obstacle course to materialize in front of him, and takes a cautious step. “Silver Springs sure is weirder than I imagined.”
I grimace.
He’s going to plow into a chipmunk again.
He’s going to drop my entire crew like dominoes.
They’ll let go of all my stuff, and my undies will get scattered across town.
Once they become visible, everyone will see them, and they’ll figure out I’d been squatting at the bakery, and they’ll take Natty away.
“That was close,” a chipmunk says.
I snap out of my panic, my breathing labored and heart racing, only to realize Hudson is walking away.
“Hurry,” I hiss and rush through the alley to the back of the cafe.
The chipmunks chirp as they follow, and soon they reappear holding piles of my stuff. Which means we did it. We actually did it!
Then I spot it. At the alley’s entrance, lies one abandoned, trampled, fuchsia dress…
I break into a wobble-run, heels clicking against the pavement as I rush to scoop up the scrap of fabric.
Then, I peek out at Main Street. One pink heel lies haphazardly in the middle of the street, waiting to get run over.
One of Natty’s sandals is on the sidewalk, next to the curb.
A purse I’d filled with undergarments is lying by the garbage bin, and Natty’s blue shirt is right there in front of the bakery!
What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?
“Stay here,” I shout at the chipmunks and sprinkle invisibility dust all over myself in a panic.
Then, I kick off my heels and break into a run.
I scoop up each item and only realize the mistake when I realize passersby are stopping to stare at the floating clothes.
I quickly use more of the dust to make them disappear, but it’s too late.
People look up and down the street.
They exchange glances.
They keep walking?
It’s almost like they’re used to seeing stuff float and disappear. Or like they don’t really care.
I guess this isn’t that big a deal in a town like Silver Springs.
Everything returns to normal, and my racing heart slows down. I head back and peek into Jewels Cafe. There are a few customers at the tables, and Chase is behind the counter, busy typing away on his laptop. The guy’s so lost in his own world he won’t notice how long I’d been gone. He never does.
I can’t believe my plan is actually working. And if I can get the Warshire Witch to brew Formula M 2.0 tonight, I could have it by morning!
I head back to the alley, where the chipmunks are busy talking about their adventure—and how small everything looks now that they’re human-sized. And I can’t help but smile. Everything is finally falling into place.
I patiently wait to become visible until I feel it… Julian’s on the move!
“We have to hurry,” I cry.
The chipmunks look around, searching for me, but I’m still invisible.
“Minnie?” Blaze asks.
“We have to hurry!” I appear in front of her, making her jump. “We—”
The cafe’s back door flies open and Chase peeks out. “Amber just called…” he trails off and frowns. “Why are there a bunch of giant chipmunks behind the cafe?”
“Is he a threat?” Blaze asks.
“No,” I tell her quickly, puffing out my cheeks. Last thing I need is a bunch of panicked chipmunk giants darting around town.
“Yes,” Chase—who hadn’t heard Blaze’s question and clearly thinks I’d been talking to him—says, “I can see them.”
He points at the chipmunks.
“What’s he doing?” Blaze asks. “Is he threatening us?”
“No,” I say.
“Yes,” Chase says.
Luckily, Blaze doesn’t speak human.
“It’s hard to explain…” I say, speaking to both Chase and Blaze.
My cheeks puff out, and I instinctively lick my hand.
“Don’t explain,” Chase says. He doesn’t comment on my odd behavior.
Could it really be that easy?
“I’m an author. I bet I can figure out what’s going on.”
My heart sinks. It’s never that easy.
Chase takes a few seconds to think it over, while I take those same seconds to think over everything I’ll lose if he finds out the truth.
Finally, he ventures a guess. “Is it a chipmunk shifter convention?”
“Um…” I try to figure out if he’s messing with me.
“No, wait, it’s a spell gone wrong!”
Which is as good an excuse as any. I open my mouth to agree, but he holds up his hand.
“The chipmunks are huge and they’re standing on their hind legs.” He examines the group. “And there are a lot of them here, so a convention would make sense. But the alley isn’t the best spot for one. And it wouldn’t explain the fancy dresses or the shoes.”
I grimace. The guy is a lot more perceptive than I give him credit for.
“I know!” he suddenly shouts. “Chipmunk merchants!”
My eyes widen.
Chase completely misinterprets my expression. “I knew I’d figure it out!” He beams. “You buy your clothes from chipmunk shifters.”
I nod, like that isn’t the most preposterous thing I’ve ever heard.
“This is exactly what my kingdom needs! Chipmunk merchants!”
He rushes back into the cafe to write it all down, completely forgetting that we’re here.
“We need to go. Now!” I tell my chipmunk crew. “Before Julian and the others get back.”
And I don’t think they’ll buy Chase’s bizarre theory. And they’ll have questions…
But do I stop the chipmunks from dropping all my stuff?
It’ll be like bread crumbs, pointing from Jewels Cafe straight to my new place. Amber will instantly recognize our stuff and start asking questions. What if Natty says something that gives us away? Or Amber figures it out on her own?
I can’t risk that!
I make a split-second decision. “We’re not using invisibility dust,” I announce. “We’re just going to march out there and make sure we don’t drop anything!”