A/N : Looks at review board *crickets chirp over Lord Candycane* Thank you for being loyal! I'm not sure why everyone else left me!
Chapter 11
The Tunnel and the Missing Food
Hopper hopped down the hall and was nearing the doorway when he heard something; he stopped and listened carefully. It sounded like a large stone being dragged on a marble floor one way and then another; Hopper felt a chill run up his spine as he scampered into the patio.
"Brown! Brown!" Hopper checked the coffin to make Snow-Fur was safe.
"What is it, Hopper? What is it?" Brown Sugar got up hurriedly and ran into a statue of a rabbit and said, "Hey, Hopper, what happened to you? Did Ebony turn you into stone?"
"No, she didn't…I'm right here, sleepy head!"
"I can see you fine, Hopper, but if she didn't turn you into stone, who did?"
"Brown, you're talking to a statue! I'm still flesh and blood! I'm right here!" Hopper was jumping in front of Brown.
"Oh, Hopper! Hi!" Then Brown looked at the rabbit statue, then at his friend, then back at the statue . "You mean I was talking to a statue?"
"Yes, Brown. That's what I was trying to tell you." Hopper was now quite vexed. "Did anyone come in here while I was gone?"
"Nope. At least I don't remember anyone coming in."
"Cause you were asleep!"
"I couldn't help it! That chicken was filling and I don't normally stay up till five in the morning, " Brown said defensively. "That reminds me, I need to finish the chicken, Hopper."
"Finish? It's already been eaten Brown! That means whoever was in here was either an omnivore or a carnivore! I have a hunch that there is a secret passageway that leads in and out of this patio. You check this half of the patio and I will check the other half."
Brown wasn't fully convinced that the statue was still just a statue. What if Ebony turned Hopper into stone and made a fake Hopper to trick me? Maybe there's a way to change Hopper back. Brown went around the rabbit statue and prodding it with his paws. When he pushed its round tail, a sound of grinding stone sent a chill up Brown's spine; he turned around and saw a hole in the wall. Just then, Hopper came hopping up.
"What did you do?" Hopper exclaimed.
"Well, I, uh-I, well, I, you know…"
"Spit it out already, Brown!"
"Well, I wasn't really convinced that you were the real Hopper, so I decided to try and change you back, and I pressed the tail and that happened," said Brown, pointing to the exposed tunnel.
"That's the same sound I heard before I came in…so who ever came in here used that tunnel."
"So, I'm guessing we're going to go through that tunnel, aren't we?" inquired Brown.
So they climbed in the tunnel and when they came out the other end, they found they were right next to the kitchen.
"The intruder probably came from the kitchen," Hopper said, thinking out loud.
"And now I know how to get to the kitchen after my shift! Oh, Heaven!" Brown whispered excitedly.
"Wait! Snow-Fur!" cried Hopper, "We left her alone!"
"Do you want to go back and watch her while I look for some chicken-I mean clues?"
"No, you're tired," recalled Hopper, "you need your sleep, Brown."
So Brown Sugar went to bed and Hopper went to the sunroom (carrying a plate of veggies) to watch Snow-Fur.
He sat down against one of the statues-and started nibbling on some lettuce. But he was much more tired than he realized, he was soon fast asleep.
"Hopper, Hopper! Wake up!"
"What, what?"
"Did you eat all of your food last night?"
"No, why?" Hopper answered, half-dazed.
"You don't have any food left, except for the piece of lettuce sticking out of your mouth," Brown pointed out.
"Oh! That means it's probably an omnivore! Okay, scratch that 'probably', it is an omnivore!" exclaimed Hopper.
"Or, it's an herbivore and a carnivore, or it's a carnivore and an omnivore, or it's an herbivore and an omnivore, or it's two omnivores, or it's a really hungry herbivore, or it's a really hungry carnivore, or-"
"I got it, Brown, I got it, Ok?" said Hopper, very much exasperated. "I really doubt it's a 'really hungry herbivore.' Every one we have seen here is happy and well-fed."
"Well, what if a stray is living here, hiding during the day and coming out at night to look for food?"
Hopper groaned. "Brown, we don't have time for crazy theories!"
"I think they are reasonable theories," said Brown in reply. "I mean, this place is huge! There could be dozens of strays in here, Hopper."
"Well, something else you should consider then, is how many servants work here! I think they would notice a stray here and either the strays would be given jobs and therefore food to eat daily or they would be thrown out of the castle." After thinking about it, Hopper concluded, "Most likely the former; the servants here don't seem like heartless people."
"Someone here is heartless or I'd still have my chicken," Hopper raised his eyebrows at Brown, so he added, "And someone was very mean to take your vegetables."
Hopper just rolled his eyes and went to the kitchen to get his breakfast.
Brown sat next to the coffin, his eyes and nose on the lookout for the intruder.
please R&R!