Sky's Surprise

by Catherine Coe

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Map

  Not Any Rabbit Hole

  Chapter One: At the Tail Salon

  Chapter Two: The Oak Class Bouncers

  Chapter Three: Operation Cheer Up Sky

  Chapter Four: Carrot Central

  Chapter Five: Purple Silkleaf

  Chapter Six: Dig-a-Lot

  Chapter Seven: Bounce-a-Lot

  Chapter Eight: The Surprise

  Teaser

  About the Author

  The Lucky Bunnies Series

  Copyright

  It was a sunny Sunday afternoon in Bright Burrow, and Ruby, Sky, Star, Petal, and Diamond scampered along the shiny green cobbles of Cucumber Row. The five friends were heading toward their favorite tail salon, Fur Real, where they went every Sunday to have their tails trimmed, brushed, and styled.

  “Ooh, look!” said Sky, skipping up to a gift shop called Mrs. Whiskers’s Pawfect Presents. “Bunny balloons!” She pressed her extremely furry head to the window. It was filled with brightly colored balloons that had been shaped, stretched, and tied into floating rabbit figures.

  Everyone turned to look at the impressive balloon display, apart from Star who kept striding ahead. “We’ll be lucky to get spots at Fur Real if we don’t hurry up,” she said.

  Sky took a last longing look at the balloons, then ran to catch up with her friends.

  “I’m sure we can go there later,” said Petal when she saw Sky’s disappointed face and turned-down whiskers.

  They reached the entrance of Fur Real, where glittering disco balls spun across the top of the window. Star pushed open the door, making the bells on it tinkle like a triangle. As she was about to step in, a tiny blur of mint-green fur hurtled past them outside.

  “Twinkle?” Ruby called out into the street. Their friend Twinkle was supposed to meet them earlier that day, but he’d never shown up.

  The little mint-green blur skidded to a stop, grinned, and did a double backflip over to his friends.

  “It’s lucky we bumped into you!” said Petal. “Is everything all right?” she asked Twinkle as the friends hopped into Fur Real. The walls were covered in glossy pictures of tails of every size, shape, and color.

  “Yes, I’m fine, thanks,” Twinkle squeaked. “Furbulous, in fact! Look, that’s lucky, too—there are six spare seats for us!”

  They took turns dipping their tails in the bathtub full of Bunny Bubbles in the corner of the salon, then jumped up onto the line of toadstool chairs. Beside each chair stood a smiling salon worker with a comb in one paw and a pair of scissors in the other.

  “So where have you been?” asked Ruby as she shook out her wet tail.

  “At home, doing a bit of paw-painting,” said Twinkle. One of the tail-dressers handed him a Five-Flower Fizz drink, and he took a long, slurping sip through the straw. “I think it might be my very best one yet! Why do you ask?”

  “You’re late!” said Star, with a twitch of her nose. “We were supposed to meet this morning.”

  Twinkle flicked his tiny ears up in surprise. “Is it the afternoon already?” he squeaked. “Oh, sorry! I lost track of time. What burrow-tastic adventures did I miss?”

  Ruby held up a red paw and counted her four fingers. “So much! We went for brunch at Crocus Cafe, rode the Clover Train to Paradise Beach, went swimming in Mirror Lake, then had a totally delicious picnic! Diamond even found a magical shell in the sand on Paradise Beach, didn’t you, Diamond?”

  Diamond leaned over to Twinkle and held out a glowing yellow shell. “It lights up like magic,” she said in her shy, quiet voice. “I was so lucky to find it! I’m going to put it on my bedside table at home.”

  The bunnies often went digging at Paradise Beach, not just because they loved to dig, but because sometimes they could find magical surprises hidden in the sand if they searched hard enough.

  “What do you call a rabbit who’s late?” asked Sky all of a sudden in her chirpy voice.

  The friends went quiet while they tried to think of the answer to Sky’s joke.

  “I’ve got it!” said Star with a nod. “Paw timing!”

  “Nope,” said Sky, shaking her fluffy blue head. “Bunny-hind!” Sky thumped her foot as she laughed at her own joke. “Get it? Be-hind … bunny-hind!”

  Her friends giggled—everyone except Star. “I think paw timing was better … ,” said Star. “You know—poor timing?”

