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As the morning sun burst over the
horizon, the bush was set ablaze with color. The red sand absorbed the
heat and soon the animals were feeling it. "This is going to be a hot day.
It’s only sunrise and already I’m parched," Kiah complained. "I’m heading
for the billabong. I’m going to have a long soak." The platypus waddled
towards the water.
"She’s right. It’s going to be a
warm one. We’d better have a splash about and then a long drink before we
try to find our way back," Wandi, the kangaroo suggested.
They spent the next few hours
playing in the cool water. "Are we ready?" Yinki laughed. "I have a
craving for a wichetty grub. I can’t wait to get back to my tree," the
kookaburra sighed.
"Me too," Banjori agreed. "My
mouth’s watering for a delicious eucalyptus leaf," the koala said, licking
his lips and patting his round, furry tummy.
"There’s no use in complaining. If
you’re all ready, climb into my pouch with Boomerang and we’ll try to
retrace our steps," Wandi urged. One by one the animals squeezed into the
tight pouch.
"This is not comfortable," Jiba
moaned.
"What are you complaining about?
You’re an echidna, with sharp spikes that poke everyone," Daku, the wombat
said.
"I can’t feel my legs," Tinka cried.
"Boomerang, move your tail."
"You’ve got a tail too," the joey
complained to the skink.
"I can’t feel my legs either," Nimu
said, "and I’ve got eight of them."
"Mum, Nimu’s hairy legs are tickling
my tummy," Boomerang giggled.
"I’m a trap-door spider. What do you
expect me to do with my legs?" Nimu growled.
"Is everyone settled? I’m ready to
hop now," Wandi said to the unruly crowd of animals.
She leapt toward the trees, leaving
the cool waters of the billabong behind. The sun beat down on them all.
"I’m hot, mum," Boomerang complained. "It’s crowded in here."
Wandi looked at her joey. "Patience,
Boomerang. Patience."
After an hour on hopping, they all
dozed off. Wandi was grateful. At least she didn’t have to listen to their
complaining for a while. She spotted some boulders in the distance and
headed for them. "They look familiar," she muttered to herself. "Maybe I’m
heading in the right direction after all." As she neared the sandstone
rocks her ears began to twitch. "What’s that noise?"
Banjori woke up and yawned. "Why
have we stopped?" he asked. The others woke up as he spoke.
"What’s the matter?" Daku asked.
"Shhhhh. We might have some trouble.
It’s Boomer and Old Man," Wandi whispered.
"Who is Boomer?" Tinka asked.
"Who’s Old Man?" Yindi wondered.
"They’re two male kangaroos. They’re
known as the ‘Bullies of the Bush’. If they spot us, they’ll surely give
us a hard time," Wandi sighed.
"I’m not afraid of an old man. I’ll
poke him with my spikes," Jiba, the echidna threatened.
"His name is Old Man. He’s not an
old man. He’s a powerful kangaroo and I’m afraid he’s a bit nasty and
mean," Boomerang replied.
"Oh. Why don’t we go that way then?"
Jiba asked, pointing to the left.
"I say we go that way," Kiah said,
pointing to the right.
"I say we go back to the billabong.
At least it’s safe there," Yindi chimed in.
Just then the two male kangaroos
looked their way. "Oh no, they’ve heard us. Here they come," Wandi cried.
"Stay in the pouch!" she warned.
Within seconds Old Man and Boomer
were standing in front of Wandi and the others. "What have we here? Look
at this will you, Boomer. It’s a flyer with a pouch full of bush animals.
Have you ever seen anything so funny in your life?" Old Man laughed.
Boomer reached over and grabbed Kiah
by her bill and pulled her out. "Well, well. If it isn’t a platypus.
What’s a duck-bill doing out of the water?" He tossed Kiah into the sand.
She landed on her back."What else have we in there?" Boomer stuck his hand
in and pulled Tinka out. "It’s a skink. Show me your blue tongue," he
demanded.
"I don’t want to," Tinka shivered in
fear.
"If you don’t show it to me, I’ll
have to yank it out of your mouth," Boomer laughed.
"Leave her alone. You two are
bullies. Why don’t you go and jump off Ayer’s Rock?" Boomerang said.
"Look, Boomer. The joey’s the
bravest of them all," Old Man chuckled, pulling him out by his tail.
Wandi had enough. "Leave them alone!
Tinka and Kiah, climb back into my pouch. Boomerang, inside," she
demanded.
The platypus struggled to roll over.
She and the skink climbed back in. The joey followed.
"You’re awfully brave for a doe,
aren’t you?" Old Man snarled.
Once the rest of them were safely in
her pouch, Wandi lifted her legs and kicked Boomer as hard as she could.
He went flying through the air. "Let’s get out of here!" Banjori shouted.
Wandi hopped away as fast as she could.
"Boomer stood up and brushed the
dirt off his fur. "We’ll get you. You can’t run from us," he shouted. He
and Old Man hopped after the flyer.
"Hurry, Wandi. They’re coming after
us," Nimu said.
Wandi hopped as fast as she could.
She didn’t stop until she was back at the billabong. "Quick everyone,
climb out and hide," she said.
Kiah ran into the pond. Banjori
climbed to the top of the nearest tree. The wombat and trap door spider
found a small cave and squeezed inside. Jiba rolled into a ball and hid
herself in the tall grass. Tinki slithered under a rock and Yindi flew
into the branches of a tree. "Where are we going to hide?" Boomerang asked
his mum.
"Stay in the pouch," Wandi said. She
hopped down to a stream and hid behind a tree. It didn’t take long for
Boomer and Old Man to arrive at the billabong. "You think you can hide
from us? We’ll get all of you!" Boomer shouted.
The two kangaroos searched high and
low, but couldn’t find any of them. Just then Old Man spotted Wandi.
"She’s down by the stream," he whispered to Boomer. "Let’s get her!" They
hopped towards her.
"Stay away," Wandi cried, as the two
kangaroos moved in on her.
"We’ll teach you to run away from
us," the bullies sneered.
Boomer was about to give Wandi a
kick when out of the stream crawled a huge crocodile. It must have been
fifteen feet long with huge teeth. "You two bullies giving this doe a hard
time?" It opened its mouth wide and ran after Boomer and Old Man.
"A croc!" screamed Old Man. "Run!"
The two of them hopped away as
quickly as they could.
"You’re safe now," Rando said. He
could see that Wandi was nervous. "Don’t worry, I won’t eat you. I’ve had
my fill for the day." Seeing that the croc wasn’t going to harm them, the
others came down to the stream. "If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s
a bully! Two of them is even worse."
"Thanks for saving us," Wandi
smiled. "I don’t suppose you know the way back to the baobab forest, do
you?" she asked.
"Can’t say that I do. I don’t wander
too far away from here," Rando said, looking at the stream. "Keeps me
cool. It’s home," he laughed.
They spent another night at the
billabong with their new friend, the croc. "Tomorrow’s another day," Wandi
told them. "We’ll try another way then." They feasted on barramundi, bugs,
and eucalyptus leaves, and slept soundly, knowing the bullies were gone,
for now at least. |
