Neither of them replied, so Sky said, “There was a bit of an argument yesterday. But it’s nothing to worry about—right, Ruby? Twinkle?”
Still the two bunnies didn’t say anything.
Petal flapped her ears around in worry and turned to Sky and Star. “What was their argument about?”
“You know, I’m not really sure …,” Sky began.
“It was about the party,” Star explained. She always remembered everything. It was usually a good thing, but not always. Sometimes things were better forgotten. “Twinkle wants to do karaoke, and Ruby doesn’t.”
“It’s not that I don’t want to do karaoke!” Ruby butted in, twitching her curly whiskers furiously. “It’s just that we always do what Twinkle wants.”
“That’s not true!” squealed Twinkle.
“Hey!” Sky jumped up and waved her fluffy arms about between her friends to stop them from fighting again.
Petal took a very long and very deep breath. Then she flapped one long ear around Twinkle and one around Ruby. “Please, please, please don’t argue,” she said. “Especially about the party. It’s supposed to be for us to have fun, not to fight. Why don’t you apologize to each other, and you can both forget it ever happened?”
“But Twinkle started it,” said Ruby.
“What?” Twinkle squeaked. He was so upset, his little ears were shaking. “No, I certainly did not!”
“Please!” Petal begged them again. “Please say you’re sorry.”
Twinkle shrugged away from Petal’s ear-hug. “Why should I?” he said.
“And why should I?” Ruby added, ducking out of Petal’s grip, too. “You can’t make us!”
And they each ran off to opposite sides of the dandelion field.
Petal twitched her nose, gave a sniff, and burst into tears. Diamond hopped over and took her paw. “Please don’t cry, Petal.”
“It’ll be okay,” Sky added, trying to sound just as chirpy as usual, although she didn’t feel it.
“Will it really be all right?” said Petal as she blinked away tears. “I don’t know that it will. They’ve never, ever argued like this before. And it’s all my party’s fault! What if they haven’t made up by Saturday?”
Sky, Diamond, and Star didn’t know what to say to that, so they didn’t say anything at all. They munched on their dandelion flowers in silence as Petal put her head in her paws.
At lunchtime on Wednesday, Star pulled Sky, Petal, and Diamond over to one corner of the field. Twinkle had stayed behind in their classroom, to work on his paw-painting for art. Ruby had gone home for lunch, saying that she needed to help her mom write her shopping lists. The two bunnies still hadn’t made up since their argument.
“We have to do something!” said Star as she stomped a hind foot. She was fed up with her two friends not speaking and determined to do something about it.
Petal wrung her paws together. “But what?” she said. “They won’t say they’re sorry. They won’t even look at each other! So how will we be lucky enough to persuade them to make up?”
“Maybe they don’t have to look at each other,” Diamond said thoughtfully.
“Huh?” Sky chirruped. “What do you mean?”
“The last time my parents had an argument, my dad gave my mom a present to say he was sorry,” Diamond explained.
“But I don’t think we’ll be able to persuade Ruby and Twinkle to buy each other presents,” Star said.
“Nope,” Sky agreed. “But we don’t need to. We could get presents for them!”
Petal looked up, suddenly feeling hopeful. “And everyone likes presents!” she said.
Star put a paw to her chin and talked it through. “So we buy presents for Ruby and Twinkle and give them to each other, pretending they’re from the other one … Yes, that could work. Great thinking, Diamond!”
As soon as the bell rang after school, Star, Petal, Diamond, and Sky hopped out of the classroom. Petal stuck her front paws in her ears as she ran—the loud school bell always made her brain jangle.
Once they’d left the school gates, Star looked up into the sky, hoping they’d be lucky enough to catch the Clover Train, but she couldn’t see the four-leaf clover leaves anywhere. They’d have to hop to Cucumber Row themselves. But it wasn’t too far—just on the other side of Sparkle River.
The four friends soon reached the shiny green cobbles of Cucumber Row, the main shopping street in Bright Burrow. It was full of bunnies of every shape, size, and color doing their shopping. Some of the older bunnies were hopping along slowly, chatting as they went. Some bunnies carried baskets of vegetables, and some wore little rucksacks with their shopping poking out.
