14 Awooga awooga awooga awooga awooga awooga awooga awooga awooga!

CHAPTER FOURTEEN Awooga awooga awooga awooga awooga awooga awooga awooga awooga awooga awooga awooga awooga awooga! As Ingrid waddled into the clearing of the Grimwood Theatre, she very deliberately knocked over Anoushka Wispy's tealights. Then she quietly removed the posters about deep breathing, thoughtful pebbles and kind rainbows which Anoushka had put up everywhere. 'This Anoushka's Dance Studio nonsense has gone on long enough,' said Ingrid. 'It is time to get my theatre back. Charles! Bring me my throne.' Sir Charles scampered away, and a few seconds later returned carrying a throne of red velvet and gold. Ingrid nested herself upon it.

Where on earth did that come from? The throne shop, I expect. 'Darling,' said Sir Charles, after a while. 'I thought we were, um… trying to help out with the crow disaster?' 'Oh, yes,' said Ingrid, dabbing more lipstick onto her beak. 'Like, er, hi there,' said Anoushka Wispy, who had just come back from a luxury ear massage. 'Soooo, I guess you want your theatre back, huh?' Ingrid nodded briskly. 'Yes, it is time for you to move on,' she quacked.

Anoushka shrugged. 'Like, I have a massive world tour to go on in a few weeks, so that's fine by me,' she said. 'I'll just collect up my beanbags and crystals.' 'Oh, but that is not all,' quacked Ingrid. 'You can do this crow dance, yes?' 'The Jig of the Party Crow? Like, sure,' said Anoushka. 'Then you must go to the Magic Tower at once. The crows need you,' said Ingrid. 'You must dance with the fox. Go immediately, and leave your candles and crystals please, I rather like them.' 'Oh… um, like… sure?' said Anoushka. 'So, like… let me get this straight. You want me to do the Jig of the Party Crow with the fox? With Ted?' Ingrid nodded and quacked impatiently. 'Yes! Do you have cloth in your giant ears? That is exactly what must happen.' Anoushka reached into her guitar case and took out some crumpled sheets of paper. They were the book pages she had used to teach the Jig of the Party Crow. She smoothed them out and read them again. 'Ummm… so, like, it says here that the dance must be performed by two friends who love each other,' she said. 'You know the fox,' said Ingrid. 'Surely that will do?' Anoushka frowned. 'He seems like a nice guy but… I can't pretend that we're, like, best friends. He's always hanging out with the bunny. With Willow. Wills.' Ingrid waved her wings impatiently.

'Gah, Willow is not leaving her bed. She has gone wonky,' said Ingrid. 'What?' said Anoushka. 'Where does she live?' 'Bunnyville, obviously,' said Ingrid. 'Third tree along, purple door. You cannot miss it. Well, maybe you will miss it, what with your big droopy eyelashes.' 'Right. I'm going to go and see her. Thanks, um, I think,' said Anoushka. Sir Charles quietly waddled after her and leant in so he could whisper. 'I just wanted to say I think you've got marvellous eyelashes!' he gushed, making sure Ingrid couldn't hear him. Anoushka batted them slowly. 'Like, I know,' she giggled. 'See you later.' All the crows were standing in a circle. Nancy, Titus, Wiggy– in fact, most of Grimwood– stood behind them. All the crows apart from Sharon were wearing party hats. 'Behold the Winged Jesters!' gasped Pamela, who was thoroughly enjoying all the strangeness. 'How long before it all kicks off then?' asked Nancy. 'We've got about an hour,' said Titus, looking at his wrist. 'Why are you looking at your wrist? You're not wearing a watch,' asked Frank. Titus proudly showed off his hairy arm which had some squiggly lines scribbled all over it. 'I drew one on,' he said. 'Isn't it marvellous? The battery never runs out.'

Ted was pacing up and down, hoping for a miracle. 'Don't stress, kid,' said Rufus. 'Oh, Roofy,' said Ted. 'I wish I'd never worn the sunglasses or the jacket. I wish I hadn't pretended to be tough. And I wish I hadn't teased Willow about how I've never been to her house. I don't care about any of that. I just miss her so much. I need her.' Rufus patted Ted on the head. 'I know, mate,' he said. 'She'll come round.' They watched as Nancy and some squirrels killed time by playing a little treebonk. And then Rufus had the most fantastic idea. It was such a good idea, he started laughing to himself. He'd be taking a trip back to Bunnyville after all this crow nonsense was over. Anoushka bent down and rapped delicately on the door. When Flora opened it, she couldn't believe her eyes. 'OMG! Is it really you? Is it really… Anoushka Wispy?' she gasped. She poked her nose out of the tree and looked around for cameras, in case she was being pranked. 'Like, hi,' said Anoushka, tilting her head and fluttering her eyelashes. She just couldn't help it, what with being a major pop star and everything. 'Is Willow here?' Flora's mouth hung open. 'Willow?' she said. 'My Willow?' Anoushka nodded and held up a brown paper bag. 'Yeah, I've, like, got a present for her,' she said.

'Well, you'd best come in then, hadn't you?' said Flora. 'Careful not to trip over the wellies… there are over six hundred of them.' All the bunnies gasped when they saw Anoushka slope past on her way to Willow's bedroom. She grinned when she saw the angry-looking lump curled up on the top bunk. 'Like, hey Wills,' she said, gently patting the lump. Willow flupped the blanket off her head. 'Noushki?' she said, blinking. 'What are you doing here?' 'I heard you weren't feeling so good,' said Anoushka, positioning herself awkwardly on the edge of Willow's bed. 'So I brought you these.' She chucked the small brown paper bag over to Willow, who opened it and took a great big sniff. 'Aaah, fresh Cosmic Knobblers! Oh wow, Noushki. Thank you.' And Willow smiled, even though her eyes were puffy and red from crying. 'Well, we're friends, right?' said Anoushka. 'Yeah, course,' said Willow. 'You've got a lot of friends,' said Anoushka. 'I've noticed that about you. And you have a best friend, too.' 'Yeah, I do. You!' said Willow, munching on a Cosmic Knobbler. Anoushka smiled and shook her head. 'Nope. I think you're great. But I'm talking about Ted. You two are best friends and you know it.' Willow scowled. 'We used to be,' she said.