FUNNY BUNNY

They had just crossed the farmyard, and Danny was fastening the gate behind them , when the farmer came running out of the house shouting for them to stop.

"Wur ya thinkin' o' tekkin' t'path through t'wood ?" he demanded.

"That was our plan. "Anthony replied.

"Well be careful. There's a vicious an' dangerous rabbit on't loose."

"A WHAT ?" They all chorused.

"A Rabbit. A Coney. Nasty piece o' work an all. There's a lot o' rabbits in yon wood but  we've managed to Whittle it down to one furry little fiend. My lad's in there now wit' shotgun tryin' to get it."

"Right. We'll be very careful."

The group moved away trying to hide the smiles and chuckles. 

"A vicious and dangerous rabbit ? How scary can a bunny rabbit get ?"  

The group walked on, highly amused by the thought of a deadly rabbit . A few minutes later they had clambered over the stile and were following the footpath through the rather overgrown but nevertheless pretty wood.

Suddenly they were startled by a loud Russell in the undergrowth. (This was not the first time they had been alarmed by a "Loud Russell"). Then they were rooted to the spot by a such a "Holleran and shouting" as a spotty faced youth came bursting through the bushes with a small furry creature firmly attached to the seat of his jeans. He stared at them for a second before dropping the gun he was holding then turning away to flee down the path back in the direction of the farm. After a few yards the rabbit, for such it was, dropped to the ground and turned to face the group. It was Martin who Drew their attention to it's eyes which seemed to be glowing red with an evil glint in them.

"I think we'd better Gee up and get out of this wood." He said. "It looks as if it's in a right Paddy."

The Rabbit stamped it back legs on the ground, laid it's ears flat on its head and hopped menacingly down the path towards them.

The group, after initially walking, burst into trot (Very unusual burst of speed for our friends) as the rabbit rapidly began to catch them up. 

By now the Rabbit was snapping at their heels (Snapping !!! a rabbit ?) and they were walking backwards fending off their furry foe with the pointed ends of their walking poles. The rabbit continued to Harry them until they reached the gate at the far side of the wood. Once outside the wood the "beast" seemed to lose interest and with a final flourish of its cotton tail, it disappeared back into the undergrowth.

"Perhaps it's a territorial thing." Jim surmised.

Later research by Anthony revealed that the rabbit was probably in the grip of a complaint called "Lapinaetia Malevalentia" or "Bad Bunny Syndrome".