“There are so very many shops to choose from!” Petal said as she looked up and down the street. “Where should we start?”
“Mrs. Whiskers’s Pawfect Presents,” said Star firmly. “It’s the best place for gifts.”
Mrs. Whiskers’s shop was at the other end of Cucumber Row, so they began scampering toward it.
“Ooh, look,” Sky chirruped as they passed the tail-dresser, Fur Real. Sparkly hair clips hung across the window like bunting. “Can we go in?”
“No!” said Star. “We’ve got to get the presents first.”
Petal gave Star a look, and Star realized how bossy she’d sounded.
“Sorry, Sky,” Star said. “I just really want Twinkle and Ruby to make up. With any luck, there’ll be time to go to Fur Real later.”
“Ooh, okay!” Sky smiled, and the friends continued hopping down the street.
They passed Skip and Clip, the nail bar, and Bright Burrow Tails, the bookshop. Finally, they arrived outside Pawfect Presents. Today, the window was filled with balls of every kind—footballs, basketballs, baseballs, and golf balls. Even juggling balls and beach balls!
Petal stepped in first. As she pushed the door open, it was like entering an enchanted cave. The shop was a maze of nooks and crannies and filled with lanterns that lit up every corner. The shelves and tables were covered in every gift imaginable—toys, games, sweets, soaps, candles, and jewelry. The air smelled as sweet as honey, and some soft guitar music played gently in the background.
“I love this shop,” said Diamond softly as she stepped in behind Petal.
A rummaging sound came from behind the counter at the very back, and a chestnut-brown head popped up above it. “Hello, my dears!” said Mrs. Whiskers. She waved, making the many bead necklaces around her neck jingle like bells. “What can I do for you today?”
“We’re looking for two extra-special presents,” Petal told the shopkeeper. “Can you help us at all?”
Mrs. Whiskers stepped out from behind the wooden counter. “You’re in luck! How about a willow weave pencil case? They’re new, in today!” She held up one of the pencil cases that had been made with hundreds of colored willow leaves all woven together.
Sky hopped closer to get a better look. “Hmm … sure, they’re cute. What do you think, Star?”
Star shook her head. “They’re nice, but not quite right. And each present has to be perfect,” Star added. “To give it the best chance of working.”
“Don’t you mean ‘pawfect’?” Sky chirped. “You know, because this is Pawfect Presents?”
Star rolled her eyes at Sky’s joke.
“Oh, look at these gorgeous soaps,” Petal said. She held up a rabbit-shaped soap in a pink paw, and then squealed as it slipped from her fingers. “Oops-a-daisy!”
Mrs. Whiskers darted over and caught the soap in her fluffy brown tail before it hit the floor.
“Hey, you’re fast, Mrs. Whiskers!” Sky said, impressed.
The shopkeeper winked. “Customers drop things a lot. I have to keep on my toes!”
Star started looking around the rest of the shop and noticed Diamond was bent over a shelf in the corner. “Did you find something?” Star asked.
Diamond turned and nodded. “Ruby might like this silver-birch notepad,” she said, and picked up a notepad made of
silvery bark paper. “Because she likes to write a lot of lists, doesn’t she?”
Star did a little jump. “It’s perfect!” she said. “I mean, pawfect!” she added before Sky could correct her.
The others, including Mrs. Whiskers, giggled.
“All right, so now we need something wonderful for Twinkle,” Petal said. She hopped over to the sweets. “He likes beetroot fudge, doesn’t he?” This time she decided not to pick anything up, just in case she dropped it again.
“Ooh, I think so!” said Sky.
“But he got lots of fudge for his birthday,” Star said, remembering that Twinkle had brought beetroot fudge in his lunch box to school for weeks afterward. He’d shared it with his friends every day, which Star thought had been very generous, considering it was his favorite.
Diamond spun around and at the same time made a strange jingling sound, as if she were wearing bells on her ankles. Petal looked over and squinted. With her bad eyesight, she couldn’t quite see what was in Diamond’s paws.
“A tambourine!” Mrs. Whiskers said. “The pawfect present for anyone who likes music and singing.”
Star did a hop of happiness. “That describes Twinkle exactly! We’ll take it!”
