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Chapter Text

Mom sat in the doorway and watched her little sons playing on the terrace. It was a chilly and rather wet spring day but the boys didn't mind. They were dressed in rubber boots and oilskin pants, thick jackets and warm hats, and were used to this kind of weather. She smiled as little Bård, who had just turned tree, struggled to do as his slightly bigger brother said. Vegard, who was still five, had seen a band playing music on tv the day before, and was trying to recreate the scene with his reluctant little brother.

"No, no, you hold it like this!" He grabbed the small spade from Bård's fingers and held it to his mouth, singing into it like it was a microphone. Then he gave it back to Bård, who promptly put it into his mouth.

"No! Don't eat the mike!" Vegard shouted exasperated. "You sing in it!"

"Sing what?" asked Bård innocently, while gnawing on the spade.

"Oh, I don't know... what song do you like?"

"I like the songs mom sings," the little brother said. "Why can't you sing?"

"I can't. I'm the guitarist. They play the music. They don't sing," Vegard admonished. He had placed his foot up on a bucket and struck a pose, pretending to strum his bigger shovel like a guitar.

"Why not?"

"Because.... uh.. because... that's what they use the singers for..." Vegard glanced over at mom to see if he could get any help, but she just smiled at them and struggled not to laugh.  "Come on now Bård, sing the lullaby mom sings every night. I know you can sing it."

Bård chewed on the spade and considered it.

Vegard pouted exasperated. Why did Bård have to eat the mike all the time?

Suddenly there was a flash of light coming from the door, and he turned towards it. Mom was standing there with a camera in her hands.

"Mom, stop taking pictures," Vegard complained. "Help me get him to sing instead. He isn't doing it right!"

"I don't wanna sing," Bård retorted and flung the mike-spade away. "I wanna play the music. Vegard can sing!"

"Now, now, boys," mom said smiling, "no fighting now. Maybe you should both play something else instead. I have to go inside to make dinner now. Be good boys and play in the garden meanwhile."

She went indoors and the boys gazed after her.  Vegard decided to drop the idea of Bård singing, and continued to strum his spade-guitar. In his head he was playing one of the nice solos the guitarist had played on tv.

Bård had tired of watching his brother trying to play music, and went over to the little kiddy chair where he had placed Bunny, his stuffed, white toy rabbit.

"Come on, Bunny," he said to it and lifted it gently up in his arms. "We'll go down in the garden and find some grass you can eat."

He trudged down the few steps from the terrace to the garden and wandered over by the white picket fence. There were long grass straws growing here, and he pulled up a few and held them to Bunny's mouth. Just then, he saw some movement at the edge of his vision and turned his head towards the tree by the fence. A small, reddish brown animal with a big, fluffy tail was running up the trunk and jumping on the branches.

"Vegard! Vegard! Look! What's that?"

Vegard lifted his head from the spade-guitar and looked where his brother was pointing. The sight made him jump up and drop the spade.

"It's a squirrel!" he exclaimed happily and ran down into the garden to look at it. "Look how it jumps!"

The two boys ran alongside the trees further down in the garden as the squirrel jumped along the branches. But suddenly it jumped over to a tree outside the garden fence, and the boys stopped and watched it hopping further and further away.

"Wow, it runs into Fairytale forest!" Vegard exclaimed, seeing the little critter reaching the forest edge just across the driveway.

The Fairytale forest wasn't that much of a forest really, not much more than a grove, and not much bigger than a couple of football fields. It started on the other side of the driveway to their house, and was surrounded on all other sides by the fields of nearby farms... like a forest island in a sea of wheat. But for the boys it was a huge and wild fairytale forest where there possibly lived both trolls and dragons, and most certainly bears and wolves and all kinds of fearsome beasts. They had been there sometimes with mom and found pinecones and mushrooms, and an exciting hole under a fallen tree that maybe was a fox den.

Now the squirrel was sitting in a tree at the forest edge almost 15 meters away, and the boys gaped.

