Panda Panic Read Online Free PDF Page B

spotting Little Bear before he could touch him. Little Bear was excellent at jumping on Ping’s back and putting his hands over Ping’s eyes so that he couldn’t see where he was going, but Ping was a master of scratching his back against a tree until Little Bear fell off. Little

    Bear showed a talent for aerial assault, using vines to swing through the trees like a monkey, while Ping showed a talent for sitting down and pretending to be asleep when actually he had one eye open. Little Bear discovered that he could run silently on the tips of his claws and make a noise like a bird, which was useful for signaling, while Ping discovered that he could pull in his stomach and hide himself behind a tree. They had a great time, leaping off branches and jumping out of bushes to scare the pants off each other. Eventually, after both of them had collapsed to the ground, weary from so much laughter, Ping finally called it a day.
    â€œIt’s time to get you home,” he said.
    â€œBut I don’t want to go home yet,” Little Bear said. “I’m having too much fun. Tell me more about the Emperor. Please!”
    â€œI’ve told you everything I know,” protested Ping.
    â€œPleeeeeeeeeeease!” begged Little Bear.
    â€œOK. How about the time I went with him to England to meet a Queen named Elizabeth.”
    â€œYes. Tell me about that,” Little Bear cried.
    â€œWell, there’s not a whole lot to tell,” said Ping, stalling for time while he tried to remember what his friend Jack had told him about London. “It rained cats and dogs all the time and we had to use umbrellas to stop the cats and dogs from landing on our heads. And the Queen had just had some new bamboo blinds put up in the palace, which tasted rather delicious. She was charming as I recall, although she did expect us to bow to her all the time.”
    â€œWhat’s bowing?” asked Little Bear.
    â€œIt’s very dangerous. You don’t want to know,” said Ping quickly. “It’s a bendy sort of a dance thing that needs to be done correctly unless you want to end up at the veterinarian’s office.”
    Little Bear shook his head.
    â€œI don’t think I want to do that,” he said. “But what about the Emperor—will we have to bow when we meet him?”
    â€œYou don’t give up, do you?” said Ping.
    â€œPlease take me with you!” Little Bear begged. “I’ve already shown you what a great bodyguard I can be and I’ve never met an Emperor before, and I bet he’d love to tell me all about you —about the brave exploits and heroic feats of his favorite bodyguard.”
    Ping sighed. He’d let it get out of hand again. Why did he never learn to stop making up stories? One lie was never enough. And it wasn’t as if his mother hadn’t warned him, either.
    One lie, two lies, three lies, four,
    Five lies, six lies, seven lies, more.
    When a lie gets up to ten,
    It won’t go back in the box again.

    Ping had to be firm with Little Bear.
    â€œYou have to go home,” he said, trying to sound as grown-up as he could. “Your mother will be wondering where you are.”
    â€œShe won’t miss me. Honestly. I’ve got tons of brothers and sisters!”
    â€œI’m taking you home,” said Ping, ignoring the little cub’s pleas. “Now show me where it is.”
    â€œJust up here,” said Little Bear quietly. “But—”
    â€œNo buts!” said Ping. “We’ve had a great time, but it’ll be sundown soon and you have to get home to bed.”
    â€œBut what about you?” asked Little Bear. “Where will you sleep, Ping? Do you want to come and stay at my house? We could have a sleepover and—”
    â€œI’m afraid I don’t have time for sleepovers,” said Ping, in his this-is-the-end-of-the-conversation voice. “I have to be at the palace