Free Hide! The Tiger's Mouth is Open Wide! by Adam Frost Page A

he pointed at his jaw.
    ‘It’s because they gave him a filling last time,’ said Sophie.
    Tom said, ‘Mm-nn,’ and pointed at Sophie again.
    ‘Well, if you spent more than three seconds brushing your teeth, you wouldn’t need any fillings,’ said Mrs Nightingale.
    When they arrived at the dentist’s, they sat down in the waiting room, side by side. Tom was still refusing to open his mouth.
    Sophie tickled him under the ribs and he burst out laughing, but still managed to keep his mouth closed, laughing with his eyes and snorting through his nose while fending her off with his arm.
     

     
    ‘Mm-nn!’ he said angrily, when he’d stopped laughing.
    Dr Sharp, the dentist, appeared in the doorway. He had wavy brown hair and a big beard.
    ‘Hello, Tom. Hello, Sophie. Who wants to go first?’
    Tom folded his arms and looked the other way.
    ‘Tom it is,’ said Dr Sharp. ‘Come on through.’
    Tom shook his head.
    ‘Come on, Tom, there’s nothing to worry about,’ the dentist said with a smile.
    Tom shook his head again and clenched his jaw more tightly than ever. Then he clamped his hand to his mouth.
    ‘Let me tell you something,’ Dr Sharp said. He leant forward and whispered something in Tom’s ear.
     

     
    Tom’s eyebrows shot up. He got up and walked quietly across the waiting room and into Dr Sharp’s surgery.
    Sophie and Mrs Nightingale looked at each other in disbelief.
    They remained puzzled for another ten minutes, after which time Tom reappeared in the waiting room with a gleaming smile.
    ‘So what happened?’ Mrs Nightingale asked.
    ‘Yeah, why do you look so happy?’ Sophie asked. ‘Did you get a badge or something?’
    ‘What? Oh, er, no,’ Tom said. ‘Actually, you won’t believe this – Dr Sharp said if I let him look at my teeth, I could go and help him next week.’
    ‘What are you talking about?’ Sophie asked.
    ‘Ohhhh, I see,’ said Mrs Nightingale.
    ‘Can someone tell me what’s going on?’ Sophie asked.
    Dr Sharp appeared behind Tom. ‘Your turn, Sophie.’
    ‘OK, but only if you tell me how you managed to get Tom in your dentist’s chair,’ Sophie said.
    Dr Sharp grinned. ‘Oh, it was simple enough. You see, as well as looking at human teeth, I also inspect the animals in London Zoo once a year. They need a check-up once in a while, just like you. And next Sunday is my official visiting day. I said to Tom that if he let me look at his teeth, then he could come with me on my rounds.’
    ‘Oh . . . OK . . .’ Sophie stammered.
    ‘You’re included in that offer too,’ Dr Sharp said.
    ‘Amazing, right?’ Tom said.
    Sophie nodded, too dumbstruck to answer.
    ‘I can’t believe I didn’t want to come to the dentist,’ said Tom. ‘It’s brilliant here. And it doesn’t hurt at all. Honestly, Sophie, there’s nothing to worry about.’
    ‘I know that,’ said Sophie.
    ‘Cool,’ said Tom airily, and sat back down in his chair. Then he picked up a comic that was lying on the table next to him and started to read it.
    ‘You’re unbelievable, you know that,’ said Sophie.
    Tom smiled. ‘Thanks, Soph.’

Chapter 2
     
    The following Sunday, Tom and Sophie were racing each other to the zoo. They always went to the zoo at least once at the weekend because both their parents worked there – their dad as a zookeeper and their mum as Chief Vet.
    Today was a Big Day though. Dr Sharp was going to meet them at the gates.
    ‘Do you think he’ll examine all the animals?’ Tom asked as they trotted across the bridge that led to the zoo.
    ‘I suppose he’ll have to,’ said Sophie.
    ‘But they’ve got, like, fifteen thousand different ones,’ Tom said.
    ‘It’s more like seventeen thousand,’ said Sophie, ‘so yeah, maybe he’ll just look at the ones with sore teeth.’
    ‘And I suppose not all the animals have teeth,’ Tom said. ‘I mean worms don’t have teeth, do they? Or budgies? Or goldfish?’
    ‘I don’t know,’ said Sophie.
    ‘Or