by Sue Bentley
‘OK then, I promise,’ she agreed. ‘I’ll smuggle you into the farmhouse. No one’s going to notice. Mrs Kelly will be too busy doing housework and Leon’s on his computer. He doesn’t even seem that bothered about me being here.’
Arrow dipped his head gratefully. ‘I would like to live with you very much. Thank you, Becky.’
‘You’re welcome!’ Becky scooted towards him on her knees and reached out her cupped hands. Arrow jumped straight into them.
She felt him snuggle up against her as she stood up. A happy feeling glowed inside Becky as she thought about having a secret friend all to herself for this week – especially such an amazing one as Arrow!
Chapter
THREE
Becky cradled Arrow close as she walked back across the field. At the gate that opened on to the farmyard, she paused.
‘We’ll sneak in through the back door. I don’t particularly want to bump into Mrs Kelly,’ she said to Arrow. ‘Uh-oh!’ she whispered, quickly ducking behind the gate as the farmhouse door opened and the housekeeper appeared.
Becky didn’t want to have to answer awkward questions if she was caught with Arrow, so she crouched out of sight until Mrs Kelly went off towards the henhouse.
‘Phew! That was close!’ Becky slipped through the gate and, cuddling Arrow close, sprinted across the yard and slipped round to the back of the farmhouse.
She looked down at her new friend as she walked across the lawn. Arrow was so cute. He had stretched up to lie full-length against her chest, and his eyes were closed contentedly as she stroked his pale fur. It was the softest thing she had ever touched.
‘Oh!’ Becky felt something very big and wet flap against her face.
A bedsheet! She hadn’t been looking where she was going and had stumbled into a line of clean washing. A gust of wind made a corner of the sheet flick over Becky’s shoulder with a cracking sound.
Arrow gave a squeal of terror and tried to leap out of her arms.
‘It’s OK, Arrow, it’s only a sheet!’
But the terrified magic bunny didn’t seem to be listening. He kicked out with his back legs, accidentally scratching Becky’s chest through her T-shirt.
Becky winced at the stinging soreness, but she made herself ignore it as she struggled to keep hold of her tiny friend without squeezing him too hard. She was worried that he’d hurt himself if he jumped to the ground from such a height. But her trainers slipped on the damp grass and Becky felt herself tumbling forward. Stretching out one hand, she grabbed at the nearest sheet to save herself.
Snap! Snap! Snap! Clothespegs pinged off the line as Becky collapsed into a heap of wet washing.
‘Ooof!’ She managed to twist round and land on her back, keeping Arrow safe in her cupped hands. Becky lay there for a moment, too stunned to move. She could feel Arrow’s rapid heartbeat against her palm.
‘Are you OK?’ Becky asked him worriedly.
‘I am fine. You saved me. Thank you!’ Arrow moved up to nudge her chin gently with his little wet nose.
Relief washed through Becky. She’d only had Arrow for a short time, but she already loved her magical friend to bits and couldn’t bear to think of him being hurt.
She struggled to get free of the clinging damp material.
‘Oh!’ As Becky finally managed to stand up, the stinging came back. Now that the excitement was over, the claw marks Arrow had made in his panic were starting to smart horribly.
Arrow laid his ears flat with concern. ‘You are hurt, Becky. Let me help you!’
Becky saw Arrow’s key start to pulse with light and felt a warm prickling sensation down her spine. He twitched his little pink nose and a fountain of crystal dust appeared, shimmering with a thousand tiny rainbows.
To Becky’s amazement, the magical dust spread all over the front of her T-shirt, before seeming to sink into it and disappear. The scratch marks turned cold and then stopped hurting completely as if they’d never been there at all.
When Becky peered down inside her T-shirt to check, there wasn’t a single mark to be seen.
‘Cool! Thanks, Arrow. I’m fine now. Come on. Let’s get you inside before –’
‘My washing!’ boomed a furious voice. ‘What have you done, you dreadful girl?’
Becky froze in terror. She slowly turned to see Mrs Kelly standing in the kitchen doorway. She was staring at Becky’s feet.
