Read Online Panda Panic by Jamie Rix - Free Book Online

Ping. But he’d thought of it now and that was all that mattered.
    Ping gathered up every trace of bravery in his body by pulling in his stomach and puffing out his chest. Then he tiptoed forward with great care and positioned himself between the setting sun and the snow leopard. In the low, slanting sunlight, his shadow stretched and lengthened and fell across the back of the beast’s head. The snow leopard stopped digging and pricked up its ears, aware that some huge creature—if the size of its shadow was anything to go by—was standing directly behind it. Ping filled his lungs and roared, as deep a roar as ever was heard in the forest.
“ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!”

    From the depths of his stomach to the tips of his lips, his body vibrated with the terrifying noise. In its mind’s eye, the snow leopard imagined a giant bear behind it and, without looking around, took flight. It rushed away with its tail between its legs and didn’t stop running until it was safely hidden in its cave where the giant bear could not reach it.

    It had been a bold and brave deception and Ping had triumphed. He rushed to the mouth of the bolt hole and, ignoring the bugs and insects that scuttled across his arms and legs, kicked and scraped a path out of there. Little Bear flew out of the hole and flung his arms around Ping’s neck.
    â€œYou saved me! You saved me! I knew you would!” he cried. “You scared away the snow leopard and saved my life.” They held paws and danced around in a circle, while words continued to pour out of Little Bear’s mouth like a waterfall bursting out of the side of a mountain. “I called your name knowing that you’d come. There was a moment when I thought you might not, but then you did . And then you were so brave. You really did it, Ping. No wonder the Emperor chose you to be his bodyguard!”
    Ping stopped dancing, but held onto Little Bear’s paws.
    â€œI need to talk to you about that…” he said sheepishly, shuffling his feet and sighing the sigh of a panda with the weight of the world on his shoulders. “You might like to sit down.”
    â€œNo, thank you,” said Little Bear. “What’s wrong?”
    â€œWell… it’s… erm… it’s…” Ping was having difficulty forming a sentence. “…None of it’s true,” he said eventually. “I’m not the Emperor’s bodyguard.”
    â€œOh,” said Little Bear slowly as the bombshell hit home. “Is this a joke?”
    â€œI wish it was,” said Ping.
    â€œBut you do know the Emperor?”
    â€œNot personally. I know OF him, but we’ve never actually said hello.” Ping couldn’t bring himself to meet Little Bear’s eyes. He could hear the disappointment in his friend’s voice—he didn’t need to see it in his face as well. So it came as something of a surprise when Little Bear began to laugh. A light tinkling laugh that wasn’t judgmental at all.
    â€œYou really are good at telling stories!” he said. “I mean I was completely taken in. Even when we went to the Emperor’s palace I kept expecting the Emperor to walk in.”
    â€œI don’t think it was a palace,” said Ping.
    â€œBut it must have been,” said Little Bear. “A place that fancy could only belong to royalty. It had a square box, chairs, a bed with a mattress, everything!”
    â€œIt looked fancy,” admitted Ping, “but when those bandits came back, I realized it was just an ordinary house with ordinary people who were scared of bears.”
    Little Bear paused.
    â€œWhat else have you told me that’s not true?” he asked.
    â€œWell, you know my crown…” said Ping.
    The memory of it brought a smile to Little Bear’s lips.
    â€œWhat about it?”
    â€œIt wasn’t a crown at all,” Ping