Chapter Three

Mr Buck

The third path arrived at the bank of a large stream. A narrow trail of flat stones led to a small fishing jetty hidden among rushes and reeds. There was a large fishing basket in the water. It was suspended from a long branch which was resting in the fork of another upright branch.

Standing next to it was a tall rabbit, shivering and wet from head to toe, who was clumsily trying to drag the basket to shore, but constantly failing. He could only get the basket out of the water by putting his weight on the long branch, but in order to reach the raised basket, he then had to let go again. The poor rabbit wasn’t having any luck in doing both things at the same time, but on the other hand he was managing to have a wonderful shower with each new attempt.

The rabbit was dressed in jeans and T-shirt, just like Anne. He had a pair of large cowboy boots on his feet and was wearing a set of headphones from a personal stereo that could be heard from far away. He was so absorbed in his work that he didn’t notice anyone coming, and just kept on muttering angrily to himself. Anne coughed several times, but to no avail. Once she realised he couldn’t hear her, she went up to him and tapped him on the shoulder cautiously.

The rabbit was so startled he nearly fell in the water.

‘What a cheek! How dare you!’ he exclaimed in a weedy voice, while looking for a way to escape. ‘You gave me the fright of my life. Couldn’t you have given me a shout?’

‘Well, I did try,’ said Anne defensively. ‘You couldn’t hear me because of the headphones. Your music is very loud.’

‘There’s nothing wrong with my music,’ said the rabbit sulkily, but took off his headphones all the same. ‘Who are you anyway? I haven’t seen you around before.’

‘I’m Anne. Or Red if you prefer.’

‘Aha,’ having overcome his initial fright, he began examining her curiously. ‘I’m known as The Rocking Rabbit. But Mr Buck to you, just so we’re clear.’

Anne looked at him crossly, but kept silent.

‘What are you trying to do?’ she asked. ‘Can I help you?’

‘Oh dear,’ fretted Mr Buck. ‘That thieving magpie stole my ring. Luckily it dropped it, otherwise I expect I wouldn’t have seen it again. What is the world coming to! Stealing in broad daylight!’

‘What ring? May I see it?’ asked Anne inquisitively.

‘There it is! It fell right in that basket! I’ve been struggling here for more than an hour to get it out, but I can’t manage it.’

‘Is that all? That’s easy, I’ll take care of it.’

‘You think it’s easy, do you?’ Buck gave her a resentful look. ‘If it were so easy, would I still be here?’

Anne puffed out her chest boastfully. ‘Hey, every job has its experts,’ she said confidently. ‘Step aside a moment, please.’

She lifted one of the flat stones, pressed down with it the end of the long branch and the basket rose out of the water. Now it was within easy reach. Yet getting it to the bank was still an effort as it was very heavy and slightly bigger than Anne herself. Buck looked at her amazed, as if as a miracle had taken place right in front of his eyes. ‘Well, what do you know!’ he said, scratching his neck. ‘That didn’t look difficult at all. But boy, did I try hard!’

Anne had a good look at the ring she had just removed from the basket. It bore the image of a large skull with two crossed carrots beneath it. ‘How horrible!’ she thought to herself, but didn’t say anything, and handed it back to Buck.

‘My ring! My beloved ring!’ he declared joyfully. Then he quickly put it back on and looked at Anne in an unfriendly way. ‘Ahem, if you’re expecting some kind of reward …’

Red started to feel her anger rising.

‘No I’m not, but you could at least say “thank you”!’ she replied sharply, forgetting her manners. ‘There’s no need to be so jumpy.’

‘Hee-hee, if that’s all,’ said Buck hurriedly without acknowledging her rude tone, ‘Thank you. Thank you. And now is a good time to part, isn’t it? I’ve, er, got work to do.’ He started out on the path.

‘Hey, wait a second!’ shouted Anne. Mr Buck stopped and flattened his ears obediently. ‘Can I at least ask you a few questions?’

‘Ok, but be quick.’ He shifted from one foot to the other nervously.

‘First, tell me how I can get past the spider’s tunnel and the swamp.’

‘Simple. You need money. It won’t work otherwise… Not that I’ve got any myself, mind you,’ he added hurriedly, just as the sound of jingling coins came from his pocket. ‘I mean, not any to spare, that is. Next question.’

‘How can I get out of here?’

‘Get out?’ the rabbit looked quite puzzled. ‘What do you mean get out of here? Where do you want to go?’

‘Back home, where else?’

‘Ah, you are not from here, is that so?. Right, right.’ He thought for a moment, gave her a calculating glance and added, ‘I think we can arrange something, but it won’t be easy. And you should know it won’t be cheap either.’

‘What does that mean?’

‘Let me think a minute. Well, carrots. Lots of carrots. You find me two or three bags of carrots and I’ll show you how to leave.’

‘Two or three bags? Where am I going to find that many carrots?’ Anne took a deep breath and tried to suppress her rage. That rude, stingy rabbit was really starting to get on her nerves.

‘Fine, let’s not quibble. Let’s say half of that, then. So, three divided by two is, erm... er… that must be about six and a half, right?’

