\u201cKgatwe! What happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean what happened?\u201d said Kgatwe impatiently. He was busy watching the crack in the tree anxiously. Lesedi followed his gaze. There was a rather scary-looking green eye peering in at them. Lesedi jumped in fright, grabbing hold of one of Kgatwe\u2019s toes. He felt like running but he couldn\u2019t figure out where to. There were no other outlets, only the crack, and he definitely wasn\u2019t going to run in that direction with that eyeball there. <\/p>\n
\u201cKeep still!\u201d hissed Kgatwe \u201cSnakes pick up movement very quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n
The eye peered in for what seemed like forever and then withdrew. Lesedi was just about to relax when the snake\u2019s tongue came sliding through the crack. This was even scarier. It was forked and long and moved all around the hollow tree. It was trying to smell them out. Lesedi knew that snakes used their tongues to smell. He remained very still but he could feel the sweat pouring down his face and felt sure the snake would pick this up. Eventually after what seemed an eternity the snake withdrew its tongue and could be heard slithering away. Lesedi let go of Kgatwe\u2019s toe and the gecko shook his foot in relief. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a strong grip you have there!\u201d said Kgatwe, getting up. \u201cLet\u2019s see if we can find out what\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou still haven\u2019t told me what happened,\u201d whispered Lesedi.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean what happened?\u201d muttered Kgatwe as he edged his way towards the crack.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow did I get to be so small?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI bit you on the ankle,\u201d said Kgatwe matter-of-factly as if this was a perfectly good explanation. <\/p>\n
\u201cI noticed that,\u201d said Lesedi, \u201cbut that still doesn\u2019t explain\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a new thing I learnt at gecko school, only trouble is I haven\u2019t quite mastered the other side of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lesedi was about to ask him what he meant by \u201cthe other side of it\u201d when Kgatwe, who had reached the crack and was peering out, suddenly jumped back.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s wrong?\u201d said Lesedi anxiously, moving forward and putting his eye to the crack. He, too, jumped back in fright. Legodu was right outside. He looked enormous and very scary with his bright yellow eyes and his crested feathers standing straight up on his head. This meant he was angry and not to be messed with. They both crept slowly back to the crack and peered out again. The eagle didn\u2019t seem to be that interested in the fig tree. He was poking around in Lesedi\u2019s precious possessions, again throwing them all over the place. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s he looking for?\u201d whispered Kgatwe. \u201cHave you got anything important there?\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all important to me!\u201d said Lesedi, tears welling up in his eyes. This was all starting to get him down. Only a few days ago he had been a carefree child, fishing, poling his mokoro, playing with his siblings. Now Aunt Matilda wanted to drag him off to school, all his things were being smashed by this awful bird, and his grandfather had given him the responsibility of that ivory Palm Nut\u2026that Ivory Palm Nut! That\u2019s what it was! That\u2019s what Legodu was looking for. It had crossed his mind earlier but with all this business of getting small and hiding in the fig tree, and snakes and things, he had forgotten about it. He peered anxiously up at Mrs. Noto\u2019s nest. Mrs. Noto was standing on top of it looking down on Legodu with a great deal of annoyance. This was her Island. What was this dreadful man doing here? She knew him well and had never approved of his behaviour or his friends. Recently he had joined forces with Bosula, which annoyed her even more, another evil man. They were brewing up trouble, those two, she could tell. As Lesedi and Kgatwe watched her she started jumping up and down on her nest, letting off a stream of obscenities at Legodu. Kgatwe translated and Lesedi was amazed. He wouldn\u2019t have thought Mrs. Noto knew language like that and he wondered if she knew what she was saying. Legodu looked up from his plundering irritated. Silly old woman, he\u2019d soon deal with her. He snapped an instruction at the snake that was busy trying to get out of the way of some squirrels that were pelting him with berries. The snake immediately changed direction and started sliding up Mrs. Noto\u2019s Rain Tree.<\/p>\n