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The June light at the back of the house drew Holly toward it, and she made her way across the floor with Thumper tucked tightly beneath one arm, pausing whenever the stuffed rabbit began to slip and hauling him back against her ribs with both hands. She crossed the room in determined little steps, one hand occasionally finding the wall when her balance shifted, before the broad wash of sunlight near the back door caught her attention completely. She slowed as she reached it, looked down at the bright shape spread over the floor, moved one shoe into the light and then the other, and only after satisfying herself with that small discovery did she raise her head toward the screen.
The garden beyond it seemed to fill her entire view at once, all green grass, scattered shade and the small movements of leaves that caught the sun and released it again. Holly went closer until the toes of her shoes nearly touched the lower frame, then placed one hand against the mesh and stared through it. The screen gave slightly beneath her palm, and the unfamiliar texture distracted her long enough for her to push against it twice, watching the tiny squares distort under her fingers before returning to shape. She rubbed her thumb across the surface, leaned closer until her face was only a few inches away and peered outward through the mesh. Thumper hung lower under her arm during the investigation, one ear trapped against her dress while the other drooped toward the floor, but she did not notice until something white moved across the grass.
The movement was quick enough that Holly's head turned after it a second too late, and she stayed fixed on the place where it had disappeared, her hand flattening harder against the screen. For several seconds there was only grass again, bright and motionless except for the passing tremble of a stem near the border, and then Snowball came back into view with two soft bounds that carried her out from beside the planting and into the open. Holly's whole body settled at once as she watched the little white rabbit lower her head to the grass and begin nosing through it, her floppy ears hanging beside her cheeks and moving lightly whenever she shifted.
Thumper slipped in Holly's grasp and brought her attention down. She pulled him out from under her arm and held him in front of herself with both hands, studying his face for a moment before looking back through the screen. Snowball's nose twitched as she investigated the grass, and Holly looked immediately at Thumper's stitched nose, pressing one fingertip against it. When nothing changed she rubbed it with her thumb, then pushed it once more before her gaze returned to Snowball. The living rabbit lifted her head, nose still moving rapidly, and Holly touched Thumper's again with greater purpose.
Snowball moved a little farther across the lawn, gathering herself and hopping in a short, clean spring that made both floppy ears sway with the motion. Holly bent her knees instinctively and gave a small bounce of her own, enough to jolt Thumper in her hands. She watched Snowball hop again and tried to copy her more deliberately, bending and straightening with greater effort until one shoe lifted before the other and she lurched sideways into the screen. Her palm caught her, and after a brief glance down at her feet she immediately returned her attention to the garden, where Snowball had stopped once more. Holly looked at Thumper, raised him in both hands and moved him through a short arc so that his feet touched the mesh before lifting him again, and when Snowball bounded forward another time she repeated the motion with greater confidence, sending Thumper after her in a clumsy little imitation.
The difference in the ears became more interesting as Snowball changed direction and the soft folds swung against the sides of her face. Holly lowered Thumper and took one of his ears between her fingers, pulling it down toward his cheek before looking outside to compare. Snowball's ears rested there naturally, broad and soft and loose, while Thumper's only stayed in place for as long as Holly held them. She released the fabric and watched it shift away from where she had put it, then caught it again and pressed it down with greater determination. When that still failed to look quite right she tried the other ear, smoothing it against his face and turning him sideways so that she could examine the result from another angle, but the moment Snowball moved again both of Holly's hands loosened and Thumper's ears returned to their usual shape.
Snowball's next series of hops carried her across the grass toward the side of the garden, and Holly followed along the screen with one palm sliding over the mesh while Thumper was tucked back under her other arm. Her steps quickened as the rabbit moved, and she had to correct herself twice when one foot crossed awkwardly in front of the other. Snowball disappeared behind a low patch of planting, and Holly stopped so suddenly that Thumper swung against her side. She leaned toward the screen, shifted to one side, then the other, and craned around the edge of the frame as far as she could, her cheek nearly brushing the mesh while she searched the last place the rabbit had been.
When Snowball reappeared farther along the garden Holly rocked backward with such immediate delight that she nearly sat down, then steadied herself and lifted Thumper toward the screen. She moved him through the air in two quick little hops, turned him in the direction Snowball was facing and held him there until the rabbit changed course again. Whenever Snowball moved, Holly moved Thumper with her; whenever Snowball stopped, Thumper was held still; whenever Snowball turned, Holly rotated the toy to match. The pattern became more assured with every repetition.
Snowball settled near a patch of clover and lowered her head, and Holly dropped into a squat on the other side of the screen to watch more closely. She placed Thumper on the floor beside her and tried to sit him upright, but the stuffed body tipped to one side as soon as she let go. Holly righted him, pressed him more firmly into place and removed her hand with exaggerated care, only to see him slump forward and roll again. She looked through the screen at Snowball, who sat neatly gathered over her hind legs with her front paws close together, then returned to Thumper and attempted to arrange him in the same shape. She folded his legs beneath him, tucked one paw inward, then the other, and held his body until she thought the position might stay, but the moment she released him he sagged into her knee. Holly stared at him for a second, then gathered him up and hugged him to her chest.
