by Justin D'Ath
‘Hang on tight,’ Jordan said.
Then he looked up at Myrtle. ‘Mush!’
Myrtle put her head on one side. She didn’t understand what Jordan wanted her to do. Mush meant run. And for a second it looked like Myrtle was going to run - over the edge and into the quarry!
‘STAY!’ Jordan yelled.
‘Be the Pet Whisperer,’ Harry said.
Jordan nodded. It was their only chance to get out of there. He closed his eyes and thought dog thoughts.
Go to the hole in the fence, Myrtle. Walk slowly!
When Jordan opened his eyes, Myrtle was gone. The rope grew tight. Slowly, Harry rose out of the water.
‘Good one, Jordan!’ he said, giving his brother a thumbs-up sign as he slid smoothly up the cliff face.
12
JAWS
When Harry got to the top of the cliff, he freed himself from the rope and called Myrtle back to the edge of the quarry.
They lowered the loop back down.
‘Your turn,’ Harry called to Jordan. Harry was still a bit dazed after nearly drowning and had forgotten about Pingwu.
But Jordan hadn’t. Grabbing the rope, he swam slowly towards the giant panda.
Pingwu watched him coming. As Jordan got closer, the panda began bobbing his head up and down and making a chomping sound with his teeth.
‘It’s okay, Pingwu,’ Jordan said. ‘I’m not going to hurt you.’
As if he could hurt the panda! Pingwu’s big yellow teeth were as thick as Jordan’s fingers, and nearly as long!
Chomp, chomp, chomp! they went. It was giant panda talk, warning Jordan not to come too close.
But Jordan had to get close to put the rope around him. If he didn’t, Pingwu would drown. The huge animal couldn’t keep hanging on to the cliff forever.
‘Easy, Pingwu,’ Jordan said, kicking himself slowly forward.
Up close, the giant panda’s eyes looked almost blue. They had slit pupils like a cat’s. Now Jordan understood why the Chinese called them cat-bears.
When he started to put the rope over Pingwu’s head, the frightened panda tried to bite his arm.
CHOMP! went the huge yellow teeth.
Jordan pulled back just in time. If Pingwu’s jaws had got him, his arm would have snapped like a piece of bamboo.
‘Cool it, Pingwu!’ Jordan gasped.
Giant pandas looked cute, but they were big powerful animals. They could be dangerous if they were scared. And Pingwu was very scared. He didn’t know Jordan was trying to help him.
Jordan had to do something else.
Holding onto the rope for support, he let his body go limp in the water and closed his eyes.
I’m your friend, Pingwu, he mind-whispered. You’ve got to let me put the rope around…
His concentration was spoiled by a loud shout from above him.
‘JORDAN, LOOK OUT!’
Harry’s warning came too late. A pair of powerful jaws snapped closed, tugging him underwater.
It didn’t make sense. Pingwu had been in front of him. How had he got around behind Jordan’s back?
There wasn’t time to think about it. The jaws had him by the sleeve. They were pulling him down into the cold, inky water. He was going to drown.
Or – worse – be eaten!
Then Jordan remembered the monster he’d dreamed about. The one Harry had seen before the truck crash. That’s what had his sleeve.
He’d been caught by the monster from the deep!
Suddenly there was a tug on his other arm. Jordan stopped going down. The jaws were still trying to drag him into the depths, but something else was pulling in the other direction. The rope! Jordan still had it in his right hand. Harry and Myrtle were trying to pull him up.
It was a tug-of-war.
For a few seconds nobody seemed to be winning. Then – rip – Jordan’s sleeve tore off. He shot up to the surface and kept going, slowly spinning on the end of the rope as Myrtle and Harry dragged him up the side of the quarry.
‘Don’t let go!’ Harry called down to him.
It was good advice, but Harry wasn’t the one dangling on the end of the rope. The rope was wet and slippery, and Jordan was only hanging on with one hand. He began to lose his grip.
Then he fell.
Splash!
13
MONSTER FROM THE DEEP
Jordan landed two metres from Pingwu, and went under. He came up spluttering and swam flat out towards the cliff face. He had to get out of the water before the monster came back! But the rocky wall was too steep to climb.
‘Quick! Grab the rope!’ cried Harry, lowering it back down.
Before Jordan could reach it, something burst out of the water beside him. It was long and brown and slimy, and looked exactly like the tentacle of a giant squid. Jordan yelped in panic and splashed madly away. But the horrible thing came after him. It slid through the water like a torpedo. There was no escape.
Help me! Jordan tried to scream, so scared he couldn’t get the words out.
But something heard him.
Pingwu landed on the water monster with a massive splash. His powerful, bamboo-crushing teeth buried themselves in the monster’s slimy brown skin. A long flat tail rose high into the air, then slammed down onto the water. BANG! It was louder than a cannon. The tail rose up and banged down three more times before Pingwu let go.
As quickly as it had come, the huge creature slid back into the depths.
It was a monster, all right, but not the kind Jordan had dreamed about.
It was a monster freshwater eel – the biggest one he had ever seen.
And judging by the blood in the water, Jordan reckoned he would never see it again. Not if the eel knew what was good for it.
Pingwu swam back to the water’s edge and clung to the rock again. Then he looked back at Jordan.
Jordan would never be sure if what happened next was real. He seemed to hear a voice. It was inside his head.
Friend, it said.
14
EEL FOOD
The bamboo was Harry’s idea. He tossed the juicy green stick down to Jordan, who swam over to Pingwu and held it out.
Yum! he mind-whispered.
According to BRAIN, giant pandas eat nearly a quarter of their body weight in bamboo every day. They are always hungry! Pingwu might have been half-drowned and nearly exhausted, but he couldn’t say no to a snack.
