Free Mudpoo and the Fungus Mystery by Peter Klein

W elcome to the third exciting (true) Mudpoo Adventure; all of your old friends are back with a few new characters.
    MUDPOO is a happy, curious, boy who loves exploring and discovering everything old and new, wherever he may be. He loves to help Captain Pete with his inventions and often has some brilliant ideas. After making a wish on ‘The Magic Tree Stump’ (that’s another story), he is even more trusted by all animals! Harry is his best friend.

    HARRY is a loyal and tenacious little dog who loves Mudpoo, Gus and Captain Pete. He is Mudpoo’s best friend and is one of only two talking dogs in the world. If you know of any more, send Mudpoo a message! ( www.mudpoo.com.au )
    CAPTAIN PETE loves making yummy jam, cooking damper (with billy tea) on an open fire, playing the guitar under a starry sky at night and eating Pavlova. He is often inventing things, but just between you and me, he gets a little muddled at times. When he’s not on an adventurous journey, he loves staying at home, relaxing and reading the Sunday paper in Gus; the Kombi van.
    GUS is a VW Kombi van; just like a little house on wheels. He loves going on adventurous journeys. Shhh . . . Gus has been known to talk. He’s happiest when he’s helping Mudpoo, Harry and Captain Pete.

    LIZ is an old friend who loves campfires, eating Pavlova and going on adventures. She is a passionate fiddle player and a good friend of Mudpoo, Harry and Captain Pete.
    SAMMY is an incredibly clever silver gull who can speak almost every animal and human language. He comes from the Iluka World Heritage Nature Reserve and is an old friend of Mudpoo and Harry.

    HOOTY is a brave little boobook owl who lives in the hollow of a tree near Captain Pete’s house.
    SNOT, GROT, BONES and PONG are horrible pirates who once sailed the Antarctic Ocean, but after a terrible fright, set up a flower shop in Northern Queensland instead. They think they’re terribly clever and will stop at nothing to get rich quickly!

    FUNGUS McPHEE is . . . err . . . well . . . oh . . . be careful . . . I’ll let you read the story for yourself and discover who he is!



o n the edge of an old gum tree forest high in the hills of Bethanga, an obnoxious, musty smell floated on the afternoon breeze. It wafted thickly in the air around one old bushman named Fungus McPhee! The campfire smouldered eerily and Fungus McPhee was deep in thought.
    â€œBah, hmmrff, phooey,” muttered Fungus before he spat loudly into the ashes.
    â€œThis old hidden gold mine is perfect, I’m gonna be rich, rich, RICH,” he declared loudly to himself and he chuckled and spat horribly as he thought how clever he was.
    Indeed, the old hidden gold mine had been abandoned for years and very few people had noticed that Fungus McPhee had made it his home. Even fewer people had any idea who he was, or what he was doing there. Fungus liked it that way. He had a secret plan and he thought the less people who knew about it, the better.
    â€œBah, people think the gold is all gone, let ‘em think what they like, I’m gonna make my fortune soon enough!” grumbled Fungus McPhee under his breath.
    Years of living in the bush alone meant that Fungus McPhee often muttered to himself and answered his own questions with his own even more clever answers. That’s just how he liked it.
    â€œYou’ll show ‘em Fungus, mad as a cut snake they say, you’ll show ‘em all. They wouldn’t laugh if they knew my clever secret plan!” he chewed the end of his pipe and spat loudly.
    The animals near the mine were very wary of Fungus McPhee. The rabbits and the wombats scurried away quickly if they accidently stumbled into his camp. The birds too, were afraid of him; even the wedge-tailed eagles which nested in the hills, high above his camp, were extremely cautious of him.
    Fungus McPhee wore a distinguished old, grey, tattered hat that had a sulphur-crested cockatoo