Magic Bunny: Classroom Capers (3 page)

‘Wow! That’s a brilliant disguise!’

Arrow’s little bobtail twitched nervously. ‘Yes. But it will not fool the dark rabbits if they get too close. I must find a place to hide. Can you help me, Julia?’

‘Of course I will!’ Julia said without thinking. She wanted to protect this brave little bunny, who was here, all by himself, in a strange scary world. ‘I’ll have to smuggle you into our tent, so the teachers don’t get suspicious. Just wait until the rest of my team see you!’

‘No, Julia. I am sorry, but my mission is secret. You can tell no one about me. Promise me?’ the magic bunny asked anxiously.

Julia felt disappointed. She’d been hoping that having a magic bunny around would make Lex and Ellie forget about their differences and get along with each other. But she wanted to do everything she could to keep Arrow safe.

‘OK then. Your secret’s safe with me,’ she said. ‘But it’s going to be really difficult to keep you hidden in a small tent with six kids inside.’

Arrow pricked up his ears. ‘I will use my magic, so that only you will be able to see or hear me.’

‘You can make yourself invisible? Cool! That makes things much easier,’ Julia said with delight.

The magic bunny’s key flashed. ‘It is done.’

Julia scooped him up again, cuddled him against her chest and then drew her waterproof jacket closed around him. ‘There! Nice and cosy,’ she announced.

She pulled up her hood and stepped out into the rain, which was starting to ease off. Arrow’s fluffy little body was warm as he snuggled up to her. She felt her spirits lifting as she tramped down the wet field towards the tent.

Although she still wished Lucy were here, it would be a lot easier to cope with Lex and Ellie squabbling now that she had her own secret magic bunny friend for company!

Chapter
THREE

‘Rise and shine, teams!’ Miss Granger’s cheery voice came from just outside the tent. ‘Meeting in the farmhouse common room to sort out chores and activities before breakfast. See you all in fifteen minutes sharp!’

There were a few grunts and yawns inside the Wolverines’ tent as everyone poked their heads out of sleeping bags.

‘OK, miss!’ Julia called sleepily.

There was something soft and fluffy curled up near her left shoulder. She put her hand up to feel it and it moved.

‘Arrow!’ she burst out delightedly. The girl sleeping opposite gave her an odd look, and Julia quickly pretended to have a sneezing fit. ‘Atchoo!’

She must be more careful about keeping her magic bunny a secret.

‘Did you sleep well?’ Julia whispered to Arrow when the girl looked away and she’d made sure that no one else was looking.

Arrow touched her chin with the tip of his little damp nose. ‘Very well, thank you. This is a safe place. I like sleeping in a tent with you, Julia.’

‘Good! Because I love having you for my friend!’ She kissed the top of his warm little head. ‘I s’pose we’d better get up.’

Julia had been lying on her side with her knees bent. As she stretched, she thrust her legs down into the sleeping bag and gasped as her bare feet met cold, soggy material. The bottom of her sleeping bag was soaking wet.

Gently moving Arrow aside, she got out, crawled forward and unzipped the curved opening into the porch. A big puddle covered one side of it. It must have gathered there overnight, after all the heavy rain. Julia was nearest the tent’s entrance, so it had seeped towards her sleeping space.

‘Look at this. I said the tent was wonky!’ she said crossly. ‘We should have moved it.’

‘You never said anything about it being wonky,’ Lex said.

‘Yes, I did!’ Julia retorted. ‘But you and Ellie were arguing and no one was listening to me. And then it started raining –’

‘So the rain is my fault, is it?’ Lex butted in huffily.

‘No, but –’

‘Don’t blame me either,’ Ellie said, twisting a strand of her blonde hair between her fingers. ‘Everyone seems to be picking on me at the moment.’

‘I’m not! I didn’t mean … Oh, just forget it, OK!’ Julia said, exasperated. Turning away, she struggled into the dry clothes that she had folded beneath her pillow last night. ‘Those two want to turn everything into an argument,’ she whispered to Arrow.

Arrow nodded. He jumped up on to a rolled up sleeping bag at the back of the tent, out of harm’s way while everyone was moving about inside the small space.

‘I don’t believe it!’ a boy complained, as he crawled into the porch and picked up his bag. ‘My clothes are completely soaked.’

