The Hidden Kingdom. Tracey Hecht

to and fro. “It’s like a sword,” he mused, “or a scepter!” Bismark thrust it into the air and proudly lifted his chin. “This stick really suits a royal creature like moi.” Holding the stick high, the sugar glider marched a few paces, enjoying his regal act. Then, satisfied with his show, he tucked the stick in his flap for safekeeping. “Yes, a very fine stick indeed,” he murmured.

      29

      THE NOCTURNALS

      Dawn hid a smile and turned her attention to Cora. “Is there anything else you can remember? Anything that might explain what happened to your den?”

      Cora closed her eyes to concentrate. She sat silently for a few moments, thinking hard. “No,” she finally said, opening her eyes. “I can’t think of anything. Well…except for some strange noises.”

      Dawn’s ears perked up. “What kind of strange noises?”

      “I… I thought I heard cries,” she whispered. “Strange, tiny cries. But…” Cora looked down, embarrassed. “But I didn’t see anyone. No one was there.”

      Dawn, Tobin, and Bismark exchanged startled glances. Were Cora’s cries the same sounds they had heard earlier?

      “Were the cries high-pitched and squeaky?” Tobin asked.

      “Um…I think so,” she said. “Oh, but don’t listen to me. I’m probably just hearing things. I’ve been so thirsty lately, I can’t even tell what is what!” Cora let out a cracked, dry cough. Then she coughed again—louder, this time, and raspier. Unable to stop, she clutched her ribs and curled up on the den floor.

      30

      Trapped

      “Cora needs water badly,” Tobin whispered. “We have to help her.”

      “I know where there’s a watering hole,” Dawn began, “but it’s not nearby.” The fox eyed Cora nervously. The wombat was very weak and the journey would be hot and long.

      “Oh, Tobin,” Cora whispered. “I…I don’t know if I can make it.”

      “I do,” said the pangolin. With a swivel of his scales and a quick swipe of his claw, Tobin cut off a small piece of his cape. Then he gently tied the blue snakeskin around Cora’s thin wrist. “Now you can do anything!” he said, guiding the wombat out of the den.

      “Bueno. Let’s go,” said

      the sugar glider. “Dawn said it’s

      thataway.” Bismark used his new

      stick to point east. “Oui, mon amour?

      Am I correct?”

      “Yes.” The fox looked at her

      friends and sighed. It was clear that

      the race to Cora’s den, the hot, dry

      air, and the difficult digging had taken

      its toll. They all needed water badly. And

      Cora was so ill. Could they survive the

      journey?

      31

      THE NOCTURNALS

      Dawn straightened her spine, hiding her doubts from her friends. We are the Nocturnal Brigade, she told herself. We’ve met tougher challenges.

      And so she set off with Bismark, Tobin and Cora behind her—unaware of just how tough their newest challenges would be.

      32

      Chapter Four

      QUICKSAND

      “Keep pumping those paws, pangolino!” yelled Bismark, waving his stick in the air. “The sooner we get to the watering hole, the sooner Mademoiselle Cora shall be restored to her once-lustrous self.”

      Tobin glanced at the wombat trudging slowly beside him. The group hadn’t been walking for long, but she was already gasping and her legs were wobbly and weak.

      “I’m…I’m going as fast as I can.…” Tobin called, pretending to sound out of breath. He knew that he could move quicker, but he refused to leave Cora’s side. “How much farther?” he asked. He paused so the wombat could rest.

      Dawn raised her snout toward the night sky. The moon was hanging at its peak, high above the trees. That meant they had already been traveling for quite ________

      33

      THE NOCTURNALS

      some time. But the watering hole was still a long way off.

      “We’ll get there by daybreak,” said Dawn.

      “Mon dieu, this journey is endless, I tell you! We might as well be traveling to the stars!” The sugar glider slouched, raised a flap to his forehead, and groaned. Then, noticing Dawn’s raised brow, he quickly straightened. “Not that this is tough for moi, of course, ma chérie. And after all,” he added, sidling up next to the fox, “I’d go to the ends of the earth for you, my lady.”

      “We’ll be there soon enough,” said Dawn.

      “And there will be plenty to eat and drink once we get there!” added Tobin. He gave Cora an encouraging grin.

      “That’s right,” said Dawn, nodding and smiling weakly. “Let’s keep going.”

      “Indeed, mi bella,” agreed Bismark. “And I’ll tell stories to pass the time!”

      Ignoring his friends’ rolling eyes, the sugar glider eagerly started to ramble.

      “Shall I start with the time I defeated a snake with my own two paws?” he began. “It was no match for me, amigos. No match at all. Or how about that time I led us to victory against those crazy crocodiles? Or when I trapped a giant beast?” Bismark hopped and leaped through the dry grass and brown reeds, energized by his ________

      34

      Quicksand

      own, mostly made-up feats. “Oh, so many glorious tales to tell.” He sighed. “It’s hard to choose where to start!”

      For a while, Tobin, Cora, and Dawn endured the sugar glider’s stories in silence. They were too hot and thirsty to chime in, ask him to stop, or challenge his exaggerated versions of his heroic deeds.

      But soon enough, even Bismark’s voice began to crack, fade, and finally cease. As they continued to walk, the air grew hotter, the land became drier and rougher, and more of the strange tumbleweeds came rolling in.

      “Oof!” Tobin winced as a strand of it poked the skin between his claws. He stopped to pluck it free.

      “Shouldn’t we be close by now?” Cora asked, trying to catch her breath.

      The pangolin gazed up. The sky was starting to brighten. Cora was right. The watering hole should have been in sight by now. But when Tobin looked across the land, all he saw were the dull browns and grays of dead shrubs. There was no sparkling water anywhere.

      “Dawn?” Tobin called. “Are we…are we almost there?”

      The fox paused. She had been wondering the same thing. “I thought it was closer than this,” she said.

      As she scanned the horizon looking for any familiar sight, she spotted something in the distance. It

      35

      THE NOCTURNALS

      was a figure hanging from a tree.

      Tobin narrowed his beady eyes and saw it, too. “Maybe that animal can tell us how much farther we need to go.”

      The group began to walk toward the stranger. As they drew closer, the creature lowered itself to the ground. It was a nine-banded armadillo—a fellow nocturnal with a long snout and rabbit-like ears.

      “Oh goodness.” Tobin gasped when he could

      see