Read Online The Swiss Family RobinZOM (Book 5) by Perrin Briar - Free Book Online Page A

said.
    Something slapped a bunch of leaves, like an open palm smacking bare skin. A flash of white whipped past a gap in the shrubbery. Fritz and Ernest stiffened, gripping the struts of the balcony with white-knuckled fists.
    There was a grunt below them in the animal pen. Valiant shorted and dug his front hoof in the soil, looking toward the jungle, in the direction of the noise.
    Flap, flap, flap…
    The sound disappeared deep into the jungle. Fritz and Ernest relaxed.
    “They’re getting closer,” Fritz said.
    “Come morning, we can’t just sit here,” Ernest said. “We have to do something.”
    “What would you have us do?” Fritz said. “We’ll do anything that sounds half reasonable right now.”
    Francis mumbled in his sleep. He rolled over, away from his noisy brothers.
    “The problem is their speed,” Ernest said. “If there was some way we could travel as fast as them…”
    Ernest’s eyes widened. He clicked his fingers.
    “Yes! That’s it!” he said. “Of course! Why didn’t I think of it before? It’s so obvious!”
    “Wait,” Fritz said. “What’s obvious?”
    “I know what to do!” Ernest said. “I have a plan!”
    Francis shot up into a sitting position.
    “Wha?” he said, eyes heavy and groggy with sleep. His eyes fluttered closed and he fell back to bed.
    “What?” Fritz said. “What’s the idea?”
    Ernest bent down and shook Jack and Francis by the shoulders. They grumbled but didn’t wake up.
    “Get up!” Ernest said. “We’ve got work to do!”
    Ernest ran into Bill and Liz’s bedroom.
    “I’ve got it!” he shouted.
    Liz shot up, instantly awake. Bill was still fast asleep, snoring, his blistered feet hanging over the end of the bed.
    “What are you doing?” Liz said. “Your father’s exhausted.”
    “I’ve got an idea!” Ernest said. “How to beat them!”
    “Can’t it wait till morning?” Liz said.
    “It’ll be daylight soon,” Ernest said.
    Liz sighed and then leaned over Bill, nudging him awake.
    “Bill,” she said. “Wake up, honey.”
    Bill turned, his face thick with sleep. Drool hung out the corner of his mouth.
    “The Spinners!” Ernest said. “We can’t catch them or force them over the cliff because they’re too fast!”
    “Yes, so?” Liz said. “We know this already.”
    “So we need a way to keep up with them!” Ernest said. “Not only keep up with them, but to go faster than them!”
    “Is this going anywhere?” Bill said, face stretching into a wide yawn.
    “The animals!” Ernest said. “We’ll use the animals! We’ll ride them and force the Spinners over the cliff like a giant game of bumper cars!”
    Ernest chuckled like a mad scientist and ran out of the room. Fritz looked at his parents. Liz wore a deep frown. Bill’s eyes were ringed with grey, incapable of anything except staring into space. Fritz moved to the window that looked down on the animal pen outside. Ernest jumped the fence and ran amongst the animals. They shied away from him. They hardly looked like Spinner killer material to Fritz.
    “He’s gone mad,” Fritz said.

Chapter Eight
    The family were up soon after Ernest’s idea had been shared with them, before even the sun had fully risen. Bill and Fritz headed into the jungle and cut down several mature bamboo trees. They lashed them to Lightfoot and Lightning and dragged them into the clearing.
    They took careful measurements and set to shaping and cutting out the pieces of bamboo, identifying the thickest, strongest sections. Liz, Ernest and Jack drilled holes and passed woven vines through them. Francis kept watch along with Fritz’s bird Beast high in the treehouse. He stood up, peering deep into the jungle. Beast screeched.
    “They’re coming!” Francis said.
    The foliage rustled, the undergrowth snapping. The Robinsons reached for their weapons. Mutilated bodies, grazed, cut and dirtied, flashed in the foliage. They made the same hideous wet flapping noise that rose into a