“Look at the Luck Rainbow!” said Ruby. She, Diamond, and Petal were scampering toward Sparkle River so they could wash themselves, leaving a trail of purple prints on the ground behind them. “The indigo arc on the rainbow is shining so brightly today.”

“What does that mean again?” asked Petal. She could never quite remember which color meant what.

“Indigo means finding luck—right, Ruby?” asked Diamond as she tipped her white head to the sky.

“It sure does!” said Ruby. She thought back to their Operation Cheer Up Sky list. “Then we should totally do number four on our list after school: dig up something magical at Paradise Beach to give to Sky!”

Petal flapped her long pink ears, feeling excited. “Oh yes! We might even find a Wish Star, and then we’ll be able to wish Sky into being in Bounce-a-Lot.”

But the friends had to get through a whole day of school before they could go to Paradise Beach. Mr. Nibble was so grumpy he gave them a long and boring history test, while he sat at his desk chewing loudly on celery sticks. Petal could not concentrate with the sound of Mr. Nibble’s constant munching.

Sky didn’t make any jokes all day, and she didn’t even notice the faint purple stains that were left on her friends’ paws. Even after washing in Sparkle River, Diamond, Petal, and Ruby hadn’t been able to get rid of the purple completely. But luckily they were no longer leaving paw prints wherever they went.

As Ruby worked on the history test, the memory of Mr. Nibble in his red stripy nightcap kept popping into her head, but she tried not to laugh. She didn’t want to make him even angrier with her!

After school, Diamond, Ruby, and Petal met at Paradise Beach. “Let’s start over there,” said Ruby, pointing across the golden sand. “It looks as if that spot near the lake hasn’t been dug for ages. We totally have a better chance of finding something there.”

Petal tied up her ears and began digging right away, kneeling onto the sand and scooping out pawful after pawful. She was faster than Diamond and Ruby, because she had much bigger paws. Soon she’d dug a hole as deep as a tree, and when she peered into it to search for a magical gift, she tipped right in, ears first.

“Oops-a-daisy!” she said from the bottom of the hole, then added, “There’s no surprise in here!” Petal clambered out and quickly started a new hole right next to the old one. But she found nothing there either!

Unfortunately, the three friends weren’t the only ones at Paradise Beach. It seemed lots of other bunnies had spotted the indigo arc glowing on the Luck Rainbow, and the beach became crowded with rabbits flinging sand everywhere. Diamond had to keep shutting her eyes to stop grains of sand flying into them, which made digging pretty difficult. It also meant Diamond didn’t see Twinkle and Star heading toward them across the beach.

“Hellooooo!” Twinkle called out, and Diamond opened her eyes at the sound of her friend’s high, happy voice. The tiny green shape of Twinkle was hopping toward her, with Star walking much more slowly behind.

“You shouldn’t waste your energy jumping around, Twinkle,” Star told him. “We’ve got to save all our bouncing power for Bounce-a-Lot.”

Twinkle didn’t reply and kept on hopping, skidding to a stop in front of Diamond. “Have you found anything furbulous?”

“How long have you been here for?” Star asked before anyone could reply. She frowned at her sand-covered friends and the gigantic holes they’d made in the beach. “Those holes are enormous!”

“Ages,” said Ruby. “Ever since the end of school.”

“We’ve got to find something to cheer up Sky!” said Petal.

Ruby nudged Petal’s paw. Petal suddenly remembered that she wasn’t meant to say anything to Twinkle and Star about Sky.

“Petal means we were looking for some awesome gifts. For everyone,” said Ruby, trying to cover up Petal’s mistake. But it was too late. Twinkle was frowning.

“Why does Sky need cheering up?” he asked.

Diamond tried to think of something to say so that they wouldn’t have to reveal Sky’s disappointment. But she didn’t want to lie to her friends.

“She’s just so very upset about not being a Bouncer!” Petal admitted, and her ears drooped with the sadness of it all.

“Oh flippety!” Twinkle flung his mint-green paws into the air. “I’ve been so busy-busy with practicing I hadn’t thought of that! Sky really wanted to be a Bouncer, didn’t she? Poor Sky!”

“We’ve tried heaps of things to make her feel better,” Ruby explained. “We made a list and everything! But we haven’t been lucky at all.”

Star twitched her golden nose. “I can understand she’s disappointed. But I did tell Sky before that she needed to practice every day, all-year round, not just a few weeks before Bounce-a-Lot.”

Twinkle glared up at Star. “Not everyone can be like you, Star. I didn’t bounce every day, and I was chosen.” Twinkle turned to Petal, Diamond, and Ruby and squeaked, “Oh, I feel utterly dreadful! I should have been helping you, but all I’ve been doing is bouncing!”

Petal put a paw around little Twinkle as tears sprung to his eyes. “It’s absolutely not your fault,” Petal said. “You didn’t know.”

“But I should have known!” Twinkle sniffed. “Oh, what are we going to do?”

“I’m not sure there’s much we can do now,” said Star gruffly. “Perhaps Sky will be happy enough to watch Bounce-a-Lot. After all, the next best thing to bouncing yourself is to see others doing it.”

Twinkle wasn’t so sure. He imagined being Sky and how terribly disappointed he’d feel not to be chosen as a Bouncer after wanting to be in the festival so badly. As the friends left the beach to go home for their suppers, Twinkle decided that he had to do something. He just had to work out what.