Becky looked down too, horrified to see that she was standing on a heap of trampled muddy sheets. She had been so worried about Arrow that she hadn’t given a thought to the washing.
‘I am in so much trouble!’ Becky groaned, expecting a double telling-off. She was still holding the fluffy bunny, who was now tucked safely under one arm. Mrs Kelly seemed the sort who wouldn’t allow animals into the house.
‘Just look at those sheets!’ The housekeeper marched into the garden with a face like thunder. Becky leapt backwards in alarm, leaving another perfect muddy trainer print on a clean bit of sheet.
‘It was an … um … accident,’ she burbled lamely. ‘Sorry.’
‘A likely story!’ Mrs Kelly looked as if steam might come out of her ears at any moment. ‘Right. Help me pick up this washing and bring it into the house. It will all have to be done again. I have to go down the lane to Buttercup Farm, so since you’re the one who made the sheets all muddy, you’re going to be the one to wash them!’
For some reason, Mrs Kelly hadn’t mentioned Arrow. It was almost as if she couldn’t see him.
‘Me! Do washing? But I’ve never –’ Becky began and then stopped as Mrs Kelly gave her a stern look. ‘OK then. Will you show me how the washing machine works?’
‘That’s better. Follow me.’
The moment the housekeeper’s back was turned, Becky quickly hid Arrow under her T-shirt. She sighed. This was terrible. The last thing she’d expected to be doing on the first day of her farm holiday was washing sheets!
Chapter
FOUR
Becky sat cross-legged on the utility room floor, where she’d been for the past ten minutes, staring glumly at the washing machine. Mrs Kelly had gone out, after giving Becky strict orders not to move a muscle until all the sheets were done.
‘That woman is super-scary. I bet she’ll snitch on me to Uncle Den and insist that he grounds me! And how come she didn’t seem to notice I was holding you?’ she asked Arrow, who sat in her lap, calmly grooming himself.
The magic bunny looked up at Becky, the tip of his little pink tongue still sticking out.
‘I used my magic, so that only you can see and hear me.’
‘You can make yourself invisible? Cool!’ Becky smiled, wondering what else her magical friend could do. ‘I wish that could help us do the washing. These sheets are taking a long time. I reckon we could be here for ages.’
Arrow put his head on one side. ‘I do not think so.’
Becky felt the familiar prickling sensation down her back as Arrow’s magic key began pulsing again with a glowing light. Another cloud of sparkling crystal dust appeared and trickled down onto the washing machine. The machine started whizzing round at super-fast speed. Becky’s eyes widened in amazement as it stopped dead with a loud burping noise. The door flew open and out came the clean sheets, floating through the air like ghosts and drifting out of the back door.
Becky scrambled to her feet and ran after them. She was just in time to see the sheets drape themselves magically over the washing line.
Snap! Snap! Snap! A row of unused clothespegs, dangling from the line, marched towards the sheets like a line of soldiers and clipped themselves smartly into place.
Becky clapped her hands in delight. ‘That was fantastic! Thanks, Arrow. That would have been a horrible job. Let’s go upstairs now and I can show you my bedroom.’
*
Becky and Arrow had just reached the landing when Leon’s bedroom door opened.
‘What was all that shouting downstairs earlier?’ he asked curiously.
Becky
stiffened and started to hide Arrow behind her back before she remembered that he was invisible.
‘That was Mrs Kelly. She had a major stress at me!’ she told him, rolling her eyes.
‘Why?’ Leon asked.
Becky told him about tripping over into the sheets, being careful not to mention anything about Arrow. She was halfway through explaining when Leon began grinning and then laughing out loud.
‘I wish I’d seen her face when she saw you trampling her clean washing! You’re a lot braver than I am!’
Becky looked at him in astonishment. Someone seemed to have stolen her quiet, serious cousin and put this boy with the infectious laugh in his place. She found herself smiling with him and then both of them fell about laughing.
‘Killer Kelly was so angry! I thought her apron was going to ping right off, like the clothespegs!’ she gasped, dabbing at her eyes with her T-shirt.
‘Killer Kelly? That really suits her!’ Leon laughed, holding his ribs.
