Toad Away Read Online Free PDF

creatures they like, some creatures they don't like. Dogs, for example, they like. And cats.”
    “And birds,” said Charm.
    “Some birds,” said Aunty Pru. She pointed to the tarmac at her feet.“This little bird they drove over and squashed. Come and look.”
    Charm and Goliath started to hop toward her. Limpy grabbed them. He shook his head to remind them of the rule.
    Never go onto a road unless you really have to.
    He knew Aunty Pru would be reminding them of the rule if she wasn't having such deep thoughts.
    “I don't think I'll ever understand humans,” Aunty Pru was saying as she stared down at the road.
    Limpy heard a distant roar. He looked along the road. A truck was coming.
    “Aunty Pru,” he said. “A truck's coming.”
    She didn't seem to have heard him or the truck.
    “Aunty Pru,” called Charm. “Truck approaching.”
    Aunty Pru still wasn't looking up. She was just staring at the flat bird, lost in thought.
    “Aunty Pru!” yelled Goliath. “Move your butt!”
    Limpy glanced anxiously at the truck. He saw it was a supermarket truck and it was getting close.
    “Aunty Pru!” he screamed. So did Charm.
    Limpy hopped forward to grab Aunty Pru but it was already too late. The truck was too close. Charm started to move forward and Limpy grabbed her just in time.
    The truck thundered past.
    When the dust cleared, Limpy couldn't look.
    He didn't have to.
    “Aunty Pru,” wailed Charm, and collapsed into sobs.
    So did Goliath.
    Limpy and the others carried Aunty Pru home. They laid her gently down on the big leaves in the kitchen. The whole family gathered round her poor flat body.
    Limpy's warts ached with sadness.
    He was sad for Charm too. He'd never seen her so upset. He watched her stroke the tire tracks on Aunty Pru's face and kidneys and saw she was wearing the necklace Aunty Pru had given her, the one woven from spiderwebs with dried mouse eyes threaded on it.
    “Aunty Pru was so clever and wise,” sobbed Charm.“How could she have let a human drive over her?”
    Mum and Dad came over and stroked Charm's warts.
    “If I told Pru once I told her a million times,” said Dad quietly. “Have as many big philosophical thoughts as you like, I told her, but when you're on the highway, don't eat with your eyes closed.”
    “Poor old Pru,” said Mum. “I'll miss her, and that's saying something, because I've still got several hundred sisters left.”
    Goliath gave a loud sniff. “We could have saved her,” he mumbled miserably. “We could have bashed that truck with big sticks and made it swerve off the highway and explode before it reached Aunty Pru.”
    Limpy nodded. He didn't agree with the exploding truck stuff, but he agreed with Goliath's basic point.
    They could have saved Aunty Pru.
    If we'd managed to make friends with humans, thought Limpy, Aunty Pru needn't have died. If thetruck driver had been our friend, he wouldn't have swerved at the last second and purposely flattened her.
    Thinking about it made Limpy's head hurt, so he concentrated on trying to make Charm feel better.
    He gave his sister a hug, careful not to squash Aunty Pru's necklace.
    “Aunty Pru was very special,” said Limpy. “She deserves to be laid to rest in a very special place. At the top of the pile.”
    “You'll be lucky,” said Mum. “You'd need a crowbar to get another dead relative into that room of yours.”
    “Thanks, Limpy,” said Charm in a trembling voice.“But if it's OK, I'd like Aunty Pru in my room.”
    “Oh, no,” sighed Mum to Dad. “Now she's starting.”
    Charm gazed at Aunty Pru again.
    “She taught me so many wonderful things,” said Charm. “She taught me about the stars and the seasons and nature and everything.”
    “And humans,” said Goliath. “She taught me not to try and eat them.”
    “And she taught us something else,” said Limpy.“She taught us never to give up, even when a problem seems so huge you just want to crawl into the swamp and put your head under the