Every morning began with Maggie taking Lovely out of his cage and into her bed, where he would lay on her chest, sniffing at her face and nibbling at her fingers, to mutual delight. In the afternoon, they often ended up on a lawn under a shady oak tree, Maggie on a blanket and Lovely on the grass, munching away. Nights were the hardest. Alone in his vast cage, he missed the warm bodies of his brothers and sisters. One of the lonely nights, he came up with a plan.

The next afternoon, when Maggie was lying on her back on the blanket reading a story, Lovely moved away. He had seen from the dormer window that the rabbit hutch was on the other side of the house from the oak tree. His path lay through the grass, past the vegetable garden, and across the farmyard. Step by step, Lovely almost made it to the garden fence, when small blue sneakers stopped him in his tracks.

"You won't get into her garden, lame-o. Last time rabbits escaped and ate all the lettuce, Mom put extra mesh on the bottom, see." One foot hit the wires running around the fence. Two hands grabbed a wriggling bunny around this belly and brought him to Charlie's face.

"Or maybe you did get in there, and then we'll see if Mom lets Magpie keep you." He dropped the bunny over the gate on the gravel garden path.

Lovely landed unharmed—heart thumping in his chest. He was trapped and doomed to be shot by the Farmer, who had no patience for naughty little bunnies. He shoved his body into the darkest corner under a large blueberry blush, ears to his back, waiting.