Toad Surprise by Morris Gleitzman

Author:Morris Gleitzman
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781742530062
Publisher: Penguin Group Australia
Published: 2009-10-21T04:00:00+00:00

Limpy and Goliath hopped wearily along the street towards the firefighter’s house, trying to stay out of the searing Christmas Day sun as much as possible.

‘I’m hot,’ croaked Goliath, shifting his sock from one shoulder to the other.

Limpy felt the same.

And exhausted and miserable.

He tried to cheer Goliath up.

‘At least we found our way back,’ said Limpy. ‘Thanks to that kind frog in the drain giving us directions. That was lucky, him knowing the video shop on the corner.’

It didn’t work.

Goliath just scowled and muttered something about how he’d rather have eaten the frog.

Limpy gave up.

He knew exactly how Goliath felt.

When you’ve just failed in the most important quest of your life, who wants to be cheered up?

‘Let’s not hang around,’ said Limpy as they hopped closer to the house. ‘Let’s just grab Uncle Vasco from the ute and head home.’

Goliath grunted in agreement.

As they got closer to the firefighter’s house, Limpy couldn’t look at it. Just the thought of it made his warts ache with disappointment.

‘Santa’s workshop,’ said Goliath scornfully. ‘Were we dopey or what? If that was Santa’s workshop, the TV aerial wouldn’t be on the roof, it’d be on a reindeer.’

‘You weren’t dopey,’ said Limpy, staring at the footpath. ‘I was.’

Goliath thought about this.

‘Fair enough,’ he said.

Then he stopped.

‘Oh poop,’ he grunted.

Limpy looked up. And saw they were out the front of the house. He also saw what Goliath was staring at. Not the wonky TV aerial on the roof. The empty space at the kerb.

The ute was gone.

‘Oh no,’ wailed Goliath. ‘Uncle Vasco’s been kidnapped.’

Limpy peered up and down the street. No sign of the ute. Plus it wasn’t in the driveway or down the side of the house. And there was no garage, so it couldn’t be hiding.

‘A human’s stolen our uncle,’ wailed Goliath.

Limpy realised what must have happened.

‘Calm down,’ he said to Goliath. ‘I bet the firefighter has just gone to his family or friends for Christmas lunch. You know how maggots are always getting together for family meals? Well humans are the same. He’ll be back later.’

‘He’d better be,’ growled Goliath. ‘Or I’m gunna set fire to his house. And his firefighter’s hat.’

‘Come on,’ said Limpy. ‘We haven’t slept for ages. Let’s have a snooze in the shade while we wait.’

He led Goliath into the front yard.

They flopped down in the shade of some bushes, well away from the fence and the big scary dog.

Except, thought Limpy sleepily as he closed his eyes, it does seem very quiet next door. The big scary dog must be off having Christmas lunch too.

Limpy didn’t sleep exactly, just dozed.

There was too much to worry about.

How to get home, mostly.

Stormwater drains were the safest method of travel. But the frog who’d given them directions had also given them the bad news.

The drains stopped at the edge of town.

Which meant there was only one way back to the swamp. A long and dangerous hop along the highway. Carrying Uncle Vasco. Dodging cars driven by humans with absolutely no Christmas peace and goodwill in their hearts.

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