Chapter 5: The Giant Peach

"What's going on out here?" yelled the voice of Aunt Spiker.

"We better head back," said Penelope.

The children and the goat started to run back to the house. James held the bag with one hand covering the opening, so the tongue didn't escape. Penelope followed him, being careful not to fall. Then James tripped over a stuck-out rock, fell on his stomach, and dropped the bag. The crocodile tongues escaped from the bag and scattered around. They disappeared into the soil near the old peach tree.

James, Penelope, and Jaelle tried to catch them but them went deep into the ground underneath the old peach tree.

"Oh! No, wait!" James cried, trying to grab the tongues. They quickly jumped away from and around him and Penelope.

"Get back here!" Penelope exclaimed, reaching for two tongues, but they managed to avoid her tan fingers.

Jaelle attempted to use her hooves to catch the tongue but managed to escape.

"Wait! No! No, wait!" Cried James. "Wait just a… Wait!" It was no use. All the crocodile tongues were gone. Their first sense of hope was gone, and they both sighed in disappointment.

"Here they are," Aunt Sponge said.

The children looked up to see Sponge and Spiker in their nightgowns and robes, glaring down at them from the peach tree. "Get up you two little worms!" Sponge yelled at them. "We sent you two out here to kill a spider!"

"Not to laze about," Aunt Spiker added.

"I wasn't lazing about," James protested. "I tripped."

"He's telling the truth," The Gypsy girl said, coming to his defense.

"How dare you two disagree with us!" snarled Aunt Sponge.

"Beat them, Sponge!" Spiker commanded.

The thin aunt grabbed James and Penelope by their shoulders to prevent them from running away. The fat aunt made her way to the back, but sighed, "It's too early."

"Well, that makes you two the luckiest kids and goat alive," Spiker said sarcastically, looking at them. "Now come inside you two and get dressed." Spiker grabbed James and Penelope by their nightclothes and pulled them into the house with Jaelle following them.

As Sponge kept yawning and stretching, she paused and noticed something on the peach tree and exclaimed, "Spiker! Look! A peach!"

"A what?" Spiker asked in an uninterested tone, not paying attention to the peach tree.

"A peach!" Sponge cried. "There on the branch!" James, Penelope, and Jaelle turned around and to their surprise, on the highest tree branch they saw a beautiful orange peach with red hues.

"Why, that old tree's never had so much as a blossom on it," Spiker scoffed. "Let alone a…" Then the thin woman turned around and saw the fruit. "Well, I'll be blowed!" She exclaimed softy, letting go of James and Penelope. "There really is a peach there! A nice big one too."

Spiker approached the tree where Sponge was standing and grasped the branches. Sponge asked her, "How can we get it?"

The aunts looked at each other and said in unison, "The boy and the gypsy girl!"

They turned to their nephew and adopted niece, and Sponge beckoned James and Penelope with her fat finger. "Now you be a good little boy and young gypsy girl and climb up and get that peach for you dear aunties."

"Can we eat it?" James asked, hopefully, coming up to the tree. Penelope followed

"May we?" Asked Penelope.

"Of course, we can, we'll share it!" Sponge said sarcastically, before yelling in his face. "Me and you Aunt Spiker! Now start climbing."

Penelope grew angry but hid it, and helped James climb up the tree with Aunt Sponge. Suddenly, Aunt Spiker noticed something strange was happening and her eyes widened. "Wait!" she exclaimed.

"What?" Sponge asked, exasperated. "What, what?"

"It's… it's growing!"

"The boy and the gypsy girl?" Aunt Sponge asked, dumbly.

"No, the peach you idiot! Look!"

True to what Spiker said, the peach began to grow; but quicker than peaches normally grew. It began to expand like a balloon. Sponge saw the situation and ordered James and Penelope, "Oh, you two come down!"

"But we won't get hurt!" said James, reaching towards the growing fruit.

"Climb down!" Sponge ordered as she pulled James and Penelope down to the ground.

"What a peach," Spiker gasped excitedly, placing her hands on her chin. "What a peach!"

Spiker, Sponge, James, Penelope, and Jaelle backed away as the growing peach was now the size of the aunt's antique car. It still grew and grew. The stem itself grew thicker around as well.

"Look Spiker," Sponge cried. "It's still growing!"

"I'm not blind you dolt," the thin aunt snapped as the tree began to groan and creak under the weight of the growing fruit. "I can see it for myself!" Soon the peach was bigger than the tree.

"Oh! Look at it go!" Spiker exclaimed, grabbing James's and Penelope's arms. "It's a miracle!"

The peach was now big and heavy, it touched the ground, making the tree bend under its' weight. "It's coming down!" Aunt Sponge yelled. "Stand back!"

The four humans and goat backed away still stared at the peach. After touching the ground, it stopped growing and became twice the size of an elephant. The fruit was held up by the stem, still attached to the tree. Aunt Sponge whimpered in fright; Aunt Spiker exclaimed, "Oh, my heavens! My…"

The peach has finally reached its' growth spurt. Right now, it was bigger than a house, even bigger than the house, James, Penelope, Jaelle and the aunts lived in. Sponge and Spiker held each other close, staring at the giant peach with amazement.

"Marvelous things will happen," James said, remembering the Magic Man's words. "Just like he said!"

"Guess the old man was right after all," Penelope agreed.

"Shut up, you little grubs," Spiker growled at them. "This has nothing to do with you two, so just keep away from it!"

James just looked at his thin aunt oddly. Penelope glared at them as she folded her arms. "Oh, can you smell that, Spikey?" Aunt Sponge said, smelling the peach. "It smells delicious!"

Just as Sponge was about to take a bite of the peach, Spiker pulled her back and gripped her arm.

"No!" Spiker said to her, as she hatched an idea. "It smells like… money!" The two sisters looked at each other and exchanged sly grins.