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Chapter 10 continued...

"I have an idea," said XL. "Instead of leaving this rabbit to fend for itself, and maybe starve, or maybe be eaten by a coyote, let's kill it ourselves!"

"What!" exclaimed Beeba.

"Yes," said XL. "Have you never heard of a lucky rabbit's foot? Look, I have a jack-knife right here in my pocket. We could chop off it's foot."

"You're kidding," said Beeba.

"No, I really do have a knife" said XL, pulling a jack-knife from his pocket and opening it. "Don't you want some good luck?"

"There is a difference between killing an animal for food, and killing it for some stupid superstition!" replied Beeba. He was getting very annoyed, and a bit red in the face. "Cutting its leg off would be so cruel!"

"It would die after a while," answered XL. "Do you think it would be any different if a coyote attacked it?"

"Yes I do!" Beeba exclaimed.

"Don't be a wimp," said XL, as he leaned toward the rabbit, holding the knife in his right hand.

Beeba grabbed XL's right arm. "Anyone who is cruel to animals will be cruel to people too. You're not my friend anymore."

"XL!" said Max. XL stopped leaning, and turned to his dad. Max was standing with his hands on his hips. He looked very displeased.

"I didn't give you that knife for that purpose," Max said to XL.

XL folded the knife and put it back in his pocket. "I was just kidding!" he said. "You know I wouldn't do it."

"It's not funny!" replied Beeba.

"Yes it is," said XL. "You should see the look on your face! If I only had a mirror so you could see. This gag is way bigger and better than any of the foolish lies in Blarney town! Boy, I sure had you going!"

Beeba didn't move. He didn't seem to be convinced.

"Dad, tell him that I'm just kidding! Have I ever done anything like this before?"

"You have not," answered Max.

"See," said XL, "and just to prove to you that I wouldn't do it, observe now as I free the rabbit."

"Stop" shouted Beeba, "I will free the bunny myself!"

Beeba reached down to the cord above the rabbit and lifted most of it off. There were two loops around the rabbits back foot. Beeba held the rabbit's leg with one hand in order to get the leg untangled.

Then he let go, and the rabbit bounded away. After it was a safe distance, it stopped for a moment and turned back to face Beeba. Then it turned away again and hopped into the bush.

"Let's go," said Beeba.

"Shouldn't we look around first, to see if we spot any other clues?" asked XL. "We still don't know for sure if Fred left permanently or if maybe he's just on vacation."

"What would we find? I just want to go," said Beeba.

Max joined the conversation. "If you want to leave now we can. The map shows a public boat launch just 50 meters from here, so let's depart that way."

Beeba looked puzzled. Of what use is a boat launch in the winter?

"We'll ski down the launch to the ice," said Max.

Beeba and XL followed Max. The boat launch was not far from the house. It was a gradual slope that led out onto the ice. On either side of the launch, the ground was about a meter above the ice surface, so the launch provided an easy way to ski onto the ice. All three of them skied onto the lake, and then XL pulled out his remote control to call Saucer 1 to them.

"Now that we're in the clear", there will be no risk of the elevator being tangled in tree branches," explained Max.

Two minutes later they were back in Saucer 1. Max went to the controls to set the course.

XL could see that Beeba was still upset at him. "Look," he said to Beeba. "I'm really sorry. I apologize. I realize that there are some gags that go too far, and I won't do anything like this ever again. Won't you still be my friend?"

Beeba paused for a moment. He had known XL since kindergarten, and he had never seen him do anything cruel. But also he hadn't seen XL pulling any practical jokes on people, so this one was a surprise. Maybe the whole Blarney town thing had clouded XL's judgement. Anyway, Beeba decided that this time XL was sincere. "Yes, I'll still be your friend," he answered.

At that moment, Max brought their lunches to them. It was already well past noon and they were hungry. They sat on chairs looking out the windows, eating their lunches quietly as Saucer 1 headed back toward the spa.

Copyright Arthur de Leyssac, 2017. All rights reserved.