Forward into the cave

01 February 2012


New readers might like to start with the previous chapters in this story:

Part 1: Drifting
Part 2: What happened next
Part 3: Under the sea


"So what happened next?" I asked Great Aunt Dahlia. "Grandma Lily swam through the cave, and found the golden carrots. What did she do?"

"Well, young Bob Tail, she did what any rabbit would do. She took off her hat, and filled it with carrots."

Rabbit in a cave

"But as she was struggling to put her hat back on her head, she heard a noise behind her. Just a single pebble falling; but then another and another. She turned around: rocks were falling everywhere!"

Rabbit in a rockfall


"In a trice, the entrance was blocked. She looked all round the cave for another way out, but there was none."

Rabbit with glowing carrot


"There was no going back the way she came. So she did the only thing she could do: go forward."

"But you said there wasn't another way out!"

"She did what any rabbit would do: she burrowed."

rabbit-burrowing

"She dug and dug and dug. Kept going until her paws were worn down to the bone. Just as she thought she couldn't dig another pawful, the earth in front of her fell away, and she tumbled through the hole."

"Was she out of the cave?" I asked.

"For a moment, she didn't know where she was. Then she heard a voice, more of a growl, and then a wicked laugh. Terrified, she opened one eye, and then the other. And then she screamed!"

"What was it?"

"A pirate! The biggest, baddest, bunny pirate ever to sail the seas."

Rabbit pirate


"Captain Jack Rabbit!"