In the Jungle (5 page)

They reached the tree trunk and began climbing again.

Thudd pointed out the birds that flashed through the trees—screaming orange-and-green king parrots, black riflebirds that made a sound like a gunshot, and green catbirds that meowed.

These sounds were all part of the whistling, buzzing, cackling, screaming, screeching music of the rain forest.

meep …
“Drewd and Oody near treetops now,” Thudd said. “Called canopy of rain forest. Lotsa animals live in canopy. Lotsa light up here. Lotsa water from lotsa, lotsa rain. Canopy make shade for stuff that live underneath. Keep rain forest cool.”

Andrew kept climbing. “We’re higher than most of the other trees now,” he said.

“So where’s that stupid river?” said Judy.

Just then, Andrew thought he saw a sparkle of light through the leaves. He climbed quickly to get a clear view.

And then he saw it—a sliver of silvery river.

“Super-duper pooper-scooper!” Andrew yelled, creeping from the trunk to a branch. “The river! It’s close!” he shouted to Judy, who was inches behind him.

As he looked down, Andrew glimpsed something that made the back of his neck prickle.

A few branches below, a coil of yellow-and-black stripes was beginning to unwind.

Eek!
squeaked Thudd. “Python snake!”

Judy’s face went white.

“S-s-s-snake?” she stuttered.

“Get up here, Judy!” yelled Andrew. “There’s a hole in the trunk. We can hide in it!”

In an instant, Judy scrambled up to where Andrew was.

Andrew pushed away strands of moss that covered the hole and crept inside. Judy followed him. At first it was too dark to see.

“We should be safe here,” said Andrew.

“Wait a minute,” said Judy. “You’re the
one who told me that a snake’s tongue can smell prey. And that they’ve got these little pits near their jaws that feel the heat from warm-blooded animals—
like us!
So just because it’s dark in here doesn’t mean a snake can’t find us.”

meep …
“Oody and Drewd got peppermint smell,” said Thudd. “Hide animal smell. Oody and Drewd small, small, small. Not got lotsa heat. Hard for snake to find, maybe.”

Andrew thought he heard a soft grumble. He remembered the strange noises he had heard deep inside the tree trunk.

“There’s something in here,” he whispered to Judy.

As his eyes got used to the darkness, Andrew made out a shape. It was a creature the size of a chipmunk. It seemed to be asleep. Its ears were as big as bats’ ears. Its eyes were closed. But Andrew could tell by its bulging lids that its eyes were enormous.

“It’s so
cute
!” said Judy.

“But it would, uh, probably eat us if it were awake,” said Andrew.

“Yoop! Yoop! Yoop!” said Thudd. “Called sugar glider. Live in treetops of rain forest. Eat bugs.

“Got flap of skin between front and back legs. When sugar glider jump from trees, stretch legs. Skin flap stretch like sail. Sugar glider glide from tree to tree.

“Sugar glider is marsupial like kangaroo. Female marsupial got pouch for baby. Look.”

By the light of Thudd’s face screen, Andrew could see a little slit where a belly button would be.

“Well, it’s sleeping,” said Judy. “We can hide from the snake and it won’t even know we’re here.”

Eek!
squeaked Thudd. “Sugar glider is snake candy! Sugar glider big enough for snake to smell, feel heat.”

Andrew examined the opening of the hole. “I don’t know if the hole is big enough for the snake to get in,” he said.

“But it’s sure going to try,” said Judy.

For a moment, the only sound inside the hole was the sugar glider snoring.

“I have an idea,” said Judy. “Andrew, go see where the snake is now.”

Andrew peered over the edge of the hole. The snake was curling around the tree trunk. Andrew could see its thin black tongue flicking in and out of its mouth.

“It’s coming up,” said Andrew. “But it’s moving slowly.”

“Get into the pouch, Bug-Brain,” said Judy.

“Huh?” said Andrew. “Snakes
eat
sugar gliders.”

“Not if there aren’t any sugar gliders to eat,” said Judy. “We’ll rumble around inside her pouch. If we’re lucky, she’ll wake up,
scoot out of the hole, and glide away before the snake gets here.

“Come on,” said Judy. “And be careful not to wake her up till we’re ready.”

“Wowzers!” said Andrew. “If this works, we save us
and
the sugar glider.”

Andrew crept quickly to the middle of the furry sleeping body. He began wiggling his way into the pouch, feetfirst. It was like getting into bed with sheets tucked tightly under the mattress. Inside the pouch, it was hot and damp.

The sugar glider gave a little sigh and shifted in its sleep.

Judy had trouble getting in. She kicked Andrew in the head. She poked the sugar glider in the belly.

The sugar glider stirred. It shook itself. It rolled onto its feet and stuck its head out of the hole in the tree trunk.

Zih-zuh zih-zuh zih-zuh
, it chattered.

meep …
“Sugar glider afraid,” Thudd said.

The sugar glider scurried onto the branch outside the hole and stood on its hind legs.

Sss sss sss
, came a hiss. It sounded close.
Ssssssss …

A scaly yellow-and-black head rose above the branch. From the sugar glider’s pouch, Andrew looked into the snake’s black eyes. The snake’s tongue darted so close, Andrew could have touched it.

