Chapter 2: A Trail of Crumbs and Feathers
Liam felt like a detective in a movie. He knelt down where the lunchbox had been, running his fingers along the dusty bricks.
“Aha!” he gasped.
Right by the spot where the koala lid rested, he saw something tiny: a single, shiny sultana and a little smear of white bread crumb. But the most exciting clue was a fluffy, bright pink feather. It was about the size of his thumb.
“Mum, look!” Liam showed her the feather. “Do you think a galah took it?”
Galahs were common, noisy, pink-and-grey birds that loved to squawk in their backyard bottlebrush tree. They were cheeky birds, but Liam had never seen one fly off with a whole lunchbox.
“A galah would make a lot of noise,” Mum replied, “and I didn’t hear anything. But that feather is a big clue, Liam. It’s too pink for a magpie.”
Liam followed the tiny trail of crumbs past the old water tank. He noticed the dust on the ground was disturbed, like something small had been dragged along. He walked slowly, his eyes scanning the ground like a hawk. The disturbed dust led him right to the wooden fence at the edge of their yard.
He found one final clue snagged on a rusty nail in the fence post: a tiny strip of bright blue plastic—the exact same colour as his lunchbox! The thief had definitely gone this way!
Liam looked over the fence into the tangled, wild bushland that backed onto the school oval. The mystery was leading him outside!
Think About It!
- What were the two different clues Liam found on the bricks?
- Why did Mum say the pink feather was too bright for a magpie?
- What object did Liam find snagged on the fence post?
Word Power!
- Galah: A common Australian cockatoo with a rose-pink face and chest, and grey wings.
- Bottlebrush: An Australian native shrub with flowers that look like a brush for cleaning bottles.
- Disturbed: The normal state or surface has been moved or changed.
- Snagged: Caught or torn on something sharp.
Activity Time!
- Galahs, Magpies, and Kookaburras are all Australian birds. Pick one and draw a picture of it!
- If you were Liam, would you follow the trail over the fence? Why or why not?