It's hard enough fending off ogres when you're a powerful wizard or a knight with an enchanted sword. Just try doing it with nothing but the wits you were born with. That's exactly what happened to Cassie Malloy when ugly, smelly, hairy creatures began appearing in her town. Now Cassie has to save herself from these six-foot beasts as they chase her and her siblings through the lonely streets of Paterson, New Jersey. But Cassie doesn't only have to save herself. The ogre band has come with a plan to turn Ike, her brother, into a fish, dooming him to spend forever swimming in the pond. They've even kidnapped Cassie's best friend, Deirdre, though no one really knows why. Finally, Cassie learns that the ogres are here because of the Powermongers Company and their excessive pollution. It's going to take everything the Malloy kids have got to win this battle. One thing's for sure they had better be clever, or they are all goners.

Blasting Ogres

By DorisAnn

Universe, Inc.

Copyright © 2012 DorisAnn
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4759-2899-0

Chapter One

THE THING IN THE CELLAR

Lucie Malloy sat on the wall by Mr. Fetter's house. She dangled her feet while waiting for her sisters, Izzie and Cassie. She watched a caterpillar walk slowly across the wall. The plan for the day was a picnic in the woods. She was wishing that they would hurry because she was starting to get worried. She wasn't sure why but it did seem like a very strange day.

Suddenly she saw a flash of red run into Mr. Fetter's bushes. It hid there for a moment and then it ran up the driveway towards the backyard. She stood there looking to see what it was. But it moved so fast that she could not see it. To get a closer look she walked up the driveway. Then she heard the grunting noises that came from under the old cellar doors of the house.

They were the kind of cellar doors that lay slanted between the house and the ground. To open them she was going to have to pull them up towards her. They were gray and weather worn. The wood was splintery and broken in places. If it wasn't so dark down there, she would be able to see through the wide cracks.

As the fumbling and grunting continued she thought that maybe Mr. Fetter was stuck down there or something. "Mr. Fetter is that you? Are you alright?" she called as she dropped her backpack down on the left door. She began to pull on the right door with all her might. "Mr. Fetter, it's me, Lucie," she called as she pulled. The door finally let loose and sprang open, and with that a terrible rotten odor hit her face.

As the light fell down the stairs something very big shuffled over to the dark side of the cellar. She strained her eyes to see. Suddenly she realized what she was looking at. It was the face of this big beast thing.

He looked like an ape man but it had horns that seemed to come out of his big bushy eyebrows. His nose was smashed in and wide spread across his face. His huge mouth had two bottom teeth that were sticking up out of the corners. Those teeth were tall enough to reach over the top of his upper lip.

He appeared to have no neck because his shoulders were big and up so high. He had horns that came from the top of his head and curled up like a bulls. His little yellow eyes were spread far apart on his big fat face. But right now they were wide opened in surprise.

Then suddenly as she was gaping at him, his eyes started to narrow and get a mean look in them. She realized that this was not a good thing. She quickly grabbed her backpack and started to run. However, the backpack was hooked on a jagged edge of the wooden door. As she pulled and pulled again, the door finally flew open. She saw him put his arms up to cover his ugly face as she turned to make her escape.

When she reached the street, she heard gurgling, plopping, and then a huge pop. She ran as fast as she could straight down the street to her house. As she was turning down her driveway she ran straight into Cassie.

"What's the matter? Why are you looking so spooked?" Cassie asked.

"Cass," she said breathing hard, "You won't believe what I saw. A big ugly thing was in Mr. Fetter's cellar. It was hiding in there. It was awful and it smelled so bad. I'm not sure but I think it blew up."

"Blew up? What do you mean and what were you doing near Mr. Fetter's cellar anyway?" Cassie asked.

"I don't know I thought I saw something but maybe it was my imagination" Lucie said glad to have the company of her sister. "Will you come and see if the thing is still there?"

"Sure," said Cassie, "I was just on my way to meet you and tell you that Izzie will meet us later. But when we get to Mr. Fetter's driveway let's be quiet and sneak carefully. That way no one will hear us coming. Take my hand and stay with me."

The place was quiet and all seemed to be in regular order as they moved slowly up the driveway. The birds were moving from tree to tree and the bees were buzzing around the lilac bush. When they reached the cellar doors, there was green slop all over the ground. The stairs and even the inside of the cellar doors were covered in the green slime.

"Oh, what is that?" asked Cassie as the stench became obvious.

I don't know," said Lucie. "I heard a gurgling and a pop so maybe he just burst into slime."

"No, that's too weird. What would do that?" Cassie asked.

"I don't know but let's get out of here. This gives me the creeps," said Lucie.

"Yeah, that sure is weird. Well, whatever it was, is gone now so don't worry about it," said Cassie. "Let's go. Mr. Fetter might think that this mess was made by us." She pulled Lucie down the driveway and out onto the sidewalk.

As soon as they turned the corner by Mrs. Brown's house, they saw Deirdre. She was running up the dirt road to meet them. They raced each other to her and met just as Deirdre passed Mr. Martin's house. Deirdre was their best friend. She lived only a few blocks away. They could see her red hair and freckles from that very distance.

