FIVE

Silas led the small search party into the main entrance of the abandoned rabbit warren that had been their home for the past few years. It had a grand foyer hung with gigantic, jewel-encrusted turnips, some emitting purple sparkly light and great, big carrots covered in polished carnelian that served as torches with magnificent green flames curling from their tops. Beyond the foyer was the Cozy Room that contained voluptuous, velvet cushions in which to nap and small, wicker baskets that were always stocked with sweet raspberries and other goodies. Snoring softly in the corner was Curly, whose tail was in a permanent coil, even while sleeping.

“Wake up, Curly!” shouted Silas, giving the sleepy opossum a nudge with his stick.

Curly blinked into the dim light and yawned. “What’s the trouble? Is it time to go to bed?”

“Go to bed?” asked Beatrice incredulously. “You’ve been sleeping all day, you lazy fool!”

“Oh, it’s you, Bea,” sighed Curly. “A perfectly good nap has been ruined again.”

“We’re here on official business, Curly,” said Silas in a stern voice. “Seems Petula lost the turnip necklace. The last time she remembers seeing it was in this room so we intend to search it completely.”

“The necklace? Oh dear. What about the key to the winter pantry?” asked Curly, sitting up and revealing a squashed raspberry.

“Isn’t it dreadful?” wailed Cocoa, waddling over to Curly and plunking the damaged berry into his mouth. “It’s gone, and all of our delicious food and hard work are gone with it.” The two opossums began to weep and rock together.

“Look at you two,” sneered Beatrice in disgust. “Two of the laziest opossums I know, crying like babies over food you didn’t lift a finger to gather!”

“All right, let’s not argue,” said Silas, feeling another fight brewing. “Let’s search through all of these cushions. It’s got to be here somewhere.”

Cocoa and Curly began to creep out of the Cozy Room when Henry stopped them, “You heard Silas, everyone's gotta pitch in.”

“Yes, but I’d just get in the way,” said Cocoa. “And Curly’s no good when it comes to emergencies.” Curly shook his head vigorously in agreement.

“Doesn’t matter,” Henry said, guiding them back inside. “Do what you can, even if it means cleaning out the raspberry baskets.”

Cocoa brightened immediately, “Well, anything we can do to help.” He and Curly ambled importantly to one of the baskets and began tossing berries into one another’s mouths like jugglers.

“What are you two clowns doing?” asked Beatrice after moving her third cushion and just noticing their antics.

“We’re helping, of course,” said Curly, his mouth full of red mush. “The locket could be buried beneath these berries!”

“Not likely,” said Bea, narrowing her eyes.

Daisy entered the Cozy Room from the left entrance and quickly began to assist Bea. “Those two are useless,” she muttered, grabbing the end of a cushion and shaking it.

“Tell me about it,” agreed Beatrice. “You should’ve seen Cocoa tonight at the compost heap. The only job he’s good at is trampoline. Henry went crashing into him and nearly bounced all the way back to the top of the pile!”

“Curly goes from one nap to the other, only stopping to take another nap,” laughed Daisy.

Henry and Silas had finished shaking out the cushions in one end of the room and now joined Bea and Daisy. “Petula is positive that she last saw the locket in this room,” said Silas, scratching his head. “So that means it must be here somewhere, but so far we haven’t found anything.”

Just then Curly shouted, “I found it! I found it!”

The opossums surrounded him with excitement. Curly was beaming from head to toe, as he held out his hand to show the others.

“What the heck is that?” asked Henry.

“It’s my lucky marble,” said Curly, grinning from ear to ear. “It’s been lost for ages, I thought I’d never see it again, but here it is, just as good as new!”

Petula started to cry again. “What good is a lucky marble when we can’t open the winter pantry and we all starve?”

Daisy looked at Beatrice and they said simultaneously, “Useless!”