Mr. and Mrs. Bunny—Detectives Extraordinaire! by Polly Horvath

weatherproof. To this end I have purchased several rolls of plastic lining, and I shall show you how to attach it to the hats.”
    â€œWon’t that cause dreaded furry head sweating?” askedone of the members. Her husband was a furatologist and saw many cases of this when bunnies overhatted.
    â€œNot at all,” said Mrs. Ruskeebunny. “In my experience only the gentleman bunny sweats. The lady bunny dews, at most. And dewing is very attractive. No, I think we should line all the bonnets with plastic this year. It will be expensive but will protect the bunny’s head from rain. We don’t want to greet Prince Charles looking like a bunch of drowned cats! And next week it may be rainy.”
    â€œVery rainy,” said Mrs. Bunny.
    â€œVery, very rainy,” said Mrs. Tobagobunny.
    â€œVery rainy,” said Mrs. Sneepbunny.
    It was hard to tell if they were all agreeable or just unoriginal. It hardly mattered to Mrs. Bunny, of course. She was having a
marvelous
time. She even told them about her lint art, and they exclaimed that she must bring some in to show them
for sure
.
    So she was feeling elated, until Mr. Bunny picked her up. One look at his face and she forgot her happy morning in a trice. “Why, Mr. Bunny,” she said as they pulled away from the curb, “whatever is the matter?”
    â€œWe must hurry and get back on the case. Madeline andI built a cottage for her, and I brought in a team of plumber bunnies, who installed a small bathroom. I’m afraid to even look at the bill.”
    â€œOh, money,” said Mrs. Bunny. If Mr. Bunny was merely having a conniption over expenses, she need not be concerned.
    â€œLet us not be so cavalier about the bills. But that’s not the problem. Madeline is just in a
state
about these parents of hers. We must rescue them
now
, she keeps saying. We are taking too long. She has been practically hysterical. And
what
parents they turn out to be! While we built the cottage, Madeline told me dreadful tales. As you already know, she is made to waitress for shoe money. But wait! It gets worse! Her parents won’t even come to her parent-teacher conferences. She goes in their place. They completely refuse to attend her Christmas concerts and graduation ceremonies.
She
is the one who changes the lightbulbs in her house! It sounds to me like
she
takes care of
them
.”
    â€œOh, Mr. Bunny!” sobbed Mrs. Bunny.
    â€œYes,” said Mr. Bunny with satisfaction. You could always tell when you’d told a heartrending tale well because Mrs. Bunny could not control the waterworks. There were damp puddles on the seat already. You could water crops with Mrs.Bunny’s tears once she got going. Indeed, Mr. Bunny had often thought of holding her over the lettuces.
    They drove a bit in silence and then Mrs. Bunny said, “You know, Mr. Bunny, maybe we could … uh …”
    â€œWe could what?” asked Mr. Bunny, still thinking about how well he had handled it all.
    â€œKeep her,” said Mrs. Bunny in high, strangulated tones.
    â€œOh, Mrs. Bunny, we’re not supposed to befriend humans, let alone adopt them.”
    â€œNo? Then I think we must steal her,” said Mrs. Bunny, mulling it over.
    â€œMrs. Bunny, get ahold of yourself.”
    Mrs. Bunny said no more, but she still thought it was a good idea.
    In the meantime, Madeline was pacing.
    When she saw the Bunnys’ car pull up, she ran to it.
    â€œFinally!” she said. “Let’s go find Flo and Mildred.”
    â€œLet’s have some soup first,” said Mrs. Bunny reasonably. “It’s no good detecting on an empty stomach.”
    Mrs. Bunny had vowed to herself that from now on somebody was going to take care of Madeline. This was going to be her priority. Even before finding Flo and Mildred and closing down the evil factory.
    â€œI can’t help feeling everything is taking too long. You said you had