Rabbit Racer (4 page)

‘That cherry pie they’re serving in the canteen is simply delicious,’ Miranda said in a loud voice. ‘Shame they were about to run out.’

EE pricked up his ears. ‘Cherry pie, you say?’ He looked at Tim. ‘I don’t know about you, but I could do with a little something to eat. All this exercise makes me
peckish.’

Tim hesitated. “Shouldn’t we stay with the pets?”

Glancing around, EE shook his head. ‘They’ll be OK for a few minutes.’

Susie poked a finger into her dad’s belly. ‘Mum says you’re not supposed to have cakes. She says if you get any fatter, you won’t fit into your clothes.’

EE wiped the last crumbs of chocolate from around his mouth. ‘No one said anything about cake. It’s pie we’re going to have. Come on, Tim, let’s get down there before
it’s too late.’

Tim reached down to tickle Taz behind the ears. ‘Back in a minute, Puss.’

Susie watched their retreating backs for a moment, then wagged a finger in front of my basket. ‘Wait here, Harriet. I better keep an eye on him.’ She followed EE and Tim and her
voice faded into the distance. ‘I’m going to tell Mum about this . . .’

And then we were on our own. Behind us, I could practically feel Miranda grinning.

‘Poor Harriet, all locked away,’ I heard her say. ‘Wouldn’t you like to stretch your legs?’

She reached down and unclipped the locks on my basket. The door swung open. Suspiciously, I poked my velvet nose out. Miranda wasn’t known for her kind deeds. Why was she letting me
out?

I glanced over at Taz. Miranda was undoing the leather straps on his basket and tugging the door open for him as well. But Taz was new to
Superpets
and a lot more trusting than me.
Purring gratefully, he padded out of the basket and stretched.

‘Would you like a snack, Harriet?’ Miranda asked, waving a delicious-smelling carrot in front of me.

I couldn’t help it; I hopped towards it, my mouth watering at the thought of sinking my teeth into its orangey goodness.

‘Now, Doodle!’ Miranda cried and everything seemed to happen at once. Doodle let out a low growl and lunged towards Taz. With a terrified yowl, Taz sprang up in the air. I looked up
to see him descending towards me, claws flashing in the lights. Thoughts of the tasty carrot flew out of my head. If I didn’t get out of the way, I’d be in bunny bits before I could
blink!

I didn’t fancy being a bunny pincushion, so quicker than you could say ‘cutting claws’ I jumped out of the way. Taz landed exactly where I’d been
seconds before. Doodle snarled at the cat again and snapped her teeth at his tabby tail. Confused, Taz sped towards me and I knew if I didn’t move, there’d be a bumper bump. So I did
the only thing I could. I ran.

We raced through the backstage area towards the studio stage, Doodle chasing Taz and Taz chasing me. The make-up lady dropped her powder puff, the cameraman leaped out of the way and Gloria
looked flabbergasted as we flashed past. And before I knew what was happening we were on Taz’s obstacle course!

‘Harriet!’ I heard Susie screech, but I didn’t stop. Even though part of me knew that Taz wouldn’t really hurt me, it felt like the call of the wild had taken over. My
rabbit ancestors were screaming at me to run from their ancient enemy, the cat.

Obstacles loomed in front of me. Without thinking, I somersaulted over the first jump and tore through the long cloth tunnel. Behind me, I heard a cheer and guessed Taz had cleared the jump too.
Then I was on to the weaving poles. They quivered as I hopped madly from side to side.

Once I was through, I set my sights on the balancing bar up ahead. It wasn’t until I heard the laughter that I slowed down and risked a glance over my shoulder.

Taz was skidding to a halt too. Straight away, I saw the reason for the laughter. Doodle had tried to follow us through the tunnel.

She must have realised far too late that her body was too big to fit through the plastic entrance and she was stuck with the tunnel flopping around her head like an
elephant’s trunk. It waggled from side to side as she tried to free herself and she let out a frightened whimper.

Miranda rushed on to the stage to free her. ‘My poor Doody-Woody,’ she squealed, pulling the tunnel off Doodle’s face and staring into the dog’s confused eyes anxiously.
‘What have those nasty animals done to you?’

Taz and I exchanged looks. What had we done to Doodle? Surely it was more a case of what the poodle had done to us?

Gloria bustled forward. ‘Really, Miranda, you must learn to control that dog better. Or is Doodle in training to become a circus clown?’

A sulky pout crossed Miranda’s face. ‘Taz tried to scratch Doodle,’ she said. ‘I saw it with my own eyes. He should be thrown off the show.’

EE and Tim rushed over with Susie. She flung her arms around me in a big hug.

‘Thrown off the show?’ Tim repeated, rubbing Taz’s ears and gazing around in bemusement. ‘What’s going on?’

‘We were only gone a few minutes,’ EE said, wiping what looked like cherry sauce from his chin. He eyed me in disbelief. ‘That basket is supposed to be practically
escape-proof. How did you get out this time, Harriet?’

‘Come to think of it, how did Taz escape from his?’ Tim wondered. ‘I’m sure I locked him in.’

Everyone turned to look at Miranda.

‘It wasn’t anything to do with me,’ she declared, folding her arms and glaring around. ‘My poor Doodle is the victim here. Look, she’s shaking.’

Doodle blinked and began to shiver. But Gloria was staring at the obstacle course, a thoughtful expression on her face. ‘This gives me an idea,’ she said, tapping her lips with her
finger. ‘Harriet and Taz were super speedy. What if we put them head to head in a race, for the
Summer Special?
’

I thought about that. Racing over the obstacles had been fun, but was I faster than Taz? Casting a quick glance sideways, I wondered what he thought of the idea. His eyes gleamed and he swished
his tail.

‘Taz is up for it if Harriet is,’ Tim said, looking enthusiastic. ‘Kitty versus Bunny sounds good to me.’

Gloria smiled. ‘And what about Harriet?’ she asked, glancing between EE and Susie.

EE blushed, the way he always did when Gloria spoke to him. ‘Nyurgh,’ he mumbled. ‘Whatever you say, G-G-Gloria.’

Susie looked at me and I waved my paws to let her know I was raring to race. ‘I think that means she can’t wait.’

‘It looks as though you’ve found your new talent,’ Gloria said, winking at me. ‘From now on, you’ll be Harriet Houdini – Rabbit Racer.’

I thumped the floor in excitement. Win or lose, this race was going to be FUN! And maybe I’d find a way to throw in some of my new tricks to make sure my place on
Superpets
was
safe.