Panda Chase Read online

  JUSTIN D’ATH

  with illustrations by HEATH McKENZIE

  Puffin Books

  Contents

  1 NOT A ZOO

  2 MYRTLE POWER

  3 CODE … WHAT COLOUR?

  4 SLOSH!

  5 ACCIDENT

  6 TOTALLY DANGEROUS

  7 HONK!

  8 CLIMB THE BRANCH!

  9 CAPTAIN AMAZING

  10 HARRYYYYY!

  11 PET WHISPERER

  12 JAWS

  13 MONSTER FROM THE DEEP

  14 EEL FOOD

  15 CODE BRIGHT RED

  16 ZOO

  1

  NOT A ZOO

  ‘HARRYYYYYYYYY! JORDAAAAAAAAAAAN!’

  ‘Yikes!’ said Harry Fox, and ducked under the bunk bed.

  His twin brother, Jordan, headed for the wardrobe. But he had a little dropper of milk in one hand, and a tiny baby animal in the other. And everyone knows you can’t run with babies.

  The twins’ mum burst into Mission Fox Headquarters before Jordan had crossed the room. She looked mad.

  She sounded even crosser!

  ‘THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE A HOUSE,’ she yelled, ‘NOT A ZOO! And what’s that in your hand?’ Jordan tried to hide the baby animal behind his back.

  ‘Milk,’ he said, holding up the dropper.

  ‘I meant your other hand.’

  Sprung!

  ‘A baby ringtail possum’. Jordan showed her. ‘Its mum got run over by a car.’

  ‘Oh! Poor little munchkin,’ said Mrs Fox, bending over it and cooing. Like all mothers, she loved tiny babies.

  There was a slight noise from across the room.

  ‘You can come out now, Harry’, Mrs Fox said. ‘I know you’re under the bed.’

  Harry came crawling out.

  ‘Hi Mum,’ he said cheerfully.

  ‘Don’t Hi Mum me,’ she growled. ‘I’ve just come from the bathroom.’

  Oops! thought Jordan.

  ‘Come with me, both of you,’ their mother ordered. ‘NOW!’

  The twins followed her downstairs to the bathroom. So did Myrtle, their enormous dog, who was a Great-Dane-Newfoundland cross. She had come to see what all the noise was about. All three of them crowded next to the bath.

  ‘Would one of you like to explain this?’ Mrs Fox asked.

  The bath was half full of muddy brown water. And that wasn’t all. Something was in the water. Something alive. Every few seconds, a scary-looking claw would poke out of the water.

  ‘Looks like some yabbies,’ Harry said innocently.

  Their mother looked at one twin, then the other. ‘Would one of you like to tell me why there are yabbies in our bath?’

  ‘There are too many to go in the fish tank,’ Jordan explained. He was still holding the baby possum and the dropper of milk, and Myrtle was watching him closely. Myrtle loved milk. ‘Besides, nobody uses the bath since we got the new shower.’

  ‘Well, I’m not having it filled with smelly zoo animals!’ said Mrs Fox.

  Harry leaned over and sniffed the muddy water. ‘They’re not very smelly.’

  ‘And they’re not just animals,’ added Jordan, who had looked yabbies up on BRAIN, a special app on the FoxPhone (it stood for Bird, Reptile and Animal Identification Network). ‘They’re crustaceans. And they don’t usually live in zoos.’

  ‘Just get rid of them!’ growled their mother. ‘Take them back to wherever it was you got them.’

  ‘We can’t,’ Jordan said. ‘They were in Bunyip Dam, and it’s gone.’

  ‘Gone?’ said Mrs Fox.

  Harry nodded. ‘It got filled in by a bulldozer.’

  ‘They’re building some new houses there,’ Jordan explained.

  ‘We only just got the yabbies out in time,’ said Harry.

  Mrs Fox sighed. It was hard being the mother of twins, especially twins who kept bringing animals home.

  ‘Take them somewhere else then,’ she said. ‘What about Lawson Park?’

  There was a lake in Lawson Park. But it was all the way across town.

  ‘Could you drive us?’ Harry asked.

  Their mother looked at her watch. ‘I’m getting my hair done after lunch,’ she said. ‘I can drop you at the park on the way, then pick you up when I’m finished.’

