The next day crept by slowly. At last, lessons ended and the four girls hurried back to Seahorse Tower.
Once the bedroom door was closed, Rosalind lifted up her mattress and took out a book hidden underneath. It had a black cover with Book of Ninja written on it in gold letters. Ella noticed how old it looked. Some of the pages were worn and speckled with brown marks.
“I had a quick look last night and I think I’ve found the perfect thing,” said Rosalind, flicking through the pages. “This move will give us a way of distracting Molly while we sneak out.” She turned the book round to show them.
The picture showed someone dangling a shoe out of a window using a piece of string. Another picture showed the person in the room below looking out of the window at the floating shoe in amazement.
“So we can surprise Molly and make her stare out of the window while we escape,” said Summer. “There’s a bathroom above her bedroom so we should be able to get in there easily.”
“But what shall we put on the end of the string?” said Lottie. “If we’re not careful she’ll realise that it’s a trick straight away.”
“We could dangle one of our teddies,” suggested Summer.
“I’m not dangling mine.” Lottie tucked her teddy under her arm. “He might fall off!”
“It should be something that’s supposed to fly,” said Ella. “Then she’ll think it’s real. Something like a butterfly or a— I know!” She jumped to her feet, opened a drawer and pulled out a pair of stripy black-and-yellow socks. “A bumblebee!”
“Ella! That’s a great idea!” said Rosalind. “Those stripes do look like a bee. We can stuff the sock with paper and put wings on it. Then when Molly looks out of the window she’ll wonder if she’s seeing a giant bee.”
There were heavy footsteps and the door opened. Ella quickly hid the stripy socks behind her back.
Molly looked in and scowled. “There’ll be a room inspection in ten minutes so don’t think you can run off anywhere.”
“Molly, I just want to visit my rabbit today,” began Ella. “Do you think—”
“Forget it!” snapped Molly. “You haven’t got time!” And she closed the door with a bang.
Lottie waited a moment and then opened the door a crack and checked that the older girl had gone. “That’s it, then! She’s had her chance. Let’s put together our ninja trick.”
Together, they stuffed one of the socks with paper to give the bee a round body. Then Summer found two pieces of clear plastic that they cut into wing shapes and stuck on with sticky tape.
Ella fetched her sewing kit and took out a blue cotton reel. “If we use blue-coloured thread then hopefully she won’t spot it. The cotton will be camouflaged against the sky.”
“Be as quick as you can,” urged Rosalind. “Molly will be back any minute.”
Finally, the fake bumblebee was ready.
“I’ll take the bee up to the bathroom and dangle it from the window,” said Rosalind. “You three go ahead and sneak out. I’ll catch up with you in the pet barn.” Stuffing the bee under her jumper, Rosalind ran swiftly upstairs.
“OK, is everyone ready?” whispered Lottie. “Let’s get a bit closer.”
Ella, Lottie and Summer tiptoed down the corridor. They heard heavy footsteps inside Molly’s room. Lottie signalled for them to stop but the older girl didn’t come out into the corridor. They crept even closer and peeped round the door.
Molly was standing in front of the mirror doing different poses. She put her hands on her hips. Then she folded her arms and grinned at the mirror. Ella had the urge to giggle and clapped her hand over her mouth.
There was a soft tapping sound. A yellow-and-black stripy bee-sock swung through the air and thudded gently against the window.
Ella had a sudden brainwave. “I know what will help,” she murmured to Summer.
Whump! The bee-sock bumped against the window again. Molly caught sight of it and swung round.
“Bzzzzz!” Ella began making a soft buzzing sound. “Bzz, bzz!”
Molly stepped closer to the window. “Huh! What’s going on?”
“Bzz!” Ella got a bit louder, and Summer and Lottie joined in.
The bee-sock outside the window began bobbing up and down in the air, as if it was doing a little bumblebee dance.
Molly ran to the window, opened it and stuck her head out. The bee-sock soared over her head into the sky. “No way! That bee was enormous!”
With one final buzz, Ella, Lottie and Summer raced past the doorway and down the corridor. They ran until they reached the bottom of the stairs, then they collapsed into giggles.
“She thought it was real!” gasped Summer.
“I bet she’ll tell everyone she saw the biggest bee in the world!” snorted Lottie.
“It was a shame the bee had to buzz off in the end!” giggled Ella.
Still laughing, they made their way out of school and across the garden to the pet barn. Lottie ran off to the stables to see her pony, Strawberry, while Ella and Summer went to visit the rabbits. The barn was dark and cosy. Animals rustled in the hay and now and then the lambs bleated.
“Rebecca’s not here,” said Summer, looking around. “Maybe she’s busy in the fields.”
“I hope Daisy still remembers me,” said Ella.
“Of course she will,” replied Summer. “It’s only been a few days. She wouldn’t forget you that quickly.”
They crouched down next to the rabbit run. The two grey rabbits were asleep in a corner and the brown ones were nibbling on some hay. Daisy was standing by the side of the pen, her little pink nose tilted upwards as if she’d been waiting for them.
“Hello, Daisy.” Ella leaned over and stroked her honey-coloured fur.
Daisy twitched her nose at Ella’s hand and hopped up and down the run in excitement. Ella laughed. Then as soon as the little bunny stopped jumping, she lifted her out of the run for a cuddle.
“Aw, she’s lovely!” Summer rubbed Daisy’s ears. “I’m just going to see the hens. I want to know if any chicks have hatched today.”
Ella smiled. “Call me if you see any.” She sat down on a hay bale and rested Daisy in her lap. “Next time I come I’m going to bring you a treat,” she told the little rabbit. “Would you like some carrots? I wish you could live in my bedroom with me. That would be so awesome.”
Suddenly Daisy pricked up her ears. Then she stood up on her hind legs, sniffing the air.
“What is it?” said Ella. “Can you smell something strange?”
Daisy huddled up and hid her nose under Ella’s arm.
Puzzled, Ella got up, holding tight to her rabbit. She crossed to the barn window and looked out.
Molly was striding across the lawn with a huge frown on her face.
“Oh no!” whispered Ella. “She must have worked out that we sneaked away. We have to hide!”