"Maybe it has a nest there," Vegard mused.

"What's a nest?"

"It's where it keeps its babies."

"I wanna see the babies," Bård demanded.

"But mom has said that we can't go to Fairytale forest alone," Vegard protested.

Bård's pout grew bigger and his bottom lip began to tremble. "I WANNA see squirrel babies!" he whined. "Now!"

Vegard was torn. He was as eager to see the babies as Bård was, but mom HAD told them not to go there. He looked from Bård to the squirrel, and then back to the terrace door to see if mom could see them. But she wasn't there. By now, Bård was about to start crying, and Vegard definitely didn't want mom to come running.

"Come on!" he called to his brother and ran down to the gate at the bottom of the garden. Bård came running after him as fast as his short legs could carry him, but they both came to a halt at the gate. It was impossible to open. Vegard tugged at it, but had to realize that it was probably locked - excactly because they weren't allowed to leave the garden.

Desperately he looked around. There was a wheelbarrow standing on edge, leaning against the fence. Quickly he ran over to it and climbed up on the wheel, then up on the body of it. He reached down to Bård and pulled him up with him. When they stood up there, it would be easy to climb over the edge of the fence. Vegard gave his little brother a good push in his rubber clad butt, so he rolled over the fence and landed in the grass on the other side with a thud.

"Ow!" Bård picked up Bunny from the grass and rubbed his butt where he had landed. His lower lip trembled for a few seconds, but he forgot about it then Vegard landed with another thud right beside him. His big brother stood up like nothing had happened and grabbed Bård's hand and pulled him along.

"Come on! Hurry so we don't lose it!"

They ran across the driveway and straight into the underbrush which surrounded the forest island on all sides. It was mostly dry twigs from wild raspberry bushes and high straws and grass, but it was taller than the boys and they couldn't see anything around them. When the underbrush closed around them, it felt like diving into a deep ocean. The tops of the straws wafted in the wind high over their heads, and the brush was so dense it shut everything out, both sounds and light.

Bård panicked a little and clung to Vegard, clutching Bunny tight to his chest, but the big brother trudged on like a safe rock, trampling the straws under his rubber boots. He knew that after a few meters they would be on the other side of the brush and into the forest. It was just a matter of keeping a steady course.

When they came in under the canopy of the trees, the underbrush quickly thinned and then disappeared, and the boys could finally see around them again. Vegard stopped and looked up in the trees, trying to find the squirrel again.

"Where is it? Can you see it?" Bård nagged.

Vegard searched and searched, staring up in every treetop, scanning every trunk. Finally, just as he was about to give up, he spotted something moving on the backside of a tall tree trunk.

"There! There it is!"

Bård gave a whoop of excitement and both boys scrambled uphill towards the tall tree. Just as they were about to reach it, the squirrel jumped out along a branch and suddenly it was in the next tree. The children ran after it, but then it jumped onto the next tree and then to the next again, deeper into the wood. The boys followed on the ground as well as they could, but the forest floor was uneven and bumpy and littered with rocks and roots, and it was difficult to keep up.

Suddenly Bård caught his foot in a root, tripped and fell, and his boot slipped off. The boots had belonged to Vegard and were still a bit big for him, and had a tendency to fall off.

"Vegard!" he wailed, "I lost my boot! Help me!"

Vegard stopped and turned to look at his little brother who lay whimpering on the ground. Then he turned back and stared after the squirrel which was just about to dissappear behind a tree further away. He was torn. On one hand he desperately wanted to run after it... if he stopped now, they would lose it. But then it was his little brother who already had started sniffling and probably was about to start flat out howling soon. Mom would certainly get angry at him if he left his brother here, even if it was just for a little moment to see what tree the squirrel ran to.

Casting a last look at the squirrel which now was three trees away, he sighed heavily and ran back to his baby brother who was just turning on the water works.

