“Sky,” Petal told Ruby. “I think she’s miserable that she hasn’t been chosen as a Bouncer.”
“Really?” Ruby wriggled her curly whiskers, then clapped her paws together. “Then we totally have to work some lucky bunny magic to cheer her up!”
Diamond frowned. If Sky really was so upset about not being in Bounce-a-Lot, how easy would it be to help her get over it?
They reached the school trees and hopped to their desks inside the oak trunk. Today, Mr. Nibble was gnawing on a stem of broccoli, and the floor around him was covered in little specks of green. The classroom wasn’t even half full of bunnies, with seven of the desks empty—six places where the chosen Bouncers usually sat, plus Sky’s.
The first lesson was food technology, and Mr. Nibble put the class into groups to make Berry Bakes. Luckily, Petal was put with Ruby and Diamond—now they could make a plan to cheer up Sky as they worked!
Petal tied back her ears into a bow so they wouldn’t droop into the food, and Diamond unhooked three shiny lily-pad aprons from a peg. But Ruby shook her head when Diamond handed one to her. “I don’t need an apron!” Ruby told her.
“But Mr. Nibble said we had to wear them,” Diamond replied quietly.
“That’s because he’s so messy.” Ruby nodded toward their teacher. “He can’t even eat broccoli without making a mess. I’ll be totally fine.” She waved the apron away, and Diamond shrugged and hooked it back up on the tree-trunk wall.
Ruby studied the recipe Mr. Nibble had written on the barkboard. “Step one, mash the blackberries.” She took a masher from the pot on the cooking bench and began squishing the blackberries in a chestnut bowl. Diamond winced as bright purple blackberry juice squirted all over Ruby’s fur, but she didn’t seem to notice.
“What’s next?” said Petal, squinting. She had the best hearing out of the friends and could make out the tiniest whisper, but her eyesight wasn’t very good and she struggled to see the barkboard.
“We have to add the blueberries,” Ruby said, glancing at the recipe again. “Then add torn-up mint leaves and pour the mixture into a baking dish.”
While the friends worked, they went back to talking about Sky.
“Can anyone think of some ideas of how we could cheer her up?” Petal asked as she poured the blueberries into the bowl of mashed blackberries.
“There are so many ways!” said Ruby, who liked solving problems. “We should totally write a list!” Ruby also liked lists and had a list for everything, like her top ten list of favorite foods, her list of every movie she’d seen, and her list of all the herbs that grew in Basil Forest.
Ruby wiped her paws on the pale red fur of her tummy, spreading blackberry juice everywhere, and took out her exercise barkbook from her desk. “So, what should we try first?”
Diamond pointed at the dish. “Berry Bake is Sky’s favorite, right? We could take her this one to try to cheer her up?”
“That’s lucky—and an awesome idea!” said Ruby as she scribbled down the first item on the list.
“How about carrots?” suggested Petal. “They’re Sky’s most favorite vegetable.”
“We could take Sky to Carrot Central?” said Diamond. It was a carrot field in Bright Burrow where the vegetables luckily never ever stopped growing, and it was very popular with all the bunnies.
Their Berry Bake was ready to be cooked, so Diamond carried it over carefully to the fireplace in the corner of the classroom. As the tree trunk filled with delicious fruit smells, the three friends focused on writing their list.
By the time the Berry Bakes were ready at the end of the lesson, Ruby had written down four ideas. She closed her barkbook as the school bell rang out, and Petal stuck her paws in her giant ears.
“Sometimes I wish my ears weren’t quite so good at hearing,” Petal said as the piercing sound made her brain rattle.
“But it’s so lucky that you can hear everything,” said Diamond. “I wish I could. It’s much better than having good eyesight.” All rabbits could see in the dark, but Diamond’s eyes worked even in pitch-black. It sometimes came in handy, but she thought being able to hear even the tiniest whisper would be much better. Then she’d be able to listen to her parents whispering—her birthday was coming up, and she really wanted to know what they were getting her.
“So … who’s going to take the Berry Bake to Sky’s burrow after school?” asked Ruby.
