Harry the Poisonous Centipede's Big Adventure: Another Story to Make You Squirm

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Harry the Poisonous Centipede's Big Adventure: Another Story to Make You Squirm Page 7

by Lynne Reid Banks


  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

  An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers

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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

  The HarperCollins website address is

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  Text copyright © Lynne Reid Banks 2000

  Illustrations copyright © Tony Ross 2000

  Cover illustration © Tony Ross

  The author and illustrator assert the moral right to be

  identified as the author and illustrator of the work.

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  Source ISBN: 9780007476794

  EBook Edition © MARCH 2013 ISBN: 9780007522309

  Version 2

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