Shylo returned to The Grand Burrow with Clooney and Laser. He was so relieved to be out of the swanky Fox Club, where the scent of fox had been almost unbearable, that he forgot that the Backstreet Brushes had spotted Ratzis lurking around the Weeping Willow and hurried outside for some air. Shylo always felt better being in nature and he looked about him and felt instantly comforted.

By now it was early afternoon. The early summer sunshine flooded the park and a gentle breeze made a rustling sound in the branches above him. He breathed in what should have been the sweet grassy smell of the park, but instead was the revolting stench of rotting junk food and farts. He froze and glanced about him. There was no sign of rats, just the distant laughter of children as they played with a small dog some way off in the distance, and the gentle rumbling of traffic on the Mall.

However, Shylo’s sharp sense of smell was never wrong. And above him, hidden in the leafy branches of the Weeping Willow, were Mavis and Flintskin.

‘Stop farting!’ Mavis hissed crossly. ‘Can’t you hold them in even for a minute? The rabbits will smell you.’

‘They just slip out,’ Flintskin complained.

‘That’s what Thigby said and it nearly cost him his other ear.’

‘Hmm. True. No more seeping out then! But we’ve been waiting here for hours. I’m bored. And hungry. You said you’d seen rabbits under here, but we haven’t seen so much as a fluffy tail in . . . Wait! What’s that?’

They both looked down to where Shylo was standing in the shade of the tree.

‘That’s him!’ whispered Mavis. She leaned over to get a better look. ‘Just like they described: small and feeble-looking with a red eyepatch. Of all the luck!’

‘Shouldn’t be difficult to catch,’ said Flintskin.

‘Can’t imagine how a little runt like him could have got the better of Baz, Grimbo and Splodge. Idiots!’ She poked Flintskin with her claw.

‘Ouch!’ he whined.

‘What are you waiting for? Throw down the celery!’

‘Oh right, yes, the celery.’ Flintskin let the stick of celery drop to the ground. It landed with a thud right next to Shylo.

The little rabbit had been busy looking for Ratzis. He knew he smelled them. But he couldn’t see any rats anywhere. The sudden noise jolted him from his search and he spun round to find a stick of celery lying on the grass beside him. At the sight of his favourite vegetable, Shylo’s heart gave a leap and he forgot all about the smell of Ratzis as his one eye feasted on it with surprise. How deee-lish. How tempting!

Above him the two Ratzis were trembling with excitement. ‘Now drop the net,’ instructed Mavis.

Flintskin got ready to throw down a net that was just big enough to catch a small rabbit like Shylo. At this point, it seemed as if it was going to be much too easy for the Ratzis to trap the poor bunkin. But Mavis’s mouth was watering so much at the sight of the rabbit that her drool overflowed her drooping lip and a large dollop dripped, in a green, greasy globule, right on to the piece of celery, just as Shylo was about to pick it up.

At the same moment that the globule landed, Laser poked her head out of the hidden entrance to The Grand Burrow. ‘Shylo, you’re needed. Come quick!’ she said.

‘Drop the net!’ screeched Mavis.

Flintskin threw down the net and for a second it hovered over Shylo’s head. But in the nick of time Shylo dashed towards Laser and down the manhole into The Grand Burrow. So all the net caught was the soggy piece of celery.

‘You idiot!’ cried Mavis, pushing Flintskin off the branch so that he landed on the net with a squeal. He rolled and squirmed, but his flabby body acted as a cushion so he didn’t hurt himself at all. Rats are very resilient. Ratzis even more so.

‘Who are you calling an idiot?’ Flintskin screeched back, baring his two sharp teeth. ‘You dribbled on the celery!’

‘You farted and he smelled it!’

‘You were too busy thinking of your stomach!’

‘You were too eager to be famous!’

Mavis swung down one of the long branches and landed beside him. ‘You’re going to have an appointment with the Doctor!’

Flintskin grinned grimly. ‘Then so are you. We’re in this together, don’t forget. If I fail, you fail.’

Mavis scowled and her face became even uglier, which one would not have thought possible. But then her drooping lip slowly lifted into a smile as she rested her eyes on the bush into which the rabbits had disappeared. ‘Wait . . . I think we’ve just stumbled upon the secret entrance to the Royal Rabbits of London. The Grand Burrow itself,’ she said. ‘If this is the way into the palace, and I’ve discovered it, Papa Ratzi will be sure to reward me!’

‘And me!’ squeaked Flintskin, doing the Driggle. ‘I found it too! I did! I did! I did!’

Mavis joined in and the two Ratzis were so busy celebrating their find that they didn’t notice a flash of red fox’s tail disappear into a nearby laurel bush.