Chapter 1

One warm summers morning, the little meerkats schoolteacher wandered along the narrow grassy path through the blazing sunshine until he reached the singular school. As Mr Morris arrived, he went to the first students’ tunnel and sat down comfortably with his story book ready to tell one of the most ancient stories in the land. The little ones listened closely as Mr Morris turned the first page of the book and read. “A long time ago…”

A long time ago there were three young rabbits named Michael, Mavis and an older meerkat called Melissa. They were best friends and did everything together, this was what they looked like:

Michael was always daydreaming about himself being so cool, so he wore a black denim jacket and dark shades. Mavis, however, was always wondering about becoming a mathematician/ scientist/ other brainy thing. And Melissa, she was the one who puts everything together. Mavis wore a black T shirt with purple and black striped sleeves, Melissa wore black shorts and a blue Hawaiian shirt.

“Is it nearly time?” asked Melissa, “Time for what?” said Michael, “The competition of course!” added Mavis. And yes, it was time, but the three friends stayed tucked behind the curtains. Soon they heard a huge bang, and all hopped onto the stage. To their surprise they saw a ginger cat wearing a black cowboy hat. Suddenly their aunt appeared behind them and said, “Come quickly it’s not safe here.” Mavis swiftly scribbled a picture of the unknown figure and crept behind the curtain to follow the others.

They hopped through holes, ran across ravines until in an instant their aunt paused, in a muddy room and said, “You need to take it from here.” Just then auntie Margaret ran away panting, all she left behind was a note and a map, the note read.

“Dear Michael, Mavis and Melissa, I hope the day you read this will be ok for all of you, you must trust us, go to the hidden campsite, from mum and dad.”

“Hidden campsite?” they all said. In a moment Mavis opened the closet and looked around for something useful, she found a sword, a piece of paper and pen and a knife. “This will help” Mavis called to the others as they set off along to path.