  “Anyway,” Petal said quickly, thinking she’d better change the subject before her friends started arguing. “What is everyone having done today? I’ve been wondering whether I should get my tail dyed red …”

  Twinkle turned to Petal and frowned. “Won’t it clash with your pink fur? And your tail is a furbulous color already, Petal. So pearly-pink! Whereas Star … Star, you could really pull off a red tail. With your yellow body, you’d look like a beautiful bundle of fire!”

  “I don’t think so!” said Star. “I’m having just a trim and blow-dry, like usual. I want my tail to look perfect for Bounce-a-Lot on Saturday.”

  Bounce-a-Lot was a festival that took place in Bright Burrow every year, featuring all sorts of bouncing events. Every Lucky Bunny looked forward to it, whether they were chosen as Bouncers to take part in the festival, or came along to watch the amazing bouncing displays.

  “I’d forgotten about Bounce-a-Lot,” said Petal, flapping her big ears in excitement. “I don’t think I’ll be lucky enough to get chosen as a Bouncer, but I don’t mind at all. I just love to watch!”

  Diamond jumped down from the toadstool chair to check out her tail in the mirror. The tail-dresser had fluffed and combed it into a perfect heart shape.

  “That looks absolutely stunning,” squeaked Twinkle, putting his paws to his face in admiration. “You’re so lucky to have fur like that. I wish mine was thick enough for that style!”

  Diamond smiled shyly. “Thanks,” she said quietly as she hopped to the door. “See you tomorrow for school?”

  “Aren’t you coming to Strawberry Fields later?” Ruby asked Diamond. “They’re showing the movie 101 Velveteen Rabbits. It’s supposed to be awesome!” Strawberry Fields was Bright Burrow’s theater and cinema. Next to Paradise Beach, it was one of the friends’ favorite places, partly because it served the most delicious strawberry shakes—which refilled like magic whenever a bunny reached the bottom of the cup.

  Diamond gave a little shake of her shimmering white head. “No, I can’t come tonight. I’ve got science homework to do. I’ll see you in the morning.” The bells at the door tinkled as she opened it. She scampered out toward Warren Street, the maze of burrows where all the Lucky Bunnies lived.

  “Hey, what do you call a squished strawberry?” chirped Sky. Her blue eyes twinkled with the thought of her new joke. This time she answered before anyone could guess. “Jam!”

  Everyone laughed, the tail-dressers, too.

  “That was much better, Sky,” said Star. “It was actually quite funny.”

  “Tell us another one?” Petal asked. She sat forward on her toadstool chair to listen, and her long, drooping ears almost touched the floor.

  “Sorry, nope, I can’t right now,” Sky said. The tail-dresser gave Sky’s very furry fur a final brush, and Sky leaped from her chair. She did a dizzying jump and spin in front of the mirror, which undid almost all the tail-dresser’s hard work, although Sky didn’t seem to notice. “Star has reminded me—I’ve got to go home and practice my bounce-moves for Bounce-a-Lot,” Sky explained. “Mom said she’d buy some hopcorn, too, to help give me extra springing power. Ooh, I can’t wait for next Saturday!”

  The bells tinkled again as Sky rushed out into Cucumber Row with a hop and a wave.

  “Who do you think Mr. Nibble wi
ll choose to be Bouncers?” said Twinkle as his tail-dresser snipped oh-so-carefully at his tiny little tail. Tomorrow, their teacher at Dandelion School would decide who from their class would be taking part in the Bounce-a-Lot festival.

  “Maybe Mr. Nibble will choose everyone?” said Petal hopefully. She couldn’t bear to see any of her friends disappointed.

  “I don’t think so!” Star replied. “Only six from each class are chosen. And having everyone wouldn’t be fair when some bunnies have been preparing for it all year.” Star herself was one of those bunnies. She always practiced hard, and it paid off—she’d been chosen as a Bouncer every single year so far.

  “Life’s not always fair,” said Ruby with a flick of her curly red whiskers. “It’s important to work hard, but sometimes you also need luck!”

  The next morning, Sky woke up extra early with a gigantic smile on her face. She’d dreamed that she’d won the Best Bounce Award at Bounce-a-Lot, after leaping higher than the Weather Rabbit clock tower in Pineapple Square. She jumped out from under her leaf-quilt duvet and ignored the ache in her legs—she’d been practicing her bounce-moves until very late last night.

