Tiger Trap Read Online Free PDF Page A

she will.”
    “Are you sure?”
    “Positive.” A smile came to my face. “After all, she’s never, ever said anything to me about not bringing home kangaroos.”
    Both Vladimir and Mr. McCurdy burst into laughter. “That sounds like something your brother would say,” Mr. McCurdy said.
    “Hey! There’s no need to insult me.”

Chapter 4
    “Sarah … Sarah, it’s time to get up,” my mother called. “If you don’t get up, you’ll be late.”
    I opened one eye. It still wasn’t even light, so how late could I be?
    “Come on, Sarah, get up and I’ll …
aaahhhh
!”
    As soon as my mother screamed, I sat bolt upright and watched as she jumped into the air and thumped down onto my bed, her knee in my stomach, flattening me into the mattress, knocking the wind out of me.
    “Rats! Giant rats!” she yelled.
    It was the kangaroos! She was seeing the joeys! In the dim light she couldn’t see what they were — not that I could ever expect her to think there were kangaroos in my bedroom. She had been asleep when I brought them home in the night. I wanted to cry out and tell her, explain, but there wasn’t enough air in my lungs.
    “Kangaroo,” I finally hissed.
    “They’re jumping up!” she howled. “They’re trying to get us!”
    The two little joeys were just doing what they’d been doing almost all night — jumping up to get my attention.
    My mother started shrieking louder and kicking her feet. If she hit one of the joeys, she could kill it! I didn’t have much lung power, but I still had movement. I reached up, grabbed my mother, flipped her over, spun around and pinned her to the bed, me on top now.
    “Sarah, what are you doing?” she screeched.
    “Don’t hurt them,” I said, forcing the words out. “Not rats … kangaroos … they’re … kangaroos.”
    Even in the limited light, I could see her face twist into a mask of confusion.
    “Kangaroos,” I said again.
    “But how did you —”
    “Mom! Sarah! What’s happening?” Nick cried out as he ran into the room. Before I could answer or react, he slid out of sight, thumping noisily to the floor.
    I leaped off my mother and the bed. “Nick, are you okay?”
    He sat up. “I’m fine. I slipped. Why were you both yelling?”
    In answer the two little kangaroos bounced over to my side and began bumping into me, trying to force me to ignore my brother and notice them so I could feed them again.
    “We have kangaroos!” Nick shouted. “Kangaroos!”
    Suddenly, the room became bright. My mother had turned on a light. Both joeys bounded up and bounced off my legs. Even though my mother now knew they weren’t giant rats, she still appeared anxious and upset.
    “Sarah, why are there kangaroos in your room?” she asked.
    “I figured it would be better to have them in here instead of your room,” I said.
    My mother’s expression changed from anxious to annoyed, and Nick giggled.
    “What are they doing
anywhere
in the house?” she asked. “And why didn’t you ask permission to bring them here?”
    “You were already asleep by the time I got home, and I didn’t want to wake you up,” I said. That was true. I’d deliberately waited until I was certain it was late enough to ensure she was asleep. “Besides, I didn’t think you’d object.”
    “I probably wouldn’t have objected, but you need to ask me. Besides, why did you need to bring them here instead of leaving them at Mr. McCurdy’s? They’re his, right?”
    “No, Mom. I found them when I was walking home.”
    My mother gave me a warning glance. I think I’d been hanging around my brother too much, because that sounded like something he would have said, too.
    “Mr. McCurdy and Vladimir brought them home last night,” I said. “They rescued them. They’re red kangaroos.”
    “They look brown to me,” Nick said.
    “They are brown, but as they get older, they’ll develop a reddish tinge to their coats — especially the males. These are just