04 Joey

Chapter 04 Joey “ Oh, no! ” cried Annie. “ We have to save her! ” She took off after the dogs. Arf! Arf! Arf! Teddy barked over Jack’s shoulder. Jack ran after Annie with the book under his arm. He ran over the dry, cracked ground, past scrubby bushes and scattered gum trees. Jack kept his eye on Annie, running ahead of him. He saw her stop suddenly. She turned and dropped to her knees.

“ What happened?” he shouted. “ Come look! ” she said. Jack reached Annie. Beside her in the grass was the baby kangaroo. It was trembling. “ Don’t be scared, ” Annie was saying. Then she looked at Jack. “ Where’s his mom? Why did she drop him?”

“ I don’t know, ” said Jack. He put his pack on the ground and opened the Australia book. Teddy jumped out of the pack. The little dog tried to sniff the baby kangaroo. “ Don’t scare him, Teddy, ” Annie said. Teddy sat back and watched politely.

Jack opened the Australia book and found a picture of a baby kangaroo. He read: The biggest enemy of the kangaroo is the dingo, the wild dog of Australia. When a mother kangaroo is chased by dingoes, she may throw her joey out of her pouch. Without the extra weight in her pouch, she can leap faster and farther. She then leads the dingoes away from her baby. If she escapes the dingoes, she returns to the joey. “ Oh, Jack, ” Annie said sadly. “ I hope his mother escapes from the dingoes. ” “ Me, too, ” said Jack. “ Hi, Joey, ” said Annie. She gently patted the baby kangaroo. “ He’s so soft, Jack. ” Jack knelt down and touched the brown fur. It was soft, the softest fur he had ever felt.

The shy little kangaroo stared at Jack with big brown eyes and trembled. “ Don’t be scared, Joey, ” Annie said. “ Your mom’s going to come back for you. ” Joey jumped away from Jack and Annie. He hopped toward Jack’s pack, which was sitting on the ground. The baby kangaroo took a giant leap and dived headfirst into the pack! His whole body went inside, but his big feet stuck out. Then he turned himself over and peeked out at Jack and Annie. They both laughed. “ He thinks your pack is a pouch! ” said Annie. “ I know. Put it on backward. It will feel like when his mom carries him. ” Jack put his Australia book on the ground. Then Annie helped him put the pack on his chest instead of on his back. The joey was heavy!