‘So are mine!’ a girl said. ‘I can’t wear any of them. Someone should have listened to Julia about the tent …’

‘Look. You can both borrow one of my T-shirts,’ Julia said quickly, as Lex frowned and opened his mouth to speak. She didn’t want
another
row to break out. ‘And someone’s probably got some spare jeans that’ll fit you. I don’t mind staying back here and hanging all the wet clothes up to dry, while you go to breakfast. I’ll see you all there,’ she said, for the sake of keeping the peace. Besides, she wouldn’t be alone. She had Arrow with her.

‘Are you sure you don’t want any help?’ Ellie asked.

Julia shook her head. ‘No. I’ll be fine. Honestly.’

There were nods and murmurs from her other team-mates. A few minutes later, the Wolverines went out, leaving Julia alone with Arrow.

‘Phew!’ she said, relieved.

Now she could talk to Arrow without having to worry about anyone hearing. The magic bunny hopped over and jumped into her lap. Julia gave him a quick cuddle.

‘I’d better try to get my sleeping bag dry. I don’t fancy cold wet feet tonight,’ she said, wrinkling her nose. Arrow hopped out of the tent behind her, as she dragged her sleeping bag outside and draped it over a nearby bush.

‘There’s not enough room for all the wet clothes. If we had an old-fashioned clothes airer like Gran’s, I could put the other kids’ stuff on that,’ she said, thoughtfully.

Arrow’s whiskers twitched curiously. ‘What does this airer look like?’

‘It’s a bit like three small ladders, joined together at the sides so they stand up. Like this.’ She drew an ‘N’ shape in the air with her hands.

‘I understand.’ Arrow’s golden key flashed.

Julia felt a warm tingling sensation down her spine as a cloud of crystal dust appeared and drifted away towards a wood near the bottom of the field. Almost immediately a bundle of sturdy twigs dropped out of thin air on to the grass in front of her.

Snap! The twigs trimmed themselves and formed into the shape of ladders. Creak! Green vines bound them together. Rustle! The airer marched across the grass like a soldier on parade and stood to attention.

Julia clapped her hands in delight. ‘That’s brilliant! Thanks, Arrow.’

‘You are welcome.’

She ducked back into the tent to sort out the wet clothes. It didn’t take very long to hang them out to dry. ‘I just hope it doesn’t rain again.’ Julia bent down to pick up Arrow. She stroked his warm ears. ‘Let’s go after the others, before someone comes to see where we are!’

But it was too late.

‘What are you still doing here, Julia?’ asked a stern voice.

Julia almost jumped out of her skin. She’d been so busy that she hadn’t heard anyone approaching. She turned to see Mr Potter, the strictest teacher in school, looking at her over the top of his glasses.

Chapter
FOUR

‘Um … I was just trying to … erm … dry out some of our things,’ Julia said.

‘Hmm.’ Mr Potter walked over to the wet clothes draped on their twiggy dryer. ‘This is a clever idea. You should get team points – although I can’t believe that you made it all by yourself,’ he said suspiciously, peering down to examine it. His eyebrows knitted together in a frown. ‘Did someone who works at the farm help you?’

Julia gulped. If Mr Potter thought she was cheating he’d probably punish her by making her peel mountains of potatoes, or worse!

‘It was … erm … a team effort,’ she improvised quickly. ‘All the Wolverines helped. I … um … volunteered to stay behind to finish hanging the clothes out to dry. They got wet because we had a big puddle in the tent.’

Mr Potter nodded slowly.

Julia held her breath, hoping that he’d believe her. After a moment, the teacher’s stern face softened.

‘Well, I must say, the Wolverines have done very well,’ he said. ‘Top points for initiative. Come along now, Julia. You don’t want to miss breakfast.’

He strode back towards the farm. Julia quickly tucked Arrow beneath one arm, before hurrying after him. She bit back a grin as she looked down at her magic bunny.

‘I’d better explain about the airer to the team, before they speak to Mr Potter,’ she whispered. Somehow she didn’t think there would be any arguments from anyone, even Ellie and Lex, about them getting extra team points!

Arrow’s big soft-brown eyes gleamed.

‘Mmm. Delicious!’ Julia finished eating the enormous breakfast of sausages, beans, eggs and toast. It had been cooked by the teachers and a couple of farm workers, but from now on all the teams were going to take it in turns to cook meals.

Arrow was in her lap, munching a small piece of toast.

‘I thought you’d never been camping before,’ Lex said. ‘So how come you knew how to make that clothes dryer thing?’

Julia grinned at him. ‘I’m just a natural genius!’ she joked. ‘So, who’s any good at washing dishes?’