It felt her there, and turned its snout to snap at her.
Now a honey badger has very loose skin, but it’s also very thick. Belinda had to use all the strength of her jaws to pierce it. She closed her poison-pincers with all her might in the fleshy part of its rear end.
Well, that certainly made up the badger’s mind about whether to eat Harry and George, or indeed any other centipede, ever again. It let out another squeal and made off as fast as it could, turning every now and then to snap at the painful place where Belinda had bitten it.
And while the hairy-biter ran away, Belinda rushed into the box. “Pride-of-my-basket! Best-in-my-nest!” she crackled, swarming all over Harry in transports of happiness and relief. “Oh my sweet Hxzltl! My dear little Grnddjl! Come to my feelers!”
And you can be sure they did.
But the hugging and kissing (centipede-style) didn’t last long. They were all eager to get out of the trap, away from the Hoo-Min’s nest. Belinda led the way and they raced after her through the familiar smells and sounds, to the nearest entrance-tunnel, down it as fast as their three-times-forty-two legs would carry them, tumbling at last into their own beloved nest where their leaves and all that meant home to them, waited.
“Oh, Grndd!”
“Oh, Hx!”
“We’re home! We’re home! We’re home!”
Every night since Harry had disappeared, Belinda had prepared food for him in case he came back, and then gone out to hunt for him. So now there was a good feast of locust, toad’s legs, and a slug each for dessert.
While they ate, they told their story to Belinda, who listened, mouth-parts agape in wonder and horror at their adventures. She didn’t know whether to praise them or scold them. But in the end she did neither. She just rubbed her head against theirs and stroked them with her feelers – what else could she do? She was so happy to have them home again.
But long after they’d gone to their leaves, Belinda stood guard over them and thought to herself, “I wish I could stop them ever going out of our tunnels again! I wish I could keep them from danger!” But she knew she couldn’t. Centis will be centis and there wasn’t a thing she could do about it.
“Who would be a mother?” she thought. And then answered, “I would …”
And she gave them both a centipede kiss and went contentedly to sleep.
Also by the Author
Harry the Poisonous Centipede
Harry the Poisonous Centipede Goes to Sea
The Indian in the Cupboard
Return of the Indian
The Mystery of the Cupboard
The Secret of the Indian
The Key to the Indian
Alice by Accident
Angela and Diabola
The Dungeon
Stealing Stacey
Tiger Tiger
Copyright
HarperCollins Children’s Books
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First published in hardback in Great Britain by Collins 2000
First published in paperback by Collins 2001
This edition published by HarperCollins Children’s Books 2012
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Text copyright © Lynne Reid Banks 2000
Illustrations copyright © Tony Ross 2000
Cover illustration © Tony Ross
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Source ISBN: 9780007476794
EBook Edition © MARCH 2013 ISBN: 9780007522309
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