Badger the Mystical Mutt and the Crumpled Capers (11 page)

Pickle looked at Lennie as she had no paws left.

“Right,” sighed Lennie. “Here's how it works: one potato, two potato, three potato, four; five potato, six potato, seven potato, more. We just keep putting our paws in, and when you've used up one, you put it behind your back. The first to have no paws left at the end is ‘it'.”

“What do you mean ‘it?'” asked Pickle.

“The new gang leader, of course,” said Lennie, pretty sure that he'd counted it out
not
to be him.

“I get it, I get it,” said Pickle excitedly. “This is a good game. Right, I'll start it off.”

Pickle did her “one potato”. Lennie followed with “two potato”, and Pogo Paws with “three potato”. And so they continued with, “four, five potatoes, six potatoes, seven potatoes, more”, and soon they each had one paw behind their back.

Then they carried on with the next round.

Lennie crossed his eyes and hoped he'd counted properly, with his one remaining paw still in the game.

But he hadn't.

As he placed his other paw behind his back, Pogo Paws and Pickle looked at him in astonishment.

“You're ‘it'. You're actually ‘it'. You're our new gang leader,” they shouted together in horror.

“Looks like I am,” grinned Lennie,
wondering just how on earth he was going to cope with the responsibility.

Badger trotted back to his garden feeling very pleased with himself.

“Another Badgical-Magical job well done,” he thought.

Then he saw it, glinting next to the sundial.

His treasured Wim-Wim had returned.

It clanked and rattled to greet him. He took off his neckerchief and polished its reverse plunger lovingly.

The Wim-Wim was back and ready for the next Badgical-Magical adventure.

ALSO PUBLISHED BY THE LUNICORN PRESS

Badger the Mystical Mutt

ISBN: 978-0-9569640-0-7

Badger the Mystical Mutt

and the Barking Boogie

ISBN: 978-0-9560640-1-4

www.badgerthemysticalmutt.com