Anaconda Adventure by Ali Sparkes Page B

her!”
    â€œWell … we’ll just have to go off down the park and have a swim in the lake,” Josh said.
    â€œUm … shouldn’t we have S.W.I.T.C.H.ed back by now?” asked Danny. “It’s been more than thirty seconds, hasn’t it?”
    Josh turned to look at Petty and saw that she was legging it out of the room. “WRONG SPRAY BOTTLE!” she shouted, as she went. “GETTINGANTIDOTE FROM CAR! HIDE!” The last they saw of her was the back of her purple beanie hat—and even that looked quite panicky.
    â€œOh, great!” Danny stared back at Josh. “She’s done a runner!”
    â€œWe’ll be fine.” Josh gulped. “She’ll be back soon. We just have to hide in case anyone else comes in.”
    The real anaconda was swaying about even higher now, behind the glass. Its eyes glimmered, and its tongue was still dancing. It seemed to be laughing at them.
    â€œCome on …” Josh said. “Get down!”
    They worked their way down the table legs, coiling around them to reach the floor. Under the table wasn’t a good hiding place. They might easily be seen by someone walking in. “This way!” Dannyhissed, sliding across the cold tiles and under one of the long wooden benches against one wall of the reptile house. Soon Josh and Danny were hiding in the shadows.

    â€œShe won’t be long,” Josh said. “She’ll be back any minute. It’ll be fine! Hey—I can feel her vibrations now.” And he
could
feel the vibration of steps back up the path outside. Of course, snakes were excellent at picking up vibrations—sometimes from far, far away. Josh knew that it was one of the things that helped them hunt.
    â€œErm … isn’t that quite a
lot
of vibrations for one genius scientist?” Danny queried.
    And then the door crashed open, and two dozen sets of feet pounded into the room.
    And not one of them was Petty’s.

Josh and Danny flattened themselves right against the wall as the stampede thundered across the floor. The shoes were mostly black and shiny with silver buckles across white, lace-trimmed socks. They crashed around in all directions … some rushing toward the glass displays, some coming to rest by the tables, and some, alarmingly, stomping down right by the benches.
    â€œGirls! Girls!” called a shrill voice. “Don’t forget to make notes on your worksheets!”
    It was a school group. A girls’ school group. Keeping his head low, Danny could see girls in maroon and gray checked skirts, white blouses, and maroon blazers—and straw hats!
    â€œWhat are we going to do?” he whispered to Josh.
    â€œJust keep very still!” Josh whispered back.“They won’t stay long. There’re loads of other things to see around the park. They’ll only be here five minutes. And Petty will be back any time …”
    Danny kept very still. He found it quite easy to keep his reptilian body motionless. And of course, snakes were good at that. Josh had told him they could keep incredibly still—and then strike, out of nowhere. But he couldn’t help his tongue continually sliding out from his lipless mouth and flickering in the air. Gathering information through scent glands, according to Josh.
    The noise of the girls was head-splitting. They were constantly babbling and squeaking and even screaming when they saw a reptile they didn’t like the look of. But one girl was sitting quietly on the bench just above them. Her feet were not moving. Her shoes were spattered with mud. She didn’t say anything to any of the others.
    â€œRighto, girls!” said the teacher. “Let’s have our packed lunches while we’re here. Sit down and get your food out.” There was another short stampede as the girls rushed to get a decent seat.
    â€œMove up, new girl!” said one of them in asneery voice, and the girl sitting