Benny Bunny and the Upside-Down Carrot Crown
In Sunny Burrow Forest, every spring began with one very serious question.
— "Who has polished the carrots?"
This question was always shouted by Mayor Mole, who could not see very far but could smell an unpolished carrot from three tunnels away.
Today was the Great Veggie Parade, the biggest day in the whole forest. The squirrels hung pea-pod ribbons from the trees. The mice rolled radishes into neat little towers. The frogs practiced splashy drumbeats on lily pads. Even the sleepy owls promised to stay awake until at least lunchtime.
And Benny Bunny was ready.
He had brushed his ears flat, then brushed them fluffy again because flat ears felt too serious. He had tied a green ribbon around one paw. He had eaten only two bites of breakfast because his excitement was taking up most of the space in his belly.
— "Today," Benny announced, hopping onto a tree stump, "I will be helpful, brave, fast, polite, and possibly famous."
His best friend Tilly Turtle looked up from her tiny notebook.
— "That is a lot before noon."
— "I can handle it."
— "Last week you got tangled in a daisy chain."
— "That daisy chain attacked first."
Tilly blinked slowly.
— "Of course."
At the center of the forest stood Carrot Castle. It was not a real castle made of stone. It was a little wooden stage decorated with carrot banners, lettuce flags, and one very important golden cushion.
That cushion was where the Carrot Crown was supposed to sit.
The Carrot Crown was the pride of Sunny Burrow Forest. It was shaped like three tiny carrots twisted together, with a green leaf jewel at the top. No one wore it for power. No one wore it to boss others around. The crown was simply placed on the head of the Parade Keeper, who led the Great Veggie Parade through the forest.
This year, the Parade Keeper was Princess Gooseberry.
Princess Gooseberry was a young white goose with a pink dress, a gentle voice, and the unusual talent of walking like every puddle was a royal carpet.
She waddled onto the stage and smiled.
— "Good morning, dear forest friends. I am ready for the crown."
Mayor Mole lifted the royal carrot box.
— "Then let the Great Veggie Parade begin with dignity, tradition, and absolutely no nonsense."
He opened the box.
The box was empty.
There was a long silence.
A squirrel dropped a pea-pod ribbon.
A frog hiccupped into his drum.
Mayor Mole sniffed the box.
— "This box smells like carrot crown," he said, confused. "But it contains zero carrot crown."
Princess Gooseberry gasped.
— "Oh dear. One cannot lead a parade bare-headed. It causes questions."
Benny jumped down from his stump.
— "Do not worry! I will find the crown."
Tilly closed her notebook.
— "We will find the crown."
— "That is what I meant."
— "You meant you. I added wisdom."
Benny nodded quickly.
— "Excellent. Let us add wisdom while running."
— "I do not run," Tilly said.
— "Then we shall investigate at your heroic speed."
The first clue was inside the empty box. Tilly leaned close and inspected the cushion.
— "There are crumbs here."
Benny’s eyes widened.
— "Crown-eating crumbs?"
— "Possibly biscuit crumbs."
Mayor Mole sniffed again.
— "Butter biscuit. A bold criminal."
Princess Gooseberry raised one wing.
— "My cousin Gerald eats butter biscuits."
Everyone turned toward Gerald Goose, who was standing beside the cucumber cart with biscuit crumbs on his beak.
Gerald froze.
— "I would like to say immediately that I look suspicious by accident."
Benny hopped closer.
— "Gerald, did you take the Carrot Crown?"
— "No. I only leaned over the box to admire it while eating a biscuit."
Tilly made a note.
— "Admiring while snacking. Noted."
— "Then where did it go?" Benny asked.
Gerald pointed with one wing.
— "A shiny thing rolled toward the beetroot bandstand. I thought it was part of the decorations."
Benny turned around.
— "To the beetroot bandstand!"
Tilly tucked her notebook away.
— "At a sensible pace."
The beetroot bandstand was full of noise. Five field mice were tuning tiny trumpets. A hedgehog was checking a drum. A raccoon in a purple cape was trying to teach three sparrows how to bow.
— "Excuse me!" Benny called. "Has anyone seen a carrot crown roll through here?"
The raccoon spun around dramatically.
— "At last. A mystery."
Tilly sighed.
— "Hello, Ricky."
Ricky Raccoon adjusted his purple cape.
— "Detective Ricky, if you please."
— "You gave yourself that title yesterday."
— "Every detective begins somewhere."
Benny bounced impatiently.
— "The crown is missing. Did you see it?"
Ricky held up one paw.
— "I saw a golden flash rolling past the bandstand, pursued by a chipmunk with jam on his nose."
From behind a beetroot drum came a tiny voice.
— "It was raspberry jam, and I have been judged enough."
A chipmunk named Pipkin stepped out, holding a half-eaten berry tart.
Benny narrowed his eyes in what he hoped was a detective expression.
— "Pipkin, did you steal the crown?"
— "No!" Pipkin squeaked. "I chased it because I thought it was a runaway tart plate."
Tilly looked at him.
— "A crown does not look like a tart plate."
Pipkin wiped jam from his nose.
— "It does when you really want another tart."