Both of them were anxious to tell her about the strange things going on in the neighborhood. Lucie described the beast in Mr. Fetters' basement. She finished the story with the green slime. Deirdre was amazed and surprised by these happenings. They couldn't understand what it all meant.

Chapter Two

NATURES WARNINGS

Just as they were starting up the path to the woods they saw something most strange. It was a very little man running across the top of the hill to the woods. He ran in through the trees and disappeared. They all followed as fast as they could but lost him in a short period of time.

Just as they reached the camp they all noticed that the birds and crickets and saccades all stopped chirping and became quiet. The atmosphere became thick with deafness. Cassie looked about to see if she could tell what was going on. She looked at the other girls and saw that Lucie was pulling on her ears in disbelief and Deirdre was looking about in wonderment. She could tell by the looks on their faces that they were both unnerved. She jingled her keys to check for sound and everyone relaxed. But they all kept looking around.

Before they stepped into their camp, the place they called their "Hide out" they heard a high pitched voice say, "What on earth is all that about? There surely must be something wrong, for the animals and natures' creatures know before us that something is wrong. But don't let that disturb you. We will investigate before too long. But, I knew you were the right folks for me to meet the minute I laid eyes on you. I saw you down by Mr. Fetter's house," said the strange little man.

They were all stunned. Right smack in the middle of their camp sat the little man. He was right in the center of the circle of sitting stones. He was wearing the red cap, and green vest and brown pants just down past his knees. He had tan socks that went down from there into his buckled shoes. He had a pipe up to his mouth and he was lighting it.

"What are you?" asked Deirdre, "a leprechaun?"

"No" said the little man, "I'm a gnome. My name is Flabious. I came to help you take care of a few things around here. We have to clean up that big mess in the woods by the stream."

"What mess?" the girls asked together.

"What mess?" exclaimed Flabious in surprise. "Look around you. Haven't you seen the big blue disgusting mess coming up from the ground? It's just oozing up, bubbling up like it belongs to the earth. Powermongers Incorporated have dumped their leftover paint in the woods. They are doing that just to save money. They wait until the middle of the night. Then trucks are filled with barrels of poisonous paint and other chemicals. They drive them up here and bury some of the barrels. They just leave the others out in the open.

The barrels crack from time and weather. The poison spills out onto the land. It then goes into the water. It harms and destroys the wild life here. Then it really gets tricky. The Ogres cross over the veil between our two worlds. That is because they like the paint and poison. They want to use it for something or other. Who knows, you know what they are. They can be rather silly and dumb. Anyway......

The president of Powermongers is Mr. Ingelbert Martin Anderson Crook. That is, I. M. A. Crook, for short. He is using the ogres to work in his factory. They are cheap labor but he feeds them well.

The longer the ogres stay here, the stronger they get. As a result, the balance of nature up here is starting to fail. We have to work together and stop them. We need your help. But first please follow me and see for yourself the mess that they have made."

He started out on the path to the right of the camp. They followed him thought the woods, up over the rise, and then down to the stream. As they walked along the path they all looked in all directions. It was eerie to see that the birds did not move nor make a peep, neither did anything else.

"I don't like this," said Deirdre, "this gives me the creeps. I think when tornadoes come the animals get quiet as a sign that something is wrong."

"Don't tell me that. I'm scared," said Lucie.

"Don't worry;" said Flabious, "I will know what to do if we need any help. Besides here we are at the place I want to show you.

Just then a crow moved from one tree to another as if to get a closer look. Cassie and the girls could hear his wings flapping. It was as if he was as loud as a helicopter without the background noise of the other animals.

The girls were a bit shocked to see the metallic aquamarine shiny stuff coming up from the ground. They knew it was serious. "Those men can't get away with this. There are laws or something I'm sure of it. They will go to jail for this." Cassie said.

"Yeah," said Lucie, "We will just call the police. That will fix them."

"Well, it's not that easy," replied the little man. "You see. They have a very powerful lawyer. His name is Mr. Getum N. Cheatem. They have other people helping them like Sheriff Stealit and Judge Grubby Getmore.

We have to catch them in the act. That will attract the attention of the right people. Qwenolyn already has a plan and that is why I have brought you here." said Flabious. "In fact Gwendolyn has sent me to tell you to get ready for a visit from her."

"The queen of the fairies!" gasped Lucie. "Would she show herself to us?"

"I know," said Flabious, "That is extreme, but as I've said, we need to work together. You will be seeing the queen herself."

They all looked at one another with their mouths open. Then Deirdre said, "This is so strange is it really happening?" The others just looked at the gnome and started to laugh.

"We're all looking at him, right?" said Cassie.

"Oh, I know in some ways this is all too real and in other ways it's all too unreal. But that is exactly how it is now. And don't get so serious on me either. The important thing that you need to know about the ogres is that they cannot stand sun light. Remember that because it might save you. They will pop like a big balloon if they get hit by sun light. You are always safe in sunlight. But later in the day when the shadows get longer and the sun starts to sink in the sky it is more dangerous. Make sure you are safe at home when the sun goes down. Is that clear?" he asked

"When will Gwendolyn come to meet us?" asked Lucie.