"Shh, don't cry," he soothed and pulled the boot out from under the root. "I've got your boot here. Stand up and put your foot in it."

Bård sniffled noisily and did as he was told, wiping his nose and eyes with dirty hands and burying his face deeply in Bunny's soft tummy. But he was too unsteady to stand on one foot, and fell on his butt when he lifted his foot and tried to get it into the boot. Even his thick knitted sock fell off this time, and he started crying again. In the end, Vegard let him sit and lifted his foot up in the air instead, pulling the sock on and then pushing the boot down on it.

"Now your boot is on, stand up!" he said in an impatient tone, pulling on his brother's hand to make him get up.

Finally Bård was on his feet.

"Where are the babies?" he asked and looked around. Vegard turned to look at the place where he last saw the squirrel, but of course it wasn't there anymore.

"I don't know," he said. "I must find the squirrel again." He ran over to the tree where it had been and turned his head in all directions, scanning the trees around them. But this time the little critter was truly gone.

Bård came padding after him, unable to run as quickly; his oilskin pants rubbing together with a noisy "swosh swosh" sound for every step.

"I can't find it," Vegard had to admit with a pout. "I think we lost it."

As he had expexted, this didn't go down well with his little brother, who promptly began to cry again. In Bård's mind he had been through far too much because of this stupid squirrel already, and it was about time he got to see some results.

"I wanna see the babies!" he wailed. "I wanna see the babies now!"

Vegard looked around in exasperation. He was sad and dissappointed about loosing it too, but Bård was making it much worse. How was he to find squirrel babies for his demanding little brother?

"I think it ran this way," he tried. "Let's go down this hill, maybe it's in one of the trees down there."

He pointed to a cluster of trees at the bottom of a small mossy hill. The hill was a little steep, so he tried to help his little brother down. But the moss was slippery and they both lost their footing and ended up sliding on their rubber butts down.

Fortunately the thick moss was soft, so it didn't hurt, but they made quite a racket when they landed in a heap of dry leaves. If the squirrel had ever been there, it would certainly have fled by now, Vegard thought, and felt his heart sink.

Bård picked up Bunny and brushed the leaves of it. He couldn't see any animals anywhere and began sniffling again in disappointment. Vegard felt close to crying himself when he couldn't see the elusive critter anywhere, and pouted despondently. Angrily he kicked at a small rock, which landed at the side of the hill where there was a rocky scree. At the bottom of it there was something looking like a small cave.

That caught his interest and the pout disappeared. Maybe they could find something better than a stupid squirrel? He ran over to it and waved at Bård.

"Bård! Look here! It looks like a cave!" His little brother came padding over, dragging Bunny after him by one of the long ears.

"Maybe someone lives here!" Vegard was eagerly bending down to look into it, but it was dark and he couldn't see anything.

"Who lives there?" Bård asked, squeezing Bunny and stuffing his thumb in his mouth. He tentatively peeked in, but was a bit apprehensive. What if it was something dangerous?

Vegard was already on his knees by the opening, his big brown eyes shining eagerly. He pulled at Bård's arm to make him come closer.

"Come on! Let's find out!"

He crawled into the cave and disappeared from Bård's view. The little boy didn't really want to go in there, but when Vegard was so eager, it was difficult to resist. He shrugged and began crawling in after his big brother.

They had come about a meter into the cave when Vegard stopped. There was a strange sound in front of them.

"Listen! Can you hear something?" he whispered.

"Yes," Bård whispered back. "What is it?"

"I don't kno..."

Suddenly a dark shape jumped out of the shadows and hissed at them. The kids cried out and jerked back in fear. The animal jumped after them and snarled, and in a glimpse they could see a white and black striped head and a row of sharp fangs gaping at them. Both children screamed and crawled out of the cave as fast as they possibly could and scrambled to their feet. The badger followed on their heels.

"A bear!" Bård yelled, and Vegard had no reason to doubt him.

