Grand Theft Safari Read Free Page A

Dad and Tomas sat in camp chairs, reading. I shouted and waved to them as we drifted over their heads. They waved back. Tomas took a picture of us.
    We floated over the plains until Mom saw a river.
    â€œLet’s land there to look for signs of flamingoes.” Mom pointed to the river bank.
    Aziz lowered the balloon and the basket bounced to the ground.
    â€œFollow me,” Mom said. Aziz stayed with the balloon. Nigel came along with me and Mom.
    Mom walked slowly near the water’s edge, looking for telltale signs of flamingoes.
    â€œDo you think flamingoes were here?” I asked her.
    She shook her head. “I don’t think so. I bet they prefer Lake Bogoria and Lake Nakuru, northeast of us. The water chemistry is different in the lakes.”
    As Mom bent over her notebook, recording her observations, a massive movement exploded behind us.
    â€œCroc!” Nigel yelled.
    A giant crocodile rushed the river bank. I stumbled backward, trying to get away from the water as fast as I could. My boots got stuck in the mud. Mom bumped into me, falling into the mud.
    The crocodile was out of the water now, its sharp teeth sparkling in the sunlight. From the top of the riverbank, Nigel let out a low groan. Mom and I were paralyzed with the fear. The crocodile stared into our eyes. In a slow, calm voice, Nigel said, “There’s four more in the water.”
    I lifted my gaze from the crocodile and saw that Nigel wasn’t joking. Four crocodiles were closing in on us. I knew they were ready to feast on us, too.
    Mom whispered, “Mari, on the count of three, run as fast as you can up the riverbank.”
    Mom stared at the croc. “One. Two. Three, go.”
    As I turned to run up the bank, I felt Mom’s hand on my back, giving me a hard shove up the bank. I scrambled up the bank, flinging mud as I went. Mom was right behind me. I heard the croc’s jaws snapping. I could smell its hot, foul breath.
    I almost made it to Nigel when Mom screamed in terror. The crocodile had grabbed the back of Mom’s coat. In a split second, Nigel grabbed my arm and yanked me behind him. Nigel stepped forward and shouted at Mom, “Carolina! Stop! Wiggle out of your coat!”

    The crocodile was huge and terrifyingly strong. With Mom’s coat in its mouth, it shook her back and forth.
    â€œWiggle, Mom, wiggle!” I screamed.
    She heard us. As the crocodile shook her one way, she wiggled one arm out of the coat. The other crocodiles climbed out of the water, edging closer to Mom.
    â€œNow turn and run!” Nigel yelled. Nigel fired a shot at the crocodiles. Two dove back into the water.
    Mom twisted her body around, wiggled her other arm out of the coat, and ran up the river bank. When she reached us, she was pale and shaking. The crocodile flung her coat around on the shore, tearing it with its teeth and claws. Nigel fired another shot at the crocodile, to scare the rest of them back into the water.
    I tackled Mom and wrapped my arms around her. I thought she was going to die down there.Tears ran down my face. Nigel grabbed our arms. “Get up. We need to get away from the water. We don’t need the other crocs following us up here. Get back to the balloon.”
    Nigel shouted to Aziz as we ran back toward him, “Fire up the balloon! Crocs!”
    Aziz wasted no time. We jumped into the basket and it lifted us into the sky.
    Mom reached over and hugged me tightly. I started crying again. She squeezed me. “That was a close call. But we’re okay, sweetie. We’re okay.” Even though she said everything was okay, I could feel Mom trembling as she hugged me tightly.
    By the time we flew back to camp, I had stopped crying. Mom was more relaxed too.
    Dad must have been able to tell that something bad had happened because he came running as soon as he saw Mom. “What happened? What’s wrong?”
    Nigel explained the close encounter with the