Dingoes at Dinnertime (4 page)

“There,” Annie said. “You look
just
like a mother kangaroo.”

“Oh, brother,” said Jack.

But he patted the baby’s soft fur.

“Don’t worry,” he said to Joey. “You can stay in there till your mom gets back.”

“Here, Joey, would you like some grass to eat?” asked Annie.

Annie scooped up a handful of grass and gave it to the kangaroo.

He munched the grass, keeping his big eyes on Annie.

“I hope his mom comes back for him soon,” she said worriedly.

“Yeah,” said Jack.

He looked around the dry forest. There was no sign of the mother kangaroo.

But Jack saw something else.

“Look,” he said to Annie.

The wisp of smoke in the sky had turned into a big black cloud. Jack noticed the smell of burning wood was much stronger.

“What are those campers doing?” said Annie. “Are they making a bonfire now or what?”

A feeling of dread came over Jack.

“What if … ” he said. “What if … ”

In the distance, a tree suddenly burst into flames.

“We’re looking at a
wildfire!
” he said.

“Wildfire?” said Annie.

“The woods are so dry, everything’s starting to burn!” said Jack. “We have to get out of here.”

“We can’t leave Joey,” said Annie.

“We’ll take him with us!” said Jack.

“But what if his mom comes back for him and he’s not here?” said Annie.

“We don’t have a choice,” said Jack.

Just then, the kookaburra flew through the sky, cackling.

The emus raced by at top speed.

The air was getting smokier and smokier. The fire was spreading quickly!

“Come on!” said Jack. “We have to get back to the tree house before it burns down!”

“Which way’s the tree house?” said Annie.

“I’m not sure,” said Jack.

Smoke hid the treetops. Jack’s eyes stung.

“Forget it,” he said. “Let’s just get away from this smoke. Come on!”

Jack and Teddy turned to go. The baby kangaroo hid his head inside Jack’s pack.

“I’ll catch up!” said Annie. “I have to get something!”

“
What?
” cried Jack.

But Annie had dashed off in the other direction.

“Come back!” Jack shouted. “Annie!”

Branches cracked and fell from the trees. Smoke billowed everywhere.

Arf! Arf!

“Annie!” Jack cried.

Jack choked on the smoke. He coughed and rubbed his eyes. The air was getting hotter.

He had no choice. He had to run.

Arf! Arf!
Teddy barked from somewhere ahead.

“Hurry, Annie!” Jack called helplessly. Then he took off after Teddy.

He stumbled blindly through the brush. All he could do was follow the sound of Teddy’s barking. His pack felt heavier and heavier. He held it up with his arms and kept going.

Suddenly, Jack heard Annie calling him.

Jack stopped.

“Here! Here! Here! We’re here!” he shouted. “Come on! Follow us!”

Annie appeared through the haze of the hot smoke. She was coughing. Tears streamed from her eyes.

She was carrying the koala!

“Come on!” Jack cried. “Follow Teddy!”

Arf! Arf!

Jack and Annie carried Joey and the koala. They followed Teddy’s barking through the smoky, fire-filled forest.

Finally, they came to a giant rock.

Arf! Arf!

Teddy was standing on a ledge. Behind him was the mouth of a cave.

Through the smoke, Jack could barely see the little dog.

Teddy barked again, then vanished inside the cave.

“Follow him!” said Annie.

Jack and Annie climbed onto the rock ledge and stepped into the cave. The air inside was cleaner and cooler than the air outside.

“I can’t see anything,” said Jack.

He patted the head of the baby kangaroo.

“Me neither,” said Annie.

Arf! Arf!

“I guess we’ll have to follow Teddy’s bark,” said Annie. “Let’s hold hands.”

She held out her free hand to Jack. Jack took it. Then he put his other hand out and touched the wall. The joey moved in his pack.

Jack and Annie walked into the darkness.

Arf!

Teddy kept barking, leading them on.

Arf!

Arf!

Arf!

Arf!

Suddenly, Jack felt something thump against his leg. He stopped and gasped.

“What is it?” said Annie.

Arf!

It was Teddy! His tail was wagging and hitting Jack’s leg.

“What is it, boy?” Jack asked him.

Teddy let out a howl.

As he howled, an amazing thing happened.

A white line began to glow in the air. The glowing line grew until it looked like a giant snake. Then glowing handprints appeared below the snake.

Jack felt Annie squeeze his hand.

“I think it’s painted on the wall,” she said.

“But what is it?” whispered Jack.

“I don’t know,” said Annie.

She let go of Jack and put her hand inside one of the painted handprints.

Jack did the same.

Despite the glowing painting, the rock felt smooth and cool. It almost seemed to breathe.

A ghost-like whistling sound came through the darkness. Then a loud boom!

“What’s
that?
” Jack quickly took his hand off the wall.

The boom came again.

“It sounded like thunder,” said Annie.

Arf! Arf!

“Teddy’s leaving!” said Annie.

She grabbed Jack’s hand. They turned back the way they had come and followed Teddy’s barking again.

Arf!

They followed the little dog until they saw a flash of light.

“Lightning,” said Annie. “Lightning and thunder! We’re at the front of the cave! Yay!”

Annie pulled Jack toward the mouth of the cave and out, into a pouring rain.

Rain fell on Jack’s head and on Joey’s head. Rain fell on Annie’s head and on Teddy’s head and on the koala’s head.

Annie opened her mouth and drank the rainwater.

Jack did the same. The water tasted better than any water he’d ever drunk.

When Jack looked back at the woods, misty steam was rising from the charred ground and burning bushes.

The heavy rain was putting out the wildfire.

“You’ll be safe now,” Annie said to the koala. “I’ll put you back in a nice gum tree. Then you can finish your nap.”

“I see a tree that’s not burned,” said Jack.

They walked over to the unburned gum tree. Annie placed the koala in the fork of two branches.

“Go back to sleep now,” she said softly. “Pretend the fire was all a dream.”

“Good night,” said Jack.

The koala seemed to smile at them. Then he closed his eyes and went to sleep, as if he’d never been disturbed at all.

Jack sighed and looked around.

“Man,” he said, “we were lucky that a storm came.”

Annie smiled.

“It wasn’t just luck,” she said. “It was magic.”

“Magic?” said Jack.

“Yeah … the glowing hands and the snake,” said Annie. “Somehow they brought the storm.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” said Jack.

Joey stirred in his pack. Suddenly, Jack remembered something.

“Hey, we have to get Joey back to the place where his mom left him,” he said. “Or she won’t be able to find him.”

“Where was that place?” said Annie.

“I don’t know,” said Jack.

He looked around at the rainy gray forest. Everything looked the same.

“Teddy can find the spot!” said Annie.

Without even a bark, the little dog took off across the wet, muddy ground.

Once again, Jack and Annie followed him. Jack’s back was beginning to hurt from carrying Joey.

Arf! Arf!

Jack and Annie caught up with Teddy. He stood over the Australia book! It was wet, but not burned.

“Hurray, we found it!” said Annie.

“That’s right!” said Jack. “I left our book in the spot where we found Joey!”

“Once again, Teddy helped us out,” said Annie.

She patted the little dog’s head.

“Thanks, Teddy,” Jack said.

He picked up the Australia book. The cover was wet, but the pages looked okay. The little kangaroo peeked out of his pack as Jack tucked the book under his arm.