came too close, she simply jumped up
onto the fence.
“Poor Darth,” Phil said.
“But Moon only wants to play,”
Rebecca said.
“Have you seen my pale blue shirt?”
The one that looked like it belonged to
an Elvis impersonator? Rebecca flushed
and pulled it out of a drawer. “Here.
There wasn’t room for my stuff.”
An awful screech sent them running
downstairs. Phil opened the back door
and Moon shot in.
“She’s all shaken up,” Rebecca said
when Phil came in from the garden.
“Well, Darth won’t come out from
under the mint bush and he hasn’t
touched his food,” Phil said. “I’m going
to call the vet. James would be so upset
if anything happened to his rabbit.”
Not just James, Rebecca thought.
She’d seen how Phil doted over Darth
- the last reminder of his absent son.
“Have you seen the phone book?”
Phil asked, rummaging wildly through
the cupboards.
“On top of the bookshelf.”
He glared at her. “Why do you have
to move everything?”
“Sorry. I was just tidying.”
“Well, don’t!”
That evening, Moon was back to her
normal self, twirling round Rebecca’s
ankles while she cooked chicken.
Rebecca watched as Phil pushed his
chicken around his plate. Oh, well. If he
wouldn’t eat it, Moon would.
The next day, the vet paid a house call.
“Darth doesn’t like being picked up,”
Phil warned.
The vet stroked Darth’s ears. “That’s
OK. I won’t need to – it’s easy to see
what the problem is. Darth’s a male
and he’s getting on a bit. He’s used to
having his territory to himself. He’s
not happy about this new invader.”
Rebecca bit her lip, realising you
could say the same of about his owner.
Phil frowned. “But it’s a big garden.
Can’t they learn to share it?”
“Probably,” the vet said. “But it’ll take
time. To start with, they each need an
area of their own.”
“I could make Darth a run where
Moon isn’t allowed,” Phil said.
Rebecca gave him a dubious look.
Like all cats, Moon had no
concept of confinement.
Phil saw her face. “I’ll put
some netting over it.”
“Worth a try,” the vet said.
“By the way,” Phil said,
once the vet had gone. “What
happened to the bedcover?”
Rebecca smiled. “I bought us a new
one. Do you like it?”
“I liked the old one.”
“I’m sorry. I washed it and it sort of
fell to pieces.”
Phil’s face fell. “Oh. I was really fond
of that old thing. My mum bought me
it when I first left home.”
Phil left early the next morning.
Rebecca sat alone in his sunny kitchen,
wondering if she’d made a huge mistake.
It was bad enough that their pets didn’t
get on, but was Phil so set in his ways
he didn’t want her there either?
She went outside to see Darth. He
sat completely still while she strokedhis ears. His eyelids grew heavier and
heavier until they shut. His breathing
slowed and even the snuffling of his
nose came to a stop.
“You’re just an old softy, aren’t you?”
she said. Exactly like his owner.
With the warm velvet brushing
her palms, and the rise and fall of his
plump rabbity body, time itself seemed
to stand still.
Feeling much calmer, Rebecca
headed back inside. She knew what she
had to do. She took out her sewing kit
and sat down to repair the old bedcover.
Once she’d finished, she draped it over
Phil’s side of the bed. There. Now if
only the rift in their relationship could
be fixed as easily...
She brought lamb chops home from
work as a peace offering. Upstairs in the
bedroom, she did a double take. There
was a large new wardrobe standing
beside the old one.
She found Phil out in the garden,
putting the final touches to Darth’s run.
She approached him cautiously.
“I love the wardrobe.”
Phil looked sheepish. “I realised
Darth and Moon aren’t the only ones
who need some space of their own.”
At that moment, Darth
and Moon came nose to
nose through the wire.
Rebecca held her breath
as they sniffed each other.
Then Darth stretched,
opened his mouth in a tiny
rabbit yawn and hopped off
to inspect his bowl.
Phil and Rebecca exchanged relieved
looks. “This is going to work, isn’t it?”
she said.
“Of course it is.” Phil wrapped her
in his arms. “Sorry for being difficult.
I love having you here.”
She heard the warmth in his voice
and felt a rush of happiness. “And I love
being here,” she said.
The sun sank behind the trees and
the garden ‒ their garden ‒ seemed to
glow golden. Phil cleared his throat.
“My friend Jeff phoned. He’s going on
holiday next month and wants us to
look after his Jack Russell.” •‘Maybe we
should’ve
introduced
them more
gradually’89