and big cousins sometimes didn't take you seriously if your voice was wobbling.
“Goliath,” said Limpy, “I want you to stay here.”
Goliath's mouth flopped open.
“I mean it,” said Limpy firmly.
“No way,” said Goliath. “I'm not letting you go off to be dog meat on your own.”
Limpy took another deep breath. This was exactly what he'd expected Goliath to say.
He looked hard into Goliath's eyes.
“I need you to stay here,” he said. “Dad will have put the word around by now that I'm on a mission to stop humans killing cane toads. The folks at home don't know I've failed. They don't know they still have to watch out for cars and trucks. It's really important that one of us gets back to warn them.”
Limpy paused while Goliath digested this.
“I'm sure I'll be okay,” he went on, “but just in case I'm not, you'll have to go back on your own. Get a cockroach to direct you to the city market, find a truck with mangoes painted on the side, and stow away.”
Goliath swallowed, and Limpy saw that his cousin's warts were quivering with emotion.
“They're all depending on you, Goliath,” he said.
Goliath didn't say anything, and Limpy realized that Goliath was struggling with a voice wobble of his own.
Limpy squeezed Goliath's shoulders, then turned and hopped out of the bathtub.
He didn't say goodbye.
No point upsetting them both.
The girl was lying facedown on the bed, sobbing into her pillow.
Limpy hopped up onto the bedspread and nudged her arm with his shoulder.
She rolled over and opened her eyes.
Limpy hopped round in circles a few times so she'd know it was him and not just any cane toad who happened to be passing.
For a long time she just stared at him, blinking through her tears.
Then her face broke into an amazed grin.
“What are you doing here?”
Limpy could tell she'd recognized him.
Now, he thought, for the tricky bit.
He hopped over and touched her hand with his toenails, careful not to scratch her this time. Then he mimed his own hand hurting, sucking it and blowing on it and waving it around like a truck had just run over it.
He only had to do it for a while before he saw her eyes widen and her mouth fall open and delighted understanding creep across her face.
The Games officials understood immediately. It took them a while to believe her, though. Limpy watched as the girl talked animatedly tothem and pointed to him and to her hand and mimed a small amount of poison flowing through her blood.
At least, he imagined that's what she was doing. It was pretty hard to see from inside the plastic bag the officials had put him in. The plastic bag had previously had some sort of orange smoked fish in it, and the sides were all smeary and hard to see through.
Limpy rubbed till he had a clear patch.
He watched as the officials kept shaking their heads, right up until the girl grabbed a handful of newspapers and waved them threateningly under their noses.
Then, unhappily, they nodded.
The lab was very bright.
Limpy squinted, partly from the lights and partly from fear.
He knew what could happen to animals in labs.
Please, he begged silently as a man in a white coat put him on a white bench. Please let this human know how to get poison out of a cane toad without any cutting or lethal injections.
Trembling, Limpy wondered if he should help the man.
Squirt at him, just a bit.
He decided not to.
The man put on rubber gloves and plastic goggles and squeezed one of Limpy's glands. Pus plopped into a glass bowl.
Limpy felt so weak with relief that he didn't even struggle when the man put him into a glass tank and put a lid on it.
Instead, he watched through the side of the tank as the man did things on the bench with glass tubes and bits of equipment Limpy didn't recognize. Not much lab equipment got chucked out of cars in North Queensland.
The girl and the officials watched too.
Finally, the man in the white coat turned to the girl.
“You're clear,” he
“Goliath,” said Limpy, “I want you to stay here.”
Goliath's mouth flopped open.
“I mean it,” said Limpy firmly.
“No way,” said Goliath. “I'm not letting you go off to be dog meat on your own.”
Limpy took another deep breath. This was exactly what he'd expected Goliath to say.
He looked hard into Goliath's eyes.
“I need you to stay here,” he said. “Dad will have put the word around by now that I'm on a mission to stop humans killing cane toads. The folks at home don't know I've failed. They don't know they still have to watch out for cars and trucks. It's really important that one of us gets back to warn them.”
Limpy paused while Goliath digested this.
“I'm sure I'll be okay,” he went on, “but just in case I'm not, you'll have to go back on your own. Get a cockroach to direct you to the city market, find a truck with mangoes painted on the side, and stow away.”
Goliath swallowed, and Limpy saw that his cousin's warts were quivering with emotion.
“They're all depending on you, Goliath,” he said.
Goliath didn't say anything, and Limpy realized that Goliath was struggling with a voice wobble of his own.
Limpy squeezed Goliath's shoulders, then turned and hopped out of the bathtub.
He didn't say goodbye.
No point upsetting them both.
The girl was lying facedown on the bed, sobbing into her pillow.
Limpy hopped up onto the bedspread and nudged her arm with his shoulder.
She rolled over and opened her eyes.
Limpy hopped round in circles a few times so she'd know it was him and not just any cane toad who happened to be passing.
For a long time she just stared at him, blinking through her tears.
Then her face broke into an amazed grin.
“What are you doing here?”
Limpy could tell she'd recognized him.
Now, he thought, for the tricky bit.
He hopped over and touched her hand with his toenails, careful not to scratch her this time. Then he mimed his own hand hurting, sucking it and blowing on it and waving it around like a truck had just run over it.
He only had to do it for a while before he saw her eyes widen and her mouth fall open and delighted understanding creep across her face.
The Games officials understood immediately. It took them a while to believe her, though. Limpy watched as the girl talked animatedly tothem and pointed to him and to her hand and mimed a small amount of poison flowing through her blood.
At least, he imagined that's what she was doing. It was pretty hard to see from inside the plastic bag the officials had put him in. The plastic bag had previously had some sort of orange smoked fish in it, and the sides were all smeary and hard to see through.
Limpy rubbed till he had a clear patch.
He watched as the officials kept shaking their heads, right up until the girl grabbed a handful of newspapers and waved them threateningly under their noses.
Then, unhappily, they nodded.
The lab was very bright.
Limpy squinted, partly from the lights and partly from fear.
He knew what could happen to animals in labs.
Please, he begged silently as a man in a white coat put him on a white bench. Please let this human know how to get poison out of a cane toad without any cutting or lethal injections.
Trembling, Limpy wondered if he should help the man.
Squirt at him, just a bit.
He decided not to.
The man put on rubber gloves and plastic goggles and squeezed one of Limpy's glands. Pus plopped into a glass bowl.
Limpy felt so weak with relief that he didn't even struggle when the man put him into a glass tank and put a lid on it.
Instead, he watched through the side of the tank as the man did things on the bench with glass tubes and bits of equipment Limpy didn't recognize. Not much lab equipment got chucked out of cars in North Queensland.
The girl and the officials watched too.
Finally, the man in the white coat turned to the girl.
“You're clear,” he
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