A Rabbit Called Clover

Contents Title Page Dedication Chapter One: Not a Safe Place Chapter Two: Operation Rabbit Rescue Chapter Three: Mortal Danger Chapter Four: Poor Little Thing Chapter Five: A Quick Learner Chapter Six: A Good Plan Chapter Seven: The Very Same Rabbit Chapter Eight: Trespassing Chapter Nine: Safe With Us Chapter Ten: Expert Escapologists Chapter Eleven: What Are We Going to Do? Chapter Twelve: Drop It! Chapter Thirteen: No Hope Left Chapter Fourteen: Welcome Back Also by Helen Peters Copyright 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 For Isla
 H. P.
 
 
 
 For my mum x
 E. S.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Chapter One
 Not a Safe Place
 
 
 
 
 “Fetch!” called Jasmine to her sheepdog, Sky.
 The frisbee flew across the village green towards the pond. Sky bounded after it, his feathery tail wagging. He leapt into the air, caught the frisbee in his mouth and raced back to Jasmine, dropping it at her feet.
 “Good dog,” said Jasmine, ruffling his thick, soft coat. She picked up her sweatshirt from the grass and pulled it over her head. It was the first week of the Easter holidays, and the days were warm and sunny, but the evenings were still chilly. 2
 She threw the frisbee again and Sky hurtled after it. He would never tire of this game.
 “Jasmine!” shouted her older sister, as Sky shot across the rug she was sitting on, scattering books and paper in all directions.
 “Oops, sorry, Ella,” called Jasmine. “I’ll throw it the other way.”
 Ella didn’t reply. She was too busy stacking her books back in a tidy pile and gathering up the notes that Sky had littered across the rug.
 Sky dropped the frisbee at Jasmine’s feet. Jasmine threw it in the opposite direction.
 Unfortunately, it travelled further than she had intended. She clapped her hand to her mouth in dismay as Sky raced on to the football pitch, where her little brother Manu was training with his team. Sky jumped up to catch the frisbee, almost colliding with a boy who was chasing the ball.
 Manu laughed in delight. “That’s my sister’s dog!” he shouted, as Sky wove in and out of the 3players and returned to Jasmine.
 
 
 
 “Sorry, Sky,” Jasmine said, as she stroked his handsome head. “There’s just not enough room in this park for a dog like you.”
 Jasmine and Sky usually played in the fields of their home, Oak Tree Farm, a mile away on the edge of the village. But Jasmine’s parents had gone for a rare night out this evening, leaving Ella in charge of her younger siblings. Mum and Dad had dropped them all at the village green on their way to the restaurant, 4leaving them to walk home once Manu had finished his football training.
 Jasmine threw the frisbee again, aiming for a clear patch of grass. Sky raced after it, but it landed on top of a bush near the main village street. Sky leapt up but he couldn’t reach it. Jasmine ran over to the bushes.
 “Sorry, Sky,” she said, as she squeezed through the branches to retrieve the frisbee.
 As she wriggled out of the bushes, she noticed a movement on the other side of the lane. Her eyes widened in amazement.
 At the edge of the road, a little rabbit sat up on its hind legs, twitching its nose and looking around with bright dark eyes. It wasn’t a wild rabbit. It had light-brown fur and the distinctive white markings of a Dutch rabbit: a white blaze down the middle of its face, white paws and a wide white band around its middle. It had to be somebody’s pet. And it looked very young.
 “Oh, my goodness,” said Jasmine. “Where 5have you come from, little bunny? That’s not a safe place for you.”
 Sky trotted up to her and she quickly clipped his lead to his collar and tied it to the railings at the edge of the green.
 “Stay there, Sky,” she said. “I need to catch the rabbit before it gets run over.”
 The rabbit dropped on to all fours and started nibbling the grass on the verge. Jasmine looked both ways before crossing the road a few metres away from it.
 
 
 
 6She had caught animals before, and she knew that the best way was to drop a cloth over the animal and then scoop it up. She took off her coat, taking care not to make any noise, and tiptoed towards the little bunny.
 Just as she was about to drop her coat over it, she heard a car coming round the corner. The rabbit bolted into the road. Without thinking, Jasmine dashed after it, lunging to catch it.
 The car swept around the corner. Jasmine saw its shiny black front and heard its horn blare as 7the driver swerved wildly to avoid her. She scrambled back to the verge and stood frozen on the grass, her heart pounding painfully, as the car drove out of sight. Then, her stomach churning, she looked up and down the lane, dreading what she might see.
 There was nothing. The rabbit had completely disappeared.
 
 
 
 Jasmine tried to take a deep breath, but it came out all juddery, and she realised she was shaking. She crossed back to the green, sank 8down beside Sky and gave him a big hug. He licked her cheek and his warm, comforting presence calmed her a little.
 “What a mess, Sky,” she said. “Where can the poor rabbit have gone? I need to find it before anything else happens.”
 She untied his lead and they walked back towards Ella, who was sitting near the pond. As boys streamed off the football pitch at the end of training, Manu ran towards Jasmine.
 “Guess what!” he called. “I just saw a rabbit! Not a wild rabbit, a pet one.”
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