Tour Troubles (6 page)

The dress rehearsal went like a dream. Lulu the chimp hula-hooped like a tornado and the terrapins tumbled like never before. Even Doodle sounded
almost
in tune on the big stadium stage. Gloria seemed especially pleased with me.

‘Simply marvellous, Harriet,’ she said, beaming down at me. ‘The crowd is going to go wild when they see your act.’

As Gloria walked away, Miranda glowered at us. She seemed to be in a very bad mood and refused to eat lunch with the rest of the owners.

‘The chef has prepared a special meal for Doodle in her dressing room,’ she announced, wrinkling her nose at the food laid out for everyone else. ‘Singers have to watch what they eat. The tiniest crumb can affect their voices and she is the star of the show, after all.’

Wrapping a pink fluffy dressing gown around the poodle, Miranda whisked her away.

‘Spike-tacular doesn’t get special meals in their dressing room,’ Sam said, glancing over at his hedgehogs chomping on vegetables in their cages. ‘They don’t even
have
a dressing room!’

The other owners grumbled in agreement.

‘Doodle probably needs one so that no one has to hear her warm up,’ EE joked.

Sam grinned. ‘Maybe that’s why Miranda is so cross. She should buy herself some earplugs.’

Everyone laughed except me. The problem was that Miranda thought Doodle was the best thing since sliced bread. She thought her poodle was the cat’s whiskers, which only made me more determined to give one hundred and ten percent later. I’d show her who the star of
Superpets Live
really was!

It was almost the end of the first show and Doodle had warbled her last wobbly note. As I hopped into the centre of the stage, an expectant hush descended over the crowd. I shook my sequinned suit and flicked my grey ears back and forth. This was it; the moment I loved the most. So they wanted to see Stunt Bunny, did they? Wait until they got a load of my latest tricks!

I started with a simple backflip, one kick of my powerful back legs sending me soaring into the air. Below me were four trampolines. I aimed for the one furthest away from me and hit it squarely in the middle. The audience gasped as I hurtled upwards and through a sparkling hoop high above the stage. This time I landed on and spun towards another hoop hanging above the stage. Soon, I was bouncing between the trampolines and flying through the hoops, my sparkling costume making me look like a twinkling shooting star. The audience was whooping with delight.

After one final triple backflip, I landed on all fours on the stage, my ears quivering straight up in the air like an Olympic gymnast. The crowd erupted into thunderous cheers and some of them even got to their feet. Graciously, I tipped my head towards them.

‘Way to go, Harriet,’ Susie said, as I came off stage. She lifted me up and planted a big kiss on my velvety nose. ‘You’re definitely the star of the show!’

The next morning, we packed our bags and took the lift downstairs. The hotel lobby was busy with guests checking out. Susie and I picked our way through the piles of luggage to the waiting tour bus. EE puffed and panted behind us, loaded with my basket and bags.

‘I thought there’d be people to carry this stuff for us,’ he muttered under his breath as we joined the other pets and owners.

If EE thought I had a lot of luggage, he should see how much Doodle travelled with. Had I really just seen a set of hair curlers poking out of one of her cases?

Suddenly, a roadie appeared beside us. His lime-green baseball cap was pulled low over his bright red hair, hiding his face. ‘Can I ’elp you, Signor Wilson?’

‘Ah, excellent! You can take these, for a start,’ EE said and he held the bags out to the roadie.

The man’s eyes slid towards me. ‘Of course. But first I take ze rabbit.’

‘I beg your pardon?’ EE said, lowering the bags in confusion. ‘Take her where?’

‘Zere ees a special car waiting for ze star of ze show,’ the roadie said. ‘She ees a VIP, no?’

I pictured a stretch limousine with carrot juice chilling inside and a ‘BUNNY 1’ number plate on the outside. It sounded great, but something was nagging at me – where had I heard that voice before? I twitched my nose, thinking hard. Maybe he worked at the
Superpets
studio.

EE tried to peer under the brim of the hat. ‘Don’t I know you from somewhere?’

The roadie lowered his head. ‘I don’t zeenk so, Signor Wilson.’

Frowning, EE tapped his cheek with one finger. ‘I’m sure I’ve seen you before.’ Then he shrugged and pointed at my basket. ‘Never mind. In you go, Harriet.’

I hopped inside. EE hardly had time to fumble with the door clips before the roadie was swinging my basket into the air.

‘See you soon, Harriet,’ Susie called, disappearing on to the bus.

But, instead of heading towards a waiting limo, I found myself going back into the hotel lobby. I stared at the bus in confusion. Where exactly was this special car parked?

Miranda and Doodle passed us on their way to the bus. ‘Have fun being a VIP,’ Miranda cooed, wiggling her fingers at me. ‘Missing you already!’

Miranda didn’t seem at all surprised that I wasn’t on the bus. And suddenly I started to panic, where on earth was the roadie taking me?

The roadie strode through the lobby and into the crowded lift, just as the doors slid shut. Suddenly, I didn’t believe I was heading for VIP treatment anymore. I was being bunny-napped!