— "Where did it roll?" Benny asked.
Pipkin pointed toward the hill.
— "Down Turnip Slope."
Benny gasped.
Turnip Slope was the slipperiest hill in Sunny Burrow Forest. In winter it was used for sledding. In spring it was used for accidental sliding. In summer it was avoided by anyone carrying soup.
— "A crown could roll all the way to Wobble Bridge from there," Tilly said.
Benny took one brave hop forward.
— "Then we go to Wobble Bridge."
— "Carefully," Tilly said.
— "Bravely."
— "Carefully."
— "Bravely and carefully."
— "Acceptable."
They reached Turnip Slope just in time to see something golden flash at the bottom near the bridge.
— "The crown!" Benny cried.
He hopped forward, but the grass beneath his paws was slick with morning dew.
Whoop!
Benny slid down the hill on his belly, ears flying behind him.
— "I meant to do this!" he shouted.
Tilly began walking down after him.
— "No, you did not."
Benny reached the bottom and bumped gently into a cabbage.
— "I nearly solved the mystery with my face."
Near Wobble Bridge, the golden object shone between two roots.
Benny rushed over and pulled it free.
It was not the Carrot Crown.
It was a golden spoon.
Benny stared at it.
— "This is a very disappointing crown."
A small voice came from under the bridge.
— "That is my pudding spoon."
Benny and Tilly leaned over the edge.
Below them sat a young otter named Otto with a bowl of carrot pudding, looking embarrassed.
Tilly blinked.
— "Why are you eating pudding under a bridge?"
Otto hugged the bowl.
— "Because it is peaceful, and no one asks for a bite."
Benny held up the spoon.
— "Did you see the Carrot Crown?"
Otto nodded.
— "It rolled past me, bounced off that root, and landed in the delivery basket."
— "What delivery basket?"
Otto pointed down the path.
— "The one going to the parade stage."
Benny froze.
— "The crown is going back to the stage?"
— "In a basket," Otto said. "With turnips."
Tilly’s eyes widened.
— "The vegetable carts."
Benny gasped.
— "It has been hiding in the parade the whole time!"
They hurried back toward Carrot Castle. Benny hopped as fast as his paws could carry him. Tilly followed behind, not fast, but very determined, which was its own kind of speed.
At the stage, the parade was nearly beginning without the crown. Princess Gooseberry had placed a lettuce leaf on her head as an emergency royal hat.
— "It is not ideal," she said, standing very still so it would not slide off.
Mayor Mole was pacing in circles.
— "A parade without a crown is just walking with vegetables!"
— "Wait!" Benny shouted. "Check the turnip basket!"
A family of rabbits stopped pulling the first vegetable cart. Tilly climbed onto a low stump and pointed.
— "The small basket. Left side. Under the purple turnips."
Mayor Mole reached into the basket.
He pulled out one turnip.
Then another.
Then a sock that no one wanted to explain.
Then, at last, the Carrot Crown.
The whole forest cheered.
— "You found it!" cried Princess Gooseberry.
Benny puffed up proudly.
— "We followed crumbs, suspicious geese, jam, a fake crown spoon, pudding under a bridge, and turnips."
Tilly nodded.
— "A very normal investigation."
Mayor Mole carefully placed the Carrot Crown on Princess Gooseberry’s head.
Except he placed it upside down.
No one spoke.
The three carrot points stuck downward like little orange legs.
Princess Gooseberry looked at Benny.
— "Is it meant to feel this tickly?"
Benny tried not to laugh.
Tilly tried harder.
Gerald Goose failed completely.
— "Your Majesty," Benny said gently, "I think the crown is upside down."
Mayor Mole leaned closer.
— "Ah. That explains the tickling."
He turned the crown the right way, and Princess Gooseberry stood tall and shining.
— "Now," she said, "let the Great Veggie Parade begin properly."
The band played. The frogs drummed. The squirrels waved pea-pod ribbons. The mice marched with radish towers. Otto the otter shared his pudding after all, though he kept his golden spoon safely tucked behind one ear.
Benny and Tilly walked at the front beside Princess Gooseberry.
— "You were very brave," said the princess.
— "And fast," Benny added.
— "And muddy," Tilly said.
Benny looked down at his belly, still covered in grass stains from Turnip Slope.
— "Mystery work is not clean work."
Princess Gooseberry smiled.
— "Today you saved more than the crown. You saved the parade’s laughter."
Benny liked that better than being famous.
That evening, after the last carrot banner had been folded away and the forest grew sleepy, Benny sat outside his burrow with Tilly.
— "Do you think I was helpful, brave, fast, polite, and possibly famous?" he asked.
Tilly thought for a moment.
— "Helpful, yes. Brave, yes. Fast, mostly downhill. Polite, nearly always. Famous, maybe with the turnips."
Benny smiled.
— "Good enough."
The moon rose over Sunny Burrow Forest, shining softly on Carrot Castle, Wobble Bridge, Turnip Slope, and one small bunny who had learned something important.
Sometimes courage looked like facing danger.
Sometimes it looked like being kind.
And sometimes, on very special parade days, it looked like sliding down a hill and finding a crown in a basket of turnips.