Arrow watched them both from Becky’s arms, with a look of puzzlement in his big soft brown eyes. He shook his head slowly.
‘Humans are very strange sometimes.’
Becky laughed even more. ‘Arr– um … I mean … Anyway,’ she quickly corrected herself. She would have to be a lot more careful about keeping Arrow a secret. ‘I’ve done the sheets in double-quick time. I was just going up to my room, cos I didn’t fancy being around when Mrs Kelly gets back.’
‘I don’t blame you.’ Leon looked thoughtful. ‘Come on!’ he said, edging past her and starting to walk downstairs.
‘Where are we going?’
‘Somewhere I often go. Somewhere secret,’ he said mysteriously.
Becky was intrigued by the fact that her cousin was including her in something for the first time ever. She didn’t need telling twice. ‘You’re on!’
Arrow nudged Becky gently, obviously as eager as she was about having an adventure. She tucked him more securely under her arm before hurrying after Leon. It wasn’t a moment too soon. As Becky, Arrow and Leon crossed the kitchen, they heard the front door opening.
‘Hello, Becky,’ Mrs Kelly called. ‘How’s that washing doing?’
‘Leg it!’ Becky whispered.
Leon shot out of the kitchen door and headed down the garden. Becky raced after him, but slowed down when she saw the tall, prickly hawthorn hedge that formed a barrier at the bottom.
‘It’s a dead end!’
‘No, it’s not! This way!’ Leon kneeled down and wriggled through a gap near the ground that Becky hadn’t noticed.
She put Arrow down so he could hop through and then picked him up again after she emerged. ‘Are you OK?’ she whispered.
‘I am fine.’ He settled in her arms again.
Leon looked back at her and frowned. Becky realized he had heard her.
‘Just talking to myself. It’s a habit of mine!’ she said, scrambling upright.
They jogged down a narrow strip of grass that ran along the edge of a cornfield. Leon was ahead of her and just turning on to a rough track.
Becky ran after him. This was fun – like doing cross-country at school!
After a couple of minutes, Leon paused. ‘That’s where we’re going,’ he said, pointing to a hill that rose above the farm.
Becky shaded her eyes to look at it. It was mainly grass with just a few scrubby bushes on the slopes.
‘What’s so special about it?’ she whispered to Arrow, as Leon quickened his pace again. ‘Maybe there are really good views from the top or something.’
Arrow nodded.
Tall heads of corn rustled in the warm breeze and skylarks called overhead as they jogged onwards. Becky could see the woods she’d glimpsed from her bedroom window and the towering shapes of other hills much further away.
She’d almost caught up with Leon now. Putting on a spurt, she drew level and then ran past him, her trainers pounding the ground.
‘Last one to the top is a muppet!’ she cried.
‘No, wait!’ Leon cried.
But Becky took no notice as she sped away. ‘Eat my dust!’ she crowed.
Holding Arrow didn’t slow her down. Even cradling him carefully, Becky was a fast runner. They reached the hilltop seconds ahead of Leon.
‘Yay!’ she cried triumphantly.
Panting, Leon pushed back a strand of damp blond hair as he caught up with her. ‘Are you always like this?’
‘Pretty much!’ Becky said, grinning. She bent her knees to let Arrow jump down and flopped onto the grass while he hopped over to a patch of clover.
‘I was trying to tell you that we have to be quiet up here if we want to see anything,’ Leon told her, sounding a bit miffed. ‘The wild rabbits that live here are quite used to me, but you’re a stranger so they might take longer to come out.’
‘Oh, sorry.’ Becky smiled sheepishly. She did get carried away sometimes. She turned over onto her tummy to watch Arrow nibbling the juicy leaves. Even if the wild rabbits are feeling shy, I can see one special bunny right now!
Just then Arrow’s ears twitched and his big brown eyes glowed with tiny rainbows as he looked more closely at the hilltop. ‘There is a warren here. Like back home in Moonglow Meadow!’
He gave a mighty leap, followed by three hops and disappeared down the nearest burrow.
