Figaro and Rumba and the Crocodile Cafe by Anna Fienberg Page B

tried to follow them, but they swam too fast.
    Soon he could hardly breathe he was so tired. His eyes began to close. His front paws stopped paddling.

    Suddenly there was water in his nose and mouth instead of air. ‘I’m choking!’ he spluttered. ‘Help!’ He gulped in more water.
    Then he glimpsed something moving in the mangroves. The thing was sliding down the bank. But Figaro was sinking again. His legs stretched as far as they could go, trying to find the bottom. There was none. Just lots and lots of horrible water.
    Figaro tried to lift his head again and take a breath. Then something nudged him hard. Something big.
    â€˜ Shark! ’ yelped Figaro.
    He struggled wildly. His heart was thudding in his chest. Rat doesn’t know everything, he thought. He was making big blinding splashes. And then he saw something that made him stop splashing.
    Figaro barked with joy. He coughed and laughed and sank and wagged his tail. He was NOT staring into killer-shark eyes. He was staring at Nate, his mate!
    â€˜Just put your paw on my shoulder,’ said Nate, ‘and I’ll tow you ashore like a tug boat.’
    Figaro didn’t want to swallow any more water. So he did as he was told.

    After he had shaken himself almost dry, Figaro said, ‘Where were you? Rat was just about fainting with worry.’

    Nate yawned and stretched. ‘Blasted canoe got a hole in it. I just left it on the riverbank and swam ashore. I meant to walk back, but I was so tired after blowing the blasted thing up, I thought I’d just take a little nap. Lucky for you I did, eh?’
    â€˜Yes, I’ll say, otherwise I’d…but then, I’d never have been out here looking if you –’
    Nate sat up suddenly. ‘Fig, what time is it? Oh, drat and blast, I was supposed to meet the Very Fast Train!’
    Figaro sat up with him. ‘Me too! Maybe we can still catch it! Let’s go, go, go!’
    Nate hopped on Figaro’s back and hung onto his ears. They bounded along the grass, through the mangroves, past the bend in the river, back to Rat’s fishing spot.

    â€˜Are you all right? Where were you?’ said Rat and Rumba together.
    â€˜Are we still in time for the Very Fast Train?’ asked Figaro.
    â€˜No,’ said Rumba. ‘It’s gone.’
    â€˜So has Nate,’ said Rat sadly. They watched his blue shirt and bushy tail disappear up the path. ‘He could have thanked Figaro for saving him. You’ll have to excuse his manners.’

    â€˜Oh, that’s okay,’ said Figaro. He flopped down on the grass. ‘Let’s go on the Fast Train next week, Rumba. I’m too tired today.’
    So Rat and Rumba and Figaro went back to the house and ate the sausages and drank the mango juice. Then they sat on Figaro’s bed and admired the excellent view through his sparkling clean window.

Chapter 3
    The Bad Dream

    I n the afternoon, Figaro and Rumba lay on the couch reading comics. Figaro’s eyes began to close. His head sank, heavy as a brick, right onto the comic that Rumba wanted to read.
    Rumba sighed. He really, really wanted to read that comic. It was called The Little Ghost Cat . I’ll just try giving the corner a tug, he thought. Slowly, gently, he pulled the comic out from under Figaro’s nose. Figaro’s leg twitched but he went on snoring.

    Rumba was up to the last page of The Little Ghost Cat when Figaro suddenly yelped like a car alarm.
    â€˜ AARRFF, AARRFF, AARRFFF!’
    he screamed. ‘ HELP! LET ME GO!’
    Rumba called his name but Figaro just went on yelping. He is still asleep, thought Rumba, amazed.
    â€˜You were dreaming,’ Rumba told him when he shook Figaro awake.
    â€˜Oh yes, I had a terrible nightmare,’ moaned Figaro. ‘I was in this lake and there was a big dark shape pulling me under. Its teeth had hold of my front paw.
    Oh look, my paw – I can’t move