by Sam Hay
As the minutes ticked past, the audience became restless. Mutterings turned into chatter, and more young children in the audience began to cry.
“I wonder what’s happened?” said Matt, peering around the curtain to see if he could spot his parents through the gloom.
“I told you,” said Nick. “A tornado is probably going to rip off the roof next!”
Molly gave a yelp. “Don’t say that!”
Just then, Joe felt something soft flit past his ankles. A flash of white disappeared behind the stage curtain. Joe frowned. He had a feeling that it wasn’t the wind that had ruined the show . . .
“Fluffy!” he said under his breath. He was pretty sure this power outage was her doing! His older cousin used to have a rabbit, and Joe remembered how it had once chewed through the telephone wires. Could Fluffy have done the same thing to the power cables here at school?
Mr. Hill reappeared on the stage. “Ladies and gentlemen, I’m very sorry, but we’ll have to finish the talent show another time. In a moment we’ll open the fire doors at the back of the hall and escort you out of the building.”
Miss Bruce appeared backstage. “Everyone come with me, please.”
As Joe felt his way down the steps, he saw a pair of determined green eyes peering out from under a chair. He knew the zombie rabbit was to blame. He just knew it!
As soon as they got home, Joe kicked off his shoes and raced upstairs. He didn’t even bother taking off his coat. He threw open his bedroom door and there, sprawled on his bed, was the rabbit, its nose twitching like an express train.
“Hello, Joe.”
“It was you, wasn’t it?” he growled. “You ruined my school show!”
“Didn’t!” said the rabbit stubbornly. “I actually made your act better.”
“Huh!” Joe scowled. “Thanks to you, half my class didn’t even get a chance to perform.”
“But I needed your help—urgently!”
“How did you do it anyway?”
Fluffy cocked her head angelically, but didn’t reply.
“It was a mean thing to do!” Joe said.
“I keep telling you, time is running out!”
“For what?” snapped Joe.
“For us to find the necklace. If we don’t, Olivia’s going to be in so much trouble!”
“Olivia?” said Joe. “Who’s Olivia?” He puffed out his cheeks in exasperation. Then he sat down on the end of his bed. He’d learned that it was better to deal with the undead pets as fast as possible—before they had a chance to cause too much chaos!
“Okay,” he said with a sigh. “So what’s this all about?”
Fluffy sat quietly for a moment, the speed of her nose-twitching beginning to slow.
“Olivia was my owner. I’d been with her for three years. She always paid me lots of attention. Feeding me, cleaning my hutch, brushing my coat . . .”
Joe made a point not to mention that Fluffy’s coat—with its bloodstains and ghastly green glow—didn’t look too great now . . .
“And she used to tell me everything,” Fluffy continued. “Secrets, stories—she even let me play some of her games. But two days ago, one of her games went a bit wrong. Olivia was in the backyard after school, playing dress-up . . . She’d borrowed her big sister’s best necklace. She came and showed it to me. She looked like a princess!
“But then, when she was running, the clasp came undone and the necklace fell off into the long grass. Olivia didn’t notice it happen. She was too caught up in her game. But I saw it. You see, I like to watch everything that happens in the backyard . . .”
“So, what happened next?” asked Joe. “Did she realize she’d lost the necklace?”
“No,” said Fluffy glumly. “I tried to get her attention. I banged my bowl on the bars of my hutch. But she just thought I wanted her to come and see me—which she did. I couldn’t tell her what had happened! Then her mom called her into the house.”
Joe frowned. “She must have remembered the necklace eventually . . .”
Fluffy nodded. “She came back out later and had a quick look around the yard, so she must have realized it was lost by then, but she couldn’t find it. Then I heard her say that she must have lost it in the house, and she went back inside to look for it.”
“And what about Olivia’s sister? Didn’t she realize it was missing?”
Fluffy shook her head. “Not at first. Sally only wore it on special occasions. But yesterday I heard her on her cell phone, telling her friend that she was looking forward to the school dance on Saturday night and how she was planning to wear her necklace.”
