ROOSTLINGS · STORY 10
The Big Ask
By Lars & Luc · Ages 3–5
Obi and Maple travel to the Beach for the tenth Roostlings adventure, where helping begins with a very big ask.
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Morning at the Roost. Snow still in the roots. Ivy pushed a log. Pebble pushed it back. Obi held up a shell, and Maple's neck came down to see.
Dax and Waffle played hide and find. Dax hid behind the Bell post. Found him.
"Close your eyes," said Dax, and hid in a Nook. Waffle walked straight there, eyes closed.
Ding-dong-DING! Out on the River, the Ferry-keeper waved his cap. Fig had seen him in the glass.
"Roostlings! The Bell!" called Fig. "Up and out!" called four kids. She pointed the glass. "A new young dinosaur is stuck in the rocks. At the end of the Beach. No one can get near. Not even the Ferry-keeper."
Up the ladder went four kids. Up the trunk-path came four friends. And all of them sang. "Ivy and Pebble, push and pull!" Hrrmph! "Hana and Kite, see and fetch!" Tik-tik!
"Dax and Waffle, run and find!" Chirrup! "Obi and Maple, reach and lift!" Hmmmm. "Little ones. Big help!"
"A new one in the rocks," said Fig. "That's a stuck thing." She looked at Obi. Then at the rest. "Who's the one for a stuck thing?"
"Ivy and Pebble!" "Pebble, you'll pull," said Fig. "Maple, you'll reach. Dax, Waffle, you're with me. Hide where I can see you." Dax hid behind Fig.
Down the Slide. Wheee! And go! Pebble took the River path, Ivy beside her with the rope. Behind came Maple, Obi up on his neck.
The Beach was long and flat. At the far end stood two big rocks. The Ferry-keeper waited by them with a bucket.
"I saw her from the water," he said. "She went in between the rocks and stuck."
Between the rocks was a face. Two eyes, looking out. A long nose, nose-holes high up. Behind it, a tall sail on her back, held tight by the rocks.
She was bigger than Pebble and smaller than Maple. Ivy went up with the rope, quick. "Pebble, will you pull?"
Hrrmph! Down came the frill. "That's a yes!" Pebble was ready. The new one was not. She turned her head from the rope, and the sail shook.
Ivy looked at her boots. "I asked Pebble. I didn't ask her." Maple's neck came down. Obi slid off. "Ask first," said Obi. He walked up the sand.
At the Roost, Fig saw the sail shake. "One more. A seeing thing. Hana and Kite, down you go."
Over the Town came Kite, then Hana. "Kite, will you see?" Tik-tik! His head bobbed. "That's a yes!" Once round the rocks he went, and bobbed at one. "It wobbles," said Hana. "At the back."
Its back was right by her sail. Obi stood in front of the face. He did not reach. He stood a long time.
"One fish," said Obi, one hand out behind. The Ferry-keeper put one in it. Obi laid it down and stepped back. And waited.
She looked at the fish. Then at Obi. Her nose came down and took it. Obi pointed at the Roost. He did not know her name. So he said please. "Please, will you come?"
Blub! She laid her chin on the sand, by Obi's boots. "That's a yes!" Obi looked up, and up. "Maple, will you reach?"
Hmmmm. Down came the neck, slow, over the sail. "That's a yes!" Maple reached the rope round, at the back. Pebble pulled. The rock tipped, and lay down.
Out she came, and stood by Obi. "Thank you," said the Ferry-keeper. Crackers, from his coat. She had a fish. Obi waved. "Ring the Bell, and we'll come."
Up the Beach they went, and behind, one more. Up the Lift. Creak. Clunk.
"Big Book, open." Fig found the page with the sail. "Three true things about the Spinosaurus."
"One," said Obi. "She has a sail of tall bones, standing up along her back."
"Two," said Ivy. "She eats fish, and her nose-holes sit high up on her snout. So her mouth can stay in the water."
"Three," said Hana. "A grown one is longer than a bus. Her tail is flat like a paddle, for swimming." Fig shut the book. "Written down. People found the bones, and looked, and looked."
Dax hid in the same Nook. Waffle looked in the other three. Then she climbed in and lay down on him. "Found you," said Dax, from under her.
Obi looked over the rail. Down in the roots was a face, chin on a root. Blub! "Bubble," said Obi. "Her name is Bubble. She's home too."
"Ivy and Pebble, home. Hana and Kite, home. Dax and Waffle, home. Obi and Maple, home. And Fig makes nine. All home."
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