Suddenly Andrew’s stomach seemed to jump into his mouth. The sugar glider had flung itself from the branch. The skin between its front and back legs was stretched tight like a kite. They were sailing through the jungle!

The wind in Andrew’s face made his eyes water. He looked down through the leafy layers of jungle speeding by and got dizzy.

The next instant, they jolted to a stop. The sugar glider had landed on the branch of
a small tree. She was licking her paws like a cat.

“Eeeuw!”
shrieked Judy. “There’s something wet and rubbery in here. It’s squirming against my leg!”

Just then, a tiny, skinny dark tail poked out of the pouch between Andrew and Judy and disappeared. Then a little pink head no bigger than a baby’s fingernail peeked out for an instant.

“Aaack!” Judy hollered. “It’s a worm with a head!”

“Noop! Noop! Noop!” said Thudd. “Baby sugar glider. Called joey. Joey born small as grain of rice. Joey live in pouch, drink milk from mother for lotsa weeks.”

Judy wrinkled her nose. “Let’s get out of here,” she said.

While the sugar glider was busy grooming herself, they snuck out of her pouch.

It was a short climb down to the rainforest floor. The light was dim. The canopy of leaves blocked the sunlight.

Thick roots tangled over the wet ground. As far as Andrew could see, the forest floor was covered with fallen leaves, smashed fruit, and brightly colored funguses. Now and then, a damp leaf shuddered—as though something were moving underneath.

Andrew walked along a mossy root and sniffed the smells of the jungle floor.

Like wet dirt
, he thought.
And rotten things and sweet, flowery stuff.

The air was alive with buzzes and hisses and croaks. Judy poked Andrew’s shoulder. “You saw the river, Bug-Brain,” she said. “So which way is it?”

Andrew looked around. Then he pointed toward a thicket of vines with leaves as big as elephant ears. “Um, the river is that way … I think.”

Judy pushed her face next to Andrew’s. “You’d better be right, Bug-Brain,” she said. “Or else we’re jungle chow.”

The deep shadows of this place gave Andrew the spooks. “Let’s get going,” he said. “We have to get to the river.”

“And we’ve got to find the ghost mushrooms before we get there,” said Judy.

They began their trudge across the rainforest floor.

The jungle floor buzzed and chattered. Here and there, dead leaves twitched.

Kakaka kakaka …
came a sound from behind them.

Andrew turned to see a slender flying insect, long as a pinkie finger, darting above a dark lump on the ground.

Then two legs—long, thin, dark, hairy legs—shot up from the lump. The lump was a fat, hairy spider. Its legs clawed the air, reaching for the insect. From leg to leg, the spider was the size of a dinner plate.

Andrew froze. “That spider looks as big as Godzilla!” he whispered.

meep …
“Tarantula,” said Thudd. “Called bird-eating spider! Eat lizards, snakes, frogs, birds!”

Kakaka kakaka kakaka …

“It’s making weird sounds,” said Judy.

meep …
“Called barking spider, too,” said Thudd.

“Spider in big fight with giant wasp called tarantula hawk. Cuz female wasp hunt tarantulas.

“If wasp sting spider, spider not able to
move. Then wasp lay egg inside spider. When egg hatch, baby wasp eat spider alive.”

“Yuck!”
said Judy. “That is
soooo
disgusting!”

meep …
“In lotsa places,
people
eat tarantulas. Taste like crab meat!”

“Neato mosquito!” said Andrew.

“Aaaaack!”
Judy gagged.

With one of its front legs, the spider was scraping hairs off the front of its body. Then it flung them at the wasp!

“Duck! Duck! Duck!”
squeaked Thudd. “Tarantula hair got lotsa poison!”

The fierce battle was scuffling closer to Andrew and Judy.

“Let’s get out of here!” gasped Judy.

meep …
“Hide behind gympie-gympie tree!” said Thudd.

He pointed to a small, pretty tree with heart-shaped leaves the size of pizzas.

“But no touch! Gympie-gympie tree got
hairs on leaves, hairs on trunk. Every hair is tiny glass needle filled with strong poison.

“If animal touch gympie-gympie tree, hairs dig into skin. Hurt! Hurt! Hurt! Even spider not touch gympie-gympie tree.”

Andrew and Judy scurried behind the gympie-gympie tree. They watched as the tarantula and the wasp charged each other. At last, the tarantula scuttled under a thorny bush. The wasp flew off.

“Let’s go,” said Andrew.

Careful to stay away from its horrible hairs, Andrew and Judy crept away from the gympie-gympie tree. They continued their trek over the wet, slippery leaves.

The light was getting dimmer. They strained to see the glow of ghost mushrooms on the shadowy forest floor.

Suddenly Andrew felt something grab his ankles.

“Erf!” he cried.

The next instant, he was upside down!

Eek!
squeaked Thudd, clinging to the edge of Andrew’s pocket.

“Aaaack!” hollered Judy.

They were upside down and speeding away!

They were heading for a long black snout attached to a small head with beady black eyes! The animal’s body was completely
covered with long, sharp brown quills.