Vegard pushed Bård protectively behind him as they backed away, staring at the angry animal. In their eyes it looked like a huge, hungry bear. Bård howled in fear and turned around, running as fast as his little legs could carry him. When the badger hissed again, Vegard howled as well, turned around and ran after his brother.

They ran wildly through the trees without knowing where they went, screaming in anguish and yelling for mom. Suddenly Bård stumbled and fell, and this time both his boots fell off - with the thick socks still in them. He didn't even try to get up, just cried and screamed at the top of his lungs.

Vegard was so scared that his heart was trying to escape through his chest, but he had to stop and help his little brother. He fell to his knees and struggled to get hold of the boots, but Bård was so hysterical that he was kicking and flailing, and it was impossible to get the boots on him. In the end Vegard gave up and collapsed next to Bård, crying and screaming for mom.

Only she could save them now.

Chapter Text

In the meantime, mom had finished cooking dinner and walked out onto the terrace to call the boys in. To her horror the garden was empty. Hurriedly, she ran down to the bottom of the garden and checked the gate. It was still locked. But somehow they must still have gotten out of the garden. She looked out on the fields surrounding the house, her eyes roaming desperately. Where could they be?

Suddenly she heard shrill shrieks of fear from the forest across the road, and she could recognize Bård's voice. There was no time to run in to fetch the key. She scaled the fence in two seconds and ran as fast as she could towards the forest edge. Just as she reached the belt of tall underbrush, she heard Vegard's voice joining his brother, screaming even louder.

Mom rushed through the underbrush with her heart pounding in her throat, listening to both her children screaming their lungs out. As soon as she came into the woods, she ran in the direction of the sound, stumbling and falling a few times but scrambling to her feet again. She ran so fast that when she reached the little hill, she fell and rolled down it, landing in the heap of dry leaves.

But now she could see the boys through the trees. Bård was lying on the ground without boots, and Vegard was sitting on his knees next to him, both screaming for mom. Totally out of breath she rushed to their side, fell to her knees and scooped them up in her arms.

"Mommy!" Vegard sobbed violently. "It's a bear! It attacked us! It wants to eat us!"

Mom looked around in all directions, but the forest seemed quiet and peaceful, and not a leaf was moving.

"Whatever it was, it's gone now," she said soothingly, rocking them in her arms. "There, there, I'm here with you. There is nothing to be afraid of here now."

But neither of the boys could stop crying. They had been so thoroughly frightened that nothing could comfort them now. Gradually mom managed to calm them down and she was able to get the socks and boots onto Bård's feet again. Then she got them to stand up.

"Hold my hands. You're safe with me," she soothed them and began leading them back. "Let's go home."

They slowly trotted back the same way they came, holding mom's hand. Their breathing still hitched occasionally, but the crying had mostly stopped. She led them through the underbrush, over the driveway and in through the front door. Once inside, she took off their boots, oilskins, jackets and hats, and led them into the kitchen. There, she grabbed a clean towel and washed their faces and hands, dried snot and tears and blew their noses, and sat them down by the kitchen table.

The boys had gradually calmed down, and when each of them received a mug of hot cocoa, they were finally able to talk normally. Mom sat down between them and hugged them both, before she turned to Vegard,

"Why did you leave the garden?"

"We saw a squirrel in a tree, and it jumped across the road and into Fairytale forest."

"So you decided to follow it?"

"Babies," Bård shot in. "We wanted to see squirrel babies."

"Squirrel babies? Did you think it had babies in the forest?"

Both boys nodded eagerly.

"Vegard said it had a nest," Bård continued.

Mom looked at Vegard and frowned. "Did you see the nest?"

"No," Vegard had to admit. "We lost track of the squirrel. It ran away from us."

"But how did you both get out of the garden?" mom wondered. "The gate is locked - to keep you two inside the garden," she added a little more firmly.

