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CHAPTER ELEVEN

Fishing for Shorts

Bill and I are in the mud. We are looking for Bill’s shorts. There are some interesting things in the mud. There is a ball, a shoe and two socks. Why are they here? I think Bill isn’t the first man who gets in this mud.

‘A nice collection’ I say. ‘You can take these socks instead of your shorts.’

‘But I don’t need socks’ cries Bill.

‘Why’ I ask. ‘Look! I think they are green when they are clean. They match your gloves.’

‘Stop it, Jack,’ says Bill. He is angry now. ‘If you like these socks, you can take them. I need my shorts.’

Bill is very sad. But I am very happy. We are not going after the giraffes. We are staying here. We must find his shorts.

I look at Spotty and his mum. They aren’t very far. They are eating again.

‘Look, Jack’ Bill says. ‘Those terrible animals are eating! Eating again! And I’m hungry like a wolf!

I’m dirty, too! And I haven’t got my shorts!’

Suddenly I can feel something in the mud. I take it out. They are Bill’s shorts. Bill isn’t looking at me. So I put them back in the mud and sit down on them.

‘Can you feel anything’ asks Bill. He is on his hands and knees in the mud.

‘No,’ I answer. ‘Nothing.’

‘Why are you sitting and doing nothing?’ Bill is angry again. ‘Help me!’

I stand on my hands and knees. Bill is next to me now. I look at my giraffes again. Hooray! Now they are far away. And they are close to other giraffes with their babies. They all look like Spotty and his mum. Bill can’t catch Spotty now. He must be afraid of so many giraffes together. I take his shorts out of the mud. ‘Look, Bill, are they yours’ I ask.

Bill is very happy. ‘Thank you, Jack! You are a good friend,’ he smiles. Bill tries to put on his shorts. But they are too wet and dirty.

‘What can I do’ he asks.

‘I think we should go home and wash our clothes,’ I say.

At that moment we can hear a terrible noise from the sky. We look up. The sky is very black. Then it starts raining.

‘Yes’ cries Bill. He is very happy. But I am very sad.

‘No,’ I say. Bill can’t hear me because the rain is too noisy.