Free Rabbit Racer by Tamsyn Murray Page A

a stern look on his face. ‘Leave that
rabbit in here, Susie, we don’t want to scare the poor woman away.’
    Huh, what on earth was he going on about? If anyone was going to put our new neighbour off, it was him!
    Susie frowned. ‘Harriet wants to say hello too.’
    EE made a tutting sound. ‘Oh, all right, but make sure she can’t escape.’
    ‘I’m sure she’ll be on her best behaviour,’ Susie said, clipping me into my sparkly silver harness and lead. Then we opened the front door to greet the new arrival.
    “‘Hello,’ EE called out. ‘Welcome to the neighbourhood. We’re the Wilsons.’ The old lady didn’t stop, but waved a woolly-gloved hand and carried on
wobbling her way along the path.
    ‘Do let us know if you need anything,’ Mrs Wilson added, her big, friendly smile fading a little.
    The woman reached her front door. ‘’Ow lovely to meet you, my dears,’ she said in a squeaky, accented voice. ‘My name ees Madame Belladonna. I am sure we will be –
’ow you say – ze best bunnies.’

    ‘I think you mean best buddies,’ EE corrected with a chuckle.
    The veiled hat nodded up and down. ‘Zat ees what I say.’ Balancing the birdcage on one hand, she opened her front door and turned around to stare at me. ‘She ees ze cutest
leetle rabbit, no? I look forward to getting to know er much better.’
    The door closed, leaving the Wilsons staring at each other and me frowning suspiciously. There was something weird about Madame Belladonna and I didn’t just mean her clothes. I
wasn’t sure I wanted to get to know her at all.
    ‘Well, she seemed . . . nice,’ Mrs Wilson said as we trooped back into our own house.
    ‘Hmmm,’ EE said. ‘She’s a few bees short of a hive if you ask me.’
    I could hardly concentrate on my fan mail after that. Something about our new neighbour bothered me, but I couldn’t work out what it was. One thing I did know: I’d be keeping a very
close eye on Madame Belladonna. She looked like a crazy customer.

I try hard to be a friendly rabbit – a real you-tickle-my-tummy-and-I’ll-tickle-yours type. So when the director of Superpets , glamorous Gloria Goodwood,
announced that there was going to be a new pet joining our one-off, Summer Special show, my ears pricked up straight away. People kept all kinds of unusual animals. The new addition might be
a jellyfish who juggled or a piano-playing pig. But whether they were cuddly or clammy, I really hoped we’d get along.
    And, even better, Gloria told us that some of the pets who had been on the Superpets Live tour were now going to join the main cast of Superpets too. So not only might I make a new
friend, I’d also be seeing my old ones too!
    To be honest, though, I was a bit disappointed when I first saw the new pet. Tornado Taz looked like an ordinary, everyday cat, the kind you might see eying up the birds in next-door’s
garden. But his tabby stripes hid a terrific talent, as I found out when I hopped over to say hello.
    ‘He might not look much now,’ Taz’s owner, Tim, was saying to the make-up lady, ‘but wait until he gets on to the obstacle course. You won’t see him for
dust.’
    ‘Obstacle course?’ said the make-up lady, gazing down at the cat in confusion. ‘You mean jumps and tunnels and weaving in and out of poles? Like dogs do?’
    Tim pushed his glasses up and beamed with pride. ‘Exactly right. Taz is the world’s first agility cat!’
    I stared at Taz, who was perched on the make-up chair. He threw me an embarrassed look which said, ‘Owners – don’t you just love ’em?’
    Then Gloria appeared. ‘It’s time for your screen test, Taz. Let’s see if the camera loves you the way it loves Harriet here.’
    She led Taz and his owner across the studio floor to a series of obstacles. Susie and I followed, settling down next to the cameraman to watch. This was going to be interesting.
    I wasn’t the only one who wanted to see what Taz was made of. I spotted Lulu the