"At eight o'clock tonight in your bedroom on Totowa Avenue. Be there and Gwendolyn will come and tell you what to do." he said.

"She knows where we live?" asked Cassie.

"Of course, she does," said Flabious, "she is the queen. She has her ways of finding things out."

"What about our parents? Will they see her?" asked Lucie.

"You don't need to worry about that. She will take care not to disturb them. Besides, adults cannot see her unless she wants them too, and she never wants them too. You just do your regular thing and be in your room at eight o'clock tonight and she will come in," Flabious promised.

"Well, I've done my job here, and now I better go. I've lots of things to do myself. I'll be around. If you need me just call me and I'll come running. I'd get out of the woods today. I say that because the birds are nervous. Who can say why?" he said as he bowed and tipped his cap. Then he jumped down from the rock and ran off like a flash of lightning.

The girls would have spent the rest of the day in their campsite. They would have eaten lunch together on the log near Indian Rock. It was a big rock that looked like the head of an Indian chief with big feathers going down his back. It was a good rock to sit on. You could see in all directions for miles. Plus, it always provided the right amount of shade for lunch because of its size and over hanging rocks. Today they decided to eat lunch early and stay closer to home. It was the quiet that made them anxious and change their minds.

As they ran down the hill toward the houses on Totowa Avenue the crow flew from the tree at the top of the hill down to Mr. Martin's farm house. He flew low and almost touched Cassie on the head.

"It's still deadly quiet," said Deirdre, "and it still gives me the creeps. And what do you think of that ogre story? Strange as can be, don't you think?"

Cassie and Lucie agreed. But as often happens, before long the girls forgot about their troubles. It all seemed so long ago. They even had to ask themselves if it really happened at all. But Cassie noticed that that crow was sitting right outside the dining room window all though dinner. He even looked like he was looking in to see and hear what was going on.

Chapter Three

FIGHTING OFF THE OGRE

Ike and Dave were out in the back yard playing army. Ike was getting tired of the same old thing. "Mom," he asked, "where did the girls go?" Me and Dave want to find them and see if they will play "Donkey Cong" on the Wee game with us."

"I don't know, Ike" said Mrs. Malloy absentmindedly. Then she looked up from her sewing and said, "I think they went off behind Mr. Martin's house. Why don't you go and find them for me and tell them to come home. I haven't seen them all day. Tell them I have some cookies and milk here if they get here before three thirty. I don't want them to spoil dinner by eating after that time."

"Okay Mom," he said, "Can Dave come with me?" He knew she might not want David to go that far because he was only five years old and that was a long walk.

"Okay," she said, "But keep an eye on him."

"I will Mom," he said. And then to David he said, "Come on Dave let's go crash the girl's party. We can be the army guys and they can be the enemy."

"Yeah," said Dave and off they ran around the corner and up the dirt road toward Mr. Martin's farm.

"Come on Dave keep up," said Ike. Then he laughed a mischievous laugh. "This is going to be great. The girls will be mad so get ready to run. You can do this right, Dave?"

"Yeah," said Dave laughing very excitedly. "This sure is going to be fun. The girls are going to scream and yell." Then he said, "Wait up, Ike."

The afternoon sun was hot and burning their skin. They were sweating from the fast walk down the dusty dirt road and up the grassy hill to the trees. When they reached the cool shade of the woods they were sure glad.

"What was that?" said Ike. "Did you see that?"

"See what?" Dave asked. He stopped walking because he didn't like the sound of Ike's voice, "What Ike, what do you mean?" Then an otter appeared from under a bush and stood up on its' hind legs and chattered at them like he was scolding them.

"What's the matter with him?" asked Dave, "Why is he so mad?"

"I don't know." said Ike. "I thought I saw something move. I guess maybe we scared him or something. Come on this way to the girls' hide out."

Dave watched the otter run towards the brook then stop to chatter at him some more before he ran away again. "We didn't mean to scare you," he said. The otter ran back to Dave and did a little dance like he wanted Dave to follow him and then ran off to the brook. Dave just laughed and ran to catch up with Ike.

"That was so cute, Ike, did you see that?" yelled Dave.

"Yeah," said Ike, "This morning a frog was in our back yard acting weird. I don't know what is going on, but the animals around here are trying to get our attention or something."

They sneaked up on the girls' camp and Ike signaled to Dave to lie down and crawl on his belly like the army guys do. They came in the camp from different ends. They both yelled, "Rata tat tat. Rata tat tat!" They were holding up their guns and shooting make believe bullets.

Lucie started screaming, "What are you doing? What are you doing?" Then before she realized it was only the boys, she picked up a rock and hurled it at Ike. It hit him right in the head.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Blasting Ogresby DorisAnn Copyright © 2012 by DorisAnn. Excerpted by permission of Universe, Inc.. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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