He wasn’t sure. But what kind of life was it here in the countryside, listening out for the sound of dog paws, which he believed could come at any minute, for surely the Pack would never give up searching for the only rabbit that had ever got away?
Then he thought of Shylo and a small smile crept across his face. He wasn’t proud of the fact that he had hidden all these years, leaving his brother to believe him dead, but he was proud of Shylo. Deeply proud. Yes, he thought happily, if a weak and feeble bunkin can discover courage he never knew he had, then he, Horatio, could recover the courage he had lost.
He chuckled to himself. It had never crossed his mind that young Shylo Tawny-Tail would be in a position to teach him about courage.
But so it was.
One night seven years ago when our son Sasha was six, he couldn’t sleep. ‘Think of something you love,’ we said. ‘Rabbits,’ he replied. ‘Where do they live?’ we asked. Sasha hesitated, then he said: ‘Under Buckingham Palace.’ That is how this idea was born. We soon started to imagine the magical world of the Royal Rabbits of London; the Thumpers and Ratzis, foxes and minks, from the tunnels beneath Buckingham Palace to the White House and beyond. While we were busy imagining this, we were also busy writing our other books, novels and histories. Six years passed. When we finally started the serious yet fun enterprise of creating this world and then writing it, Sasha was thirteen and our daughter Lily, fifteen. A big thank you to Lily, who read the book as it developed and gave us very sharp and wise advice, and to Sasha for the idea - and to both of them for their love, support and mischief. We always believed in our story but we weren’t sure whether anyone else would. Therefore we would like to thank those who did, and do, from the bottom of our hearts: Our wonderful agents, Sheila Crowley at Curtis Brown and Georgina Capel at Capel and Land, and Luke Speed our brilliant film agent at Curtis Brown. Ian Chapman, who stands at the helm of our publisher Simon & Schuster, and his talented and energetic team who have been key in helping us develop our idea: Jane Griffiths, Jenny Richards and Jane Tait. Of course our story would not have come to life without Kate Hindley’s beautiful drawings. We are enormously grateful to Kate for her hard work and superb talent.
First published in Great Britain in 2016 by Simon and Schuster UK Ltd
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Text Copyright © Simon Sebag Montefiore and Santa Montefiore 2016
Illustrations Copyright © Kate Hindley 2016
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The right of Simon Sebag Montefiore and Santa Montefiore to be identified as the authors of this work and Kate Hindley to be identified as the illustrator of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Design and Patents Act, 1988.
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