Dingoes at Dinnertime - Mary Pope Osborne [5]
Jack and Teddy turned to go. The baby kangaroo hid his head inside Jack’s pack.
“I’ll catch up!” said Annie. “I have to get something!”
“What? ” cried Jack.
But Annie had dashed off in the other direction.
“Come back!” Jack shouted. “Annie!”
Branches cracked and fell from the trees. Smoke billowed everywhere.
Arf! Arf!
“Annie!” Jack cried.
Jack choked on the smoke. He coughed and rubbed his eyes. The air was getting hotter.
He had no choice. He had to run.
Arf! Arf! Teddy barked from somewhere ahead.
“Hurry, Annie!” Jack called helplessly. Then he took off after Teddy.
He stumbled blindly through the brush. All he could do was follow the sound of Teddy’s barking. His pack felt heavier and heavier. He held it up with his arms and kept going.
Suddenly, Jack heard Annie calling him.
Jack stopped.
“Here! Here! Here! We’re here!” he shouted. “Come on! Follow us!”
Annie appeared through the haze of the hot smoke. She was coughing. Tears streamed from her eyes.
She was carrying the koala!
“Come on!” Jack cried. “Follow Teddy!”
Arf! Arf!
Jack and Annie carried Joey and the koala. They followed Teddy’s barking through the smoky, fire-filled forest.
Finally, they came to a giant rock.
Arf! Arf!
Teddy was standing on a ledge. Behind him was the mouth of a cave.
Through the smoke, Jack could barely see the little dog.
Teddy barked again, then vanished inside the cave.
“Follow him!” said Annie.
Jack and Annie climbed onto the rock ledge and stepped into the cave. The air inside was cleaner and cooler than the air outside.
“I can’t see anything,” said Jack.
He patted the head of the baby kangaroo.
“Me neither,” said Annie.
Arf! Arf!
“I guess we’ll have to follow Teddy’s bark,” said Annie. “Let’s hold hands.”
She held out her free hand to Jack. Jack took it. Then he put his other hand out and touched the wall. The joey moved in his pack.
Jack and Annie walked into the darkness.
Arf!
Teddy kept barking, leading them on.
Arf!
Arf!
Arf!
Arf!
Suddenly, Jack felt something thump against his leg. He stopped and gasped.
“What is it?” said Annie.
Arf!
It was Teddy! His tail was wagging and hitting Jack’s leg.
“What is it, boy?” Jack asked him.
Teddy let out a howl.
As he howled, an amazing thing happened.
A white line began to glow in the air. The glowing line grew until it looked like a giant snake. Then glowing handprints appeared below the snake.
Jack felt Annie squeeze his hand.
“I think it’s painted on the wall,” she said.
“But what is it?” whispered Jack.
“I don’t know,” said Annie.
She let go of Jack and put her hand inside one of the painted handprints.
Jack did the same.
Despite the glowing painting, the rock felt smooth and cool. It almost seemed to breathe.
A ghost-like whistling sound came through the darkness. Then a loud boom!
“What’s that? ” Jack quickly took his hand off the wall.
The boom came again.
“It sounded like thunder,” said Annie.
Arf! Arf!
“Teddy’s leaving!” said Annie.
She grabbed Jack’s hand. They turned back the way they had come and followed Teddy’s barking again.
Arf!
They followed the little dog until they saw a flash of light.
“Lightning,” said Annie. “Lightning and thunder! We’re at the front of the cave! Yay!”
Annie pulled Jack toward the mouth of the cave and out, into a pouring rain.
Rain fell on Jack’s head and on Joey’s head. Rain fell on Annie’s head and on Teddy’s head and on the koala’s head.
Annie opened her mouth and drank the rainwater.
Jack did the same. The water tasted better than any water he’d ever drunk.
When Jack looked back at the woods, misty steam was rising from the charred ground and burning bushes.
The heavy rain was putting out the wildfire.
“You’ll be safe now,” Annie said to the koala. “I’ll put you back in a nice gum tree. Then you can finish your nap.”
“I see a tree that’s not burned,” said Jack.
They walked over to the unburned gum tree. Annie placed the koala in the fork of two branches.
“Go back to sleep now,” she said softly. “Pretend the fire was all a dream.”
“Good night,