Free Explosive Adventures by Alexander McCall Smith Page A

cut down.”
    “Yes, indeed,” said Mr Gopal as they turned to leave. “We shall just be on our way. And if you see these tigers, could you possibly let us know? I can’t wait to photograph them again!”
    Billy and Mr Gopal walked back down the path, leaving the men standing around the felled tree.
    “It worked,” whispered Billy to Mr Gopal. “It worked perfectly!”
    Mr Gopal tried hard, but he could not help laughing.
    “Oh, their faces!” he said. “Did you see how they looked at one another for support? Those men are scared absolutely stiff!”
    “Yes,” said Billy. “Now on to part two of the plan!”

7
    Billy’s Plan: Part Two
    Back at Mr Bhalla’s tree house, Billy recounted what had happened.
    “It worked perfectly,” he said. “But now we must get ready for the next stage of the plan. Mr Bhalla, have you got them?”
    Mr Bhalla nodded. “I’ve laid them all out in the room next door,” he said. “And Aunt Gopal has been busy doing some stitching.”
    “Good,” said Billy. “That will be one for me, one for you, one for Mr Gopal, and one for Nicola.”
    Mr Bhalla opened the door with a flourish, and there in the next room, laid out on the floor before them, were four large tiger skins. Some of them had been used as rugs, and had holes here and there, but Mr Gopal’s aunt had done her best with needle and thread and these holes now looked far better.
    Billy was delighted. “I’ll try mine first,” he said. “Then you can all see what it looks like.”
    He dropped to his hands and knees, and Mr Gopal draped the skin over him, tying it underneath with strings which his aunt had cunningly sewn on. It was a perfect fit.
    “Oh, my goodness!” exclaimed Mr Gopal. “A tiger! A tiger in this very room!”
    Billy moved about a little, and gave a roar, just for effect.
    “Oh!” shouted Mr Gopal. “My goodness me! Please help us, please! A tiger!”
    Nicola tried her skin next, and she, too, looked very realistic. Then it was theturn of Mr Gopal and Mr Bhalla, both of whom made very fine tigers indeed.
    “This is wonderful,” said Billy, from within his tiger skin. “Now let’s take them off and get ready to go!”
    They waited until it was late afternoon. India can get very hot, and nobody fancied spending much time in those heavy skins until it became a bit cooler. It was also better to wait, Billy thought, until it was getting just a little bit dark. Tigers look more frightening then.
    After enjoying a final glass of the pink sherbet drink on the veranda, they bundled the tiger skins into one large bundle and Mr Bhalla lowered it to theground on a rope. Then they all climbed down the ladders to the ground and set off along the path to the jungle. Mr Gopal’s aunt had been invited to go with them, but, her work on the tiger skins over, she had chosen to stay with her new friends in the village.
    “We must be very quiet,” said Mr Bhalla. “Those men have sharp hearing.”
    They walked on, each person carrying a tiger skin under his arm. Each had his own thoughts. Billy thought: I do hope this works. But what if they see the strings? What will they do to us?
    Mr Bhalla, for his part, thought: If this fails, then they’ll probably cut down thebubblegum trees even more quickly – just out of spite .
    Mr Gopal thought: My goodness! Should I really be prowling around the jungles of India dressed in a tiger skin – at my age? Should I?
    And Nicola was just about to think: Will the tail of my tiger skin … when she stopped, and every thought left her mind. For there, directly in front of her on the path, was a large snake, coiled up and hissing, poised to strike!
    Nicola stood stock still. She opened her mouth to shout out, but no sound came. She was utterly paralysed with fright.

    “Nicola,” called out Billy. “Don’t hold us up! Come on!”
    “Help!” squeaked Nicola at last, just managing to sound the word. “A snake!”
    The other three stopped, and looked behind