  “What would you like for breakfast?” Sky’s mom asked. She was in the kitchen, spooning blueberry porridge into six bowls for Sky’s younger sisters. They were usually up earlier than Sky, who was the eldest and liked to sleep in, but today she was the first bunny up.

  “Ooh, hopcorn, please, Mom!” Sky begged. She did a backflip to the table, knocking a pan off the wall in the process. It clattered onto the floor, and Sky’s mom tutted.

  “Well, if your sisters weren’t awake already, they are now!” Sky’s mom said. “And you should really have something more nutritious for breakfast, Sky.”

  “But, Mom,” Sky began, “you know—”

  “It’s Bounce-a-Lot on Saturday,” her mom finished. “Yes, I know. It’s all you’ve been talking about! Just hearing you chatter about all that jumping around has made me feel tired.” She poured a bowl of hopcorn for Sky and whispered, “You’re lucky your dad’s not up yet. Don’t tell him I gave this to you!”

  Sky winked at her mom and nodded. “Sure thing!” she said. Sky started shoveling the sweet, crunchy hopcorn into her mouth, one after another. She liked to see how many pieces she could fit in before she swallowed. Her cheeks grew bigger and bigger as she squeezed more and more of the sweet, crunchy morsels in.

  “Guess what—I beat my hopcorn record today,” Sky told Diamond on the way to school. They lived in next-door burrows and always skipped to school together. “Twenty-eight pieces!”

  Diamond nodded thoughtfully. “Twenty-eight? That’s my lucky number. Did you know it’s the number of teeth rabbits have?”

  “Ooh, really?” said Sky. “I didn’t know that. You’re so clever, Diamond.”

  Diamond blushed. “Thanks, Sky. It was actually in our science homework last night.”

  “Flippety-flop!” Sky put her front paws to her very furry face. “I didn’t do the homework!”

  “Oh, yes, I’d forgotten you were going to see 101 Velveteen Rabbits,” Diamond said. “Was it good?”

  “No idea—I didn’t go,” said Sky. “I was bouncing all night. Look at my latest move—the lucky high spin!” Sky leaped up so far that Diamond had to lean backward to look at her. She spun in the air, a blurry ball of blue fur.

  “That was amazing, Sky,” Diamond said, clapping her white paws together. “I can’t wait to see you perform in Bounce-a-Lot.”

  They reached the dandelion field that surrounded their school, and ran toward the group of trees in the center. Each classroom was inside one of the tree trunks, and each class was named after the different trees—Oak Class, Willow Class, Chestnut Class, Pine Class, and Maple Class. Sky and Diamond headed for their classroom, in the wide oak tree.

  Inside, there were twelve log desks facing their teacher’s larger desk and the barkboard behind him. Most of the Oak Class students were sitting at their desks already. Their teacher, Mr. Nibble, was almost hidden by the huge lettuce leaf he was busy munching on for his breakfast.

  “Knock, knock,” chirped Sky as she and Diamond scooted to their desks.

  “Who’s there?” replied Diamond, Star, Ruby, and Petal. Twinkle was missing—he was late, as usual.

  Sky grinned. “Lettuce.”

  “Lettuce who?” Sky’s friends asked, playing along with her joke.

  “Lettuce in, it’s cold outside!” Sky replied, and her friends laughed, even though they’d heard that one before.

  “You must have told us that joke a hundred times!” Star complained.

  Mr. Nibble looked up from his lettuce leaf. The fur on his head folded into a frown. “I see Twinkle’s not yet here again, but we should start anyway. Today’s an important day.” As he took another bite of his breakfast, the tiny form of Twinkle dashed into the classroom.

  “Sorry I’m late!” Twinkle squeaked. “Did I miss anything?”

  Mr. Nibble swallowed his mouthful. “Almost! Now sit down, Twinkle, and please try to be on time. As I was saying, I have an important announcement, which I know you have all been waiting for, so I won’t keep you wondering any longer.”

  Sky nudged Petal at the next-door desk. “Ooh, the Bouncers!” Sky whispered. She sat up as Mr. Nibble began reading from a piece of tree bark.

  “This year’s lucky Oak Class Bouncers for the annual Bounce-a-Lot festival will be … Star, Toppy, Rainbow, Jewel, Haybury, and Twinkle!”

