Free Rabbit Racer by Tamsyn Murray

Let me introduce myself. I’m Harriet Houdini – Stunt Bunny extraordinaire and all-round superstar. Once upon a time, I was an ordinary little rabbit in an ordinary
little pet shop, but then eight-year-old Susie Wilson took me home and my life changed for ever. Before I knew it, I’d scooped first prize in the Superpets Search for a Superstar TV talent show and triple backflipped my way into the nation’s hearts. Suddenly, I was a VIP
– Very Important Pet – and everyone knew my name.
    Of course, you might think that being the star of Saturday night television means I’m one of those snobby celebs who owns a big mansion with twenty-four-hour security guards, but
you’d be wrong. I live with the Wilson family, in a normal-sized house on a perfectly everyday street. OK, so maybe my hutch is a teensy bit posh, but I am Britain’s Best Loved Bunny,
after all.
    But when our new next-door neighbour moved in, our street became a little bit less ordinary. From the moment the mysterious Madame Belladonna arrived and fired a toothy smile my way, I had a
peculiar, can’t-quite-put-your-finger-on-it suspicion that there was something fishy about her. You might think I’m being twitchy, but after two bunny-napping attempts by a mad magician
called the Great Maldini, a girl can’t be too careful. He’d been after me ever since I won the village pet show and started on my rollercoaster ride to fame, but I wasn’t about to
spend the rest of my days popping in and out of an old top hat in his rubbishy magic show. Luckily my Stunt Bunny skills had helped me escape his clutches both times.
    But, even though I know I can be a bit suspicious, I still had a very funny feeling when our new neighbour arrived. I was sipping on a carrot smoothie while Susie read me some fan mail when I
noticed a battered blue-and-green van pull up at the empty house next door. Susie had heard the noise too, so she lifted me up and carried me to the window so we could take a closer look.
    ‘It looks like someone is moving in next door, Harriet,’ she said, peering through the net curtains. ‘I wonder if they’ve got any pets?’
    ‘Huh,’ said Susie’s dad as he came into the room. ‘I hope not. One rabbit on the rampage is enough.’
    Susie’s dad is the grumpiest person I’ve ever met. I call him Evil Edward, or EE for short. He doesn’t like me much and acts as though I’m always up to no good –
even when I’m mostly behaving myself. He’s especially suspicious where his precious garden is concerned, but it’s his own fault really; if he didn’t grow the most delicious
roses, I wouldn’t need to nibble them.
    Susie’s mum and little sister, Lily, crowded around the window too, while the family cat, Smudge, jumped on to the window sill to see what all the fuss was about. We all watched as the new
neighbour got out of the van.

    ‘Oh, it’s an old lady,’ Susie said, sounding a little bit disappointed.
    ‘What an odd-looking person,’ Mrs Wilson said, peering at the new neighbour uncertainly. ‘Is that a beekeeper’s hat she’s wearing?’
    Sure enough, the old lady was wearing a big, broad-brimmed hat with a thick veil all the way around it. The rest of her appearance was just as strange: her dress was purple and flowery and
didn’t quite fit her thin body, and sticking out of her pointy, high-heeled shoes was a pair of skinny, hairy legs. She was carrying a gigantic, empty birdcage. Smudge licked his lips and his
tail began to swish from side to side.
    ‘Gosh,’ EE said as the lady tottered past our window towards the path to her front door. ‘I hope she doesn’t have a parrot to live in that cage. I don’t want to
hear it screeching “Pretty Polly” at all hours of the day and night.’
    Lily took her dolly out of her mouth. ‘Pretty Polly, Pretty Polly,’ she squawked.
    ‘Me and my big mouth,’ EE sighed, folding his arms. ‘I suppose we’d better go and say hello.’ Then he looked down at me,