Rabbit Racer (9 page)

‘Goodness me, what’s that?’ she called, pointing high above the audience. Everyone looked up and even the cameramen spun their cameras around, but there was nothing to see.
Seconds later, we heard a loud crash on stage, followed by the tinkling of broken glass. When we all turned back to look at Doodle, the table was empty and Miranda was looking smug.

‘Oh dear, you missed Doodle’s amazing trick,’ she said, in a sickly sweet voice. ‘Never mind!’

Gloria looked disappointed and disapproving at the same time. ‘That’s a shame,’ she said. ‘But – er – sadly we don’t have time for a repeat performance
because now it’s crunch-time for one of these pets. The animal whose new trick failed to wow the crowd will be leaving
Superpets
for good!’

There was a gasp as Gloria’s words sank in. Then the stage lights dimmed and a spotlight began to bounce around the pets, settling on each one for a few seconds before landing on another.
Dramatic music began to play in the background. Sam and Spike-tacular looked nervous and I thought Trevor might faint, squashing his terrapins in the process. Cherry was busily counting, as usual,
and Lulu was whirling her hula hoop in a worried way. Miranda didn’t look anxious at all, though; both her and Doodle had their snooty noses high in the air.

The spotlight moved faster as the music grew louder. Then, with a final crash of drums, it settled on the big, curly hair-dos of Doodle and Miranda. Gloria turned to the spectators smoothly.
‘Let’s have a big round of applause for Doodle the opera-singing Poodle and her owner, Miranda!’ She fired a brisk smile towards the spotlit pair. ‘I’m sure
we’ve all enjoyed having them on the show, but all good things must come to an end.’

Miranda and Doodle scowled furiously in her direction and I thought Miranda would argue. Then she seemed to remember that the cameras were rolling and nodded at Doodle. Teeth fixed in a forced
grin, the pair waved to the cheering crowd.

As Gloria signed off, Miranda leaned down to me. ‘You haven’t seen the last of us, Harriet Houdini,’ she hissed through her smile. ‘We’ll be back, and when we are,
you’d better watch out.’

Doodle lunged for me, jaws snapping, but Taz leaped in between us. Spitting, he lashed out a paw and hit Doodle square on the nose. Doodle yelped and backed off, her own paw holding her
face.

Tim saw and patted his cat on the head. ‘It looks like you two are firm friends,’ he said, winking at me. ‘I think Taz is going to enjoy being a Superpet!’

I looked at Taz and waggled my paws at him in thanks. Now that Miranda and Doodle were going,
Superpets
was going to be one hundred percent fun. But I decided I’d leave the racing
to Taz in future. Being a Stunt Bunny was more than enough excitement for me!