‘Quite right.’ Mr Dog snuffled at her. ‘So … another game of tag, then?’
‘No, thank you.’ Mother Rabbit wrinkled her nose. ‘I need my strength to mind my little ones. I’m hungry – and my nose smells fresh carrots!’
‘Carrots?’ Mr Dog looked around. There was only grass in the big field for as far as he could see … grass that was surrounded by two big green hedges and one solid wooden fence. Beyond the fence, Mr Dog could just see the tops of some tents and caravans. ‘There aren’t any carrots growing around here, Mother Rabbit. But maybe there are humans eating carrots behind that fence?’
‘The Big New Fence, you mean? Goodness knows what happens behind there.’ Mother Rabbit’s ears waggled and she shook her head. ‘Now, if you’ll excuse me, Mr Dog, my nose is extra-clever when it comes to carrots. I can smell them … this way!’ And off she hopped towards the nearest hedgerow.
Mr Dog watched her go. ‘Ah well,’ he said. ‘There are loads of other rabbits here. Maybe one or two of them would like to play?’
But the next moment his ragged ears pricked straight up at a squeak of dismay from the hedgerow. It was Mother Rabbit, he realised, and ran off to investigate.
Soon he saw what Mother Rabbit had not – there was a trap hidden in the long grass. As she’d run inside it to get the carrot she must have knocked a stick holding the trap door up. Now it had snapped down, and she was caught inside.
‘Help!’ Mother Rabbit was hopping about anxiously. ‘I can’t get out! What is this thing?’
‘I’m afraid it’s a rabbit trap.’ Mr Dog pushed his muzzle up against the catch on the door, but it was on a steel spring and wouldn’t open. He batted at it with both paws, but soon his tail drooped. ‘It’s no good. I can’t get you out!’
‘Oh no.’ Mother Rabbit looked at Mr Dog with wide eyes.
‘So many bunnies have gone missing from these fields ever since the Big New Fence went up. I thought they’d just hopped away. They must have been caught, like me!’
‘But why?’ Mr Dog felt sad. ‘What harm can rabbits be doing running around and burrowing in a field?’
‘I just don’t know.’ Mother Rabbit shook her head. ‘Oh, Mr Dog! What about my poor little bunnies, asleep in our burrow? They’re only two weeks old! What will become of them if I never come back?’
Mr Dog knew the answer, and it wasn’t good. ‘You will come back. There must be a way to open this rotten thing … He closed his jaws round the wire of the trap door and rattled it. ‘Come on, come on …’
‘Oi, dog! Get away from that rabbit!’
Busily trying to force open the cage, Mr Dog hadn’t noticed a young man with dark hair and muddy clothes close by. ‘Where did you come from?’ he woofed in surprise.
Of course, the man didn’t understand him. He just picked up the trap with Mother Rabbit in it and turned away.
‘Dear me, what shocking manners you have.’ Mr Dog grabbed the leg of the man’s jeans in his jaws and tugged very hard. ‘Mmm, but what tasty trousers!’
‘Hey, get off – WHOA!’ The man tried to pull away but overbalanced and fell to his knees. He put down the trap. ‘Silly dog!’
‘Close, but my first name is Mister, thank you very much!’ Mr Dog scrabbled again at the door to the trap, trying desperately to pull it open.
‘Mr Dog!’ Mother Rabbit spoke quickly. ‘You can’t help me, but please help my little ones. If you find another mother rabbit with a litter like me, perhaps she’ll take them in? Follow the Big New Fence towards the road,’ she went on. ‘You’ll find our burrow there.’
‘I promise I’ll help.’ Mr Dog looked into her dark and frightened eyes. ‘I’ll get you out. You’ll see.’
By now the man had got back to his feet and was glaring down at Mr Dog. He reached for the spotted hanky round Mr Dog’s neck. ‘Aha, no collar on you – just a neckerchief – which means that you probably don’t have an owner. And if you don’t have an owner, then it’s the dog pound for you …’
The man’s fingers seized hold of the fabric. Now Mr Dog was trapped too!
‘Unhand me, sir!’
Mr Dog barked.
Desperately he turned in a tight circle to break the man’s grip on his neckerchief and then sprang backwards. The man reached out to try to catch him, but Mr Dog ran away as fast as a racehorse – if not slightly faster.
‘I’ll be back!’ Mr Dog panted. ‘Keep your furry chin up, Mother Rabbit!’ He looked over his shoulder and was pleased to see that the man wasn’t following him. Even so, Mr Dog kept running. I can’t take any chances, he thought. If anything happens to me now, I’ll never reach those poor bunnies …
Suddenly, something in the ground sprayed jets of cold water all round, splashing him all over. ‘UGH!’ Mr Dog was soaked in a second, and quickly changed direction, running for shelter in the nearest long grass. ‘Whatever was that?’
As he looked back, Mr Dog saw that the powerful spray had sent some rabbits running away too. He realised he’d seen something like it before in a garden he’d stayed in. ‘Must be a sprinkler that goes off to scare any animal that comes near.’ He licked his nose, still panting for breath. ‘But who would leave such a thing out here?’
Peering through the tall grass, Mr Dog saw a long hosepipe snaking from the water sprinkler. It stretched all the way to the Big New Fence. Across the field, the man from before was walking towards the fence with the trap containing Mother Rabbit in his arms.
A door swung open in the fence and both man and trap went through it.
‘Most mysterious,’ mused Mr Dog. ‘Whoever’s behind the Big New Fence, it seems they really don’t like rabbits. But why?’ He got to his feet. ‘Well, I’ll just have to find out. I wonder if there’s a sneaky hound-shaped back way in …?’
But as Mr Dog began trotting across the field towards the fence – being careful to avoid the water sprinkler – he spotted something that surprised him. (And Mr Dog was surprisingly hard to surprise.)
Sitting by the corner of the fence in the field was a rabbit who looked very different from all the other rabbits he’d ever met in the wild. It was bigger, white and fluffy, with enormous lop ears.
‘That’s an angora rabbit.