The World's Awesomest Air-Barf Read Online Free

Song”, which I’m told was composed in 1876 by a man named Manuel de Compostela.’
    She straightened the suit around Danny’s body, and smiled.
    ‘Lovely. Go and look at yourself.’
    Danny rustled over to the full-length mirror on the wardrobe door. He lifted his arms to spread his wings, and whistled a few bars of the Budgie Song.
    ‘Ace,’ he said.
    But he didn’t really mean it.
    Half an hour later, Danny stood in the town square of Marisco, dressed in the budgie suit and carrying a bucket. The sun had risen above the roofs of the old pink buildings that formed the
square, and Danny was already hot.

    It seemed like the whole town had come out to see him. The same band that had greeted them at the stadium played the same loud, cheerful tune. Gogo La Gamba, the giant prawn mascot of Real
Marisco, had a new tail and was there to cheer Danny on.
    Danny’s dad stood next to him. He glanced around the crowd.
    ‘Why did Matt decide to stay at the hotel?’ he asked.
    Danny shrugged. ‘Don’t know.’
    ‘Have you two fallen out?’
    Danny shrugged again, but said nothing. He wished he hadn’t told Matthew to ‘Get lost!’
    Sally Butterworth was standing nearby and blew him a kiss. Danny rolled his eyes.
    The Mayoress of Marisco, Señora Juanita Delgardo, held up her hand, and the band and the crowd fell silent.

    ‘Today is the anniversary of our Deliverance from the Plague of Caterpillars,’ she announced. ‘It is the day the caterpillars hatch out in our sacred tree, and the day El
Periquito climbs into the tree to collect them.’
    The crowd applauded.
    ‘I now ask Father Ignatius, from the Church of the Holy Budgerigar, to bless El Periquito and send him on his sacred task.’
    An old priest stepped forward, placing his hand on Danny’s head. The priest mumbled a prayer in Latin and sprinkled Danny with Holy water. He crossed himself, then gestured for Danny to
climb the tree.

    Danny marched forward to the ladders propped up against the trunk of the massive old tree. A net stretched around the base of the tree to catch him if he fell.

    ‘When do I start to whistle?’ he asked.
    ‘From the moment you pick up the first caterpillar to the moment you collect the final one,’ answered Father Ignatius. ‘El Periquito sang as he munched, from start to
finish.’
    Danny had been learning the Budgie Song for days. He pursed his lips, and blew. The notes trilled and echoed around the silent square. When he got to the top of the ladder and climbed into the
tree, the crowd cheered.

    Danny waved. He scanned the crowd quickly, to see if Matthew had turned up to watch him after all, but he couldn’t see his friend anywhere. Sally waved back at him.
    Danny turned and looked at the branches around him. He gasped.
    ‘What is wrong, Señor Danny? Are there no caterpillars?’ called the Mayoress.
    ‘There are thousands of them!’
    The Mayoress went pale and held on to the priest’s arm.
    ‘Thousands?’
    ‘Millions!’ confirmed Danny. ‘They’re everywhere!’
    He stared goggle-eyed at the green and yellow caterpillars that were crawling over every inch of bark and leaf.

    The band fell silent. Hushed, horrified whispers rippled through the townsfolk.
    ‘It has happened again!’ said Father Ignatius. ‘The plague has returned!’
    ‘Shall we send more people up into the tree?’ suggested the Mayoress.
    ‘No!’ cried Father Ignatius. ‘It must be El Periquito who collects the caterpillars!’
    The old priest gazed up at Danny with red, watery eyes.
    ‘Only Danny Baker can save us now!’

     
The Kissing Tree
    Danny toiled all day in the scorching sun, working his way higher and higher into the tree, picking the small wriggling creatures from underneath leaves, knocking them off
twigs and dropping them into buckets. All the time he worked, Danny whistled the Budgie Song.

    His limbs ached, his lips ached, but he carried on collecting and he carried on whistling, only stopping to drink