Eve White: Literary Agent

from DINOBALL

‘There he is!’ shouted Charlie as he leapt off Fang and ran towards The Bog of Ooze. Steggy looked up. His four feet were stuck fast in the thick black mud of the bog. As Charlie watched, he seemed to sink a little further. ‘Not so fast!’ shouted Billy, grabbing Charlie by the shoulder and yanking him to a halt. ‘This place is dangerous. You have to be careful.’ Billy tossed one of the cherry stones into the bog. It disappeared beneath the thick black mud with a squelch. Charlie shuddered; that could have been him. There were lots of rumours surrounding the Bog of Ooze. Some said it was bottomless and you'd keep on sinking forever if you wandered onto it, others said that you'd get stuck fast and starve to death. Charlie flicked away an ugly brown insect. 'We need to get him out before he sinks to the bottom!' said Charlie. 'And so we can get him back to play in the dinoball cup,' reminded Billy. Charlie had forgotten all about the cup, rescuing his friend was the only thing that mattered to him. 'Any ideas?' Billy grinned. 'We'll have him out in no time.' The muscly cave boy reached under Fang's saddle and produced a vine leaf rope. 'When I rescued Fing and Fang from the bog I used a vine rope lasso. I had to pull pretty hard though. Hopefully with Fang and you to help things will be a little bit easier.' Billy tied a loop in the vine rope and began to swing it over his head while Steggy looked on nervously. Carefully Billy tiptoed to the edge of the bog and let the rope fly. Charlie held his breath as he watched it sail through the air. The rope bounced off Steggy's back and landed in the mud with a splat. Charlie shook his head in despair. 'Nearly,' said Billy pulling the rope back towards him. 'Try and stick your tail up Steggy,' he called. 'It'll give me something to aim for!' Steggy did as he was told and stuck his tail high in the air. Billy swished the rope over his head again. With a grunt he flung it towards the trapped dinosaur. Steggy moved his tail from side to side trying to anticipate where the rope was going to land. This time Billy's aim was better and the lasso slipped over Steggy's tail. 'Well done Billy!' gushed Charlie, running to give his friend a big hug. 'He's not out of the swamp yet,' warned Billy. 'Now the hard work starts.'