Vacation Dreams (6 page)

Dinner was a delicious lasagna and salad, made by Mrs. Kelly, who had already left to go home, much to Becky and Leon’s relief.

Becky was sure the housekeeper must have told Uncle Den about the laundry incident. She waited expectantly for him to mention it, but nothing happened.

After dinner was cleared away, they all trooped into the sitting room. Leon wanted to watch a wildlife documentary about bats. Becky was looking forward to it, too. She’d just curled up with Arrow on her lap when her uncle spoke. “Mrs. Kelly had a word with me earlier…”

Becky held her breath. She steeled herself for a serious scolding.

“…about the chicken feed,” her uncle went on. “She noticed we were getting low on supplies. Could you order some more for me online, Leon?”

“Yep. No problem. I’ll go and do it after this TV show.”

Becky couldn’t believe it. “Mrs. Kelly didn’t tell on me!” she whispered to Arrow. “Maybe she isn’t that bad after all.”

Arrow was curling up into a furry ball. “I am glad you did not get into trouble,” he said sleepily.

Becky smiled down at him. It had been a long day for a tiny bunny. “You have a nice nap,” she whispered, gently cuddling him. She noticed Leon looking across at her and wondered if he’d noticed anything strange. Surely he couldn’t see Arrow, who was still invisible?

But Leon gave Becky a shy smile. “You seemed to have a good time
today. So I wondered if you’d like to see some of my wildlife stuff?”

“Yeah, I’d love to!” Becky said eagerly.

“Great! You can read the articles I’ve written for the ’zine, too, if you like.”

“Don’t push it!” Becky joked, rolling her eyes.

Leon laughed.

As she settled down to watch TV, Becky felt pleased that she and her cousin were getting along a bit better. She thought she’d definitely made the right decision to stay at the farmhouse. If only they could think of some way to help Smudge and the other rabbits, everything would be great.

The following day it rained. Becky stared glumly out of the farmhouse window at the deep puddles and muddy ruts in the yard. She had been hoping that they would go check on the warren, but the rain showed no sign of stopping.

“Oh well. I suppose we’re staying inside today,” she sighed. “Maybe I could read one of Leon’s wildlife books. He’s
got tons of them in his bedroom.”

Arrow sat beside Becky on the window sill as she looked through one of Leon’s books. He lifted a fluffy front paw to bat at the raindrops trickling down the pane outside.

Becky laughed. Her friend’s cute antics could always cheer her up.

“At least the rabbits will be safe. No one’s going to do anything about them in this downpour,” she said, giving him a cuddle.

Becky had thought Leon might shut himself away with his computer, but instead he appeared in the sitting room with a big pad of brightly colored paper. “Ever done origami?” he asked.

“Nope,” Becky admitted. “But I’ll try it!”

Becky soon found out she was pretty good at folding paper into animal shapes. Before long, she was admiring the line of paper animals marching along the coffee table, even though some of them had funny legs.

Leon was really good at origami. He even made an amazing T. rex.

The day passed surprisingly quickly. Delicious smells from the kitchen filled the whole house, making Becky’s mouth water. Mrs. Kelly popped her head around the door to say there were cheese crackers and chocolate cake for a snack.

“And I’ve brought you some of my homemade root beer.”

“Wow! What a feast. Can we have it in here on a tray, for a special treat?” Leon asked.

The housekeeper put her hands on her hips. “What, and get crumbs everywhere? I don’t think so. Come and sit at the kitchen table.”

Becky and Leon exchanged looks, but did as they were told. As she ate, Becky crumbled up bits of crackers and dropped them under the table. Arrow
hopped about eagerly snuffling them all up. She was glad he was invisible or Mrs. Kelly would have had a fit!

“This cake is yummy! Chocolate cream
and
icing with huge chocolate pieces on top!” Leon said. “Killer Kelly might be a pain, but she’s an amazing cook!”

After they had finished, Becky, Arrow, and Leon went back to the sitting room.

“What should we do now?” Becky asked, hoping her cousin had some more good ideas.

“I dunno,” Leon murmured. His mood seemed to have suddenly changed. “I can’t stop thinking about the rabbits, especially Smudge and her kits.”

Becky was worried, too, but she always tried to look on the bright side. “You never know. Something might happen to save them.”

“Yeah? And pigs might fly!”

Leon looked so troubled that Becky wondered what she could do to cheer him up.

She remembered the stuff she’d read about in the wildlife books. Maybe talking about his favorite subject might take his mind off it—even for just a little while. It was worth a try.

Without really thinking it through, Becky began in a rush. “I never knew that only female rabbits dig burrows. Or that they don’t hibernate. And their teeth keep on growing forever…,” she said, enthusiastically listing more facts. She paused for breath and saw Leon glaring at her. “What?”

“The warren’s in danger and you don’t even care! All you can do is babble on and on, like you’re giving a speech or something!”

“I do care!” Becky protested, shocked. “I just thought—”

“Just forget it,” Leon muttered. “I wish I’d never taken you to see the warren.” He jumped up and left the room.

Becky looked at Arrow in dismay. “Do you think he meant that?” She was ready to go straight after Leon. “I’m going to ask him!”

Arrow laid a tiny soft paw on her arm. “I think Leon needs to be alone.”

Becky felt herself calming down as she looked at her wise little friend. Reaching out, she stroked his warm soft ears. “I guess you’re right. I guess I was babbling a bit. I just hope that things go back to how they were before. We’d been getting along so well.”

The following day dawned bright and clear. Becky’s uncle had planned to drive into the nearest village to take his car to a garage.

Leon followed his dad out into the yard.

Becky hung back a bit. Leon had been quiet at breakfast and they had only exchanged a word or two. She felt
awkward with him since their argument.

“Can Becky and I come with you?” she heard Leon ask.

Becky looked up in surprise.

“I could be an hour or two with the mechanic,” his dad replied. “Won’t you two be bored?”

“Nah. We can go to the library and then I’ll show Becky around town.” Leon glanced at her over his shoulder and gave an apologetic grin. “Are you coming or what?”

“You bet!” Becky jumped at the chance of an outing, especially since Mrs. Kelly had just declared that she was going to spring-clean the downstairs rooms.

Her uncle smiled. “Come on then, you two.”

“Let me run upstairs and grab my bag,” Becky said.

Becky found Arrow sitting on her bed, grooming himself. “Yay! Leon’s fine with me now and we’re all going into the village. Do you want to get into my bag? You’ll be safer in there.”

Arrow nodded eagerly.

Uncle Den started the car and then pulled out onto the farm road. Becky sat in the back of the car with her bag on the seat beside her, so Arrow could peer out at the countryside.

Sunshine poured down on a patchwork of fields and the green hills in the distance. Becky saw sheep on hillsides and herds of black-and-white cows. Now and then she saw a rabbit feeding on a patch of grass and felt a
new pang of concern for the warren above Foxglove Farm.

Uncle Den dropped them at the library, and after spending time looking around at the books, they wandered through the village. Arrow peered out of the bag and his nose twitched at the interesting smells. Becky smiled to
see him enjoying himself. The three of them passed by a cottage that had a fancy iron gate topped by a handsome iron rabbit.