“Can I try it out, Diamond?” Sky asked. Diamond passed the instrument to Sky, and she began shaking it around. The next moment, Sky had slipped it over her head and was spinning it around her waist like a hula-hoop, dancing about as it jingled. The other bunnies clapped and laughed—sometimes Sky really was hilarious.
When Sky had finished her dance, she gave Mrs. Whiskers the tambourine. The shopkeeper wrapped both presents up in cream cotton paper and tied them with giant red bows.
They look so pretty! thought Diamond.
“Now it’s time to deliver them!” Star declared.
“Thank you for coming, my dears. I hope your friends like their presents,” Mrs. Whiskers said as they left the shop.
So do I, thought Petal. Otherwise I don’t know what we’ll do!
“Did you deliver Ruby’s present safely?” Star whispered to Sky and Diamond the next morning as they arrived at school.
“Yep!” Sky whispered back. “And guess what? She loved it!”
“Luckily, Twinkle loved his present, too,” Star said. She and Petal had taken the tambourine to Twinkle last night, while Sky and Diamond had delivered Ruby’s present. “Look!” Star added, and pointed a golden paw to the door of the hollow tree trunk.
Twinkle was running into the classroom—not late for once—with the tambourine tucked under his arm. He sat down at his desk and smiled when he saw Ruby had moved back to her usual desk beside his.
Ruby took out her new notepad from her schoolbag and laid it carefully on her log desk. She turned to Twinkle. “Thank you,” she said, and held up the notepad. “It’s totally awesome.”
“Pardon?” said Twinkle, confused. He’d never seen the notepad before.
At that moment, Mr. Nibble started taking attendance—with a mouthful of daisies—so Ruby couldn’t answer Twinkle. Petal looked over at Ruby and Twinkle, and her heart jittered with worry. She realized then that there was a huge problem with their plan—unless they were really lucky, Ruby and Twinkle would each find out that the other one hadn’t sent the present!
“We’ll start with music today,” Mr. Nibble said, a few daisy petals flying out of his mouth as he spoke. “We’re going to learn a new song.”
Petal relaxed a bit—hopefully that would mean there’d be no time for Twinkle and Ruby to talk.
“Everyone, grab a pair of bongos.” Mr. Nibble pointed at the barkboard behind him, where he’d written the words to the song.
Twinkle stuck up his paw, but he was so tiny that Mr. Nibble didn’t see it. Twinkle jumped up and down. “Mr. Nibble!” he squeaked.
Their teacher looked down at Twinkle. “Yes?” he said.
“Can I play my tambourine instead?” Twinkle asked. He held up the instrument, and the bells on it tinkled softly.
Mr. Nibble came over to admire the tambourine. “I don’t see why not, Twinkle. It’s lovely. Where did you get it from?”
Twinkle grinned and darted a look over at Ruby. “It was a present, Mr. Nibble. From Ruby.”
“Oh, how nice,” Mr. Nibble said, but Twinkle wasn’t really listening anymore. He was wondering why Ruby had the biggest frown on her face and her normally curly whiskers were suddenly sticking out straight.
Mr. Nibble hopped back to the front of the classroom and pointed to the first line of the song.
“What are you talking about?” Ruby whispered to Twinkle. “I totally didn’t get you that. You got me this!” And she held up the pretty silvery notepad.
“NO,” Twinkle squeaked. “You got me this!” He heard Petal groan, and he turned to her. Petal’s pink face had gone the color of beetroot fudge. She flapped both her ears across her eyes.
That was when Twinkle realized what had happened. Star and Petal had brought him the present from Ruby last night—but it wasn’t really from Ruby. They’d just done it to try to get them to make up. And they’d done the same thing with Ruby and the notepad!
Twinkle dropped the tambourine, and it crashed to the floor. “Actually, Mr. Nibble, I don’t want to play the tambourine after all.” He ran to the music cupboard to get a set of bongos.
Mr. Nibble began to teach the class the song, and Twinkle bashed the bongo drums as hard as he could. He should have known the tambourine wasn’t a present from Ruby. She was too stubborn for that!