While the panda was busy eating, Jordan slipped the rope over its head and shoulders. Then he gave two tugs on the other end.
‘Take it up, Agent H!’ he called.
But Pingwu probably weighed about 200 kilograms. And with all the water in his fur, he was even heavier. Myrtle and Harry couldn’t pull him up.
Jordan had an idea.
‘Pull him up the ramp!’ he called.
Harry led Myrtle around to the top of the ramp. This time he and Myrtle didn’t have to lift Pingwu’s full weight. And Pingwu helped. While Myrtle and Harry pulled on the rope, the giant panda dug his sharp claws into the slippery clay and did some of the climbing himself.
Even so, everyone had to stop three times to rest before Pingwu got to the top.
It seemed like forever to Jordan.
He had to wait, with his legs in the scary black water.
Somewhere below was the monster eel.
Leave me alone, I’m not eel food! he mind-whispered, hoping it would hear him and understand.
Jordan had never heard of a freshwater eel attacking a person before. It must have smelt the blood from his cut ear. That’s why it grabbed onto his sleeve, where he’d wiped the blood away.
His ear had started bleeding again. More blood was dripping into the water next to his shoulder. He hoped the eel had learned its lesson.
At last the rope splashed beside him.
‘Mission Control to Agent J,’ Harry called. ‘Are you ready for lift off?’
15
CODE BRIGHT RED
When Jordan got to the to
p, Harry and Myrtle helped him out of the rope. Well, Harry did. Myrtle just gave him a good lick.
It was her way of saying I’m glad you’re safe.
‘Where’s Pingwu?’ Jordan asked, wiping dog drool off his cheek.
Harry took Myrtle’s leash and led the way to the hole in the fence.
‘Having lunch,’ he said, pointing.
Pingwu was sitting next to the bamboo, munching on a stick. He took no notice of Harry, Jordan and Myrtle.
And Myrtle didn’t try to chase him. She had learned the difference between a cat and a cat-bear.
The Mission Fox team stood watching Pingwu eat.
‘This time you can’t argue, Agent J,’ said Agent H. ‘Rescuing a giant panda is totally Code Bright Red.’
‘You’re right, Agent H. But we haven’t rescued him yet.’
‘What do you mean? We got him out of the quarry, didn’t we?’
‘Sure,’ said Agent J. ‘But a Mission Fox rescue isn’t finished until the animal is back where it’s supposed to be.’
Agent H took a moment to think about this. ‘Okay,’ he said. ‘One of us should stay here and keep an eye on him, and the other can go and get help.’
‘I reckon we can take him back ourselves, Agent H.’
Jordan picked up a juicy piece of bamboo. Holding it out in front of him, he walked slowly towards Pingwu with the coil of rope in his other hand.
Hey, Pingwu, he mind-whispered, slipping the rope over the panda’s head while Pingwu got stuck into the piece of bamboo. Do you want to come for a walk?
16
ZOO
Mrs Fox looked really cross when Harry, Jordan and Myrtle came in the back door.
‘Do you realise what time it is?’ she demanded.
Jordan glanced at the clock. It was half past three. They’d had to go the long way home – along the river bank that went under the highway, then around the edge of the golf course instead of through town. And it was hard to walk fast when you’re carrying huge armloads of bamboo. It was the only way to make Pingwu follow them.
‘One of the FoxMobile’s wheels got bent,’ Jordan explained. ‘We had to walk home.’
‘I offered to drive you,’ Mrs Fox reminded him.
‘We didn’t want to be a nuisance,’ said Harry.
‘That was thoughtful of you, Harry. But now, thanks to you and Jordan, I’ve missed my hairdresser’s appointment.’
‘I don’t think your hair needs cutting,’ said Jordan.
‘It looks really nice like it is,’ added Harry.
Mrs Fox narrowed her eyes. She looked from one twin to the other. Luckily they’d got changed out in the shed, so she didn’t see what had happened to their uniforms.
‘What are you two up to?’
‘Nothing!’ they said at the same time.
‘Something’s going on,’ their mother said. ‘You’re never like this unless you’re about to ask a favour.’
‘Well …’ said Jordan, shuffling his feet.
‘Well …’ said Harry, touching the scar on his cheek, which he did when he was nervous.
‘Out with it!’ Mrs Fox ordered.
Harry nodded at Jordan. They’d talked about it on the way back. Jordan would tell her.
‘You know how you said this house isn’t supposed to be a zoo?’ he began.
‘Yes,’ said their mother.
‘Well, Harry and I wondered if you could drive us to the actual zoo? Maybe with the trailer?’
‘What?’ said their mother. Then shook her head. ‘No!’
Harry gave Jordan an I-told-you-so look.
‘What time will Dad get home today?’ he asked.
‘The same time he always does – about five-thirty.’
‘That’s too late,’ Jordan said. ‘The zoo closes at five.’
There was a loud knock on the front door. Mrs Fox sighed and went to answer it. A policeman was standing there.
‘I’m sorry to disturb you, madam,’ he said. ‘But there have been reports of an escaped giant panda in the area. It might be dangerous, so we are asking everyone to stay indoors until it’s been captured.’
The twins’ mother stood there for a moment. Her neck and ears slowly turned pink, like they did when she was really really cross.
‘Wait there please, officer,’ she said in a low, almost calm voice.
Then she turned slowly around.
‘HARRYYYYYYYYY! JORDAAAAAAAAAAAN!’
FOR SAM, OLIVER AND MATTHEW
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First published by Penguin Group (Australia), 2011
Text copyright © Justin D’Ath, 2011
Illustrations copyright © Heath McKenzie, 2011
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ISBN: 978-1-74-253212-7