Cool Bananas by Margaret Clark Read Free Book Online Page A

far.
    ‘It’s all right. My uncle’s over there fishing.’
    Flick looked and couldn’t see anyone, but suddenly a man stood up and shaded his eyes with his hand as he gazed across at them. He’d been crouching down to bait his hook and she hadn’t noticed him. Recognising Flick he gave her a wave, and she waved back.
    ‘Look,’ said the boy. ‘There’s a crab in under this rock. See?’
    Flick and Boofa bent closer to have a look.
    ‘Don’t take him away from his home, will you,’ said Flick, as the boy tried to scoop up the crab in his bucket.
    ‘Why not? I’d like a pet crab. It’d be cool.’
    ‘Not for the crab,’ said Flick. ‘How would you likea giant to come along and scoop you out of your home and take you away from your family?’
    ‘It’d be scary.’
    ‘It’s scary for the crab.’
    ‘Oh!’ The boy peered into the pool. ‘You mean this crab’s got a mother and father and brothers and sisters? I can’t see them.’
    ‘They might be visiting another pool,’ said Flick.
    The boy sighed. ‘All right, then. He can stay here.’
    ‘That’s the right thing to do,’ said Flick. ‘When you come into the store, come and see me and I’ll shout you an ice-cream for being such a kind person, okay?’
    ‘Cool bananas.’
    ‘See you later.’
    Flick walked briskly round the next point. If only all problems were so easy to solve, life would be a breeze. Suddenly Boofa’s ears went up. He sniffed the air and then took off, running towards a large rocky outcrop.
    ‘Now what’s he found?’ said Flick to herself.
    She saw Boofa run to a high ledge and stop. Then he disappeared. Suddenly a flipper waved in the air and the next minute an indignant head poked over the ridge.
    ‘Woof, woof,’ barked the seal, baring its teeth at Boofa.
    The big black dog hurriedly retreated as the old bull seal swayed his head angrily, and then with a disdainful look at Boofa, settled down behind the rock again to do some more serious sunbaking.
    ‘He should put up a Do Not Disturb sign,’ Flick said as Boofa came scuttling back with his tail between his legs. ‘But that’ll teach you not to try and mess with bull seals that are bigger than you, won’t it. And maybe there’s a message in there for me too. Maybe I shouldn’t be messing with a dangerous good-looking male either, because I’ll probably get my heart torn to bits and I don’t need it happening again in my life.’
    ‘Woof,’ said Boofa, barking deeply and staring in the seal’s direction. ‘Woof.’
    ‘Oh, don’t start being all macho and trying to out-bark that seal. How about I take you home now? You’ve had a good walk and anyway, I have to get back to work. Come on, let’s go.’
    They headed for the base of the cliffs. Walking back along the main road would be quicker and Brett’s house was nearby. Taking off her belt, Flick slipped it through Boofa’s collar. Now he couldn’t pelt onto the road and get hit by a car, or dive into some bushes and get bitten by a snake. There was an overgrown track winding up the cliff face, so Flick letBoofa lead the way, which was great because he could help pull her along. They were making quite good progress when Boofa suddenly gave a lurch and the makeshift lead slipped out of Flick’s hand.
    ‘Boofa,’ yelled Flick, as he went crashing off into the bushes. ‘Come back here!’
    She could hear him rustling close by. Then suddenly he appeared with a blood-stained scarf in his mouth, dragging it along the ground, a cloud of blowflies buzzing round him.
    ‘What’s in there, Boofa?’
    Flick parted the bushes. What she saw made her reel back in horror.
    There was a human torso, no head, no arms or legs, half covered with leaves and twigs.
    Flick collapsed onto the ground and was violently sick. She heaved and heaved, while Boofa whined anxiously beside her.
    When she’d recovered enough to stand up, she gingerly took the scarf from Boofa and draped it over a nearby bush so she’d be