“Come on!” urged Sarah, clapping her hands.
The girls ran on to the bridge, where they cheered their makeshift boats as they disappeared underneath. Seconds later, it was Sarah’s boat that appeared, minus its sail, on the other side.
“The winner!” Dad announced. “Well done, you two. Your boats went much further than mine.”
“Girl power,” said Zoe, giving Sarah a high five. “So, what’s the next challenge, Dad?”
“That’s easy. We’re going to play our favourite travelling game. Can you guess?” he replied, setting off on his bike again.
“I Spy, yay!” said Sarah, who loved word games. “Do you want to go first, Dad?” she asked.
Dad looked pleased. He started to look around for inspiration as they rode along.
“Hmm. I spy with my little eye, something beginning with B.” Dad’s face didn’t give away any clues. He wasn’t staring at anything in particular.
“Branch?” suggested Zoe.
“Nope,” replied Dad.
“Bee?” Zoe pointed to a large bumble bee, buzzing near Dad’s head.
“Where?” asked Dad, crouching low over his handlebars and pretending to be scared. “Not correct, by the way.”
“Is it a badger sett?” said Sarah as they passed a large entrance hole in a grassy mound to their left.
“Right answer, eagle eyes. How did you know that?” asked Dad.
“The hole looks like a letter D lying on its side,” Sarah answered without hesitation.
“Nature nut,” said Zoe, smiling at her sister. ‘‘All those animal magazines you read are turning you into a real expert.”
“That explains it,” said Dad, impressed. “Do you think the badgers are watching us?” he said, looking around suspiciously. “They might be hiding in the trees.”
“Badgers don’t climb trees,” giggled Sarah. “And they’re nocturnal, so they’ll be asleep during the daytime.”
Dad put his finger to his mouth. “Let’s be very quiet then,” he whispered.
The cycle track was widening, and in a few moments it opened back on to the country lane. Now they were riding on smooth tarmac again, and Sarah felt her arms relax their hold a little. They were a bit stiff after gripping so hard. But it had been worth it. Riding through the woods had been a real adventure, and her confidence on her new bike was growing by the minute.
“Your turn,” Zoe reminded her. Sarah was still thinking about the badgers and had almost forgotten the game!
“Let me see.’ Sarah looked from side to side and then up the lane, where there was a small lay-by ahead. “Um … I spy with my little eye, something beginning with … oh my goodness!”
“‘Oh my goodness’ isn’t a letter, silly,” said Dad.
But Sarah was applying her brakes and scuffing her feet along the lane to slow herself down. She stopped her bike in the lay-by, propped it against a hedge and knelt by a grassy verge.
Dad and Zoe followed and were soon watching Sarah reach down and try to lift a cardboard box. The box was covered with a lid, which had been sealed shut with thick tape.
“Well spotted, Sarah. I think you’re a bit of a detective, like Inspector Wilding in Mum’s books,” said Dad. “It’s good to clear up litter. We can pop it in the recycling when we get home.”
“No, Dad. It’s not empty. There’s something inside. And it’s heavy, too.” Sarah was having difficulty picking it up.
Dad bent forward and held the box so that Sarah could unstick the tape and remove the lid. As she did so, she let out a surprised gasp. Dad’s eyebrows furrowed in disbelief and Zoe’s mouth opened in a silent Oh.
The sight that greeted them was something so unexpected, they were lost for words. Out of the box popped a pair of long black fluffy ears, followed by a black and white furry face, bright eyes and twitching whiskers. The face looked at each of them in turn, then disappeared again nervously. Sarah peered inside the box, astonished to see a small creature trying to hunch down and hide itself.
“It’s a bunny!” she exclaimed quietly, eyes wide with amazement.
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Bad Day for Badger Page 6