Vegard hesitated. He didn't really want to reveal the easy escape they had made via the wheelbarrow, but he knew that mom wouldn't stop until he told her. Mom frowned at him and lifted an eyebrow.

"Now, Vegard?"

"We climbed up on the wheelbarrow. I pushed Bård over the fence and then I jumped down after him," he said grudgingly.

Mom simply nodded. "I suspected as much. That wheelbarrow will be in the shed from now on. No more climbing on it."

Bård pouted. "But what if the squirrel comes back? I WANNA see the babies!"

"You two are going to stay inside the garden even if an entire football team of squirrels are climbing the trees," mom said firmly. "Firstly, if they have a nest, it will be so high up in a tree and so well hidden that you won't be able to even see it."

"Secondly," she said, turning to Vegard and giving him a stern look. "Secondly, you boys are NOT allowed to leave the garden, and certainly not to enter the forest alone. Is that understood?"

Vegard swallowed heavily and nodded. He hated it when mom got angry at him, and he felt bad for having brought his little brother into trouble with him.

"Yes, mom," he mumbled, looking down in his cocoa mug.

"Fine. Now that this is settled, what was it that made you both so scared?" mom asked.

"It was a bear!" Bård exclaimed with big eyes, still feeling a bit anxious when thinking about it.

"A bear?" mom asked increduolusly. "There are no bears around here. How did it look?"

"Big teeth! Huge sharp teeth! And it roared!" Bård explained with big hand movements.

"Did it? Are you sure it didn't bark, like a dog?" mom asked, turning to Vegard again.

"No it wasn't a dog. It was a big bear," Vegard added. "And sharp teeth, just like Bård said."

"What colour did it have?"

"Black... or brown... or maybe grey. I don't remember."

'Hmm,' mom thought to herself. 'Maybe that Chow Chow down the road is on the loose again. I'll have to check it out.'

With a softer look in her eyes, she turned to each of her sons in turn and stroked their cheeks soothingly.

"Did it bite you? Or come near you at all?"

Bård gazed at mom with huge blue eyes. "Mmm... I dunno," he mumbled. "Can I have more cocoa?"

"Not before dinner. Maybe later." She ruffled Bård's hair lovingly.

"What about you, Vegard? Did the animal do anything to you?"

"Noooo...", the little darkhaired boy tried to remember. "I think it just roared. And snapped at us."

"Okay," mom concluded. "I don't know what animal you met, but it wasn't a bear. Probably a dog. Or a badger. There are no bears living around here, so you don't need to be afraid of that." She ruffled Vegard's hair too. "I'll talk to dad about it when he comes home, and then we'll see."

Vegard wasn't sure he believed that it was no bear, but he didn't bother to argue with mom. Bård seemed to have forgotten it already, so he decided to let it lie. But all through the afternoon he kept thinking about the bear, which grew larger and larger in his head, and its sharp teeth.

***************

In the evening Bård didn't want to go to bed. He couldn't sleep without Bunny, and Bunny was gone. The little boy cried unhappily and called for his pet.

"Bunny! I want my Bunny!"

Mom and dad searched for Bunny everywhere in the house, but it was nowhere to be found.

"Where did you have it last?" mom asked the little one.

"Dunno. In the garden... maybe..."

Mom went out with a flashlight and searched the terrace and the garden. There was no Bunny there either.

"Bård," she said when she came in, "did you bring it to the forest?"

"I dunno! I want Bunny!" Bård cried, and mom bit her lip. Then she turned to the slightly bigger brother, who sat quietly watching them.

"Vegard, can you remember if Bård brought Bunny with him to the forest?"

"I don't know." He shook his head. "Maybe."

The parents had a short discussion, and then dad went to the front door, pulled on his boots and raincoat, and got a big torch from one of the drawers in the dresser. Then he opened the door and left.

"Dad is going to the forest to look for it," mom explained. "While he's out searching, you two must get ready for bed. It's way past your bedtime."