“I can do it,” said Petal as she untied her ears and apron. In fact, she lived the farthest away from Sky, but she knew Ruby had to take her little sister home after school, and Diamond would be rushing back to her burrow to do her homework.
“Thanks, Petal,” Diamond said. “I really hope it helps.”
Ruby twitched her nose. “Well, we have lots of awesome ideas for Operation Cheer Up Sky. One of them has got to work!”
Petal put her paws to her face. “I hope you’re right, Ruby. I can’t bear the thought of Sky being sad!”
“Sky!” Sky’s dad called gruffly. “Ruby and Petal are here for you.”
Sky jolted out of bed. What were her friends doing at her burrow so early? It was a school day, but her parents would have woken her up if she’d slept in.
Sky rubbed the sleep from her fluff-edged eyes and pulled her yellow Dandelion School tie over her head. She hopped into the kitchen, past the Berry Bake that Petal had brought yesterday. She hadn’t felt like eating it, even though it was her favorite. Instead, Sky’s sisters had eaten most of it for dessert last night, and by the look of the empty bowl, Dad had had the rest for his breakfast. She began to wonder, If Dad eats that for breakfast, why can’t I have hopcorn?
She walked past her dad to the hallway, spotting telltale purple berry stains around his mouth. “Hey, Petal. Hey, Ruby. What’s going on?” asked Sky. Her two friends were standing at the front door, both hopping from foot to foot.
“It’s a surprise,” said Ruby.
Sky looked out of the doorway and up at the purple-gray sky. The sun hadn’t even risen, although the Luck Rainbow arced across the sky as it always did. Sometimes one of the strips of color in the rainbow shone more than the others, which meant a certain type of luck was around that day.
Sky yawned. “Do you think the surprise could wait until later? I’m super tired.”
“I’m afraid it cannot,” said Petal brightly. “But it’s a good surprise—you’ll see!”
Ruby grabbed Sky’s arm with a blackberry-stained paw and pulled her out of the burrow. “Come on—it’s awesome. And Diamond is waiting for us!”
“Diamond?” Sky blinked. “Why?”
“Just wait …” Ruby kept tugging on Sky’s arm until she gave in and started scampering along with them.
They ran down Warren Street’s blue cobbles. “Hey, are we going to school?” Sky asked.
“No!” Ruby replied as they reached Sparkle River. Dandelion School was still in the distance. They hopped across the silver stepping stones that shone in the sparkling water. Often older bunnies swam in Sparkle River, believing it would help keep them young, but it was too early for any bunny to be there yet.
Now they were approaching Bright Burrow’s shopping street. “Ooh, Cucumber Row?” Sky guessed again. “But the shops won’t be open yet!”
“You’re quite right, not Cucumber Row,” said Petal. Her giant ears fluttered out behind her as she ran across the green cobbles of the shopping street. She swerved right and two gigantic carrots came into view. These weren’t real carrots, but orange-brick towers with green grass tops on either side of the entrance to Carrot Central.
Sky skidded to a stop. “Carrot Central? But you normally have to line up there all night if you want to get in for the morning. Will we make it before school starts?”
Ruby was standing on tiptoes and squinting at the line. “Awesome … there she is!”
Sky followed Ruby’s gaze. At first, all she could see was hundreds of bunny ears in all shapes and sizes, but then her eyes fell on two pale pink ears, edg
ed with white fur. Those were Diamond’s ears—and luckily it looked as if she was right at the front of the line!
“We wanted to cheer you up,” Petal explained. She took Sky’s paw and guided her toward Diamond, past the winding line that circled the whole of Carrot Central. The round field was jam-packed with bright orange carrots, and as soon as one was plucked, another would magically spring up in its place. “Diamond’s been here since yesterday,” Petal continued, “to make sure you can have as many carrots as you want this morning.”
Ruby jumped up and spun on the spot. “And we know how you totally love carrots!”
Sky tried to smile at her friends, even though her stomach felt cold and empty with disappointment. They were being so kind to her, but she just couldn’t forget about not being a Bouncer.
As they drew nearer to Diamond, Sky heard her shouting. She frowned—Diamond never raised her voice. She sniffed—what was that funny, eggy smell?
“What do you think you are doing?” Diamond yelled.