Snowball raised one forepaw and drew it over her face, and Holly loosened her hold on Thumper, lifted one of his soft paws and pressed it against his nose, then dragged it awkwardly across his face while watching the rabbit repeat the grooming movement outside. She tried again with the other paw, then bent Thumper forward when Snowball lowered herself toward her chest, folding his body so far that his nose touched his stomach. She straightened him only to fold him once more, testing the movement with both hands before a shift in Snowball's posture drew her back. The rabbit stretched out along the grass, lengthening through the body before settling again, and Holly immediately seized Thumper beneath the arms and pulled upward. When he remained exactly the same length she looked from him to Snowball and back again.
Snowball moved, exposing the shape of her hind legs before tucking herself back into place, and Holly lifted one of Thumper's feet, squeezed it, then took the other. She turned him around in her lap and discovered his tail, pressing it between thumb and forefinger before leaning toward the screen to search for Snowball's. The angle was wrong at first, so Holly shifted her whole body sideways, bracing one hand on the floor and craning until the little white tail outside came into view. She looked back at Thumper's, rubbed it again, then held him with his back toward the garden.
Snowball eventually began moving toward the house, and the change drew Holly upright so quickly that she had to catch herself against the screen. The rabbit came closer in a series of short, unhurried hops, her nose working against the grass as she approached, and Holly lifted Thumper to chest height and held him out in front of herself. With every hop Snowball took, Holly raised the toy a little higher, until his feet brushed the mesh and his face pointed directly toward the garden. When Snowball stopped only a few feet away, Holly lowered Thumper just enough to see over the top of his head and studied her.
The white fur around Snowball's chest caught the sunlight softly, and the dark gleam of her eyes stood out against the brightness of her face. Her whiskers moved with each twitch of her nose, and her floppy ears framed her cheeks. Holly pulled Thumper back toward herself, touched one of his eyes, then the other, and returned to his nose once more. She pressed his face against the screen and rubbed the stitched nose over the mesh while Snowball took another small hop forward. Holly lowered herself carefully until her face was almost level with Snowball's.
She crouched with Thumper across her knees and watched Snowball's nose twitch, then wrinkled her own. The first attempt involved most of her face, her upper lip lifting and her eyes narrowing slightly with the effort, and when Snowball continued as before Holly tried again. This time the movement was smaller. She touched her own nose with one finger, looked at Snowball, then touched Thumper's.
Snowball shifted her head and one floppy ear swung gently forward. Holly immediately brought her hand to the side of her own face, ran her fingers over her ear and then grabbed Thumper's. She pressed the soft fabric against her cheek and looked outside, comparing the position with Snowball's before adjusting it lower. For a few seconds she held the toy's ear against herself, then moved it back against Thumper's face instead. Each time she folded his ears downward one of them shifted away, and each time she corrected one the other escaped, until she ended up squeezing the toy awkwardly between her forearms while trying to keep both ears against his cheeks with her fingers.
Snowball scratched at the grass, and Holly abandoned the ear problem instantly. She watched the quick work of the rabbit's front paws, then scraped her own fingertips over the floor. When Snowball scratched again Holly repeated the motion more vigorously, first against the floor and then against the lower part of the screen, dragging her nails down the mesh until they caught briefly. She pulled her hand free, inspected her fingers and pressed the palm flat again. Snowball had already returned to nosing the ground, and Holly followed that movement with her gaze until the rabbit settled back on her haunches.
Holly sat down with both legs stretched toward the door and rested Thumper upright in her lap, one arm curled around his middle to stop him falling. Snowball remained outside, moving through small tasks of her own, nibbling at the grass, grooming, pausing to look toward the house and occasionally shifting position so that the floppy ears changed shape against her face. Holly watched, stroking Thumper's ear between her fingers without looking down at it and turning him slightly whenever Snowball moved beyond his line of sight.
At one point Snowball shook herself, sending a ripple through the white fur and making both ears flap outward before settling again. Holly's eyes widened and she seized Thumper in both hands, shaking him with enough enthusiasm that his ears flew across his face and one paw struck lightly against her wrist. She stopped, checked Snowball, then shook him again. This time one ear folded over his nose, and Holly carefully smoothed it back before giving him a gentler shake.
Snowball came nearer to the screen again, and Holly shifted from sitting onto her knees. She placed both hands against the mesh and leaned forward while the rabbit approached the lower edge of the door, sniffing along the grass and the base of the frame. Holly lowered herself until she was almost on her stomach, Thumper trapped beneath one elbow, and then pulled him free without taking her eyes off Snowball. From that low angle the rabbit's face seemed enormous. Holly could see the whiskers tremble, the tiny movement of the mouth and the soft fold of one ear where it lay against the side of Snowball's head.
She lifted one finger and placed it carefully against the screen. Snowball turned toward the movement, and Holly held her hand still. The rabbit's nose came closer until only the mesh separated it from Holly's fingertip. Holly pressed the pad of her finger lightly into the mesh and kept it there while Snowball sniffed. When the rabbit shifted her head Holly followed with the smallest movement she could manage, tracing along the screen beside the curve of Snowball's cheek and then down toward one floppy ear.