  ‘Cool,’ said the twins, and turned to go.

  ‘Not so fast!’ said their mother. ‘I want this bath emptied right now!’

  ‘But we’re not taking the yabbies for ages,’ said Harry.

  Mrs Fox shrugged. ‘They’ll be okay in buckets for a couple of hours. I want this bath spotless before we go.’

  Once the twins got the yabbies out of the filthy bath, it was really hard to scrub away the mud stains. Jordan frowned as he worked.

  ‘Don’t worry, Jordan,’ said Harry. ‘We’re nearly finished.’

  ‘I don’t care about the bath,’ Jordan said. ‘I’m thinking about Lawson Park. People catch yabbies there all the time.’

  Unlike Jordan and Harry, who rescued things, most people caught yabbies to eat.

  ‘Where else can we put them?’ asked Harry.

  Jordan checked outside the bathroom door to make sure nobody was listening. The coast was clear.

  ‘The Old Quarry’ he whispered.

  2

  MYRTLE POWER

  The Old Quarry was closer than Lawson Park. It was half full of inky black water – perfect for yabbies. And nobody went there because you weren’t allowed in. A high fence ran all the way around it. There were big signs telling people to keep out.

  But there was a hole in the fence. Nobody knew about it except Jordan and Harry, and they only knew about it because of a lost kitten.

  Two weeks ago, Harry and Jordan had spotted the kitten crossing the highway. It nearly got run over. When the twins tried to rescue it, the kitten ran off. It led them all the way to the quarry fence, then in through the hole.

  That’s how they knew about the water in the quarry, too. The kitten fell in and couldn’t get out. The sides were too steep and slippery. The twins had to get a really long branch for the half-drowned kitten to use as a ladder.

  It was one of their best rescues ever.

  But they didn’t tell anyone about it. Mission Fox was a secret. Even Jordan and Harry’s parents didn’t know their two youngest sons went on dangerous rescue missions. Mr and Mrs Fox thought the twins just helped baby animals that had lost their mothers, or found missing pets. (Or rescued homeless crustaceans.)

  They would go mental if they knew Harry and Jordan had been hanging around the old quarry.

  The twins went to find their mother.

  ‘The yabbies haven’t got much room in the buckets,’ Jordan said. ‘We might take them now.’

  ‘Can’t you wait till after lunch?’ she asked. ‘It’s a long way to carry two heavy buckets.’

  ‘We’ll go in the FoxMobile,’ said Harry.

  The FoxMobile was a three-wheeled billycart with a cage on the back for rescued animals. They kept it in the back shed. The twins each carried a bucket of yabbies out to the cage. Then they went back inside to change into their Mission Fox outfits and load up the FoxPack.

  As well as all the usual Mission Fox rescue equipment, they put in an extra-long rope and a towel. Just in case.

  ‘Here, Myrtle!’ Jordan called.

  Wagging her tail, the third member of Mission Fox followed the twins out the back door.

  Jordan strapped on Myrtle’s special harness and Harry clipped it to a rope on the front of the FoxMobile. Then Jordan opened the gate to the back lane.

  ‘Who’s driving?’ he asked.

  ‘It’s my turn,’ said Harry, getting into the driver’s seat before Jordan could argue.

  It was the best seat. Jordan had
to sit behind him on a hard wooden bench made from an old kitchen chair.

  ‘All set, Agent J?’ asked his brother.

  ‘All set, Agent H.’

  Harry gripped the harness.

  ‘Mush, Agent M!’ he said.

  Myrtle was a BIG dog, as strong as a horse. The FoxMobile shot out through the gate and went bumping off down the narrow lane.

  Mission Fox to the rescue!

  Well, it wasn’t really a rescue. The yabbies had already been rescued. But finding new homes for animals was part of the Mission Fox Official Oath, which was stuck on the door at Mission Fox Headquarters.

  The one about Myrtle wasn’t a real Mission Fox promise. The twins’ mother had added it in. But they left it on the list because they got a point every time they did their chores. When they reached twenty points, they were allowed to ride go-karts with their dad at the local track.

  3

  CODE … WHAT COLOUR?

