Despicable Me by Annie Auerbach, Cinco Paul, Ken Daurio Read Free Book Online Page B

too. “Oh, no.”
    Dr. Nefario grabs the radio. “Gru? Gru, can you hear me? The Shrink Ray effects are only temporary!”
    But Dr. Nefario hears only static. Gru’s ship has reached the edge of Earth’s atmosphere, and the radio isn’t working. Gru pushes hard on the throttle to try to get to the dance recital on time.
    On the ground, Dr. Nefario thinks for a moment. “We’ve got to warn him! Let’s go!” he says to the minions, and they all rush out of the lab.

    Decorations cover the entrance to the dance studio. Margo, Edith, and Agnes peer out from behind the curtain, dressed in their ballerinacostumes. Agnes sees the empty chair in the audience. “He’s still not here,” she says sadly to the other girls.
    “Why would he come? He gave us up,” Margo points out.
    “But he pinkie promised!” cries Agnes.
    “Girls, places!” calls the dance teacher.
    “No, we can’t start yet!” insists Edith. “We’re still expecting someone!”
    Agnes looks up at the teacher with her best puppy dog eyes. “Can we just wait a few more minutes?”
    The dance teacher sighs. “All right. But just a few more minutes.”
    When she has left, Margo turns to the other girls. “He’s not coming, guys,” she says.
    Edith and Agnes look shaken. Could it be true?
    After a few minutes, the dance recital has to begin. The lights dim, and classical music playsover the speakers. The curtains open and all the girls come out dancing. All the dancers wear big smiles except three girls at the far left—Margo, Edith, and Agnes. They look sad.
    Everyone in the audience turns on a video camera. Except for one person: Vector.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

    “Sorry, buddy.
Show’s over.”
    —A janitor

    Gru looks down at the city below, trying to locate the dance studio. “Okay, okay, there’s the library… that’s Third Street, that’s the dance studio! There it is!”
    With a final thrust, the spaceship touches down in the middle of the street. The tires screech and smoke as pedestrians dive out of the way. Gru slams on the brakes, and with a
thoomph
the brake parachute activates.
    Gru unfastens his seat belt and races out of the ship and into the dance studio. He stops suddenly as he sees the empty hall.
    “Sorry, buddy. Show’s over,” says a janitor who is taking down the folding chairs.
    Gru can’t believe it. Then something catches his eye. He makes his way over to a chair in the front row and removes a sign taped to it. Written in a child’s handwriting, it says MARGO, EDITH, AND AGNES’S DAD .
    Crushed, Gru stares at the paper. He flipsit over and discovers that Vector has left him a note. He turns and races out of the dance studio.
    Gru makes his way as fast as possible to Vector’s fortress.
    “Vector! Open up!” Gru demands, pounding on the front gate.
    A huge TV monitor appears over the gate. Vector’s face ripples into view. “First give me the moon.
Then
we’ll talk,” he says.
    Gru holds the shrunken moon up to the monitor.
    A suction hose extends from the side of the monitor. It hovers in the air, waiting for the moon. Then from behind Vector, Agnes calls out, “Mr. Gru!”
    “Zip it,” Vector tells her.
    That’s all it takes. Gru’s heart lurches to hear someone be mean to Agnes. He places the moon near the end of the hose, and it gets sucked in.The hose promptly retracts into the building. On the monitor, Gru watches as the hose delivers the moon to Vector.
    “Now the girls,” demands Gru.
    Vector grins wickedly. “Actually, I think I’ll hold on to them for a while longer.”
    Gru sees the monitor retract back inside the building and disappear.
    “No!” yells Gru. He grits his teeth and speaks into a security camera. “Listen closely, you little punk. You have no idea who you are messing with, and when I get in there, you are going to be in a world of pain!”
    Inside, Vector stares at the monitor. “Oh, I’m really scared,” he says, laughing.
    At that moment, Gru punches the camera so