She lifted Bård up and beckoned to Vegard to follow her, and went upstairs. Bård was slightly comforted knowing that Bunny was being looked for, and accepted to be dressed in his pyjamas and be put to bed. But he didn't want to lie down until dad was back.

By the time Vegard had put his pyjamas on and had climbed up in his bed on the other side of the room, they heard the front door being opened and closed again, and dad was making noises downstairs.

"Bunny! Did you find him?" Bård called out in excitement when he heard him coming up the stairs. But dad came empty handed.

"I'm so sorry, Bård," dad said and hugged the little boy who was eagerly waiting in his bed. "I couldn't find Bunny. It was so dark and wet that I couldn't see him. But I'll look for him again in the morning. We'll find him in the daylight."

Bård let out a scream of disapointment and anguish. "Nooo," he wailed. "I want Bunny now!" He cried loudly and inconsolably.

Vegard lay in the other bed and watched both his parents trying to console his little brother, and felt really bad about it. It was his fault that Bård had gone to Fairytale forest, and his fault that he had lost Bunny. If he hadn't dragged his brother along... If only he had kept an eye on Bunny to make sure Bård had it... If only...

Bård cried and cried. He couldn't fall asleep without his Bunny, and he wasn't even willing to try. Mom sat with him for a while, singing and reading a story. Then dad came to sit with him for a while, trying to comfort him and singing for him too. After a while mom took over again.

When Bård was awake, Vegard couldn't sleep either. He felt so terribly sorry for his little brother and painfully responsible for Bunny's dissappearance. But where could it be? Dad said he had searched all over the forest, so why hadn't he found it?

The bear! The bear must have taken it! Yes, that must be it. Vegard could find no other explanation. But mom had said that there wasn't any bear, so how could he explain it to his parents? He couldn't even explain where the bear cave was, so they wouldn't be able to find it anyway.

Bård was gradually calming down in the other bed. He was still crying softly, but he would probably soon fall asleep. Mom and dad had left the room, and Vegard heard them going to bed. But sleeping was impossible for him. His stomach ached with anxiety for what would happen to Bunny. What if the bear ate it? Bears used to eat bunnies, Vegard knew that. If they waited until the morning to look for Bunny in the daylight, it would be too late. Bunny would be gone... eaten by the nasty bear.

It began to be obvious for Vegard that they couldn't wait until the morning. Bunny must be saved right away if it was to survive. But mom and dad had gone to bed, and he didn't know how to explain to them where Bunny was anyway. So what could he do?

Quiet as a mouse, Vegard crawled out of bed and headed for the door. Bård, not yet fully asleep, opened his eyes and looked at him.

"I'm just going to get Bunny," Vegard whispered to him. "I'll soon be back. Just be quiet."

Bård nodded soundlessly and followed his big brother with his eyes until he dissappeared in the darkness in the hall. Vegard would get Bunny and all would be well.

As quiet as a mouse, Vegard tip-toed downstairs and out in the front hall. It was rather dark, but the porch light was shining outside the front door, and some of the light came in through the glass in the door, so he could see what he was doing. Quickly he stuck his feet into his boots, not bothering with the socks, and found his rain jacket on the hook next to the dresser. He put it on over the pyjamas and buttoned it all the way up. Finally he opened the drawer where he had seen daddy put the big flashlight, and pulled it out. Now he was ready to go out.

He managed to unlock the front door without making noise, just a soft click told him the door was open, and so he snuck outside and closed the door behind him.

The deep darkness and the cold came as a shock to Vegard, even as he stood under the porch light. He lit the torch and directed it at the dark driveway, feeling lost when he saw how small the circle of light was in the big darkness. Everything looked scary. His bottom lip trembled a bit and he shivered in his thin clothes, unwilling to leave the relative safety of the porch lamp, but then he thought about poor Bunny who lay there alone in the bear cave about to get eaten. Drawing a deep breath, the little boy put his chest bravely out and climbed down the porch stairs and ran down the driveway.

