Dingoes at Dinnertime (3 page)
The loud cry rang again through the dry air.
Teddy barked.
Jack and Annie turned around in the clearing. It was hard to tell where the sound was coming from.
The terrible cackle came again.
“There!” said Annie.
She pointed at a bird in a gum tree. The bird had brown feathers and a large head with a long beak.
It stared down at Jack and Annie. Then it let out another cackle.
“Weird,” said Jack.
He found the bird in his book and read:
The kookaburra (say KOOK-uh-burr-uh) is the best-known bird of Australia. There is even a popular song about it. The kookaburra is also called the “laughing donkey.” This is because the strange sound it makes reminds people of a braying donkey.
“I know that song!” said Annie. She began singing:
“Kookaburra sits on the old gum tree-ee.
Merry, merry king of the bush is he-ee … ”
Jack wrote in his notebook:
Annie stopped singing. “Hey,” she said. “There’s another weird thing.”
“Where?” said Jack.
Annie pointed to a big bluish tan lump lying in a shallow, dusty hole.
“Is it alive?” said Jack.
They stepped closer to the big lump.
“It looks like it’s breathing,” said Annie.
The lump was an animal lying on its back. Its paws were crossed over its chest.
It had huge feet, large ears, a face like a deer’s, and a very long tail. It also had a
very
fat stomach.
Just then, a small head peered out of its stomach.
“Whoa!” said Jack.
“Oh, wow! It’s a kangaroo with her baby in her pouch!” said Annie.
“Great!” said Jack. “Remember, we have to get a gift from a kangaroo!”
Their voices woke the kangaroo. The animal jumped up from her shallow bed.
She glared at Jack and Annie. Her baby peeked out of her pouch.
The mother kangaroo gave an angry stamp.
“Oh, we’re sorry!” Annie said. “We didn’t mean to wake you up.”
The kangaroo eyed Annie curiously. Then she took a giant hop toward her.
Copying the kangaroo, Annie hopped toward the big animal.
The kangaroo hopped again.
Annie hopped.
The kangaroo and Annie began hopping around each other. They looked as if they were dancing.
Jack couldn’t believe how graceful the kangaroo was. She seemed to fly through the air, then land as softly as a butterfly.
He looked up “kangaroo” in his book and read:
The kangaroo is the most famous of the marsupials. The female carries her baby, known as a “joey,” in her pouch. Scientists call the kangaroo a “macropod,” which means “big foot.” And big feet help a kangaroo hop higher than any other animal in the world. With a running leap, a large kangaroo can jump over a school bus.
“Forget the hopping contest, Annie,” Jack called. “She can out-hop you by a mile.”
He pulled out his notebook and wrote:
The kangaroo began stamping her feet again.
“What’s wrong?” said Annie.
The kangaroo froze.
Grrrr!
Teddy growled from Jack’s backpack.
Some nearby bushes moved.
A moment later, three dogs crept silently into the clearing. They were sand-colored and mean-looking.
Teddy growled once more.
But the dogs crept toward the kangaroo.
Suddenly, the mother kangaroo sprang into the air, away from the dogs.
The dogs chased after her.
“Stop!” cried Annie. “Stop! Leave her alone!”
As the kangaroo jumped, she turned in midair and landed facing a different direction. She then zigzagged over rocks and bushes.
Howling, the wild dogs raced after the kangaroo and her baby.
“Oh, no!” cried Annie. “We have to save her!”
She took off after the dogs.
Arf! Arf! Arf!
Teddy barked over Jack’s shoulder.
Jack ran after Annie with the book under his arm. He ran over the dry, cracked ground, past scrubby bushes and scattered gum trees.
Jack kept his eye on Annie, running ahead of him. He saw her stop suddenly. She turned and dropped to her knees.
“What happened?” he shouted.
“Come look!” she said.
Jack reached Annie. Beside her in the grass was the baby kangaroo. It was trembling.
“Don’t be scared,” Annie was saying. Then she looked at Jack. “Where’s his mom? Why did she drop him?”
“I don’t know,” said Jack.
He put his pack on the ground and opened the Australia book. Teddy jumped out of the pack.
The little dog tried to sniff the baby kangaroo.
“Don’t scare him, Teddy,” Annie said.
Teddy sat back and watched politely.
Jack opened the Australia book and found a picture of a baby kangaroo. He read:
The biggest enemy of the kangaroo is the dingo, the wild dog of Australia. When a mother kangaroo is chased by dingoes, she may throw her joey out of her pouch. Without the extra weight in her pouch, she can leap faster and farther. She then leads the dingoes away from her baby. If she escapes the dingoes, she returns to the joey.
“Oh, Jack,” Annie said sadly. “I hope his mother escapes from the dingoes.”
“Me, too,” said Jack.
“Hi, Joey,” said Annie. She gently patted the baby kangaroo. “He’s so soft, Jack.”
Jack knelt down and touched the brown fur. It
was
soft, the softest fur he had ever felt.
The shy little kangaroo stared at Jack with big brown eyes and trembled.
“Don’t be scared, Joey,” Annie said. “Your mom’s going to come back for you.”
Joey jumped away from Jack and Annie. He hopped toward Jack’s pack, which was sitting on the ground.
The baby kangaroo took a giant leap and dived headfirst into the pack! His whole body went inside, but his big feet stuck out. Then he turned himself over and peeked out at Jack and Annie.
They both laughed.
“He thinks your pack is a pouch!” said Annie. “I know. Put it on backward. It will feel like when his mom carries him.”
Jack put his Australia book on the ground. Then Annie helped him put the pack on his chest instead of on his back. The joey was heavy!
