The Boy with 17 Senses by Sheila Grau Read Free Book Online

gateways to other planets. Or glug mines. Imagine!
    Jaq laughed.
    But then he thought: Who wrote this note? What if he really was in trouble? And had that swindler known aboutthis note? Jaq couldn’t even think the name “Davardi,” because it was so delightful, and the man was clearly not. He would refer to him only as the Swindler from now on. But if the Swindler had seen the note, wouldn’t he have kept it?
    No, Jaq concluded, he couldn’t have known about it.
    Amazing riches
, the note said. Jaq often dreamed of being rich, of buying his grandfather’s farm back from the Vilcots. Or making enough damars so his mother didn’t have to work so hard. But did he want to travel to a giant-filled planet? No, he did not.
    What if he offered this note to the Swindler in exchange for Klingdux? That was all that Jaq really wanted. Maybe that man would be interested in a glug-filled world, as outrageous as that sounded.
    About as outrageous as a pantry of free food. That was stupid. How did I believe that?
    Still, it wouldn’t hurt to try. Jaq decided to track down the Swindler right away.

10

    THE SMELL OF FOOD IS LIKE A WARM BREEZE
    I t was early, so Jaq picked a bowl of brickleberries and left them on the table for his mom and grandpa. Then he put the key and note in his backpack and headed out.
    He had just reached the front gate when he stopped and shook his leg.
    â€œAre you going to let go now?” he asked the wipper clinging to his ankle. “I’m leaving, and I won’t be back for a while.”
    The wipper unlatched his jaw and looked up at Jaq. “Take me with you,” he said.
    Jaq shook his leg harder, trying to dislodge the pest. “What? No! I hate wippers.”
    â€œPlease? Pretty please? Gorgeous please?” The little fellow looked so pathetic, with his long white ears flopping down and his big, sad eyes.
    â€œWhy do you want to come with me?”
    â€œI’m a terrible wipper,” he said. “My insults are lame, and I can’t bite ankles very well.” It was true. He hadn’t even broken the skin on Jaq’s ankle. “The other wippers tease me.”
    â€œYou get teased by wippers?” Jaq said. “Gee, what’s that like?”
    â€œIt’s terrible.”
    â€œI was joking. I know what it’s like.”
    â€œOh, right,” the wipper said. “So you know how I feel. You have to take me with you. I won’t be a bother—I promise. I’m quiet and well-mannered and potty-trained.”
    â€œWhat’s your name?”
    â€œBonip.”
    â€œYou’re the one who said I cut my hair with a stapler?” Jaq asked.
    Bonip nodded.
    â€œYeah, that was bad.” Jaq laughed. “Okay, you can come.”
    Bonip asked to ride on Jaq’s shoulder, and Jaq let him.The wipper was smaller than Klingdux, but having him there reminded Jaq of his pet. It was a bit of a comfort on the long walk until . . .
    â€œYou ever think about doing something different with this stuff?” Bonip asked. His tiny paws were combing through Jaq’s shoulder-length hair. “Like washing it, maybe?”
    â€œShut up about my hair,” Jaq said.
    â€œYou’re right. And you should keep it long. It takes attention away from your nose.”
    â€œIt’s funny that you think you’re bad at insults.”
    â€œI’m working on it. Was that a good one?”
    Jaq shrugged, which sent Bonip off his shoulder and to the ground. He bounced back up, smiling, because wippers are used to being flung, and they are practically indestructible.

    Jaq walked with Bonip leaping beside him. They made it to the marketplace, where the scrumptious smells of roasting food and sweet candy seemed to brush against Jaq’s skin. The food smells curled and spun around him politely, as if they were saying,
Allow us to introduce ourselves
. The feel of food was everywhere. Everywhere except in