except him. “Are you sure?”
“Yep. It’s a tree that grows in salty soil. The leaves are used for weaving baskets and the sap is brewed for muchema wine. Ilala palms grow everywhere in the swamps.”
“Everywhere? But if we find the right tree …?”
Zinzi pulled a face. “Botswana’s huge, Ollie. Bigger than the whole of England. Bigger than Texas.”
Ollie stared at the broad shoulders of the man. He felt little knots tightening in his stomach. The rat was back there gnawing at him. Bigger than England? How was he going to find his father in a place bigger than England? He hoped his aunt knew what she was saying when she said she’d find him.
“You okay?” Zinzi asked.
Ollie nodded. “Yeah! Fine.” But suddenly the wheels of the bus were no longer singing …
We’re going to Ila-la. We’re going to find your fa-ther.
Their sound was more ominous.
His dad had written “Ilalaland” on his last letter. Now he finds there’s no such place? He felt punched. It was a puzzle with huge chunks missing. Try as hard as he could, he couldn’t find the missing pieces.
Next to him Zinzi had clapped on her earphones with the volume turned up loud.
He stared blankly out the window at some thorn trees with smooth, bright-yellow trunks. “Fever trees,” he said under his breath.
Zinzi gave him a look, then lifted her earphones. “What?”
“Fever trees!” Ollie snapped.
“How do you know?”
Ollie pulled a face. “Everybody knows. The great, grey-green greasy Limpopo all strung about with Fever trees.”
“The what? What are you talking about?”
“The Elephant’s Child. Rudyard Kipling.”
Zinzi shook her head. “You’re weird, Ollie.”
He turned away from Zinzi. He wasn’t the one who was weird. This was what was weird:
1. His aunt hadn’t been in Bulawayo to meet him.
2. He was travelling with a python.
3. A creepy, sinister man was following him.
4. Ilalaland wasn’t a place after all.
5. The plans he’d made with grandma in Tooting had gone upside down.
6. Tooting was far away … a zillion, million miles away. Another life.
7. And worse than everything, he wasn’t any closer to finding his father than before. Now his father had truly disappeared.
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».
Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.
Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.
