Read Toad Away for Free Online Page B

far below.
    OK, thought Limpy.
Almost
certain.
    Once the birds reached cruising altitude, Goliath's warts turned pale and he started to panic.
    “Can you fly a bit lower?” he said to his bird. “It's not that I'm scared of heights or anything. I'm just trying to spot more human targets so we can do more bombing runs.”
    Goliath's bird ignored him.
    “All right,” wailed Goliath. “I
am
scared of heights.”
    His bird still ignored him.
    Limpy wasn't enjoying the flight either, and he didn't mind heights. He didn't even mind his bird's claws digging painfully into the loose skin at the back of his neck, or the cold air making his warts and eyeballs ache.
    What he hated was how, apart from a few clouds, the sky ahead was completely empty. Not a sign of Charm.
    Limpy tried not to think of the awful things that could be happening to his little sister. Lightning strikes. Thunderstorms with hail the size of mice. Attacks by eagles or ducks.
    He tried to console himself by thinking about Charm's strengths. He knew she could look after herself, he'd seen her do it loads of times. She could disable a killer wombat just with tickling.
    But she'd never done it this high up.
    “Excuse me,” Limpy said to his bird. “Any chance of flying a bit faster?”
    “Excuse me,” said his bird. “This is a three-day flight. I'm trying to conserve energy. Any chance of reducing wind-drag by keeping your mouth shut?”
    After a lot more flying, Goliath started to enjoy the trip.
    “This isn't so bad,” he called across to Limpy. “I really like the in-flight meal service.”
    Limpy had to admit it wasn't so bad. Every time the big wings flapped above his head, a shower of tiny lice and mites tumbled down out of the feathers. All you had to do was stick your tongue out.
    That's if you could stomach food in the first place.
    Limpy's guts were so knotted he had lice and mites knocking on the inside of his mouth asking to be let out.
    “Look!” yelled Goliath. “Humans!”
    Limpy peered down. Goliath was right. They were flying over the outskirts of a city. Limpy could see roads and buildings and those places where humans took their cars for a drink.
    “Get your mucus into lumps, everyone!” yelled Goliath. “We'll bomb the mongrels!”
    “Or, alternatively,” said Goliath's bird, “some of us could use our mucus to block our mouths up so we can have some peace and quiet.”
    Limpy didn't join in this discussion. He was too busy staring ahead, excitement surging through him about what he could suddenly see in the distance. Several birds, wheeling in a circle. Birds like the ones he and Goliath were traveling with.
    Dangling from the claws of one was a tiny figure.
    Limpy couldn't see her face, but he recognized the determined shape of her shoulders and the way her legs were flapping behind her just like they did when Dad spun her round by her poison glands.
    “Charm!” screamed Limpy.
    He tugged frantically at his bird's ankles.
    “We've got to catch up with her!” he yelled.
    “Excuse me,” said Limpy's bird.“I do distance. If youwanted speed, you should have waited for a sparrow.”
    Suddenly Limpy stopped listening. He almost stopped breathing. He stared helplessly at the awful, horrible, terrible thing that was happening up ahead.
    Charm wasn't dangling from her bird's claws anymore.
    She was falling, tumbling, plummeting toward the ground.

“C harm!” yelled Limpy.
    “He's dropped her!” screamed Goliath.
    “Excuse me,” said Goliath's bird. “We don't drop passengers. If she's finishing her flight here, it's because she wants to.”
    Limpy had never heard such rubbish. This wasn't the Amazon. They hadn't traveled nearly far enough. And anyway, who would want to end a journey falling from this height onto a big area of concrete?
    “No,” croaked Limpy.
    He couldn't take his eyes off his dear plummeting sister. He didn't want to look, but he couldn't stop himself.
    Poor thing. She'd come all this way only to