Figaro and Rumba and the Crocodile Cafe (4 page)

‘Are you all right? Where were you?' said Rat and Rumba together.

‘Are we still in time for the Very Fast Train?' asked Figaro.

‘No,' said Rumba. ‘It's gone.'

‘So has Nate,' said Rat sadly. They watched his blue shirt and bushy tail disappear up the path. ‘He could have thanked Figaro for saving him. You'll have to excuse his manners.'

‘Oh, that's okay,' said Figaro. He flopped down on the grass. ‘Let's go on the Fast Train next week, Rumba. I'm too tired today.'

So Rat and Rumba and Figaro went back to the house and ate the sausages and drank the mango juice. Then they sat on Figaro's bed and admired the excellent view through his sparkling clean window.

Chapter 3

The Bad Dream

I
n the afternoon, Figaro and Rumba lay on the couch reading comics. Figaro's eyes began to close. His head sank, heavy as a brick, right onto the comic that Rumba wanted to read.

Rumba sighed. He really, really wanted to read that comic. It was called
The Little Ghost Cat
. I'll just try giving the corner a tug, he thought. Slowly, gently, he pulled the comic out from under Figaro's nose. Figaro's leg twitched but he went on snoring.

Rumba was up to the last page of
The Little Ghost Cat
when Figaro suddenly yelped like a car alarm.

‘
AARRFF, AARRFF, AARRFFF!'

he screamed. ‘
HELP! LET ME GO!'

Rumba called his name but Figaro just went on yelping. He is still asleep, thought Rumba, amazed.

‘You were dreaming,' Rumba told him when he shook Figaro awake.

‘Oh yes, I had a terrible nightmare,' moaned Figaro. ‘I was in this lake and there was a big dark shape pulling me under. Its teeth had hold of my front paw.

Oh look, my paw – I can't move it!'

‘What do you mean? It looks all right to me,' said Rumba.

‘No, see, I can't feel it. It's gone all dead. That thing in my dream – it killed my paw!'

Rumba took his paw and rubbed it. ‘Can you feel that?'

‘No!'

Rumba gave the paw a little nip with his sharp teeth. ‘What about that?'

‘No! Nothing! Oh, Rumba, what am I going to do? I can't run on three legs! I'm still a young dog. You'll have to bring me all my meals on the couch. And you'll get so tired.'

Rumba was wringing his paws. How could this happen? How could a dream grow teeth and bite? But Figaro's paw was definitely dead.

Rumba paced around the house. Sometimes, when he walked, he got good ideas. He went into the kitchen and marched up and down the hall. He did a circle around the living room. Then he looked out the window and saw Nate in the garden.

‘Nate,' Rumba called. ‘Can you come in? We need some advice!'

Nate stood in the doorway looking very surprised. No one had ever asked for his advice before. That is, not unless they wanted some help with their car. Nate knew all about cars.

‘Wha …what's happened?' he asked.

Rumba explained about Figaro's paw and the awful worry they were in.

Nate shook his head. ‘That's too bad,' he said. He shifted from one foot to the other. He made a
tsk
tsk
noise with his tongue. Figaro looked as if he was going to burst into tears. Nate didn't know how to handle tears.

‘The thing is,' said Nate, ‘I'm looking for my cousin Nancy. You haven't seen her have you?'

‘No,' said Rumba. ‘Weren't you supposed to meet her at the train station?'

‘Yep,' said Nate. ‘And I was late. When I got there, she'd already gone off somewhere. So I'm just asking around.'

‘What about me?' Figaro burst out. ‘How am
I
going to go off somewhere? Anywhere?'

Nate looked at him. Then he gave a little jump. ‘I know! See that wheelbarrow out there? We can use it to cart you around. I'll just dash out and get it.'

When Nate came back, Rumba helped him lift Figaro off the couch and into the barrow. Figaro's back legs spilled over the side, his head hit the front and his bad paw got twisted underneath him.

‘See, my paw didn't even feel that,' Figaro said. ‘By now it's probably broken as well as dead.'

Nate told him to relax and took him for a test wheel into the kitchen. He pushed the barrow really fast down the corridor and made screeching noises like squealing tyres when they turned the corner.

‘Hey, this is fun!' Nate yelled.