6 So Fuzzy, So Soft, So Not a Kitten

Chapter 6 SO FUZZY, SO SOFT, SO NOT A KITTEN... The death adder's tongue flicked from its closed mouth. meep… "Snake smell stuff with tongue," said Thudd quietly. The thick yellow-and-brown-striped death adder slithered slowly away from the rock pile. It looped its way over the sand. Andrew and Judy watched it till it was too far away to see. meep… "Sun gonna set," said Thudd. He pointed to the sun, now lower in the sky and more orange. "Lotsa animals gonna wake up. Start to hunt. Big danger."

Judy slapped at her clothes, trying to get rid of the sticky, stinky gecko spray. "Yeesh!" she said. "I smell like a litter box!" meep… "Nose get used to smell," said Thudd. "In little while, Drewd and Oody not smell stinky stuff anymore." Andrew shrugged. "Maybe the smell will keep some dangerous animals away," he said. The sky lit up with ribbons of color— orange and rose and red and purple. Far away, Uluru rock glowed like polished copper. Judy lifted her sunglasses to get a better look. "Cheese Louise!" she exclaimed. "Wild colors!" meep… "Desert sunset got lotsa color," said Thudd, "cuz desert got lotsa dust. "Color happen when light bounce off stuff. Light bounce off dust in desert air." "Let's pick up the pace," said Andrew, trudging ahead. "It'll be dark soon."

Judy rolled her eyes. "It's been hours," she said. "And we're only a few yards from where we started." "If we could only find a way to use the wind. It's blowing toward Uluru," said Andrew. "It feels cold," said Judy. meep… "Desert air cool fast, fast, fast," said Thudd. "Desert air not got much water. Water in air is what hold heat." Big, airy tumbleweeds bounced over the sand and grass and sped away. Hmmm, thought Andrew. "Maybe we could…" Just then, he felt the ground shake a little. He looked around. Behind them were dozens of leaping creatures as tall as refrigerators. They jumped as high as they were tall. Some could have bounded across a classroom in a single leap. "Wowzers schnauzers!" shouted Andrew. "Kangaroos!" "A whole herd of kangaroos!" said Judy.

Some of the kangaroos stopped to nibble on a bush. meep… "Bunch of kangaroos called mob," said Thudd. "Kangaroos looking for grass and leaves to eat." "The kangaroos are about a billion times bigger than we are," said Judy. "If one of them stomps on us, we're kangaroo toe jam. Let's find somewhere to hide." Andrew and Judy took off.

Thumpa! Thumpa! Thumpa! They managed to reach a witchetty bush just as the kangaroos were almost on top of them. Kangaroos were stopping to nibble leaves. Chuck, chuck, chuck! a kangaroo called loudly. THUMP! A kangaroo foot slammed down next to Andrew and Judy. It was so close that a giant black claw brushed the tip of their toes! The next instant, the kangaroo leapt off. Its humongous claw sent them tumbling across the sand like bug- sized golf balls. Suddenly they stopped rolling and started falling down and down into darkness. The kangaroo had tossed them into a hole. But it wasn't just a hole. It was the entrance to a steep underground tunnel. "Oooof!" hollered Andrew. "Aaaack!" yelped Judy. Andrew whammed into something soft, something furry. Downy hairs tickled his neck and legs. Feels like a kitten, thought Andrew.

"Where are we?" asked Judy. Andrew whipped off his sunglasses. He unclipped his mini-flashlight from his belt loop and flicked it on. The beam lit up a cave that was almost filled with a giant, hairy lump the size of a person's fist.