Toad Away Read Online Free PDF Page B

mud.”
    “I always want to do that,” said Goliath.
    “If Aunty Pru was still alive,” said Limpy, “she wouldn't want us to stop trying to be friends with humans.”
    “Or trying to kill them,” said Goliath.
    Limpy realized Charm was staring at him, her eyes gleaming brighter than the mouse eyes on her necklace.
    “You're right, Limpy,” said Charm. “Aunty Pru was the wisest aunty in the whole swamp. In fact, I reckon she was the wisest aunty in the whole world, with the possible exception of some of our rellies in the Amazon. They must be very wise if they've survived there since time began.”
    Limpy stared back at Charm.
    What he'd said in the human flower bed was right.
    Charm was a genius.
    Here she was, pale with shock and grief, and she'd still managed to give him the idea that was going to save them all.

“E xcuse me,” said Limpy to the birds pecking in the mud at the far end of the swamp.“Are you migratory?”
    The largest bird stared at Limpy.
    “Who wants to know?” it said.
    Limpy tried not to look desperate. It wasn't easy. He'd been searching everywhere for the birds Charm had told him about in the supermarket. The ones from a long way away who migrated to the swamp each year. So far he hadn't been able to find a single one.
    “Me,” said Limpy. “I want to know.”
    He tried to keep his throat sac tucked neatly under his chin so he'd look polite and well brought up. Mum always reckoned a floppy throat sac looked awful. Worse than flies with their flies undone.
    The bird didn't say anything.
    Limpy pressed on. “I'm trying to find someonewho's been to the Amazon,” he said. “Have you been to the Amazon?”
    “Might have,” said the bird.
    Limpy looked at the other birds. They were all staring at him expressionlessly too.
    “When you fly back to wherever you come from,” said Limpy as slowly and clearly as he could, “do you go to or near the Amazon?”
    “Might do,” said the bird.
    Suddenly Limpy couldn't stand it any longer.
    “Stack me!” he exploded. “This is ridiculous. I give up.”
    He turned to go. The birds all burst out laughing.
    “Don't mind him,” said another bird to Limpy.“He's just tugging your tail feathers.”
    Limpy stared at them, wondering if it was true that birds’ brains were smaller than their beaks.
    “Sorry,” chuckled the first bird, wiping his eyes with a wing. “It's my wicked sense of humor. Only thing that gets me through those long boring flights. Yes, we have been to the Amazon. Top place. We always drop in there for lunch when we're passing.”
    Limpy felt like doing cartwheels around the swamp. He controlled himself, except for his mucus, which wobbled with excitement.
    “Are you going near the Amazon any time in the near future?” he asked.
    “Might be,” said the bird.
    The other birds all tried to stifle their laughter. One of them swiped the first bird round the head.
    “Who wants to know?” chuckled the first bird.
    Limpy struggled to stay calm. This was too important to lose your temper over and try to eat birds that were much too big to fit into your mouth.
    “Come with me,” said Limpy. “There's something I want to show you.”
    Limpy's room wasn't very big and it was a squash fitting all the birds in, but Limpy managed.
    The birds kept on with their jokes, right up until they saw the piles of flat dead rellies.
    Then they went very quiet.
    “These are uncles,” said Limpy, pointing to a stack in the corner. “And these are aunties, and these are cousins.”
    One of the birds had been leaning its wing on the cousin stack. It hopped away, looking embarrassed.
    “You poor bloke,” said the bird. “We have casualties, but nothing like this. This is like a war.”
    Limpy was glad Goliath wasn't around to hear this. It was the day each month that Mum and Dad took Goliath to the waterfall to flush his insides out.
    “Have you ever seen anything like this in the Amazon?” Limpy asked the birds.
    He half-expected