“Uh-oh!” said Joe.
Fluffy nodded. “I knew Olivia would get into a lot of trouble when Sally discovered it was missing, so I decided to help her . . .”
The rabbit’s nose began twitching faster again and her ears were quivering, too. Then she started to shake.
“Does it have something to do with . . . um . . . how you died?” asked Joe gently.
Fluffy nodded.
“It got you?”
Fluffy nodded, looking down at her big, bulgy scar.
“Ugh!” groaned Joe.
“Olivia’s dad found me. He took me to the vet, and they stitched me up. But it was too late.” Fluffy stuck out her tongue and made a “corpse” face.
“What about the necklace?” said Joe, trying to change the subject. “Is Olivia still looking for it?”
“She’s so sad about me dying, she’s forgotten all about it. That’s why we need to find it for her. And there’s not much time left! The dance is tomorrow, and Olivia’s sister will need the necklace when she’s getting ready. We have to find it tonight.”
“But it’s nearly nine o’clock!” said Joe. “It’s dark outside. You might be able to see where you’re going with those crazy eyes of yours, but I’m just an ordinary human. I can’t see in the dark.”
“You’ve got a flashlight, don’t you?”
Fluffy hopped up the length of Joe’s bed and lifted the pillow with her teeth, revealing the flashlight he kept underneath. He had no idea how Fluffy knew it was there—he didn’t want to think too much about the powers of these strange undead creatures that kept bothering him!
“I can’t just go out at night by myself. Mom and Dad will go crazy!”
“Don’t be such a wimp—it’s just next door!”
Joe’s eyes widened. “Olivia lives next door?”
A new family, the Steels, had moved in a few weeks ago. Joe had seen the two daughters but hadn’t taken much notice of them.
“Now, listen carefully,” said Fluffy. “I heard Sally arranging to meet her friend at seven tomorrow night, which means she’ll probably start getting ready at six.” Fluffy glanced at Joe’s bedroom clock. “That gives us less than twenty-two hours to save Olivia!”
Joe puffed out his cheeks. It was like being briefed for an army rescue mission! “Can’t we just wait until the morning?”
“No!” snapped Fluffy. “The family would spot you! It has to be tonight.”
Joe thought about it for a moment. It was dark outside, and the wind was howling. But if he wanted to be an explorer like Uncle Charlie, he’d have to get used to stuff like this. Maybe that was why Joe’s uncle had given him the amulet in the first place—to test him . . .
“Okay,” he said finally. “But we’ll need to wait until Mom and Dad are in bed. They’ll go ballistic if they see me sneaking outside.”
Joe shivered as he let himself out through the kitchen door into the backyard. There was no moonlight—it was too cloudy. The only light was from Joe’s flashlight and Fluffy’s glowing coat.
The rabbit raced down the path and disappeared into the bushes.
Joe tugged down his ski mask and crept after her. He didn’t really like wearing the ski mask—it made his he
ad itch—but he knew it was essential to cover as much skin as possible. That way hopefully no one would spot him.
“Fluffy? Where are you?” He stopped halfway down the lawn.
The tall trees at the bottom of the yard creaked and moaned in the wind, their leaves rustling and their branches banging eerily against the fence. Even everyday things like the clothesline and the swing loomed out of the darkness—big, black, and threatening. The swings moved, too—squeaking as though ghostly children were playing on them.
“Fluffy?” Joe whispered.
“Over here!”
She was waiting by the fence between the Steels’ yard and Joe’s.
“Want a boost?” said Joe. Without thinking, he bent down and picked up the rabbit.
“No!” She scrambled to get free, her back claws digging into Joe’s hands, giving him a nasty cut across the knuckles.
“Ow!” Joe yelped, dropping Fluffy quickly.
“What did you do that for?” Fluffy yelled. “I don’t like being picked up. Don’t you know anything about rabbits?”
“I know that they’re annoying!” Joe replied angrily.