  Sky kept waiting and listening. But Mr. Nibble had put the piece of bark down. She counted the names on her paws: Star—one, Toppy—two, Rainbow—three, Jewel—four, Haybury—five, Twinkle—six. Sky began to shake. Each class’s Bouncer team was always made up of six bunnies. Which meant she hadn’t been chosen! Her tummy did a somersault, and she suddenly felt sick from all the hopcorn she’d eaten.

  Mr. Nibble took another munch of lettuce, then added with his mouth full, “Congratulations, bunnies. You are our Oak Class Bouncers this year! You lucky bunnies will be skipping your normal lessons this week to practice for Saturday’s festival.”

  Sky was hardly listening. She wasn’t a Bouncer! She watched in a daze as Star, Twinkle, and the other class Bouncers scampered out of the tree trunk. The rest of the class waved and wished them luck, but Sky couldn’t bring herself to move or speak.

  Petal reached across and squeezed Sky’s paws. “I’m ever so sorry that you weren’t chosen,” Petal whispered.

  “It’s okay,” Sky managed to reply, but inside she didn’t really feel okay. She felt like the unluckiest bunny in Bright Burrow.

  That morning’s lesson was English, Sky’s favorite, but she couldn’t concentrate on the spellings Mr. Nibble was teaching them. All she could think about was not being in Bounce-a-Lot. What was she going to tell her family? Sky’s mom had bought all that extra hopcorn especially for her!

  At playtime, Ruby, Petal, and Diamond each grabbed a bunch of dandelions from the field and began munching on the yellow flowers, like they did every day at school. But Sky just stood there, looking at the ground.

  “Don’t forget your dandelion snack,” Ruby said. She plucked a pawful of big, yellow dandelions from the ground and held them out to Sky.

  Sky smiled at Ruby, took them, and nibbled on the petals, but they tasted bitter in her mouth. She let her paw drop to her side.

  “Twinkle looked happy to be a Bouncer,” said Diamond.

  Ruby nodded her glossy red head. “He totally did, didn’t he? I think it’s his first time!”

  Sky twitched her nose and stared at her feet. It would have been her first time, too. She wondered if she’d ever be lucky enough to be a Bouncer …

  “Sky?” Petal asked politely. “Did you hear what I was saying? Shall we go to Paradise Beach after school?”

  “I so want to find a glow shell like Diamond’s,” said Ruby. “Maybe today’s my lucky day!”

  “Um, okay,” said Sky. But she couldn’t even get excited a
bout digging in the sand, which she normally loved. She looked up and saw the teams of Bouncers springing around in the far corner of the field. Her heart squeezed as she wished more than anything that she was with them.

  The next day, Diamond bumped into Petal scampering along Warren Street on the way to school.

  “Where is Sky?” asked Petal, looking around for her fluffy friend. The blue-cobbled road was full of bunnies bounding toward Dandelion School. Petal was so busy searching the masses of bobbing bunny heads for Sky, she didn’t see the lamppost right ahead of her. “Ouch!” Petal yelped as she bounced right into it.

  “Are you all right?” said Diamond, stopping to help Petal up.

  Petal took Diamond’s paw and got to her feet. “I’m fine,” she said cheerily. “It happens all the time. I’m so unlucky like that!”

  Diamond smiled to herself. No one else bumped into lampposts like Petal did. Diamond thought it was probably because Petal was clumsy, rather than unlucky. But she didn’t say anything, and instead told Petal, “Sky has a toothache.”

  “A toothache?” Petal repeated. “That’s strange. I am positive she said she went to see Dr. Molar, the dentist, just last week.”

  Diamond twitched her white whiskers as she thought. “Sky has been eating a lot of hopcorn. Maybe that’s given her a bad tooth.”

  “Maybe,” said Petal. “Or perhaps Sky’s upset about not being chosen to be a Bouncer.”

  “But she said she was fine about it yesterday,” said Diamond as they walked through the school gates and into the dandelion field.

  Petal flicked her long pink ears over her shoulders. “I think she might have been fibbing. Did you notice how she didn’t tell one joke yesterday after Mr. Nibble announced the team for Bounce-a-Lot? And Sky left Paradise Beach early last night. Perhaps she’s upset and she’s trying to hide it.”

  “Oh dear, that’s not good!” said Diamond.

  “What’s not good?” asked Ruby, scampering up behind them in a blur of red.