Pretty soon he reached the belt of underbrush surrounding the forest. In the faint light from the torch, the high, dry straws looked almost white, like ghosts. Vegard stopped and stared at the wall of straws and bit his lip, not wanting to go in there... but he knew he had to. Clenching his teeth resolutely, the boy braced himself and pushed on.

The wind was blowing eerily at the tops of the straws, and all he could see in the light from the torch were more straws, like a white wall surrounding him on all sides. Vegard tried to tell himself that he was brave, but his heart pounded violently in his chest, and he fought hard to keep from panicking.

Finally he was through the underbrush and emerged into the forest. Coming out in the open and seeing darkness on all sides was even more scary than being in the underbrush, and now he could hear all the nightly sounds too.

Vegard thought he could hear sounds all around him - swooshing through the trees, crackling of dry leaves on the ground, soft padding of paws through the grass. He was certain that all the wild animals of the forest would be out now, and he felt himself being followed by invisible stalkers and piercing eyes all around him.

The little boy shivered of both cold and fear, and struggled to keep the tears away. No matter in which direction he shone his light, he could only see tree trunks and bushes, nothing moving. But outside the cone of light, behind him and on the sides, he felt animals moving everywhere around.

At first he couldn't remember which way to go, but then he remembered that they had been running slightly uphill when they followed the squirrel, so he turned to his left and started walking that way.

Suddenly a dog barked somewhere not so far away, and Vegard startled, his breath hitching in panic. Soundlessly he began to run faster and faster, but whether he was running to something or from something, he didn't know. The tears were running down his face now, and small sobs made it hard to breathe when he ran this fast.

Blindly he crashed through the forest, until the ground suddenly dissappeared from under his feet and he fell, rolling down a hill and landing in a pile of dry leaves. He lost the flashlight in the fall, it rolled in front of him and stopped against a tree. Fortunately it didn't stop shining.

With chattering teeth Vegard struggled to catch his breath, and crawled towards the flashlight. When he lifted it up and directed the cone of light to where he had fallen, he recognized the hill he and Bård had slid down earlier that day.

Now he knew where he was. The little cave should be quite nearby. Maybe the bear was close too? The panic clutched at him again, and made him shiver so much that he almost lost hold of the light. He felt like running blindly away, and had to stand still for a minute to pull himself together. Vegard didn't even notice the tears that were streaming down his face or the keening sobs he made, all he knew was that he would have to go near that cave and maybe even crawl into it to find Bunny, and the bear would... maybe... be there too.

The little boy felt sick to his stomach and his pulse was pounding violently in his ears, but he managed to block out the worst of the panic. There was no other way - he HAD to go into that cave.

He could see it in the light from the torch now. The dark gaping maw of the bear cave. Vegard approached carefully, slowly, struggling to control his breath so his sobs wouldn't alarm the bear to his presence. He was painfully aware that the bear could come rushing at him at any moment now, but he couldn't hear anything.

There was the cave opening now - Vegard bent down and shone the light into it and there! There was something white on the floor. It was Bunny! Vegard crawled in and grabbed Bunny and backed quickly out again.

He couldn't hear or see the bear, but he felt he was surrounded by bears now, huge, hungry, snarling beasts with horrible sharp fangs. There was no way Vegard was able to control his panic anymore. Clutching Bunny to his chest and the torch in his hand, he ran, blindly and breathlessly, up the little hill and down on the other side.

Several times he stumbled and fell, scraping his knees and his face and his hands, but he scrambled on his legs again with Bunny and the torch, and continued running. When he reached the underbrush, he crashed through it blindly, staggering and stumbling, and suddenly he was out on the driveway.

By now, Vegard imagined he could feel the warm breath of the bears on his neck and feel them snapping at his heels, and ran over the driveway as fast as his short legs could carry him. He raced up the stairs to the porch, tore open the front door and fell inside, kicking the door closed behind him with a loud BANG.

