08 Little Billy Hung On Tight

Little Billy Hung On Tight Little Billy hung on tight. Oh, it was thrilling to be flying on the back of this great swan! It was wonderful to be up in the air and to feel the air swishing past his face. He hung on very tightly to Swan's feathers. And suddenly, there it was just below them, the huge billow of orange-red smoke and steam coming from the nostrils of the awesome Gruncher. The smoke enveloped the beast completely, and yet through the smoke, as they got very close, Little Billy could just make out the enormous black shadow of some hairy monster.

The snorting grew louder, and as the brute got more and more excited by the nearness of the delicious Little Billy smell, the smoke began coming out faster and faster, whoomphwhoomph, whoomph-whoomph, whoomph-whoomph. Little Billy could feel the monster getting closer, whoomphwhoomph, whoomph-whoomph, whoomph-whoomph. Swan was flying back and forth right in front of the snorting cloud of smoke, tempting and tantalizing the beast and driving him mad with greed. The beast, or rather the cloud of smoke, kept lunging at Little Billy, but Swan was too quick for him and jinked away every time. The snorting grew louder and more ferocious every second, and the whoomph- whoomphs of thick hot steam came pouring out, thicker than ever.

Once, Swan looked round to see if Little Billy was all right. Little Billy nodded and smiled, and he could swear Swan nodded and smiled back at him. At last, Swan must have decided they had done enough teasing. The great thick orange-red cloud was leaping up and down in a frenzy of hunger

and desire, and the whole forest was echoing with the snorts and growls of the awesome creature. Swan glided round and headed in a straight line towards the edge of the forest, and of course the vast cloud of smoke came hurtling after him. Swan was very careful to fly low all the time, keeping just in front of the Gruncher, leading him on and on, threading a path carefully through the great trees in the forest. The scent of human food was very strong in the Gruncher's nostrils, and he must have been thinking that so long as he kept going flat out, he would catch his meal in the end. Suddenly, right in front of them, on the edge of the forest, was the lake. The Gruncher, hurtling

along right behind them, was interested only in the glorious human scent he was following. Swan flew straight towards the lake. He skimmed low over the water. The Gruncher kept going. Little Billy, looking back, saw the Gruncher plunging right into the lake, and then the whole lake seemed to erupt in a mass of boiling steaming frothing bubbling water.

For a brief moment, the terrible Red-Hot Smoke-Belching Gruncher made the lake boil and smoke like a volcano, then the fire went out and the awesome beast disappeared under the waves.