Chapter
FIVE
‘Arrow!’ Becky gasped in shock, only just managing not to leap straight to her feet and take off after him.
Why had he run away? She hoped the magic bunny hadn’t decided that he’d rather hide among his wild cousins.
‘Why did you say “arrow”?’ Leon asked, looking at Becky curiously.
‘Oh, well … erm …’ Becky didn’t know quite how to answer without giving away the little magic bunny. But luckily, just then, Leon forgot their conversation.
‘Look!’ He grabbed Becky’s arm and pointed towards a large greyish-coloured rabbit emerging from a burrow a couple of metres away. Its nose twitched as it stood up on its back legs, watchful and alert. ‘That’s Smudge – at least that’s what I call her because of that brown mark on her right ear. She’s the top female.’
‘Smudge?’ Becky echoed, too worried about Arrow to concentrate properly.
She hesitated, trying to decide what to do. Her instincts told her to go closer to the warren and check out some of the burrows for any sign of her friend. But how could she explain that to Leon without giving Arrow away? She’d come really close already.
Becky forced herself to calm down. As hard as it was to wait, she would have to trust Arrow.
Leon was watching as other rabbits emerged. Soon, more adults stood up on their legs all around the warren, sniffing the air for possible enemies. Then, at some kind of invisible signal, six of the tiniest rabbits Becky had ever seen appeared from a burrow right beside Smudge.
‘Look at those. Aren’t they sweet?’ Leon turned towards her to whisper. ‘Baby rabbits are called kits. This is the first time I’ve seen them out of their burrows. Smudge has been feeding them on milk in a special underground chamber, until they’re old enough to eat grass.’
Becky’s heart melted. They were very cute.
Suddenly, she spotted a familiar tiny fluffy pale-coffee-coloured shape hopping towards Smudge. Arrow!
‘There he is!’ Becky exclaimed. ‘I mean … there they are,’ she quickly corrected herself, pointing at the kits.
Becky watched closely as Arrow stopped in front of Smudge. The tiny magic bunny looked about half the size of the lead female. Smudge laid her ears flat and her eyes rolled as she reared up above him with her front paws outstretched.
Smudge was going to attack Arrow!
Becky caught her breath, worried that her friend would be hurt. But the wild rabbit eventually sank back down and crouched head to head with Arrow. The two rabbits stayed motionless for a few seconds before Arrow touched his pink nose to the wild rabbit’s muzzle. Smudge bowed her head as if in farewell.
To Becky’s relief, she saw the magic bunny give a flick of his tail as he hopped away from the warren and came bounding back towards her. Becky felt her tension easing as the little rabbit settled down with his warm furry body pressed against her bare arm. Leon was busy looking at the kits, so Becky risked talking to Arrow.
‘When you ran off like that, I thought you’d gone to live with the wild rabbits and didn’t want to be my friend any more,’ she whispered.
Arrow’s floppy little ears drooped. ‘I am sorry. I should have explained that I was only exploring. I am very happy with you, Becky.’
‘That’s OK then.’ Becky stroked his fluffy fur, feeling a bit silly now for being so worried. ‘Because I love having you for my friend!’
They settled down together to watch the wild rabbits. Becky was able to concentrate properly now. She noticed quite a lot of difference in the colours of their fur. Some of the rabbits were quite a dark brown and others were almost grey.
Leon edged closer on his tummy and started scribbling in a notebook as he studied another group of larger rabbits that Becky assumed were males. She was really enjoying being here with him. Maybe being quiet sometimes wasn’t so bad after all.
‘The lead female is a fine rabbit,’ Arrow told her.
‘Leon calls her Smudge,’ Becky whispered back. ‘Because of the mark on her ear.’
Arrow nodded approval. ‘Smudge. That is a good name.’
All at once, Becky noticed that the key round Arrow’s neck was shining brightly.
Arrow saw her looking. ‘Moonglow Meadow will soon be in need of more of the key’s magic,’ he explained.
‘Do you have to leave?’ Becky whispered anxiously.
Arrow looked up at her with serious eyes. ‘Not yet. But if the key glows constantly, I might have to leave suddenly, without saying goodbye.’