Petal couldn’t concentrate on learning the song. All she could think about was Twinkle and Ruby, and how angry they both looked as they slapped their paws against their bongos. The banging sounds rattled in Petal’s ears until she had the biggest headache.
The lesson seemed to go on forever, but at last the bell rang for playtime. The briiinging sound made her head hurt even worse, but at least the drumming noises had stopped.
Outside, Ruby and Twinkle darted away to opposite sides of the field before their friends could stop them.
“Oh dear. This is dreadful,” said Petal, her voice high with worry. “Whatever can we do?”
Star glanced over at Twinkle. “I’ll go and speak to him,” she said. “I’ll see if I can calm him down. Sky, will you come with me? Twinkle normally listens to you.”
“Yep, sure thing,” Sky chirruped. The two bunnies scampered over to where Twinkle sat among the dandelions. He was pulling up the flowers as if they were his worst enemies.
“Let’s go and talk to Ruby,” Diamond suggested to Petal, and the two friends quickly hopped over to the other side of the field.
As they got closer, Diamond saw that Ruby was still holding the silver-birch notepad. She was staring at it, a sad look on her face.
Ruby heard the pawsteps of Diamond and Petal and looked up.
“Why did you totally lie about the presents?” Ruby asked.
“I’m so very sorry!” Petal said. “We were just trying to help you and Twinkle make up.”
“We didn’t mean to make things worse,” added Diamond. “We only fibbed so that we could make things better.”
Ruby sniffed. “You should know that you should never lie to friends. Even if it is for a good reason.”
“It was a terrible mistake,” said Petal. “But will you please make up with Twinkle?”
Ruby sniffed again. “Totally—if he says sorry.”
Petal’s hopes rose and fell in one go. It didn’t seem as if Twinkle was ready to apologize. What would they do if he didn’t?
“We’ll go and ask him,” Diamond told Ruby. “Stay there.”
Diamond and Petal dashed over to the tiny figure of Twinkle, surrounded by the fluffy blue Sky and the golden shiny Star.
“Are you sure you can’t say you’re sorry?” Sky was asking Twinkle.
“No!” Twinkle squeaked. “I don’t see why I should apologize first!”
So that’s it then, thought Petal. She hung her head and blinked as she t
ried to stop her tears from falling. Their plan had been a disaster, and now it looked as if it might ruin their friendships forever. She was starting to think she should never have invited everyone to a Lucky Bunny burrow party. So far it hadn’t been very lucky at all!
Friday wasn’t any better than Thursday. Ruby had swapped desks with Toppy again, and Twinkle spent the whole of playtime and lunchtime in the classroom working on his art project.
“I think I should cancel the party,” Petal said sadly as she, Sky, Star, Diamond, and Ruby sat in the dandelion field eating their lunches. Petal’s cress sandwiches sat untouched in her lunch box. She didn’t feel hungry at all.
“Nooo, you can’t do that!” Sky said. “It’s your first Lucky Bunny burrow party!”
Petal flicked her long ears over her shoulders. “But it won’t feel very lucky without Ruby and Twinkle.”
Star stared at Ruby. “Just come, will you, Ruby?”
Ruby sighed and her curly whiskers drooped. “I already told you, I’m not going if Twinkle’s going to be there,” she said.
Petal thought hard, trying to come up with a way to fix this. If Twinkle came to the party, Ruby wouldn’t come. And if Ruby came, Twinkle wouldn’t. But Petal couldn’t choose between her two friends!
The bell rang for afternoon lessons, and the five bunnies walked back slowly to the oak tree, set in the middle of the group of tree-trunk classrooms.
As they hopped through the field, Diamond tapped Petal on the arm. “I’m not sure if I can come either,” Diamond said, her white ears turning down as she spoke. “My mom and dad want me to help with a bake sale they’re having.”
“But didn’t you tell them my party is on Saturday?” Petal squeaked. Her heart plunged with disappointment all over again.
“Yes,” Diamond said. Her voice was so quiet Petal could hardly hear it over the rustle of the wind blowing the leaves in the trees. “But they still want me to help …”
Petal wondered whether Diamond’s parents were really having a bake sale or whether it was an excuse Diamond made up because she was shy. Maybe she was worried about playing the games with everyone and being embarrassed.
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