Lesedi woke up in a cold sweat. He was back in his bed with his siblings. It was a full moon and the room was bathed in its eerie light. He could clearly see all the familiar objects in the room. The cupboard, the table, and the four little boxes, everything seemed quite normal. Lesedi frantically went over events in his head, wondering if it were all a dream. He couldn\u2019t remember how he had gotten from inside the fig tree to his bed. He looked down at himself, bringing his hands up to his face. They looked normal size. Then he looked over at the others. They didn\u2019t look enormous as they should have done if he was still smaller than gecko size. He was starting to think that it must have been a dream when he remembered the ivory palm nut. His grandfather had given it to him and told him to hide it away carefully as he did not want Bosula to get hold of it. He had hidden it in Mrs. Noto\u2019s nest, or had he? Everything was feeling a bit blurry and hazy at the moment. He would check in his box. If it was still there then he would know that it was all a dream. <\/p>\n
Getting up carefully so as not to wake the others he tiptoed quietly over to his box. Opening the lid he felt down into the bottom left-hand corner where he had originally put the Nut. No Nut! He then proceeded to take everything out of the box\u2014still no Nut. He sat back, now feeling very distressed. If it wasn\u2019t in the box then he must have taken it and hidden it in Mrs. Noto\u2019s nest. And if he had done that, then all the other events must have happened and the ivory palm nut was now in the snake\u2019s belly and the snake was probably in The Hills with Legodu and Bosula. Now what was he going to do? How was he going to get the Nut back? His grandfather had said that Bosula must not get his hands on the Nut, and now Lesedi had practically given it to him. Suddenly he felt a tapping on his foot. He looked down and saw Kgatwe.<\/p>\n
\u201cKgatwe! What are you doing here?\u201d he said in a loud whisper. Kgatwe very seldom came to the village because if anyone saw him they would create such an enormous fuss that he would have to disappear. He didn\u2019t like to do this too much as he was very forgetful and couldn\u2019t always remember how to reappear again.<\/p>\n
\u201cShh!\u201d he said. \u201cDon\u2019t wake the others. Let\u2019s go outside.\u201d <\/p>\n
Tshiamo was starting to stir in her sleep as they crept quietly to the door. Lesedi opened it, letting them out into the cool night air.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d said Lesedi once they were safely outside under the sausage tree. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt was all a bit of a mess,\u201d said Kgatwe. <\/p>\n
Lesedi sat down with his back against the fig tree and Kgatwe hopped onto his knee. \u201cI know,\u201d he said, trying not to smile, \u201cyou landed in the elephant poo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHumph!\u201d said Kgatwe. \u201cYes, well, I managed to get out of that and have a quick wash in a puddle and then I tried to get you back to normal size.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cInside the tree!?\u201d exclaimed Lesedi. <\/p>\n
\u201cNo! No! I\u2019m not that foolish,\u201d humphed Kgatwe. \u201cBut because of the fall I was a bit disorientated and kept getting it slightly wrong. I would get your head right and not your feet and then your feet right and not your head.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lesedi started to examine himself all over in alarm. He didn\u2019t agree with Kgatwe that having a big head and tiny feet was \u201cslightly\u201d wrong.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t worry!\u201d said Kgatwe impatiently. \u201cYou\u2019re fine now. I got Mrs. Noto to take me over to your grandfather and he came back and sorted things out.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGrandfather!\u201d said Lesedi in alarm. \u201cHe knows about the ivory palm nut!?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, he would have to know sometime. You don\u2019t think you could go and get it back without his help, do you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGet it back!?\u201d The thought of getting the Nut back from Bosula was more frightening than having to deal with Aunt Matilda. Aunt Matilda! Oh my goodness! Had she arrived? Was she still here? He looked around, half expecting her to loom out of the darkness. \u201cWhy can\u2019t I remember all this?\u201d The last thing Lesedi could remember was Kgatwe falling in the elephant poo and Legodu flying off before waking up in his own bed. \u201cIs Aunt Matilda here?\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cWell, when we were over on the Island your aunt Matilda arrived and your grandfather said she caused a huge fuss because you were nowhere to be found. She made your father promise to lock you up for a month and left in a huff, saying she would be back the next term to pick you up and that you had better be ready or else!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh dear!\u201d Lesedi felt himself near to tears. \u201cNow what? If I am locked up for a month I can\u2019t help get the ivory palm nut back and then Grandfather will be mad at me as well!\u201d Lesedi was beginning to feel very miserable and sorry for himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t worry,\u201d said Kgatwe, patting him on the knee. \u201cYour grandfather sorted things out. He made an enormous fire in the middle of the village. (Much to everyone\u2019s annoyance at the time.) Then he threw on all sorts of herbs that make people forget things, so now the people of the village have lost a day and they don\u2019t even remember Matilda being here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh dear!\u201d said Lesedi. \u201cThis is going to make her very angry next time she arrives!\u201d <\/p>\n
Kgatwe thought this was very funny and had a good gecko chuckle. \u201cAnd you don\u2019t have to worry. You can carry on as if nothing has happened,\u201d he said. \u201cNobody will remember that you weren\u2019t around for the day.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, I suppose that\u2019s a good thing,\u201d said Lesedi, \u201cbut it doesn\u2019t get the Nut back. Do you think Legodu knows what the snake has in its belly?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t think so. He probably thinks it ate one of Mrs. Noto\u2019s eggs. Only trouble, it\u2019s not an egg and that snake is going to have a bad case of indigestion in a couple of days.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is going to have to get it out of its tummy,\u201d said Lesedi. \u201cAnd we are going to have to be there when it does to make sure nobody gets hold of it and figures out how important it is. Wish I knew why it is so important as well,\u201d he said half to himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know about this \u2018we\u2019 stuff,\u201d said Kgatwe. \u201cI\u2019m not too sure I want to go to The Hills with all those weird creatures that hang around there!\u201d <\/p>\n