Читать книгу The Hidden Kingdom - Tracey Hecht - Страница 28

Quicksand

own, mostly made-up feats. “Oh, so many glorious tales to tell.” He sighed. “It’s hard to choose where to start!”

For a while, Tobin, Cora, and Dawn endured the sugar glider’s stories in silence. They were too hot and thirsty to chime in, ask him to stop, or challenge his exaggerated versions of his heroic deeds.

But soon enough, even Bismark’s voice began to crack, fade, and finally cease. As they continued to walk, the air grew hotter, the land became drier and rougher, and more of the strange tumbleweeds came rolling in.

“Oof!” Tobin winced as a strand of it poked the skin between his claws. He stopped to pluck it free.

“Shouldn’t we be close by now?” Cora asked, trying to catch her breath.

The pangolin gazed up. The sky was starting to brighten. Cora was right. The watering hole should have been in sight by now. But when Tobin looked across the land, all he saw were the dull browns and grays of dead shrubs. There was no sparkling water anywhere.

“Dawn?” Tobin called. “Are we…are we almost there?”

The fox paused. She had been wondering the same thing. “I thought it was closer than this,” she said.

As she scanned the horizon looking for any familiar sight, she spotted something in the distance. It

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