Legodu looked over toward the tree. Kgatwe slapped a foot over Lesedi\u2019s mouth. Legodu started to walk over to the fig tree and Lesedi and Kgatwe held their breath. He was just bending down to peer through the crack when Mrs. Noto let off an even worse stream of insults. This was too much for Legodu; he spread his wings and tried to fly up to the nest. But Mrs. Noto had been clever and built her nest in the fork of the Rain Tree with branches all around, so this proved to be an impossible task for the eagle. He was far too big and couldn\u2019t maneuver his way in. Mrs. Noto danced up and down in glee, making up even more insults as she went along. She wasn\u2019t too worried about the snake. She hadn\u2019t started a family yet so there were no baby chicks or eggs to steal. Lesedi was worried, though. His Ivory Palm Nut was in that nest and that looked just like an egg.
\n\u201cKgatwe, do something!\u201d he whispered in a voice verging on panic.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo what?\u201d whispered back Kgatwe impatiently. \u201cThere is no immediate danger. Mrs. Noto doesn\u2019t have any eggs or chicks in the nest and Legodu can\u2019t get at her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Ivory Palm Nut is in there!\u201d Lesedi\u2019s voice was now getting beyond a whisper again.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Ivory Palm Nut!\u201d exclaimed Kgatwe, also forgetting to whisper. \u201cYou put the Ivory Palm Nut in Mrs. Noto\u2019s nest? Whatever made you do that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, it seemed the most sensible place,\u201d said Lesedi in a small voice. \u201cIt\u2019s such a mess she wouldn\u2019t have noticed, and nobody steals anything from there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, that snake will! He is going to think that Nut is an egg. Not very bright that one, just a big thug, that\u2019s why Legodu uses him.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Kgatwe said that, the snake had reached the nest and was starting to poke its head inside. Mrs. Noto was still dancing around, flinging the odd insult and in-between calling on her starling friends to come and harass the snake. They arrived and started their dive bombing tactics but it was too late. The snake\u2019s head emerged from the nest with the ivory palm nut in its mouth!<\/p>\n
Lesedi went cold. \u201cKgatwe!\u201d he shrieked, forgetting all caution. He looked around frantically for the gecko, but Kgatwe was gone. He had squeezed out of the crack and was scuttling as fast as his legs would carry him towards the Rain Tree. Lesedi suddenly felt very alone and very scared. What if the Eagle or the snake got Kgatwe? Besides losing his friend he might be left this size forever! How would he explain this to his grandfather? Worse still how would he explain the missing ivory palm nut, and how would he get back to the village anyway? Being this small all number of things could make a snack out of him. The only good thing about this whole mess was that his Aunt Matilda wouldn\u2019t be able to drag him off to school. <\/p>\n
He peered anxiously out of the fig tree. Kgatwe had reached the Rain Tree and was climbing up it. He was hoping that if he bit the snake on the tail he would shrink it but he wasn\u2019t too sure if he could do this; he hadn\u2019t had any practice on snakes. If he didn\u2019t manage to shrink it maybe it would get a fright and drop the Nut. There was quite a commotion going on. Legodu was shouting at the snake to come down with the Nut, the starlings were dive bombing the snake with excited shrieks, and Mrs. Noto was jumping up and down on her nest yelling as many rude things as she could think of. She was also wondering how the ivory palm nut had come to be in her nest.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou didn\u2019t tell us you were in the family way,\u201d said one of the starlings rather cheekily.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not an egg!\u201d she snapped at the starling, irritated that this dumb bird could mistake a palm nut for one of her precious eggs. \u201cIt\u2019s an ivory palm nut!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIvory palm nut? What\u2019s that doing in there?\u201d he said with a cackle. Mrs. Noto didn\u2019t answer. She didn\u2019t remember putting it there, and she couldn\u2019t quite see how she could have; it was far too big for her to carry in her beak.<\/p>\n
In the meantime the snake was swaying all over the place with the palm nut in its mouth. It was trying to dodge the starlings\u2019 attacks and all the smaller birds that were joining in with their nasty, sharp little beaks. Legodu, who had now had enough of this place and didn\u2019t realise the significance of the palm nut, started shouting at the snake to drop the nut and come down so that they could get out of there. The starlings and all the rest of the birds had increased in numbers and were now dive bombing him as well. Pesky little creatures, he would make sure to have a few of them for dinner when he was in a better position. Just as the snake was about to drop the palm nut Kgatwe reached it and grabbing onto the end of its tail he bit in as hard as he could. The snake, getting a huge fright, completely lost its balance and after frantically flailing around trying to regain it, it fell through the branches and hit the ground with a heavy thud, Kgatwe still valiantly hanging on. As the snake hit the ground Lesedi stared in horror. It had swallowed the ivory palm nut. Lesedi could see it slowly making its way down the inside of the snake\u2019s body. Kgatwe had landed in a pile of elephant dung and was far too busy trying to extricate himself to notice this new disaster. As Lesedi watched, Legodu flew up in the air shaking off the starlings. He then swooped down and picked up the snake. As he cleared the trees, the snake swinging underneath him, he turned towards the west. The west, the direction of The Hills, The Hills where Bosula was said to be. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Legodu looked over toward the tree. Kgatwe slapped a foot over Lesedi\u2019s mouth. Legodu started to walk over to the fig tree and Lesedi and Kgatwe held their breath. He was just bending down to peer through the crack when Mrs. Noto let off an even worse stream of insults. This was too much for… View Article<\/a>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n