Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 108211 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 433(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108211 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 433(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
“Come along with me and I’ll get you some,” Goodie Oo-lah interrupted. Then she turned and made her way further into the maze-like interior of the store.
Feeling helpless to do anything else, Andi followed her through the store with Cade trailing behind her until they got to a small counter. Sitting on it was a large square machine with a clear glass front. Inside were many gears and cogs—it looked like the inside of a huge clock to Andi.
On the counter beside the machine was a basket of the bulbous green fruits they had seen out in the field where the ship had crash landed.
“Here we go now. Let’s just find a nice juicy one…”
Goodie Oo-lah picked through the basket until she found a green fruit as big as Andi’s fist. She plunked it into a hole at the top of the clear-sided machine and pressed a button. Then she put a small cup at the bottom where there was a spout Andi hadn’t noticed before.
Andi watched politely, though she was dying to ask more questions. But it seemed better to stay on the shopkeeper’s good side rather than to interrupt this process.
The cogs and wheels began turning as soon as the green fruit dropped into the machine. As Andi watched, they split the green skin, revealing the bright pink interior. This they ground to a pulp and squeezed to make a thin stream of pink juice which drained into the small cup.
As soon as the machine finished, Goodie Oo-lah picked up the cup and proudly presented it to Andi.
“There you go! Tell me that isn’t the freshest Boom-boom juice you’ve ever tasted!”
Andi actually was rather thirsty. Crash landing, having a mini emotional breakdown, and fighting off the wild green men were all activities guaranteed to work up a thirst. Gratefully, she took a deep gulp of the pink juice…and nearly spit it out.
The Boom-boom juice was spicy! It had a flavor like a mixture of guava, passion fruit, and pineapple but the punch it packed made Andi feel like she’d just taken a big drink of hot sauce!
Somehow she swallowed the mouthful, though it burned all the way down and made her eyes water.
“That’s…so delicious,” she managed at last, trying not to cough. Her voice came out in a croak.
“Do you not want to finish it then?” Goodie Oo-lah demanded. “You’ve only drunk half!”
Andi didn’t know how she could possibly drink the rest—she didn’t have much of a spice tolerance and her mouth and throat already felt like they were on fire. Luckily, Cade came to her rescue. He ducked his head and sniffed the contents of the cup. Then he plucked it from her hand and downed it in one gulp, licking his lips when he was finished.
Andi remembered that her Protector loved spicy foods, so she didn’t feel guilty for giving him the red-hot Boom-boom juice. She just felt relieved that he had taken it off her hands.
“Well now—I can see your Manimal appreciates it!” Goodie Oo-lah laughed. “I wouldn’t let him drink too much of it though—not if you’re planning to train him to the breast instead of using a control collar.”
“Train him to the breast?” Andi asked, feeling lost again.
“Why sure! The natural spices in Boom-boom juice can be awfully hot when applied to sensitive places if you know what I mean.” Goodie Oo-lah winked at her, as though they were sharing a secret.
“I’m sorry—I don’t understand,” Andi said blankly.
“Well, I mean if you plan to give him your Sweet Drops to control him, then you don’t want him drinking too much Boom-boom juice. That’s clear enough, ain’t it?” Goodie Oo-lah exclaimed.
It was, as Andi’s Dad would have said, “clear as mud” but she was afraid she might offend the friendly shopkeeper if she kept on asking her to clarify further.
“Oh, right,” she said and nodded. “Well, I was hoping you could give me some information. Since we crashed here and my ship seems to be dead, I need a way to call home—that’s the Kindred Mother Ship,” she added, but Goodie Oo-lah only gave her a blank look.
“Kindred? Can’t say as I’ve heard of ‘em,” she remarked.
“They’re my employers and I live on their ship. Cade here is actually a Kindred warrior,” Andi said, pointing at her Protector, who was licking the last drops of Boom-boom juice out of the small cup. “But he sort of, uh, lost his mind when we crashed.”
“Yup—that’s The Incident again.” Goodie Oo-lah nodded. “He’s a Manimal now and you might as well get used to it.”
“But…isn’t there any kind of antidote?” Andi asked desperately. “Some way to cure him?”
“Not that I know of,” Goodie Oo-lah remarked. “I have heard that Goodie Bo-long was trying to come up with something—her husband was a scientist and she was too, some say, before The Incident—but I don’t think nothing ever came of it. Seeing as how she’s down here on the regular with several of her Manimals in tow,” she added.