  It was about three kilometres to the old quarry. The Mission Fox agents had to go to the middle of town, turn right at Bell’s Bakery and follow Riley Street to the highway.

  Crossing the highway was the tricky bit. The traffic was really fast and there were four lanes.

  Today there was an extra problem. Two sheep stood on the narrow strip of grass in the middle of the highway. They looked scared. Cars and huge trucks roared past on both sides, missing the sheep by centimetres.

  One wrong move, and they’d be lamb chops.

  ‘What do you think, Agent J?’ asked Harry.

  ‘We’d better rescue them, Agent H,’ said Jordan.

  They tied Myrtle (and the FoxMobile) to a big tree and waited for a gap in the traffic. As soon as the road was clear, Jordan and Harry walked out onto the highway, yelling and waving their arms. The sheep ran across into a patch of scrub on the other side.

  The twins crossed carefully back to their side of the highway and gave each other a high five.

  ‘Good rescue!’ said Jordan.

  ‘Do you think it was Code Bright Red?’ Harry asked.

  Jordan shook his head. ‘Code Bright Red is zoo animals and crocodiles. It was Code Yellow.’

  ‘No way!’ said Harry. ‘Code Yellow is just pets and stuff.’

  ‘Sheep are pets,’ Jordan said.

  ‘They are not! They’re farm animals.’

  The twins fell silent. They both realised there was no code for farm animals.

  ‘What about Code Orange?’ Jordan said finally.

  Harry shook his head. ‘Code Orange is for animals that are sick or hurt. Those two sheep could have got killed. It was a Code Bright Red Rescue.’

  ‘But they didn’t get killed,’ said Jordan. ‘They weren’t even hurt. Code Bright Red is for really dangerous rescues.’

  ‘It was really dangerous,’ Harry argued, watching a huge truck go past. ‘The sheep could have died. We could have died.’

  Jordan sighed. ‘Okay then. It was more dangerous than a Code Yellow or a Code Orange. Let’s call it a Code Red.’

  ‘That’s for wild animals,’ Harry said.

  ‘Wild animals and sheep on a highway,’ said Jordan.

  ‘You just made that up!’

  ‘I know. But I’ll write it on the list as soon as we get home.’

  They started walking back towards Agent M and the FoxMobile.

  ‘Code Bright Red,’ Harry muttered under his breath.

  ‘Code Red,’ said Jordan.

  ‘Bright Red.’

  ‘Red’

  ‘Bright Red …’

  4

  SLOSH!

  They waited for another break in the traffic.

  ‘Mush, Agent M!’ cried Harry, who was back in the driver’s seat.

  Agent M took off. The FoxMobile rolled across the four empty lanes (and the grassy bit in the middle) before any cars or trucks came along. Myrtle wasn’t just strong, she was FAST!

  There were no houses on the other side. Just bushes and forest. Jordan looked for the sheep but they had gone. That was lucky because sheep and highways are not a good mix. The sheep could have got killed, or caused a big car crash.

  Maybe Harry was right, Jordan thought. Maybe sheep on a highway was a Bright Red Rescue.

  But he wasn’t going to admit that now.

  The FoxMobile bumped and bounced over the dirt road that led to the quarry.

  At last they reached the quarry gate. It was closed and had a big rusty lock on it.

  The twins parked the FoxMobile next to the Do Not Enter sign and undid Myrtle’s harness. Then they each took a bucket of yabbies and walked through the overgrown scrub. Myrtle ran on ahead. She went right past the hole in the fence. It was hard to see because there was so much bamboo in front of it. If it wasn’t for the lost kitten, Jordan and Harry would never have known it was there. They called Myrtle back and went in.

  It wasn’t far from the hole in the fence to the big hole in the ground that used to be the quarry. Thick bushes grew to the edge. If you didn’t know it was there, you could fall in. Just like the kitten had.

  ‘Whoa, Myrtle!’ said Jordan, grabbing her collar.

  It was like standing next to a moon crater. Except moon craters aren’t half full of inky black water. Jordan took three steps back, pulling Myrtle after him.

  ‘You should see your face, Agent J!’ Harry teased. ‘You’re white as a ghost!’

  ‘I was worried Myrtle might fall in.’

  ‘She can swim,’ said Harry.

  ‘But how would we get her out?’ Jordan asked.

