Koala Roundup
Page 3
The four Mission Fox agents took off along the fenceline. It was too late to worry about anything except reaching the gate. They had to get out of the koala sanctuary before the bushfire arrived.
They had to save themselves!
But had they left it too late?
Jordan noticed a yellow glow ahead of them. It turned the smoke orange. Then there was a deafening roar, like huge train was coming.
But it wasn’t a train.
All four MF agents skidded to a standstill. Ahead of them was a terrifying sight. A wall of flames swept out of the forest and raced towards the fence. They were cut off!
‘Back the other way!’ Harry yelled.
They turned and raced back the way they had come. Back along the fenceline. But even as they ran, Jordan and Harry knew it was useless. There was only one gate, and it was behind them – somewhere in the flames.
They were trapped!
12
MYRTLE MAGIC
Zzzz! Zzzz! Zzzz! Zzzz!
The FoxPhone started vibrating again in Jordan’s pocket. This time he didn’t answer it. He just ran flat-out after his brother and Myrtle and Tink through the clouds of choking brown smoke. But there was nowhere to go. There was no way to escape the bushfire.
But they kept running anyway.
Zzzz! Zzzz! Zzzz! Zzzz!
Jordan wished the FoxPhone would stop. It seemed to be teasing him, saying stuff like, Hey, there’s a phone in your pocket – why don’t you call Triple 0?
But it was too late to call Triple 0. A fire truck could never reach them in time.
‘Shishkebab!’ cried Harry.
Everybody stopped running. There was an orange glow in the smoke ahead. The fire was in front of them, behind them, and up in the thick forest to their right. It surrounded them on three sides. On the fourth side was a huge fence with spiky wire on top.
They were all going to die!
Jordan nearly stepped in a hole. They had run all the way back to the rabbit warren. He looked at the hole under the fence and wished there was a magic spell that could shrink him, Harry and the dogs to the size of ducklings. Then they could get under the fence.
Suddenly he had a brainwave. Rummaging in the FoxPack, Jordan found their last muesli bar. He showed it to Myrtle.
‘Do you want some people food, Agent M?’ he said in his special Pet Whisperer’s voice.
Agent M looked at it and drooled.
Jordan quickly unwrapped the muesli bar and tossed it over the fence.
‘It’s yours if you can get it!’
It probably took the rabbits hours to dig the rabbit-sized hole under the fence. But Myrtle’s paws were huge. In two minutes flat, there was a Myrtle-sized hole under the fence. She squeezed through and pounced on the muesli bar.
CHOMP!
Jordan was next through the hole, followed by Harry and Tink.
‘Good work, Agent M,’ Jordan mind-whispered.
‘Let’s get down to the river!’ Harry cried, tugging on Tink’s rope.
The fire was getting really close.
‘Wait!’ said Jordan.
He pointed back through the fence. There were koalas everywhere, waddling back and forth between the trees. They were looking for a way out of the sanctuary. But because of all the thick brown smoke, none of them could see the big new hole under the fence.
‘We can’t leave them in there!’ Jordan said. ‘They’ll all be killed!’
Harry grabbed his arm. ‘There’s nothing we can do, Agent J. We’ve got to get down to the river. The fire’s nearly here!’
But Jordan remembered the Mission Fox Official Oath. And he had an idea.
‘Undo Tink’s lead,’ he cried. He had to raise his voice because the roar of the fire was so loud.
‘Why?’ shouted Harry.
‘Just do it!’
Harry untied the rope from Tink’s collar, then Jordan crouched next to her.
‘Round up the koalas, Special Agent T,’ he mind-whispered. ‘Bring them out of the sanctuary.’
The puppy seemed to understand. She darted through the hole and disappeared into the swirling smoke.
13
KOALA DOG
WOOOOOOO! WOOOOOOOO! WOOOOOOOOOO!
Harry and Jordan nearly jumped out of their sneakers. They had been hearing sirens all afternoon, but this one sounded much closer than the others. And it was getting even closer.
WOOOOOOOOOO!
They turned to look. A red flashing light was approaching them through the smoke. Below it was a pair of dim orange headlights. Slowly they got brighter, and yellower, and bigger. Then a large red truck appeared.
It was a fire truck!
The truck came bumping along the track next to the fence. It stopped when it reached the Mission Fox agents. Four doors burst open and a whole lot of firemen in yellow rescue gear came tumbling out.
‘Are you Harry and Jordan?’ one of them cried.
‘Quick!’ yelled another. ‘Into the truck!’
Harry climbed up, but Jordan stayed where he was. He pointed back through the fence. ‘There’s a puppy in there!’
A fireman put his arm around him. ‘Sorry, buddy,’ he said. ‘We can’t risk everyone’s lives for a puppy.’
Jordan knew he was right. The fire was too close. He could see flames. A tree was on fire. They had to go now. But he couldn’t stop thinking about Tink. He had sent her back into the sanctuary. She was going to die, and it was Jordan’s fault!
There were tears in Jordan’s eyes as he climbed into the fire truck. Three firemen lifted Myrtle up behind him, then they jumped in, too. Doors slammed. Everyone did up their seat belts.
‘Get us out of here, Brendan!’ said the fireman next to Harry.
Brendan was the driver. He started the engine and began turning the fire truck around. Jordan lowered his head and covered his eyes. Not only had Mission Fox failed to save the koalas, they had caused a puppy to die!
