Chapter 9: Plans of Actions

In the clubhouse, every one of us was trying to think of a way to get the ball back. I tried to think, but I was too worried about Scotty.

If Benny busted the guts out of the other baseball meant something marvelous would happen, then why do we seem to be suffering a tradgedy?

"Hey, I got it!" Scotty sat up with wide eyes. "Why don't we just go on over and knock on the door and ask Mr. Mertle if he can get it for us?"

"Are you out of your mind?" Mikey said. "Mr. Mertle's the meanest old man that ever lived. He's the one who made the Beast eat that kid."

Liar, I thought.

Mikey pushed up his glasses. "It's not an option, Smalls. Forget about it."

"Oh, okay," Scotty shrugged. "Sorry. I…I will."

"Let's just look out the window," Mikey suggested.

"Good idea," I agreed, and we all did exactly that.

The Beast's backyard was even scarier too look at than just imagining it. It was littered with beat up old toys such as an old kite, broken model airplanes, and even a doll with an arrow sticking out of its eye. Large old meat bones were scattered around the Beast's little dog house and a chain snaked out from it.

We heard the growling, and it made us retreat back into the clubhouse.

"He's daring us," Timmy commented.

"We're on his territory now," replied Ham.

"Anybody got any bright ideas?" Benny asked.

We thought about it really hard, but at the same time we didn't have a clue on what we were getting ourselves into. So, we decided to begin with a simple approach.

Mikey kept watch on the balcony of the clubhouse, and the rest of us got a broom to try to retrieve the ball.

Ham removed the very bottom wooden bar of the fence and stuck the nub end of the broom to the other side.

"Farther," Mikey whispered. Ham pushed the broom in farther. "Just a little bit farther."

Just when we thought we got it, a giant paw stomped on the ball, and every one of the guys went nuts. Ham struggled to get the broom stick out of the other yard, and when he did the nub end was torn from the broom.

The next idea was a large metal bowl, duct tape, and a piece of an old ladder. Again, we stuck through the fence, and tried to retrieve the ball the way one would catch a spider or something.

"You got it!" Mikey smiled. "Pull it back."

"We got it guys," everyone else said.

Just as we were about to pull it back out, the Beast's large paw stomped on the metal. It crushed the bowl so hard that it was practically crushing it. The Beast took the contraption into his territory, and it come out flying over our heads as nothing but a scrambled piece of metal.

We approached it to take a look at it to think of what else to do.

"I think we've seriously underestimated the Beast," Timmy commented.

"Obviously we're dealing with the superior intelligence," Mikey agreed as he pushed up with glasses.


The next day somebody came up with the bright idea to use vacuums to suck the ball out from the Beast's territory. We got three vacuums which I knew something would go wrong.

Once the power was connected we prepared to initiate retrieval suction number one.

"This ain't gonna work," I told Benny.

"Yeah it will," he disagreed. "Just have a little faith."

"Now you're starting to sound like me."

He chuckled as the vacuum was turned on. Kenny, Ham, Yeah-yeah, Benny, and I held the metal rod steady as the vacuums were turned on one by one. As each of the three vacuums were turned one I along with the others that were holding onto the metal rod felt the tug of air suction.

All of a sudden we felt something hit the rod.

"You got it," Mikey smiled. "Haul it up."

As we were pulling it up something grabbed hold of the rod and the guys including me screamed out of fear. The Beast chomped his teeth down on the rod, then released.

"What's going on, Squints?" Ham asked as we felt the tug of the suction stop.

"The pipe," Mikey replied. "It's pinched shut."

My instincts told me what was about to happen.

"Guys," Bertram shouted, "the vacs are clogged. I don't about you, but I'm gettin' the heck out of here."

Smoke was coming from inside the club house, an annoying whistle was ringing in my ears, and every one of the guys was running and screaming. They went down poles, ladders, and a rope, except me. Due to my fear of heights I didn't want to jump.

"Jewel, come on," Benny called up to me. "It's gonna blow."

"I can't," I panicked. "I'm scared of heights."

"I'll catch you," he promised as he held out his arms. "Just close your eyes and jump to me."

Without hesitating I shut my eyes and jumped. In two seconds I was flying, then his arms were around me, and we were both knocked to the ground as the vacuums exploded.

"Come on," he said as he grabbed my hand and led me to where the other guys were screaming and crouched down.

When all was quiet we slowly stood up and walked back towards the club house where Timmy was standing there covered in ash.

"We've been going about this all wrong," Timmy said as he looked back at the smoky club house. "I blame myself. We need total surprise. An airborne attack. The Beast will never expect it."

The rest of us nodded and murmured in agreement. I knew it was a stupid idea, but there really wasn't any other way to do it. If it was helping a friend, then it was worth getting the ball back.

Thanks for reading! Next chapter will be up soon.