"Blistering gumnuts! I can't see where I'm going." (Whomp! He bumped into the nearest tree. ) Who's that there? What are you looking at, two eyes? Look Missus, stop that nose twitching and give an old digger a hand? Where's the good grass around here."

"I know!" shouted joey, jumping out of the bush. "Follow me."

Mother kangaroo knew that joey would go much too fast for the old wombat so she said.

"I'll help you, Mr Wombat. Hold onto my long tail. I'll take you to fresh grass and cool water. I won't go too fast. I'll go nice and slow."

The grouchy wombat held onto her tail but kept tripping over twigs and falling down holes.

" Oh flaming banksias! I'm tired. I want a rest. You'll have to stop."

Mother kangaroo stopped to sit and wait while wombat got his breath back. When she wasn't looking, joey jumped over the old wombat with a whoosh and was gone. Oh dear. She couldn't leave the wombat all alone so she called out.

"Coo ee...Jo eeeeee!"

Joey didn't come back.

She hopped over to the nearest gum tree. There, lying curled up in the shade, was Joey taking a nap! With a flick of her tail she brushed his bottom. He was up in a flash.

They found wombat. He was getting more and more upset.

"That's right . Leave me all alone. Don't worry about me. I'm alright.. I'm a big boy. I can look after myself. Ha!!!!"

"I'm very sorry Mr Wombat. Would you like to hold onto my tail and we'll try it again." said mother kangaroo.

The wombat held on tight. Soon they reached the shady spot. The fresh grass and cool water made everyone happy for a short while until...

Boingggg!!!..... a spear pinged its way through the air, just missing joey's nose.

"Blinking bandicoots! What was that?"said wombat.

Somebody was hungry. They were looking for good tucker. A nice bit of barbecued roo for dinner, perhaps.

"Quick!" whispered mother kangaroo.

They followed her into the trees. The grouchy old wombat flew as he gripped on tightly to the long, strong tail.

They piled into a dry water hole.

"Phew! That was a close hop," said joey.

He looked a bit frightened and snuggled into his mum. He could never get close enough to her when there was danger. Her heart was beating hard.

Mother kangaroo looked around for the old wombat but something very strange had happened. He had disappeared. Gone. Where was he? The blind, grouchy old wombat was nowhere to be seen. She was worried. She looked all around. Nothing.

She and her joey never saw that same old wombat ever again.

But that's not the end of the story. This story has a happy ending.

That angry old grouch wasn't a wombat at all. He was a special person, the father of all creatures. He lived in the sky. He'd come down to earth looking like a wombat. He was searching for the kindest animal in his land. He'd found her. It was, of course, the mother kangaroo. She helped him when he was angry and upset.

He told mother kangaroo who he really was. She was very surprised. Now the father of all creatures wanted to give her a special present. He saw that she was often worried about little joey wandering off. He also saw that joey got very frightened sometimes and needed a place to hide. He gave the mother kangaroo a special dilly bag.

"You must tie this around your waist." he said.

She tied it around her waist. She didn't know what it was for.

"This is going to be a place for your joey to rest and hide and sleep," he said. He thought this would make her happy.

But she wasn't happy. She was sad for all the other animals who couldn't look after their babies properly. The father of all the creatures then decided to give all the other furry mothers dilly bags too.

Kangaroos, wallabies, possums, koalas, wombats and all were very, very happy.

That's how the kangaroo got its pouch, and all the other marsupials too.

More Kangaroo Trivia

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