‘Stop!’ cried Harry. ‘I can see something!’
Everyone looked where Harry was pointing. Jordan wiped his eyes. A small grey shape was coming towards them through the smoke.
‘That must be your puppy,’ one of the firemen said. ‘I guess we can wait for it.’
But it wasn’t Tink. As the animal came closer, the smoke cleared for a moment and they could see what it was – a koala.
Another koala appeared behind it, then another. Soon there were about thirty koalas, all in a big group, waddling towards the fence. In the middle was a mother koala with a baby on its back.
Behind the koalas, rushing busily back and forth, like a well-trained sheepdog doing the job it liked best, was a little black and white puppy.
‘Amazing!’ said one of the firemen. ‘A koala dog!’
14
NICE ONE, SPECIAL AGENT T!
Everyone piled out of the truck. The firemen quickly unrolled fire hoses and began spraying the forest around Tink and the koalas to keep the fire back. The flames were huge and hot. They hissed and sizzled in the water from the hoses.
‘Here, puppy!’ called Brendan, heading for the hole in the fence.
Harry tapped his arm. ‘Could you stand back, please?’ he said politely. ‘You’ll scare the koalas.’
Harry led Brendan back to the fire truck. He gave his brother a nod. ‘Do your stuff, Agent J.’
‘Bring them through the hole, Tink,’ Jordan mind-whispered, and then he stood very still.
The koalas were scared of the siren and the hoses and the men in yellow suits, but they were more scared of the fire. Tink herded them through the big, Myrtle-sized hole under the fence. As soon as they were out of the sanctuary, the koalas went charging off through the scrub towards the river.
Jordan picked up Tink and kissed her on the nose.
‘Nice one, Special Agent T!’ he mind-whispered.
15
MUCH TOO SMART
The firemen dropped the twins at the end of their street.
‘That was so cool!’ Har
ry said as they watched the fire truck roar back to fight the bushfire.
Jordan was still trembling. ‘We nearly died!’
‘But we didn’t,’ said Harry. ‘And we saved the koalas.’
‘Special Agent Tink saved them,’ Jordan said, giving her the secret MF head pat.
‘It was a team effort,’ said Harry, giving Myrtle the secret MF high nine (five fingers and four dog toes). ‘And it was definitely Bright Red on the MF Danger Code.’
Jordan grinned. Code Bright Red rescues were really good (once they were over, that is).
He gave Harry the secret MF handshake.
‘Mission complete, Agent H!’
‘Mission complete, Agent J!’
Zzzz! Zzzz! Zzzz! Zzzz!
The FoxPhone was ringing again. Jordan thought it was probably Rachael from Wildlife Rescue, checking that they were okay. The firemen told them that she had rung Triple 0 and said two boys were trapped in the koala sanctuary. That’s how they knew Jordan and Harry’s names.
‘Mission Fox Animal Rescue,’ Jordan answered the FoxPhone. ‘Is an animal in danger, or have you lost your pet?’
‘Have you found my puppy yet?’ someone asked. It was the lady who owned Tinkerbell.
‘Yes, we found her,’ said Jordan.
‘Thank heavens!’ cried the lady. ‘We were worried she might have got caught in the bushfire.’
Jordan gave Special Agent T the secret MF tummy rub.
‘Tink’s much too smart for that,’ he said.
Q&A WITH AUTHOR JUSTIN D’ATH
What’s your favourite animal and why?
I don’t like questions about favourites because I find it difficult to choose just one! Probably my dog, Fly. But if I had to choose a wild animal, I’d say the African elephant. They’re so impressive (and scary!) when you’re on foot and meet one face to face, like I did a few years ago in Africa. It was HUGE!!!!
Have you ever had or been in a secret gang?
When we were 9, the same age as Harry and Jordan, two of my friends and I pretended we were secret agents (nobody else knew!).
Who are you more like: Harry or Jordan?
As a boy, I was a bit like both of them. My bedroom was like a zoo – I had two budgies, three turtles, a mouse, caterpillars and a pet redback spider called Cleopatra.
Do you have any scars like the one on Harry’s cheek? If so, how did you get them??
I have a scar on my elbow where one of my big brothers accidentally shot me with an arrow.
What was your inspiration for the Mission Fox series?
I guess my own childhood was the biggest inspiration. But I wasn’t allowed a dog, so I’m very jealous of Jordan and Harry, who own the biggest dog in Australia (and possibly the world).
When you were a kid, what did you like to read?
My favourite books were those with animals in them, and they had to be exciting, too.
What’s the most dangerous thing you’ve ever done?
I can’t answer this question because some kids want me to be their role model – and kids should NEVER walk across railway bridges when a train is coming.
Would you rather be Captain Amazing or the Pet Whisperer?
I’d love to be a Pet Whisperer, then maybe my dogs would obey me.
Can you write anywhere, or do you have to be in a particular place?
I can only write on my computer, which is in my study. But I do a lot of planning in my head when I’m driving, riding my bike or out walking my dogs.
Of all the characters you’ve ever written, which one do you like the best?
My favourite character is Jordan and Harry’s big brother Sam, who’s the main character in all 12 Extreme Adventures.
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First published by Penguin Group (Australia), 2013
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Illustrations copyright © Heath McKenzie, 2013
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ISBN: 978-1-74253-468-8