Fish Read Online Free PDF Page B

anything, as after all Mum and Dad knew medicine, and had all the modern things in their bags.
    “If I may say so,” he said carefully, looking at my parents, “these feet, no matter what medicine you putupon them, should not be walked on for a while. The skin needs time.”
    “I agree,” said Dad. “But we can't stay here for days. We haven't the food and water for one thing, especially now we are going across the mountains. Let's rest up for today and tonight, and tomorrow I'll carry you—eh, Tiger?”
    No one said anything to disagree, so that's what we did. The Guide set up his fire again toward evening, as the wind roared around either side of us. The donkey huddled in close for as long as it could, but eventually started to wander out into the wind.
    “She needs food,” said the Guide, looking worried for the first time. “She doesn't want to go out in this any more than we do. But I don't see anything for her to eat out there anyway. I'll let her have some of her rations. She'll have to find a puddle to drink from.”
    Digging about in the donkey's packs, the Guide found a bundle of what looked like dead grass and pulled off a section. The donkey must have heard,even above the wind, because suddenly it peered around the rock with its large, fluffy ears stuck forward, and the sort of expression on its face that your dog makes at teatime.
    We all laughed, even the Guide, and I realized that we hadn't laughed, or even smiled, for what seemed like ages. It felt so good, we all looked at each other and laughed a bit more, for no reason, and the donkey just stood and chewed and looked at us like we were all mad.
    When Mum started putting the porridge ready to cook for tea, the Guide suddenly got to his feet and went off into the wind without saying anything. Dad shrugged at Mum and I thought, He's probably decided anything's better than eating that again, even dying in a sandstorm.
    But in only a few minutes he was back, with a dead rabbit by the back legs. I turned away when he took out his knife but by the time the cooking was done, the smell was so delicious I was probably making the same dog's face as the donkey had earlier.
    We ate, and it tasted like hot, roast chicken, and that's what I told myself it was. I didn't care if he wanted to cook
lizard;
if it tasted like this, I'd eat it. We all ate a little porridge too, to fill up on and not to hurt Mum's feelings.
    Before I went to sleep I took out a cupful of the fish's water, in case it was stale, and poured some fresh in. He darted around a little, which cheered me up, and some of his old color shone as he moved in and out of the light.
    “Do you think he needs food?” I asked the Guide.
    “When it is so cold, no. He will manage for a few days. He has special food, where he comes from. I think if you put anything in, it will just spoil his water,” he replied, and I was sure he was right.
    I slept really well that night, partly because my feet were so warm. Mum had bandaged them so that they looked huge and they had a pair of Dad's socks over the top, which were the only ones big enough to fit.
    In the night, I woke up again, and I couldn't think why. It wasn't a noise … and then I realized. It wasthat the noise had stopped. The roaring of the wind had disappeared as suddenly as it had arrived. Tonight, there was a moon, and the sky was inky blue and starred, instead of black.
    Dad and the Guide were talking again. I wondered if the Guide ever slept. For some reason, I felt that he might be the sort of person who didn't need to—in any case, he was sensible and would surely do whatever was right. But as for Dad—if children weren't allowed to sit up all night talking, I certainly didn't think he should. I knew he did get tired if he didn't have enough sleep and hadn't he said he was going to carry me tomorrow?
    Just like the first time I'd met him, the Guide seemed to read my thoughts, though he couldn't have known I was awake.
    “You should rest