Thumper came back into Holly's hand and she brought him toward the screen, positioning his face beside her own fingers. Snowball sniffed in his direction, and Holly pushed the stuffed rabbit forward until his nose touched the mesh, then watched as Snowball's nose approached from the other side. The two faces lined up imperfectly through the tiny squares while Holly held them together, her thumb stroking Thumper's back whenever Snowball shifted.
She moved him left, then right, then held him still when Snowball paused. One of Thumper's ears had risen away from his face again, and Holly reached toward it, stopped, and looked back at Snowball's soft drooping ears. Her hand settled instead on Thumper's back.
Snowball sprang away without warning, and Holly rocked backward in surprise, clutching Thumper against her chest. The rabbit bounded several feet across the lawn before stopping and turning, while Holly remained seated by the screen with both arms wrapped around the toy. When Snowball began to move again in a loose curve through the grass Holly lowered Thumper into her lap and started making him hop after her, little arcs from one knee to the other, his feet touching her dress before lifting again.
Snowball passed behind the shrubs and Holly waited, holding Thumper across her thighs and looking toward the place where the white shape had vanished. Her hand moved slowly over the toy's back, and when Snowball reappeared farther along the yard Holly turned Thumper toward her and resumed the game.
Snowball hopped once, and Holly made Thumper hop once. The rabbit stopped to nibble at the grass, and Holly pressed the toy's nose against her knee. Snowball stretched forward, and Holly folded Thumper gently across her lap. When the rabbit shifted her ears Holly's fingers brushed over the fabric of his, but she left them where they fell.
Another burst of movement sent Snowball racing across the yard, and Holly scrambled to her feet to follow along the screen. She toddled sideways with one hand brushing the mesh, Thumper swinging from the other, and when Snowball changed direction Holly attempted to turn just as quickly. Her feet tangled beneath her and she dropped onto her bottom, sending Thumper tumbling a short distance across the floor.
Holly looked down at him, then immediately reached out and dragged him back by one leg. She gathered him into her lap, straightened one folded ear and checked his face with a quick touch before looking outside again. Snowball had stopped on the grass and was facing the house. Holly remained seated where she had fallen, holding Thumper against her stomach, and Snowball lowered her head while Holly settled more comfortably.
The race had flushed Holly's cheeks and loosened wisps of hair around her face, and as her breathing steadied she shifted one leg beneath herself and leaned lightly against the frame of the door. Snowball began grooming again, and Holly simply watched, her thumb rubbing idly over Thumper's ear while the rabbit's paw moved over her face. Sunlight shifted across the grass, leaving one side of Snowball bright and the other softened by a thin edge of shade, while the movement of the leaves beyond her cast little changes of light across the ground.
Holly stroked Thumper's back, then his ear, then his little tail, while Snowball stretched out in the grass and let one floppy ear lie along the ground. When Snowball rose and began moving toward the screen again, Holly straightened and brought Thumper upright in her lap while the rabbit approached in several slow hops. Snowball reached the lower edge of the door, and Holly leaned forward and placed one hand against the mesh, leaving the other wrapped around Thumper's middle.
The rabbit sniffed near her fingers, and Holly wrinkled her nose in a smaller imitation than before. Snowball remained close enough for Holly to see every shift of her whiskers. Holly touched her own nose, then Thumper's, then returned her hand to the screen. Her fingertip settled opposite Snowball's nose once more, and when the rabbit leaned in Holly brought Thumper forward beside it. She held the stuffed rabbit there without pressing his ears down or arranging him differently.
Snowball sniffed toward him and then turned slightly, one floppy ear swinging with the movement. Holly watched the ear, glanced down at Thumper's and stroked it once from base to tip. Snowball eventually bounded away again, but Holly stayed at the bottom of the screen with Thumper resting across her lap, turning him now and then so that his face followed the white shape through the garden.
When Snowball went left, Holly rotated him left, and when she crossed back toward the right he followed more slowly. Snowball disappeared behind the planting once more, and Holly waited with one hand resting on Thumper's back. When the rabbit came out again Holly smiled and lifted him a little higher, then made him hop once against her knees as Snowball crossed the open grass.
Holly leaned one shoulder against the frame and held Thumper securely in both hands while Snowball paused beneath a patch of sunlight. One of Snowball's ears shifted as she lowered her head, and Holly's fingers found Thumper's in response, smoothing the fabric almost absentmindedly. Snowball hopped once, and Holly lifted Thumper in a small matching arc. The rabbit hopped again, and the stuffed rabbit followed. After the third movement Snowball stopped and settled back into the grass, and Holly stopped too, resting Thumper across her thighs.
She stayed there watching the garden, touching Thumper's nose now and then or stroking one of his ears whenever Snowball shifted her head or bounded to another patch of grass. Snowball moved through the sunlight with her ears swaying softly beside her face, and Holly held Thumper close across her lap, following every movement with bright, fixed attention.