“Oh my gosh! Honey! Be really quiet and come look out the window!” I whispered. My husband came to stand beside me to have a peek. “How did they get in there?” he puzzled. “Maybe they dug under?” I replied, just as puzzled. “I’ll walk the fence line later to check”. An inspection of the perimeter revealed no holes under, and no apparent way in. “Hmmm, how did you two get in there?”

A long way down the road, two rabbits sniffed and listened and hopped as fast as they could toward the crowing roosters. One distinct voice stood out from the rest. “That’s him Momma! I just know it is”! Little bunny Maxwell ran faster. “Now slow down child,” Momma called after her son. “If we do find him, he may not even remember you. It’s been a while”.

“Oh! Doug hasn’t forgotten us. Wait and see!” It was dawn and unusually warm for late winter. Each rooster was greeting the day with his own unique, early morning song. “That’s not it,” Maxwell declared as they passed the first farm. “Nope, not that one either”.

“Slow down!” Momma called to her little bunny, which only made Maxwell run faster. The pair ran past three more farms with no luck. They ran a little further. “Wait…I hear him! I hear him!” little bunny Maxwell shouted! Momma finally caught up with her son and they both paused quietly to listen. ‘Cocka-doodle! Cocka-doodle! Cocka-doodle!’ That particular crow did most certainly, without a doubt, belong to Doug. “Doug the mighty Roo!” Maxwell hopped up and down and did a little dance around his mother. That crowing led them to a yellow house. Beside it, was a red chicken coop. Momma and Maxwell could see chickens moving around in the chicken run. Maxwell, who had been so bold and confident, suddenly became shy and uncertain. “Maybe you were right Momma. Doug might not know who I am. And besides, how are we going to get over that fence?”

Momma gave Maxwell a kiss on the cheek. “The hard part is over. We found Doug! We’ll get in there.” Momma hopped along the edge of the fence. She could hear snapping. “Maxwell, this is one of those zapper fences. Be very careful not to touch it”. Maxwell nodded and took a step back.

A family of squirrels had been playing in the branches behind where the rabbits were sitting. “Oh no you don’t!” one yelled as he made his way down the tree. “Those are my acorns!” He ran past the two rabbits, jumped in the air and sailed right through one of the larger squares of the fence. “Mine!” he yelled over his shoulder as he hovered above the pile of treats.

“That’s it!” Momma and Maxwell exclaimed together. “We’ll jump through the fence! Be sure to stretch out as long as you can and press your ears against your back,” the little bunny’s Mom instructed. “Ok Momma. Here I go!” Maxwell hesitated for a moment, unsure. Momma gave him an encouraging smile and a gentle little push. Maxwell hopped a few small hops and then one big, high jump and hopped right through the zapper fence. “Whoohoo! Come on Momma! It’s not scary at all!” Momma joined her little bunny on the other side.

The chickens in the run had seen the squirrel and the two rabbits hop into their yard. “Cluck, cluck cluck, cluck, cluck, bacaaaawwk!” they all screamed at once. Doug darted out of the coop and stood in front of his ladies in a protective stance. “Cocka-doodle!” he yelled at the two rabbits. The littlest rabbit bravely took a step forward. “Hi Doug! Hi!”

“Cluck?!” Doug replied. “Little bunny Maxwell?! Is that you?”

“It’s me alright and Momma’s here too!” There was much excitement as the rabbits and Doug and all his ladies swirled around in a chorus of ‘hellos’ and ‘how did you get heres’ and ‘wow it’s good to see yous’. Momma gave Doug a big hug and told him how much she and Maxwell had missed him. “I’m so glad to see you both!” Doug clucked.

“I’m Brownie,” the largest hen announced, “and these are my sisters, Porridge, Checkers and Lily.” Momma gave each hen a giant Momma hug. Little bunny Maxwell looked around in amazement. “This place is huge!”

“We’ll show you around,” Lily, the littlest hen, offered. “This is the yard we play in all day. And this is the sand pit where we take baths.” Porridge flopped down in the middle to demonstrate. “You’re silly,” Maxwell giggled. Lily continued the tour. “Here’s our screened in area. We play in here when it’s raining out there.” Momma gave a nod of approval.

“Follow me!” Checkers called as she disappeared into a small square opening. All four chickens, Doug the mighty Roo, Momma and little bunny Maxwell went in and stood on the floor of the big red coop and looked up. “How do you get all the way up there?” Maxwell marveled. “We go up those ramps, see?” Lily answered as she ran up to the second floor. Maxwell followed close behind. “This is where Brownie likes to sit,” she pointed to a lush nest box situated under the stairs. “That looks cozy,” Maxwell observed.

“Go ahead and have a sit down,” Brownie suggested. The little bunny carefully stepped in and slowly sat down. “Ahh. Nice!” he sighed. “And if you look out the window you can see the squirrels playing.”

“Cool!” Maxwell replied. It was getting late and the sun was close to setting. In all the excitement, Momma had lost track of the time. “You can nestle up in here,” all the hens suggested. “That’s so sweet of you girls, but Maxwell and I will be more comfortable outside. I can whip up a quick borough for us to spend the night in. We’ll be just fine,” Momma assured.

“Ok. We hope you’ll be able to stay for a while. There’s water in the swale. And plenty of grass and clovers over there where the sun melted the snow. You’ll have lots to eat,” Doug added helpfully. Momma and Maxwell did decide to stay with their friends for a few more days.

On the next warmish day, Momma let everyone know that she and Maxwell would have to return home. “Are you still in the borough, by the fallen tree next to the farm store?” Doug asked. “We are,” Momma answered. “A new batch of tiny chicks arrived last week but they’ll have to live inside until their adult feathers grow in.”

“Maybe we can meet them someday,” Porridge said full of hope. Momma chuckled, “Well you just might!” The two rabbits said their goodbyes and everyone got one last, big hug. The chickens spent the rest of the day talking about how much fun they’d had with Momma and Maxwell. Momma and Maxwell made it home to their borough next to the farm store and crawled in for a long nap. The squirrel was relieved that he no longer had to guard his acorns. And the couple in the yellow house, next to the red coop, never did figure how those two bunnies had gotten into the yard where the chickens lived.

So, this story ends, the same way it began – with the mysterious, puzzling, unsolved questions of: Cluck?

Cindy Bezanson