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CHAPTER NINE

ABOUT THREEweeks later, we cae swamp - the area marked on the map by the circle It had been a relatively easy trek The h the terrain was tricky to negotiate - lots of wiry bushes to cut through - it didn’t present any life-threatening problems Harkat’s wounds had healed without complications but he was left with three very noticeable scars on the left side of his face - aler va plants e insects As we stood and watched, we spotted a couple of water snakes attack, kill and devour a large rat with four yellow eyes

"I don’t like the look of this," I muttered

"You haven’t seen the worst yet," Harkat said, pointing to a s out of the waters of the swa about at first - the island was bare except for three large logs - but then one of the "logs" ators!" I hissed

"Very bad news foryou," Harkat said

"Why rinned "The alligators areyours "

"You’ve a warped sense of hue of the swamp "Let’s circle around and try to find the toad"

"You know it’s not going to be - on the outskirts," Harkat said "We’ll have to wade in"

"I know," I sighed, "but let’s at least try and find an entry spot that isn’t guarded by alligators We won’t get very far if that lot get a whiff of us"

We walked for hours along the rih we did find lots of sators too Finally we came to a section with no visible predators The water was shallow and slightly less pungent than elsewhere It was as good a place as any to wet our toes

"I wish I had Mr Tiny’s - Wellington boots," Harkat gru the hehed, rolling up the bottoms of my jeans I paused as I was about to set foot in the water "I just thought of so This stretch of swaht be why there are no alligators or snakes!"

Harkat stared at reen eyes "Why can’t you keep stupid thoughts - like that to yourself?" he snapped

"I’ot down on my hands and knees and peered into the still waters of the swa

"I think piranha only attack when - they scent blood," Harkat said "If there are piranha, we should - be OK as long as we don’t cut ourselves"

"It’s tiroaned But since there was nothing else for it, I stepped into the swamp I paused, ready to leap out at the first hint of a bite, then waded ahead cautiously, Harkat following close behind

A few hours later, as dusk was lengthening, we found an uninhabited island Harkat and I hauled ourselves out of the swampy water and collapsed with exhaustion We then slept,these last feeeks, Harkat beneath the fleshy map we’d stripped from the black panther’s stomach But we didn’t sleep deeply The sas alive with noises - insects, frogs and the occasional unidentifiable splash We were bleary-eyed and shivering e rose the followingabout the filthy sas that the water level remained fairly low Every so often we’d hit a dip and one or both of us would slip and disappear under themoments later But her than our thighs Another bonus was that although the sas tee with insects and leeches, they didn’t bother us - our skin was obviously too tough and our blood off-putting

We avoided the alligators, circling far around theh ere attacked several ti for them But we had to remain on constant alert - one slip could be the end of us

"No piranha so far," Harkat noted as we rested We’d been working our way through a long swath of tall reeds, full of irritating sticky seeds which had stuck to hted to be proved wrong," I said

"We could spendfor this toad," Harkat co," I said "By the law of averages, it should take ages to locate anything specific in a swa with laws He wants us to find the toad, so I’m sure ill"

"If that’s the case," Harkatand wait for the toad to - come to us"

"It doesn’t work that way," I said "Mr Tiny’s set this up, but we have to sweat to e of the swamp - or if we hadn’t a he couldn’t stack the odds in our favour"

Harkat studiedabout this - a lot," he reodsforsaken world," I laughed

Flicking off the last of the seeds, we rested a fewthrough the murky waters, our eyes peeled for predators as we moved ever further into the heart of the swa noise drifted to us fronarly trees We knew at once that it was our toad, just as we’d instantly recognized the panther by its roar Wading up to the rim of the island, we paused to consider our options

"The sun will be gone in a few - "