Read Online Washy and the Crocodile by James Maguire - Free Book Online Page B

“What’s happened to Samantha? Would someone please tell me what’s going on?”
    â€œThere’s been a fire,” said her mother. “By the harbour. And yes, Samantha’s house was... damaged. But don’t worry. Everyone is safe and sound and no-one was injured. They had an amazing escape. I’ll tell you all about it - while we all have a lovely cup of tea.”
    Jack made the tea - he did feel slightly guilty about how he had blurted out the news, after all - and Mummy told them all about the fire, or at least as much as she knew. Which wasn’t very much.
    â€œSo the whole house was burned down?” Asked Evie thoughtfully, sipping her tea and seeming very calm about the whole thing. “Samantha was the only one at home, and somehow managed to escape without a scratch? Isn’t that amazing . I wonder how she managed it.”
    They all agreed it was quite amazing, and that Samantha was a really lucky girl, and just think what might have happened, and it really didn’t bear thinking about. Mummy checked the fire-guard once again, and said that now they must all go to bed after such an exciting day, so that they were up bright and early for school in the morning.
    Jack said that that was fine, just fine, but he needed a bowl of cereal right now, if he were to avoid starving to death overnight.
    Mummy took him into the kitchen to feed him, and Tommy followed them to make sure that he didn’t miss out on anything as far as food was concerned.
    Evie and Uncle Otto were left on their own, staring thoughtfully into the dying embers of the fire.
    â€œUncle Otto,” she said slowly; and stopped.
    Her uncle looked at her.
    â€œYes, Evie?” He asked.
    â€œOh, nothing,” she said.
    â€œGood,” said Otto, and began to stand up. “Time for bed.”
    â€œUncle Otto,” said his niece; and stopped again.
    â€œYes, Evie?” Repeated her uncle. And sat down again. The cottage was very quiet, and the only sound was the dying hiss of the fire.
    â€œWhen you worked in Australia... with the camels... Were they always bad-tempered? Did you not like working with them at all?”
    â€œAlways,” said Otto. “And always looking for something to eat. In any case, I thought you weren’t interested in my stories about camels.”
    â€œOh, but I am,” said Evie. “Very interested.”
    â€œThey can be very stubborn beasts,” said Otto. “Once they get an idea in their heads, you can’t shift it.”
    â€œReally?”
    â€œOh, yes,” he said. “Although I do remember one camel who was ... different.” He stood up again, and stretched to his full height beside the fire. “Very different. Although it sounds ridiculous to say it, you might almost have called him a gentleman.”
    The light from the fire was dying, and Evie could not be quite sure what she saw.
    She could have sworn that he winked.

How Washy learned to dance
    Jack and Evie were puzzled. They were behaving very badly, and Uncle Otto hadn’t stopped them. He didn’t seem to be aware of what they were up to at all. And as every sensible child knows, there’s no point in behaving badly if no-one cares—or even notices!
    Mummy had gone out. She was helping a little girl called Sophie who couldn’t walk properly, and soon wouldn’t be able to walk at all. Mummy was trying to raise the money so that Sophie could be flown to America and operated on and then she would be able to walk properly. Just like everyone else. And achieve her secret ambition, which only the two children knew about, because they just couldn’t tell anyone else.
    Jack was very sorry for Sophie, who was such a nice little girl and so brave and really didn’t deserve what had happened to her: but there didn’t seem to be anything he could do about it. The surgeons needed pots of money, apparently, and he didn’t have pots of