Read Online Harry the Poisonous Centipede Goes to Sea by Lynne Reid Banks - Free Book Online
Authors: Lynne Reid Banks
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escape. Unable to crackle to each other. Scared out of their wits.
They thought their stopping-time had come.
15. Under Ground, Under Glass
Josie and George couldn’t escape because their flowerpots were standing on concrete. But Harry’s flowerpot was resting on a seed tray full of soft compost.
He didn’t run in circles for long. He started burrowing. And while the Hoo-Min was still hurrying towards his house, Harry was free.
He shook the compost out of his breathing-holes and scuttled away as fast as he could. He found a hiding place ofsorts behind a lot of close-together flowerpots (with flowers growing in them) on the shelf. It wasn’t dark enough or damp enough or hidden enough, but at least he wasn’t shut in any more. He crouched there, but not for long.
It was very important to him to find out what had happened to the others.
He poked his feelers cautiously out of his hiding place. He sensed at once that the Hoo-Min had gone, so he started searching, and he soon found out where the others were. He ran down the tree-thing and sensed them through the holes in the top of their flowerpots. He swarmed over the top of George’s.
“Grndd! There’s a hole up here! Try to climb out!”
But George had already tried. The hole was too small.
“Try to push under!”
But that was no good either. The flowerpots weren’t plastic, they were those heavy ones made of red clay. It seemed hopeless.
“Hx, can you see the tunnel entrance?” George asked.
“Yes. It’s over there were the earth-ground is.”
“Go down it to our nest. You can be safe.”
“What, and leave you two? I can’t do that!”
“Stupid us all getting—” George stopped because he didn’t want to crackle “stopped”. The thought was too awful.
“I tell you what,” said Harry. “I’ll hide in the dark place. If he tries to take you away then maybe I can be a Hero, like my dad.”
The centipedish way of saying ‘hero’ is ‘a centipede-that-tackles-a-Hoo-Min’. Harry’s father had been stopped afterbiting a Hoo-Min, so George knew at once what Harry had in mind. The thought made him shiver from one pair of pincers to the other.
Harry was planning to attack the Hoo-Min who had can’t-get-outed them.
“Don’t do it, Hx!” came a crackle from Josie’s flowerpot. “You’ll be stopped for sure!”
“Not for sure,” said Harry bravely. “My mother tackled a Hoo-Min once and she didn’t get stopped.” He paused to think how incredibly proud his mother would be if he became a Hero. Except that of course she’d never get to hear about it.
They didn’t crackle any more. There was no more to crackle. Harry curled up in the dark place under the shelf and waited and the other two waited under their flowerpot can’t-get-outs. They were all very scared. Quite soon, the Hoo-Minopened the door and came back into the greenhouse. And he brought another Hoo-Min with him.
Now, most Hoo-Mins, confronted with enormous tropical centipedes in their greenhouse, would simply try to kill them. Hoo-Mins are horribly inclined to kill anything they don’t recognise – no matter how much bigger they are and how little they actually have to fear. Or how unusual or interesting their find may be.
But not this Hoo-Min.
This Hoo-Min happened to be very interested in small life forms. He was, in fact, what we call an entomologist – that is, someone who studies insects. So when he got over his shock at seeing the three centipedes in his greenhouse, he was actually very excited – not least because he simply couldn’t imagine how they had got there.
And now he’d caught them! He wasn’t sure what he was going to do with them, so he’d hurried back to his house to get some advice from one whom I will call Mrs Hoo-Min.
She was rather special, too. Many female Hoo-Mins are scared of creepy-crawlies, but not this one. She was almost as excited as her mate about this extraordinary find. She had thought of a way to transfer the
They thought their stopping-time had come.
15. Under Ground, Under Glass
Josie and George couldn’t escape because their flowerpots were standing on concrete. But Harry’s flowerpot was resting on a seed tray full of soft compost.
He didn’t run in circles for long. He started burrowing. And while the Hoo-Min was still hurrying towards his house, Harry was free.
He shook the compost out of his breathing-holes and scuttled away as fast as he could. He found a hiding place ofsorts behind a lot of close-together flowerpots (with flowers growing in them) on the shelf. It wasn’t dark enough or damp enough or hidden enough, but at least he wasn’t shut in any more. He crouched there, but not for long.
It was very important to him to find out what had happened to the others.
He poked his feelers cautiously out of his hiding place. He sensed at once that the Hoo-Min had gone, so he started searching, and he soon found out where the others were. He ran down the tree-thing and sensed them through the holes in the top of their flowerpots. He swarmed over the top of George’s.
“Grndd! There’s a hole up here! Try to climb out!”
But George had already tried. The hole was too small.
“Try to push under!”
But that was no good either. The flowerpots weren’t plastic, they were those heavy ones made of red clay. It seemed hopeless.
“Hx, can you see the tunnel entrance?” George asked.
“Yes. It’s over there were the earth-ground is.”
“Go down it to our nest. You can be safe.”
“What, and leave you two? I can’t do that!”
“Stupid us all getting—” George stopped because he didn’t want to crackle “stopped”. The thought was too awful.
“I tell you what,” said Harry. “I’ll hide in the dark place. If he tries to take you away then maybe I can be a Hero, like my dad.”
The centipedish way of saying ‘hero’ is ‘a centipede-that-tackles-a-Hoo-Min’. Harry’s father had been stopped afterbiting a Hoo-Min, so George knew at once what Harry had in mind. The thought made him shiver from one pair of pincers to the other.
Harry was planning to attack the Hoo-Min who had can’t-get-outed them.
“Don’t do it, Hx!” came a crackle from Josie’s flowerpot. “You’ll be stopped for sure!”
“Not for sure,” said Harry bravely. “My mother tackled a Hoo-Min once and she didn’t get stopped.” He paused to think how incredibly proud his mother would be if he became a Hero. Except that of course she’d never get to hear about it.
They didn’t crackle any more. There was no more to crackle. Harry curled up in the dark place under the shelf and waited and the other two waited under their flowerpot can’t-get-outs. They were all very scared. Quite soon, the Hoo-Minopened the door and came back into the greenhouse. And he brought another Hoo-Min with him.
Now, most Hoo-Mins, confronted with enormous tropical centipedes in their greenhouse, would simply try to kill them. Hoo-Mins are horribly inclined to kill anything they don’t recognise – no matter how much bigger they are and how little they actually have to fear. Or how unusual or interesting their find may be.
But not this Hoo-Min.
This Hoo-Min happened to be very interested in small life forms. He was, in fact, what we call an entomologist – that is, someone who studies insects. So when he got over his shock at seeing the three centipedes in his greenhouse, he was actually very excited – not least because he simply couldn’t imagine how they had got there.
And now he’d caught them! He wasn’t sure what he was going to do with them, so he’d hurried back to his house to get some advice from one whom I will call Mrs Hoo-Min.
She was rather special, too. Many female Hoo-Mins are scared of creepy-crawlies, but not this one. She was almost as excited as her mate about this extraordinary find. She had thought of a way to transfer the
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