Free Explosive Adventures by Alexander McCall Smith Page B

them.
    “Oh no,” muttered Mr Gopal. “A cobra! Oh, goodness!”
    When Mr Bhalla saw what was happening, he stopped where he was, a short distance behind Nicola.
    “Don’t move,” he whispered. “Stay absolutely still. If you move a muscle, that snake will strike. Understand?”
    Nicola gave a groan. The snake was hardly more than a pace away from her, and it was clearly very angry indeed. It was her worst nightmare – her very worst nightmare – come true.
    What took place next happened so quickly that Billy hardly saw what was going on. He noticed Mr Bhalla reach intohis pocket and get something out, and then, with a flick of his wrist, toss it over Nicola’s shoulder. That’s madness, Billy thought. The snake will strike.
    The snake did strike. With a sudden lightning movement it struck, but not at Nicola. The snake struck at the small square of bubblegum which Mr Bhalla had tossed towards it. And of course, with its snake’s sharp eyesight, it caught the bubblegum effortlessly. Its jaws snapped shut, the fangs sinking into the soft pink gum.
    Of course the snake was now quite helpless!
    “Hssss,” it went, from between its stuck-together jaws. “Hssss.”
    “It’s completely harmless now,” said Mr Bhalla, with a laugh. “You can even step right over it if you wish, Nicola. It will take hours, maybe even days, before it gets that gum out of its mouth!”
    They left the angry, but now harmless, cobra behind them and continued on the path. They could see the bubblegum trees in the distance now and soon it would be time to get into the skins. Then the real excitement would start.

    In the logging camp, the men had just finished work. They had had a hard day of cutting down bubblegum trees, and they were resting, while their cook preparedtheir evening meal. This was the time of the day that they always liked – when work was finished and they could sit about and chat outside their tents. But today there was something wrong.
    “Do you think that business about tigers was true?” said one of the men. “I thought it was quite safe round here.”
    The other scratched his head. “I don’t know. Why would that man lie to us? He seemed pretty sure that he had seen something. I think there might be tigers after all.”
    “If I see a tiger round here, I’m packing up and going,” said another man. “I don’t fancy being a tiger’s breakfast.”
    “Neither do I,” agreed another. “My wife doesn’t want me to be eaten. She told me so herself.”
    The head man got to his feet. “Stop all this talk about tigers! I’ve told you before and I’ll tell you again. This jungle is perfectly safe. There are no tigers.”
    Just then, from some thick growth behind one of the tents, there came a noise. It was not a loud noise, but it made every head in the camp turn and stare.
    “What was that?” asked one man. “Did you hear it? There’s something in those bushes over there.”
    “I heard something!” shouted another, rising to his feet and huddling up with oneof his friends. “Do you think it could be … a … a … tiger?”
    “Nonsense!” snapped the head man. “How many times do I have to tell you? THERE ARE NO TIGERS!”
    He had barely finished speaking when another noise came from the bushes. This time it was unmistakable. It was a growl!

8
    Tiger! Tiger!
    From within the bushes, covered in his heavy tiger skin, Billy could just make out what was happening in the camp.
    “They’re getting nervous,” he whispered to Mr Bhalla. “I think they heard your growl.”
    “Good,” said Mr Bhalla. “Let’s just wait a few minutes. Let them think about it for a while.”
    The men did think about it, and were clearly becoming more and more frightened. Several of them went to stand by the cooking fire, knowing that tigers were meant to be afraid of fire. Others stood close to the mouth of their tent, ready to dash inside if any tigers should appear.
    “I think the time has come,” said Billy