Fluffy glared up at him. “Come on, let’s go. And I definitely don’t need your help to get over the fence!”
With that, she hopped straight through it as though it didn’t exist—unlike Joe, who had to heave himself over. He landed on the other side and rubbed his hand, which was still throbbing from Fluffy’s scratch.
“Quick! Over here, Joe! I think this is the place where Olivia lost the necklace.” Fluffy was poking around Joe's neighbors’ lawn.
Joe crept over. The grass was long—it hadn’t been cut for quite a while, by the look of it. His eyes darted around. It felt wrong to be in someone else’s yard, especially at night. He couldn’t see any lights on in the Steels’ house. He hoped they were all in bed, just like his family. Joe gulped. He felt like a burglar.
“What does the necklace look like?” he whispered.
“It’s a thin gold chain with a heart-shaped locket on the end,” Fluffy replied.
“And you’re sure this is where it fell off?”
“I think so . . .” Fluffy pushed her nose in a clump of grass and began nibbling a few blades. “Mmm . . . sweet . . .”
“Stop snacking and start searching!” said Joe irritably. He shone his flashlight across the lawn, but the grass was so long and thick, it was like looking for a grain of rice on a beach. He crouched down and ran his fingers over the ground. Nothing . . . apart from a few slimy slugs. Joe flicked one off his fingers and wiped the slime on his pants.
“Are you sure this is where she lost it?” Joe asked.
“Well, this was definitely where the fox got me!” said Fluffy.
At that moment, one of Fluffy’s ears shot up and her eyes began to glow even brighter than before. Then her nose started twitching at turbo-speed . . .
“Danger!” Fluffy said. She banged the ground with her back leg, making a loud thumping noise.
“What’s going on?” whispered Joe. “What are you doing?” He glanced at the trees. And then the bushes. Was it another fox? “A fox can’t hurt you now, Fluffy—you’re already dead!”
But it wasn’t a fox that had caught Fluffy’s attention. A beam suddenly shone in Joe’s eyes, and out of the darkness, rough hands grabbed his jacket and shook him.
“Hey!” growled a deep voice. “What do you think you’re doing?”
Joe gasped. He was staring into the angry face of a police officer.
“What are you doing?” snapped the officer, still holding Joe’s arm tightly. “Sneaking around, trying to get into the house?”
“Nooooo!” squealed Joe. His mouth went dry. His heart was racing and he felt his legs buckle slightly. “Please . . . My name’s Joe Edmunds,” he stammered. “I-I live next door!”
“What?” The policeman relaxed his hold on Joe’s arm a bit. “Take off your ski mask!”
Joe did as he was told, and the policeman shone a light in Joe’s face. Then he sighed. “What are you doing in my yard?”
“Your yard?” said Joe. He looked into the man’s face. Then he realized that the policeman must be Mr. Steel, his new neighbor! “I-I didn’t know you were in the police,” Joe stammered.
“Obviously not,” said Mr. Steel coldly. “But even if I wasn’t in the police, you shouldn’t be in my yard in the middle of the night. What are you up to?”
“Well . . .” Joe desperately tried to think up some story to tell. But he was finding it hard to speak. He had a horrible knot in his throat and his stomach was churning. “You see . . . I’ve lost something in your yard and I was . . . um . . . looking for it.”
“What?”
“Golf balls!” said Joe nervously. It was the first thing he could think of. He hated lying—it always showed on his face. But with a bit of luck, Mr. Steel might not notice in the dark.
“Why were you looking for golf balls in my yard?”
“Well, I was practicing yesterday with my dad’s clubs, and I lost a few balls over your fence. They’re his best ones—really expensive ones. I wanted to get them back before he noticed.”
Mr. Steel let go of Joe’s arm and shone the flashlight around the lawn. “I don’t see any golf balls . . .”
Joe swallowed hard.
“Mind you,” said Mr. Steel with a slight smile, “the grass is so long, it would be hard to find anything out here!” Then he shone the flashlight back at Joe. “Come on. Let’s go and see what your dad thinks about all this.”
