Free Toad Away by Morris Gleitzman Page A

leg,” yelled Goliath, “I'll do you.”
    One of the birds managed to stop tittering.
    “Sorry,” it said. “We don't mean to be rude. It's just that we've got little parasites in our heads that are eating our brains.”
    “Oh,” said Goliath gruffly. “That's OK then.”
    The birds flew off.
    Poor things, thought Limpy.
    He pulled himself up onto a branch and had a good look round. From up here, near the forest roof, he could see over a much bigger area than down on the ground.
    But he couldn't see a single cane toad.
    All he could see, on the forest floor and on all the tree trunks and above him in the green canopy, were thousands of creatures trying to hurt and maim and kill each other and eat one another's brains.
    Limpy felt sick.
    “Charm!” he yelled desperately.
    A thousand voices replied, none of them Charm's.
    “Come on, Goliath,” said Limpy. “We might as well go back down.”
    “I can't,” said Goliath.
    Limpy saw that Goliath was clinging to a branch, warts pale with fear.
    “Don't make me look down,” said Goliath. “I can climb up without looking down, but I can't climb down without looking down.”
    Limpy hopped onto Goliath's branch, trying to think of something to say to relax him. He saw it wasn't going to be easy. Goliath was showing serious signs of panic. He was chewing his mouthful of rubber sap so fast his jaw was a blur. When Goliathgot stressed at home, he did the same with human bubblegum he found on the highway.
    “Perhaps,” said Limpy, “you could hang on to me and climb down with your eyes closed.”
    Goliath shook his head. His eyes were already closed.
    Limpy tried to think of another plan. Then he felt something strange under his feet. He realized the branch they were standing on didn't feel like the other branches, it felt smooth and scaly.
    Where narrow beams of sunlight hit the branch, it was glinting with different colors.
    And moving.
    Goliath grabbed Limpy and hung on to him, whimpering. Limpy would have whimpered too if he hadn't been distracted by the sight of a huge head uncoiling from the next tree and glowering at them.
    The branch wasn't a branch, it was the biggest snake Limpy had ever seen.
    The snake rippled its massive body.
    Limpy fought to keep his footing.
    He could feel Goliath struggling to do the same.
    Unsuccessfully.
    Suddenly they were falling, plummeting down through the moist green gloom, the rush of air dragging Limpy's face out of shape.
    He gripped Goliath's hand tighter in case it wasthe last time he had a chance to do it, and prayed that by some miracle they'd land in another human poo farm.
    He didn't think they would.
    Far below was the forest floor.
    Limpy prayed it was bouncy enough to stop two falling toads from being splatted into oblivion.
    He didn't think it was.

W hile Limpy waited for the fall to end and the forest floor to bash his brains out and probably his spleen as well, he made a wish.
    He wished there was another Amazon a bit further down the track. One with a bit less violence and killing. And a bit more ancient knowledge about being friendly.
    He wished Charm had gone to that one instead.
    Limpy was so busy making his wish that he didn't notice at first that he and Goliath weren't falling so fast. It was only when his face went back into shape he realized they were slowing down.
    Now he could feel it in his arm too. He was still gripping Goliath's hand, but he wasn't falling anymore, he was dangling.
    Limpy looked up at Goliath and his face went back out of shape with amazement.
    Goliath's eyes were bulging with alarm and his mouth was open in terror. But it wasn't a yell of fear coming out of his mouth, it was a huge rubbery bubble.
    Stack me, thought Limpy. Goliath's Amazon bubblegum.
    They weren't falling anymore, they were floating.
    It felt great.
    As they drifted down between the mighty trees, Limpy waved to the other floating and gliding creatures around them. They didn't wave back, but Limpy could see that was