  It was a three-metre drop into the water. And the sides of the quarry went straight down, except over the far side, where part of the cliff had caved in, making a clay ramp. The kitten had tried to get out there, but the clay was covered with green slime, and was much too slippery. Myrtle would never be able to climb up.

  Something else was worrying Jordan, too. The inky black water. He’d had a bad nightmare about it after they’d rescued the kitten. He’d dreamed a monster lived down there.

  ‘Let’s just let the yabbies go, and get out of here,’ he said.

  Harry leaned over the edge and tipped his bucket of yabbies into the quarry. ‘Bombs away!’ he said as they fell.

  They hit the water and made lots of small splashes.

  ‘Your turn, Agent J,’ Harry said.

  Jordan didn’t move. He wasn’t going any closer. ‘Could you empty my bucket for me please, Agent H?’

  This time, Harry didn’t tease him. He took Jordan’s bucket and tipped it over the edge.

  There were more small splashes and a very loud SLOSH!

  Harry was still peering over the edge.

  ‘Shishkebab!’ he gasped, looking like he’d seen a ghost. Or something worse than a ghost.

  ‘What is it?’ asked Jordan.

  ‘I don’t know,’ Harry said in a shaky voice. ‘Something huge came up after the yabbies. It looked like a … like a …’

  Like a monster? Jordan was about to ask.

  But before he could say it, there was an even louder noise.

  CRAAAAAAAAAAAASH!

  5

  ACCIDENT

  ‘What was that?’ asked Harry.

  ‘I don’t know,’ said Jordan, looking back the way they had come. ‘It sounded like a car crash. It came from over there.’

  ‘That’s where the highway is,’ said his brother. ‘I hope nobody got hurt.’

  Moments later, both twins and Myrtle were running.

  Through the scrub, through the hole in the fence, back to the FoxMobile. Working together, Jordan and Harry attached Myrtle’s harness in record time. They clipped it to the FoxMobile.

  ‘Mush!’ yelled Jordan. It was his turn to drive.

  The FoxMobile flew back down the bumpy dirt road towards the highway.

  Halfway there, they passed two sheep coming the other way. It was the same two sheep they’d chased off the highway. This time the sheep looked really scared, like something bad had happened.


  Uh-oh! thought Jordan.

  When they reached the highway, the twins could hardly believe their eyes. A big truck lay on its side in the middle of the road. It was blocking two lanes.

  Jordan stopped Myrtle at the highway’s edge.

  ‘What’ll we do?’ he asked.

  There was nobody else there. They were the first people to arrive.

  ‘We’d better see if the driver’s okay,’ said Harry.

  They left Myrtle and the FoxMobile at the side of the road and walked towards the truck. There was oil and glass all over the road. The air smelled like petrol. Harry climbed up onto the wreck. Jordan climbed up after him. They looked down through a broken window into the driver’s seat.

  There was a man inside. He was stuck behind the steering wheel. He was looking up at them.

  ‘Are you okay?’ Harry asked.

  ‘My legs are stuck,’ groaned the truck driver.

  They heard a car coming. Harry climbed down to get them to stop and help. Jordan stayed with the truck driver. When someone has a bad accident, you are supposed to talk to them and keep them calm until help arrives.

  ‘My brother’s gone to get help,’ Jordan said. ‘They’ll have you out of here soon.’

  The man nodded. ‘Some sheep ran in front of me. I must have hit the brakes too hard.’

  ‘You missed the sheep,’ Jordan told him.

  ‘But I crashed the truck,’ he said.

  ‘It wasn’t your fault.’

  The man was shaking badly. Jordan remembered the FoxPack. It was still on his back. He struggled to get it off, then pulled out the towel. Leaning in through the broken window, Jordan put the towel around the driver like a blanket.

  ‘Thanks,’ said the man. He half closed his eyes, then opened them again. ‘Could you do me a favour, mate?’

  ‘Sure,’ said Jordan.

  ‘Check on Pingwu.’

  That was the last thing the truck driver said before his eyes closed all the way and he seemed to be asleep.

  Or worse!

  ‘Hey, Mister?’ Jordan said, really worried. He didn’t know what to do. ‘Mister? Hey, Mister! Can you hear me?’