Rites of Spring, Anders Motte [reading diary .TXT] 📗

waited, standing perfectly still and thinking about his wish list.

He was hoping to get a red car he had seen in the shop in the village from his big sister. It had big flames on its sides, and if you pulled it backwards and then let go, it would race off on its own. It was probably expensive, but Vera was bound to buy it for him anyway. Dad would give her the money. If she asked for it. He didn’t really know if she had forgiven him for the business with the hawk’s eggs, but he didn’t want to think about that. Mattias had forgiven him, but it was harder to tell with Vera.

The baby rabbit lowered its head again and started to nibble on a blade of grass. Its whiskers were twitching so cutely that he very nearly broke Uncle Harald’s rules. But he needed to wait a bit longer. Wait for the moment the rabbit relaxed and was no longer looking in his direction.

He had asked for a bicycle from Mum and Dad. He had already started practising on Mattias’s old one, even though he wasn’t actually supposed to do that on his own. The other day he fell off and grazed his knee. Not badly, but enough to draw blood. He had started to cry, and went and hid in the treehouse. Uncle Harald had found him and gave him a telling off. ‘What did your mum say? Don’t you understand that she gets worried?’

Yes, he understood. His mum worried about him pretty much the whole time. ‘Because you’re my little mouse,’ she always said. ‘Because I can’t bear the thought of anything happening to you.’ That was why he had hidden himself away and didn’t go back into the house. After telling him off, his uncle had put a plaster on his knee and told Mum that he had fallen over on the gravel path between the barn and the house. Easily done if you’re running in wooden-soled shoes. The lie was for his mother’s sake, not his. So she wouldn’t worry. Since then he hadn’t been allowed to wear wooden-soled shoes like Mattias and Vera. He thought that was unfair.

Suddenly the baby rabbit moved. It took a couple of short hops in his direction, in search of longer grass. Instead of running towards it he stood perfectly still. Waiting, just like Uncle Harald said.

Uncle Harald was the best hunter in the area, everyone knew that. There were almost always dead animals hanging from the roof of his boiler room. Pheasants, deer, hares, with empty eyes and stiff bodies. Uncle Harald had rough hands. He smelled of tobacco, oil, dogs and something he couldn’t identify. But he guessed it was something dangerous. A lot of people were scared of Uncle Harald. Vera and Mattias were, even if Vera pretended not to be. She sometimes contradicted him, but you could hear the wobble in her voice. Mattias, on the other hand, didn’t say anything, just stared down at the ground and did as he was told. Fetched Uncle Harald’s pipe or fed his dogs. They weren’t the sort of dogs you could play with. They lived outside in big pens and travelled on the back of the truck rather than inside it. Rough coats, anxious eyes that followed Uncle Harald’s every movement. The other week he went to the swimming pool with Dad and Mattias. He had sat in the sauna listening to the old men talk. When Uncle Harald came in everyone moved out of the way, even Dad. Clearing the best space for him, right in the middle. Looking at him the same way the dogs did.

The only person who wasn’t scared of Uncle Harald was Mum. Mum wasn’t scared of anyone, except maybe God. Sometimes she and Uncle Harald had arguments. He had heard them say things to each other. Harsh words that he didn’t really understand, but he knew they weren’t nice.

All the same, Uncle Harald’s birthday present was the one he had the highest hopes of. A little rabbit that would be his alone, that’s what his uncle had promised. Maybe just like the one sitting a few metres away from him. If he could catch that one, he’d have two. And Uncle Harald would be proud of him. Proud of him for being a proper hunter.

He’d waited long enough now, so he took another careful step forward. The baby rabbit went on chewing the long grass, didn’t even notice him getting closer. He took another step and slowly reached out his hands. It might just work.

‘Billy, time to come in now!’

The rabbit raised its head, it seemed to be listening to the voice from the house. Then it turned and scampered away.

He felt disappointment tug at his chest. But then the rabbit stopped and looked back at him, as if it was wondering where he’d gone. He hesitated. Mum would be worried if he didn’t go in. The owls were hooting louder now, and the outside lights had come on, making the shadows in the garden deeper. The rabbit was still looking at him. It seemed to be saying: Are you coming?

He took a couple of steps, then a few more.

‘Billy!’ his mum called. ‘Billy, come inside now!’

The hunt was on. The rabbit scampered away from him, and if he was really lucky it would lead him to its burrow. Somewhere full of baby rabbits with big eyes and soft fur. Rabbits he could take home with him. Which could live in the cage Uncle Harald had promised him.

‘Billy!’ Mum’s cry disappeared in the distance. The baby rabbit was still running ahead of him, and even though he was wearing his best running shoes it could probably easily outpace him if it wanted to. Perhaps the rabbit wanted him to catch it? Hug it, make it his.

He followed it through the rows of gnarled old fruit trees. Then in amongst the overgrown bushes. He didn’t really like this furthest part