Harry the Poisonous Centipede by Lynne Reid Banks Read Free Book Online Page A

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    Suddenly there was an upheaval. Something came down hard on top of thewarm-web above the little round nest. Huge hard things moved around, prodding and scratching. And the whole vast meat-mountain they were on heaved and shook.

    George shot out of the nest just in time. The two centis clung together. Then, as the prodding things went on digging and rubbing at the little round nest, they scattered and ran.
    They ran through a heaving forest of hairs. This was tricky for them. The hairs grew so thickly here that they had to push through. Several times their little claw feetgot caught on the hairs and they had to pull free.
    The hairy forest moved up and down even more than the hairless floor, even after the whole meat-mountain had stopped heaving about. And then The Noise started.
    It was a rumbling, gurgling, growly sound, a little like thunder, but wetter. It happened – then stopped – then it happened again. It kept on happening.
    â€œWhat’s that noise?” asked Harry fearfully.

    But George didn’t even bother to answer. His cuticle was feeling drier and drier. His breathing holes were all dry around the edges. His feelers, back and front, were so dry he felt they might snap off if he bumped into them.
    He could sense the water. It was getting nearer! Nothing else mattered. He made for it, and Harry, though quaking with fear, followed.
    At last they came out of the forest and found a meaty ridge in front of them. There was no warm-web tunnel roof over their heads now. They were in the open.
    They ran along the ridge. There was a great curly complicated bit of meat at the top. They found a tiny tunnel in the middle, and stood for a moment, peering in. Should they go down it?
    But the moist smell was not coming from there. It was close by, though. Theyran over a prickly slope, and suddenly, there it was – a round hole, rather like the top of the Up-Pipe only it was made of warm meat.
    They stopped on the edge and peeped in. The noise was coming from here and it was very loud, but they just didn’t care.
    â€œA lovely wet tunnel!” breathed Harry.
    â€œOh, Hx! We made it!” said George.
    â€œLET’S GO!” they both cried together.
    And they threw themselves down into it.

    For about two beautiful seconds, they ran along the inside of the tunnel, getting themselves gloriously damp again.
    Two seconds was all they had.
    After that, everything started to happen.

28. The Earthquak
    In the country where the centipedes lived, there were sometimes earthquakes. Not very big ones. But the centis knew about them, knew what happened when the earth shook and the tunnel roofs fell in and you had to dig yourself out.
    What happened when they were in the wet tunnel was worse than the worst earthquake they had been through, or could imagine.
    First of all the tunnel suddenly seemed to jump – a very big jump, not a littlejump. The two centis clung on to a big wet thing inside their tunnel with their forty-two (well, eighty-four counting both of them) feet, but not for long because suddenly they were flying through the air.

    Not just flying nicely like a bird on the breeze, but like a cork flying out of a bottle. Like a bullet fired from a gun. Well. Not quite that fast, but it felt that fast to them.
    Of course you can guess what had happened. They had popped down into the sleeping Hoo-Min’s mouth. And hehad felt them running around, and it had wakened him, and he had leapt up and spat them out as hard as he could. PTUI!

    Of course, you and I can think of nothing much worse than having a couple of centipedes crawling around inside our mouths. The poor old Hoo-Min, you might think! No wonder he spat them out and sent them flying through the air.
    But think of poor Harry and George! They had forty-two feet apiece, but theydidn’t have wings. Flying through the air was about the worst feeling they’d ever had. Even worse than nearly drowning. But it