‘Moron!’ exploded Anne. ‘You can’t do maths for toffee! Three divided by two is one and a half. One point five, all right?’

‘Hee, hee, hee. You find me one or five and you can keep the point as a souvenir.’ He grinned from ear to ear, clearly pleased with his joke.

Anne went berserk. ‘You jerk!’ she screamed. ‘Give me that ring back!’

The rabbit ducked as if she had thrown a stone at him.

‘Wait, wait,’ he stammered, hiding the hand with the ring behind his back. ‘I was only joking.’

‘Is that a fact? Well, now I’ve got a little joke for you: if I ever lay my hands on your ears, I’ll tie them in a knot, got it?’

‘Phew! What a hothead! Can’t a fellow even make a little joke?’ Buck was looking again for a chance to escape, but Anne was blocking his path and there was no other way out.

‘That’s enough hot air! Now tell me how to get out of here!’

‘Well, it’s..’

‘What, another joke?’ Anne took a step forward.

‘No, but…’

‘Stop beating about the bush. Tell me!’

‘Well, I don’t really know, either,’ admitted a rather ashamed Mr Buck.

Anne stamped her foot in disappointment and frustration.

‘Oh, you don’t, do you? You, you… I can’t find the words, you liar!’

‘Hold on, wait,’ he stuttered in fear. ‘It’s true that I don’t know, but I could send you to someone who does.’

‘Who? Come on, quickly!’

‘Grandpa Hedgehog.’

‘Grandpa Hedgehog? Who’s that?’

‘Grandpa Hedgehog is our master herbalist. He’s very wise. He understands everything and has a cure for everything. If you’ve got toothache or stomach ache, for example, go to see him, he’ll give you a tea and you’ll soon be fine again. He’ll definitely know how to help you.’

‘And where can I find him, this wise Grandpa?’

‘That’s also very easy. Once you’ve got through the spider’s tunnel, keep to the path. It leads straight to Grandpa Hedgehog’s water mill.’

Anne pursed her lips. ‘But I haven’t got any money. Can’t I beg the spider to let me pass? Or is there some other place I can get through?’

‘Don’t even try! There’s no other way and that spider doesn’t joke around. He’s very strict and doesn’t make exceptions. If you ask me, he’s a little narrow-minded, but otherwise his work is pretty thorough and accurate.’

‘I’ve already seen evidence of his accuracy,’ said Anne sullenly, then added, ‘Look, couldn’t you lend me a little money? Just enough to get through the tunnel. I’ll pay you back, I promise!’

‘I can’t, I can’t,’ Buck replied immediately. ‘Times are hard, I’ve got a big family and taxes are high.’

‘But what can I do, then? On one side there’s a spider, on the other is a swamp, and in the middle there’s a stream. I can’t get past any of them! How will I get out of here?’

‘Well, I’m sure I don’t know. I’ve helped as much as I can. Let me go now. I’ve got to feed the kids.’

‘Ok. One last question.’

‘Well?’

‘Is it true,’ Anne was shuffling from one foot to the other. ‘Is is true that there are … ghosts in this forest?’

‘Shhhhh!’ hissed Buck. ‘Are you mad speaking so loudly! What if they hear us? We’d be finished for good!’

He grabbed the chance and ran past Anne like a shot. When he’d reached the end of the path he turned, looked cautiously all round him, then put his paw to his mouth and whispered loudly, ‘If only there weren’t! Be very careful, they’re no joking matter! Everyone in the forest is afraid of Mr Heino and his spiders, but let me tell you, even they are afraid of the ghosts. There’s nothing more frightening than the ghosts. Right, I’m off, ‘bye!’

Anne and the backpack sat down despondently on the little jetty and threw pebbles in the water. They were both feeling rather dejected.

‘Maybe we should try to cross the stream,’ suggested the backpack.

‘There’s no point. The path doesn’t continue on the other side. I can tell from here. And we don’t know how deep the water is anyway. We could drown, just like that.’

‘We could try to build a boat like Robinson Crusoe.’

‘Without tools? Cut down trees with our hands? No, no. It looks like we’ll be stuck here till the ghosts find us.’ Anne let out a sniffle, and had to bite her bottom lip to keep from bursting into tears.

‘Ha ghosts! Let them come. I don’t care! “Who’s afraid of the big, bad ghost…”,’ the backpack started singing, trying to cheer her up.

‘Hey, Anne, what is it?’ she added, somewhat anxiously, seeing how Anne had suddenly jumped up and was walking around in a lively manner.

‘Say it again. The last thing you just said.’

‘Who’s afraid of the big, bad ghost?’ repeated the backpack. ‘What is it? I don’t get it.’

‘Yeah, that’s it!’ cried Anne eagerly. ‘The spider is afraid of the ghosts, right? Everyone is afraid of the ghosts.’

‘To be honest, I am, too.’

‘Yeah, me too, but that’s not the point. Listen. I’ve thought of something.’ Anne bent down and whispered in her friend’s ear. The backpack’s mouth started to change into a slow, satisfied smile.

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