They finally reached the front of the line, and the bunny Diamond was talking to came into view. Except, it wasn’t a bunny …
It was a ferret! They all recognized Hiss—he was a very annoying ferret who sometimes sneaked into Bright Burrow.
“Hiss, what are you doing here?” Ruby asked. She was pinching her nose, so her voice came out all funny. Like all ferrets, Hiss didn’t smell very nice, especially if you had Ruby’s super-smelling nose.
Hiss put his little brown paws on his hips and raised himself upward on his hind legs. Now he towered over the bunnies—even Petal, the tallest of them all. “I am getting some carrots,” Hiss said. “And anyways, what’s it to you?”
Diamond looked up at Hiss’s angry black-and-white face and backed away. “But … but you haven’t been in line all night,” she said, then turned to her friends and added, “He just suddenly appeared in front of me.”
The bunnies in the line behind Diamond all nodded and tutted.
“It sounds like you’ve been up to your tricks again, Hiss,” said Ruby, who was still holding her nose with a paw. She looked around at the ground and spotted some fresh earth—as if someone had quickly tried to cover up a hole. “Did you dig a hole to get to the front?”
“Hole?” Hiss stuck his small black nose in the air. “I dunno what you’re talking about!”
“What is that then?” asked Petal, flapping an ear at the ground.
“I dunno!” Hiss repeated, not even looking down.
“Yes, you totally do!” said Ruby. “You’re a bad liar. Your cheeks have gone red.”
Hiss snorted. “They have not!”
“They have too!” Ruby replied. “You just can’t see them. You should look in Mirror Lake, then you’ll see.”
“I will then! I’ll show you!” said Hiss, and he lowered his front paws to the ground and darted away past the line of waiting bunnies.
Petal gave Ruby a big smile. “Well done, Ruby. That got rid of him.”
Ruby smiled back, making her curly whiskers dance. “Ferrets can be so sneaky,” she said, “but they’re also not very clever. Luckily he fell for my trick!”
“Thank you, Ruby,” said Diamond. “Now Sky can take my place as first in the line without Hiss bothering her.”
Petal pointed ahead. “Look, I think it’s about to open!”
The gatekeeper of Carrot Central, a large golden bunny with floppy ears, was hopping through the bright orange field toward them. She unhooked the latch from the carrot-shaped gate and waved Sky in.
But Sky didn’t move. She turned to her friends. “Hey, thanks for doing this for me. But the thing is, I really do have a toothache.” She put a paw to her jaw where her back tooth throbbed with pain.
Petal was so surprised, her mouth dropped open. “But we thought you were just saying that because you didn’t want to come to school after you weren’t chosen to be a Bouncer!”
Sky shook her fluffy blue head. “Nope—I went to the dentist again yesterday. Dr. Molar said I’d eaten way too much hopcorn.”
“Oh, that’s unlucky!” Ruby said. “So you’re really, totally okay? Even with Star and Twinkle being on the team?”
“Yep,” Sky replied. Then a frown appeared on her furry forehead. “You haven’t said anything to Star and Twinkle about this, have you? I don’t want to make them feel bad.”
“No,” said Diamond. “And we won’t. We just want you to be happy.”
“I am!” Sky insisted, and she tried to ignore the empty feeling in her stomach. The four friends began walking away from Carrot Central. “Hey,” Sky said, quickly trying to think of a joke to prove she was okay. “Um … what do you get if you cross a carrot with a parrot?”
“What?” Ruby asked.
“Um … a carrot-parrot!” said Sky.
Her friends all laughed, but alarm bells were ringing inside Petal’s head. That joke was truly awful, which proved only one thing. Sky wasn’t really over her disappointment at all.
Later that day at school, Petal scratched a message on a strip of barknote and passed it to Diamond and Ruby. It read:
What shall we do about Sky? I’m worried about her.
“But I thought Sky was okay,” Diamond whispered to Petal as they ran outside at playtime. “She told us she was.”
Petal flicked a long ear. “Sky says that, but I still think she’s fibbing. Her carrot joke this morning didn’t make sense at all, and look at how she’s staring at the Bouncers practicing over there.”