The little boy was too exhausted to move an inch more. He lay on the carpeted floor, clutching Bunny in his arms and gasped for breath. The tears ran freely now that he didn't have to be brave anymore, and the sobs were long and heaving.

Mom and dad had heard the door bang, and came rushing down the stairs. There they found their young son lying on the floor, panting, gasping, sobbing, exhausted, dirty and wet, bloody and scraped, face full of tears and snot, and clutching Bunny and a lit torch in his little hands.

Vegard was unable to talk, but they understood what had happened. Dad carried him upstairs and into the bathroom, where he and mom removed all his dirty and wet clothes, washed him and tended his bruises. Bunny was wet and full of dirt and leaves, and was put in the washing machine together with the dirty pyjamas.

Vegard protested when Bunny was taken from his arms, because he wanted to give it directly to Bård, but mom told him that Bård was asleep, and it would be better to give him a clean Bunny when he woke up.

When mom and dad had taken care of Vegard in every way he needed, they carried him into their bedroom, and mom sat down on the edge of the bed, taking him on her lap. Dad sat next to them, stroking Vegard's cheek, but looking serious.

"Vegard," mom said with her arms around her son. "Did you really go all the way into the forest to find Bunny?"

"Yes," Vegard mumbled, starting to get tired. "Bunny was in the bear cave. I had to get it before the bear ate it."

Mom looked at dad, who shook his head. "We'll have to find out about that bear," dad said. "Did you say it lived in a cave? How did Bunny end up in there?"

"Bård and I found the cave, and we went in there to see if there was somebody living there. Then the bear came and snarled at us and was very angry, and we had to run. That's when Bård lost Bunny."

Mom nodded at dad. "When I found them in the forest, they were hysterical and unable to explain anything except that a bear had attacked them. If it lived in that cave, it might have been a badger."

"You didn't meet any animals now, did you?" mom asked Vegard.

"No... but I heard them. There were bears everywhere." Vegard shuddered and cuddled closer into mom's arms.

"The badger is out hunting at night," dad mused. "So it wasn't at home when you went in there to get Bunny. I'm glad this went so well after all. But you should never have gone alone, Vegard."

Dad's voice became a little more stern. "Why didn't you tell us that you knew where Bunny was, so I could have looked in the cave when I was out?"

"I didn't remember then. I only remembered after I had gone to bed. I didn't know how to explain where the cave was."

"It was a very brave thing you did," dad said. "But you should have told us that you wanted to go and look for it. You aren't allowed to go to the forest alone. You know that." He looked sternly at his son. "You must never sneak out of the house at night again, without anyone knowing where you are. Promise me that, Vegard!"

Vegard was tired and exhausted, and just couldn't cope with anything more right now. Least of all dad's scolding. His big brown eyes filled with tears that began rolling down his face, and he pressed his face against mom's soft chest and sobbed.

Mom glanced at dad and shook her head. "I'm going to put him to bed now," she said, standing up with the boy in her arms. "He must be exhausted. It's better to give him that talk tomorrow. Not now."

She carried Vegard into the bedroom he shared with his little brother, and laid him gently down in his bed. When she had tucked him in, she sat down on the edge of the bed and stroke Vegard lovingly over his cheeks, drying his tears.

"You are the bravest boy I know, little one. You walked into a cave where you thought it would be a bear, just to get your brother's toy. You must have been scared out of your wits, and still you did it. It was a very brave thing you did for Bård."

Mom leaned down and kissed Vegard on the cheek and hugged him tight. "I'm very proud of you, Vegard. You faced your fear and risked your life for your little brother. Tomorrow you can give Bård his Bunny. Now, try to sleep. Nighty night, sweety."

"Nighty night, mom." Vegard was so tired that his eyes were already falling shut, but his heart swelled. Mom was proud of him! And tomorrow Bård would get Bunny. All was well.

The little boy fell asleep with a smile on his face.