Big Change for Stuart Read Online Free PDF Page A

over.
    Stuart looked round and stared, open-mouthed, at the triangles lying flat on the sand. ‘No,’ he said out loud. ‘Now that’s not fair.’
    The sun bored into his back. The horizon rippled in the heat.
    Stuart got to his feet and gave it a second go. One side, two sides, three sides, four si—And then
wham!
As he pulled the fourth side closed, the other three collapsed back onto the desert floor.
    He stood, hands on hips, breathing heavily, panic crawling inside his chest. How was he going to solve this? And what if he
couldn’t
? He took a deep breath.
    â€˜OK, it’s a puzzle,’ he said out loud again – somehow it was easier to think in a calm and logical way if he imagined he was talking to someone else. ‘And it’s
not
just a jigsaw puzzle.’
    Grimly, for the third time, he lifted three sides into place. He remembered that there was a small loop right at the top of each, and this time he hooked the fingers of one hand through them. Could he hold up three of the sides while he lifted the fourth?
    He reached out vainly.
    No, he couldn’t, it was too far away – he’d need an arm the length of an orang-utan’s.
    â€˜If I had a thin rope of some kind,’ he said, ‘I could slip it through the loop on the fourth side, and pull it up while I was still holding onto the others. But where can I find a thin rope?’
    The answer to his question walked by just a few metres away, reins dangling.
    â€˜OK,’ said Stuart to himself. ‘So all I have to do is catch a camel.’

STUART HAD ONCE watched a programme on camels in which it had been shown that they could spit accurately and kick in any direction. But was this camel real, or was it a sort of figment of Great-Uncle Tony’s imagination?
    He moved closer.
    It looked real. It
smelled
real.
    â€˜Stay,’ he said feebly, edging towards it. ‘Nice camel.’
    It glanced at him, and then went on ripping at the thorn tree with teeth the size of piano keys. The reins were tied to a woven nose band which fastened just under its chin. Just under its chin and very close to its teeth.
    â€˜Good boy.’ Stuart remembered the half-stick of chewing gum in his pocket. He took it out and held it at arm’s length.
    The camel stopped eating.
    â€˜Here, boy,’ said Stuart, his voice sounding reedy and nervous. ‘Yum yum.’
    The camel took a pace forward.
    â€˜Lovely chewing gum.’
    With incredible swiftness, the camel lunged towards Stuart and snatched the gum out of his hand. Stuart made a grab for the reins. The camel tossed its head and Stuart found himself flying through the air.
    â€˜Ow,’ he said, landing in the sand several metres away. The camel gave him a contemptuous look and then cantered off into the shimmering distance, chewing as it went. Stuart was left alone.
    As he got to his feet, he thought of a phrase in Great-Uncle Tony’s letter:

    â€˜A little stronger than I intended,’ finished Stuart, rubbing his leg. And then he noticed something on the ground and stooped to pick it up. It was a length of bark, revoltingly saturated with camel spit, but quite long and stringy nonetheless. He hunted around for some other pieces, and knotted three or four lengths together until they were long enough to thread through the loop. Feeling a bit like a survival expert on the telly, he gave the bark string an experimental tug. It broke. Clearly it needed to be thicker.
    â€˜Perhaps if I make three strings and then plait them …’ he said doubtfully. He’d never done any plaiting, but it couldn’t be that hard, could it?
    After about three minutes of hopeless twiddling and twisting and unravelling, he caught himself wishing that April was with him. He had no doubt that
she’d
know how to plait – it was just the sort of thing that girls always knew. They’d be out of here in two minutes.
    A drop of sweat trickled