Diamond and Ruby turned to look at Sky. She was sitting cross-legged on the grass, her fluffy head in her paws, her gaze fixed on the Bouncer teams at the other side of the dandelion field.
“I think she just told us she’s fine so that we don’t worry about her,” Petal added.
Ruby thought back to their list. “Then we need to do the next thing on our Operation Cheer Up Sky list,” she said. “Number three: Persuade Mr. Nibble to let her be a Bouncer after all!”
After school, Sky’s dad picked her up to take her to the dentist again, which meant Diamond, Ruby, and Petal could work out a plan on their way home.
“We need to speak to Mr. Nibble when Sky isn’t around,” said Diamond as they hopped out of the school gates.
“But how do we do that?” Petal asked. “Sky’s always in class with us.”
Ruby put a paw to her mouth as she thought through the problem. “I know—we could totally go to his burrow!” she said. “Except … I don’t know where he lives …”
“I do!” said Diamond. “I’ve been there before for some extra math lessons.”
“Extra math?” said Petal, flapping an ear over her eyes in horror. “Urgh!”
“I like math,” Diamond explained quietly.
Ruby nodded. “Yeah, math is awesome! Anyway, so luckily Diamond knows where Mr. Nibble lives, but how are we going to change his mind about choosing Sky?”
The three friends were silent as they all tried to think of an idea. In the distance, the silver Weather Rabbit in Pineapple Square suddenly popped out of his clock tower. “Rain is coming!” he squealed. “Get ready for rain!”
The sky had been blue and cloudless, but now rain clouds moved in. The next moment, rain began pattering down on the bunnies. They sped up to a run along Warren Street.
“But we absolutely cannot go home yet,” said Petal. She looked up to the gray, rainy sky, with the Luck Rainbow arcing through it. “Oh, it’s such bad luck for it to rain, when we have most important Operation Cheer Up Sky work to do!”
“You know the Weather Rabbit,” Diamond replied, twitching her pink nose to shake off the raindrops. “He likes to change the weather all of a sudden like that.”
As if to prove Diamond’s words, the mechanical silver rabbit popped out of the clock tower again. “Sunny, sunny sunshine!” he screeched. “Here comes the sun!”
The rain stopped immediately, and the gray clouds slid away to reveal a bright yellow sunshine in a pale blue sky.
Ruby clasped her red paws together. “So, back to business,” she said. “What can we do to persuade Mr. Nibble to let Sky be a Bouncer?”
“We could bring Mr. Nibble something he likes to eat?” Diamond suggested.
Ruby sniffed. “He likes eating everything though!” she said.
“Silkleaf!” Petal shouted. The bunnies nearby turned to look at her, and Petal lowered her voice. “I overheard Mr. Nibble talking to Mrs. Lop at school about desperately wanting some silkleaf, but he doesn’t have any time to go and pick it.”
“Then that’s totally what we can do!” Ruby did another jump-spin. “We can go and get some right now, and then take it to Mr. Nibble before school in the morning.”
The three friends hopped off Warren Street, heading for Basil Forest. They crossed the glossy stepping stones of Sparkle River and then scampered toward Pineapple Square. As they passed the clock tower, Diamond hoped more than anything that they’d be lucky and the Weather Rabbit wouldn’t pop out to change the weather to rain again.
They passed the end of Cucumber Row where the street bordered Paradise Beach, and ran across the golden sand alongside Mirror Lake. The turquoise lake water perfectly reflected the giant herbs of Basil Forest, which loomed up ahead of them. It was a beautiful mix of huge plants in every shade of green, orange, pink, and purple.
“Right, so the purple silkleaf is over by the mint on the east side of the forest,” said Ruby.
Petal raised her little pink eyebrows. “How do you know that?”
“My mom eats heaps of it,” Ruby explained. “She says it totally helps stop her fur going gray. She’s always sending me to get it.”
The bunnies started hopping through the forest, heading east. Wonderful herby aromas filled their nostrils as they passed rosemary, coriander, thyme, and parsley plants.
“Here we are!” announced Ruby when they reached a large patch of purple. The millions of heart-shaped silkleaves stretched far across the forest floor. They began picking the purple leaves, which were still wet from the rain.
Sky's Surprise Page 2
