Ric saw the retroactivity spell and almost flipped past it, but then he stopped and looked at it carefully. "Hmm..."
"What is it?" asked Josh, anxiously, nervously rubbing his front leg with one of his hind feet. "Did you find something?"
"I think this will solve your clothes problem... you'll have clothes that fit, if you've always had four legs."
Josh's eyes widened, but before he could say anything Ric quickly chanted the spell.
Josh felt dizzy for a moment, but with four legs was in no danger of falling over. He suddenly felt cloth on his hind that had been bare before---of course, he'd put on his four-legged shorts when he got dressed this morning. He looked down and saw sandals on each of his feet---wasn't he wearing sneakers before? No, of course not, he was growing too fast and it was too expensive for his mom to keep buying sneakers four at a time for him. But at the same time, he remembered putting on two sneakers this morning... didn't he?
Josh's jaw dropped and he looked back up at Ric as he realized what was happening.
"I remember..."
Ric nodded. He remembered, too. Growing up with a four-legged brother. Sticking up for him when the other kids teased him. Riding him like a horse when they played together. Watching their mom sew special shorts and jeans that would fit his brother's body, like the ones he was wearing right now.
Suddenly, Mr. Mendes came back into the living room. He was wearing four-legged shorts now, too. His shirt was still tight on his huge, muscular torso, but it wasn't tearing when he lifted his arms. "I forgot what I went in there for!" he laughed.
Josh gave a shout and galloped over to Mr. Mendes.
"Hey, sport." Even with Josh's increased height, Mr. Mendes towered over him. He stuck out a big hand and ruffled Josh's hair. Josh looked up at him worshipfully.
Ric knew why. He now remembered how relieved their mother had been when they started going to the school where Mr. Mendes worked, so Josh could have a mentor who really understood him, what he was going through.
Ric felt a little jealous again. Not only was his little brother looking bigger and older than him, he had this closeness to Mr. Mendes that Ric couldn't match. Didn't it count, all those years he'd stood up for Josh? And didn't he need a mentor too, no matter how many legs he had?
But then Ric suddenly remembered that all these memories and feelings, as ingrained as they were, were brand-new. He looked down at the book in his hand.