Joe groaned. He knew exactly what his dad would think about it. He’d be grounded forever—at least until he was forty-two!
Mr. Steel led him down the gravel path at the side of the house, around to Joe’s front door.
“How did you get over the fence?” asked Mr. Steel. “Must have been a bit of a climb!”
Joe kept his head down and didn’t reply. His heart was still racing. He’d never been in this much trouble before.
As they stood outside Joe’s house, waiting for his parents to answer the doorbell, Mr. Steel yawned. “We should both be in bed, Joe!”
Joe nodded glumly. He felt ridiculous standing on his own doorstep, dressed like a burglar with a policeman by his side!
“What’s going on?” asked Dad, opening the door in his bathrobe. He glanced at Joe and then at the policeman. “What in the world have you done, Joe?”
“I’m afraid I found your boy in my yard,” said Mr. Steel. “Says he was looking for golf balls . . .”
“What?” Then it dawned on Dad who the policeman was. “It’s Mr. Steel, isn’t it?” he said. “I’m so sorry. Please come in.”
“No, I won’t, thanks very much. I’ve just got back from work and there’s a cup of tea waiting for me in the kitchen.” He smiled at Joe. “Though it’s probably a bit cold by now.”
“I can’t tell you how embarrassed I am,” said Dad. “We’ve been meaning to come over and introduce ourselves. This wasn’t quite what I had in mind!” He glared at Joe. “I hope you’ve apologized for going into Mr. Steel’s yard.”
“I’m really sorry, honestly I am.” Joe scuffed the floor.
Mr. Steel shrugged. “Let’s say nothing more about it. I was a kid once myself, Joe. And I know that boys sometimes have crazy ideas.”
“That’s very nice of you!” said Dad. “Much nicer than Joe deserves!”
As soon as the door closed, his dad exploded. “How could you be so stupid! Sneaking out in the middle of the night and trespassing in our new neighbor’s yard—our new neighbor who is a police sergeant! Of all the ridiculous things to do!”
Joe hung his head.
“And looking for golf balls? I don’t even play golf! What do you think you were doing?”
“Well . . . I . . .”
“Was i
t some sort of spy prank or something?”
Joe nodded. “Yeah, something like that.”
“Well, that’s not okay, Joe! First thing tomorrow you’re going over to Mr. Steel’s house to apologize properly . . .”
Joe nodded. He felt tears welling up in his eyes. “I’m really sorry. I’ll never do it again.”
“You most certainly won’t! You’re grounded!”
“What’s going on?” Mom had appeared on the landing. “Who was at the door? Joe, what are you doing in your clothes?”
“He’s been outside sneaking around the neighbor’s yard!”
“Oh, Joe!” said Mom. Suddenly she sneezed four times in a row like a cat choking on a hair ball.
“Get to bed!” Dad growled at Joe. “We’ll talk about this again in the morning.” He stomped upstairs and Joe followed behind. On the landing he could see a glowing green shape—Fluffy was lurking behind the laundry basket.
“What happened?” His big sister, Sarah, poked her head out her bedroom door. “What’s Freak Boy done now?”
“Don’t call him that!” snapped Mom. Then her nose twitched, and suddenly she was off again, sneezing like a twenty-one-gun salute. Fluffy’s fur was sending her allergies into overdrive!
“Tell me!” shouted Sarah, just loud enough to be heard above Mom’s nose. “What did he do now?”
“Your brother decided to pay the new neighbors a visit,” Dad answered. “Only he went dressed like a burglar in the middle of the night—without an invitation!”
Sarah’s eyes widened. “You’re kidding, right?”
“No, I’m not kidding.”
Joe scowled at his sister.
Her face lit up like a Halloween pumpkin. “Just wait till I tell my friends . . .”
“Shut up!” growled Joe.
“Bed! Now! Both of you,” said Mom, in between sneezes.
Joe slunk to his room. As he passed Toby’s door, his brother stuck out his head.