Chapter 2

Pipkin stumbled along through Whispering Woods. Podkin was in front.

“Come on,” he called, without looking back.” We’re nearly through!”

The sun was streaming through the trees now and Pipkin was sweating. Suddenly, Podkin stopped. He was so abrupt that Pipkin bumped into him.

“Hey! What was that for?” Pipkin exclaimed, annoyed.

“Sh,” whispered Podkin, urgently. “I can hear something!”

Standing silently, the two rabbits gazed around, listening nervously, their whiskers quivering. They heard a muffled roar and giant feet clomping towards them. Their heart beating wildly,the two brothers dived for cover. Pipkin found a deserted mole hole, still scattered with old poo, to squeeze into, while Podkin, hoping the monster’s eyesight wasn’t very good and that it couldn’t see him, darted behind a tree. Pipkin’s heart was beating so loudly that he was sure everyone must be able to hear it. A gigantic shadow passed him and Podkin. Anxiously, Podkin waited a few minutes before heaving a shaky sigh of relief.

“Pipkin? Pipkin? Are you all right?” Podkin shouted slightly as he didn’t have a foggiest clue where Pipkin was.

“I’m all right,” a muffled voice answered, from underneath Podkin’s feet. “Has it gone? Do you know what it is?”

“Yes, it’s gone!” Podkin informed him impatiently. “No, I don’t know what it is, but I do know that we have to move quickly! So come out of your hiding place and come on!”

“All right, all right!” Grumbled Pipkin, clambering out of the hole.

He dusted himself off and they walked on. After a while, the two boys ran out of the wood.

“Just 2 places to go!” Said Pipkin, confronting his map again.

“I’m hungry!” Podkin’s tummy rumbled loudly.

“Good thing I brought this then.” Pipkin uncovered a bowlful of  scrumplicious berries and smiled to himself as Podkin crammed as many berries as he could in his mouth.

“Hang on! Save some for me! The two laughed merrily and even forgot about the danger they were in for a few minutes.

After they had consumed their delumptious meal, they bounded energetically towards Frantic Falls. They tired after a while, though, and were soon gasping for breath, dragging their feet. After several hours of hard hiking, the pair of weary rabbits arrived at their destination. As they got closer, they wished they had brought earmuffs with them as Frantic Falls raged all the time. It was so loud it gave a new meaning to: “So loud I can barely hear myself think.” It’s powerful force constantly crashed down to Earth and white foam flew everywhere.

Once the boys had stopped messing around and Pipkin had dried after an unexpected swim, Podkin and Pipkin started exploring ways to get through the falls without getting dashed to the sharp rocks that lay beneath them. They knew that if they fell they would get smashed to smithereens. Finally, the brothers gave up. They discussed the problem together.

“I’ve not come all this way to give up!” Pipkin heard himself say, fiercely. He felt surprised. Podkin looked taken aback. It was usually Podkin that said that not the other way round.

“I agree with you. But what are we going to do?” Podkin wanted to believe that it was possible to continue but he couldn’t.

The two sat in silence, racking their brains for a solution to this problem. Pipkin wondered about finding a new path on his map, but he knew this was the only way. Suddenly, Podkin leapt up like a rocket, yelling: “I’ve got it! The perfect solution! Oh, I’m a genius!”

“Hold your horses! Slow down and tell me your perfect plan!” Pipkin pulled Podkin down to the floor and Podkin immediately stopped his dancing. He sat with a bump.

He began, barely bothering to take a breath between sentences.

“Well, the water for the falls must come from somewhere. It can’t just magically carry on. So, at the top of the waterfall, there must be a hole. We can hop into it, follow it for a while and then burrow out of it.”

Flushed in excitement, Podkin finished explaining his theory, certain that hs plan was fool proof.  Pipkin was thinking fast.

“There’s a possibility it could work,” he thought. “It’s risky but I haven’t got a better idea.”

“Ok,” he decided. “let’s do it!”

Joyously, Podkin pumped a fist in the air. Swiftly, the two rabbits started their work. Pipkin felt more and more dubious as they went on, but he said nothing as Podkin was still convinced his plan was the best.

At first, the two rash boys climbed quickly and confidently but as they got closer to the top they went more and more cautiously. Pipkin still felt uneasy as they both knew that this was a life-or-death situation. It got steeper and steeper as they climbed. They soon found that the higher they went, the quieter the falls got until at last they arrived, triumphantly at the to panting with effort. A feeble trickle ran out of the hole that jutted deep in the mountain. It was astonishing to think that this drip of water was what the enormous falls started like. In fact, Podkin was so amazed that his mouth opened and shut like a fish’s.

“Well, there’s no time for gaping at it! Pipkin said, at last. “It was your idea. Get a move on!”

Podkin took a deep breath and squeezed in.

“It’s dark and very musty in here. Come on!”

Pipkin slipped into the hole as well. He suddenly felt exhausted. Podkin must have felt the same as he said:

“Can we sleep now? It’s dark outside.”

“Good idea,” Pipkin agreed, hastily.” Let’s rest.”

They fell asleep immediately, so they didn’t hear quiet shuffling movements or the booming voice of an unknown monster.

Isabelle