At the age of ten, Greta has discovered that life is full of surprises, but not all of them are good. Her best friend, Karen, helps with her wit and funny use of vocabulary as together they build a cubby house down by the river where they live. It is their Secret Hollow and they are filled with excitement on their first night sleeping in there, until they have an unexpected visitor and all of a sudden, Greta's dilemma becomes a whole lot more. ... Karen was shaking so much, the torchlight flashed all over the ceiling. She steadied her hand and shone it towards the kitchen table. The scream that followed pierced the night like shards of glass. On top of the kitchen table was the biggest goanna the girls had ever seen and it was ...