"In the yard, in a hutch." John's eager face began to shut down. He glanced at Mandy and James, who hung back outside. "They wouldn't be any trouble, honest!"

"And what happens when you're away at school? Who would you get to feed them then?" Mr. Hardy pushed open the inner door with his foot. He balanced the plates carefully. "And keep them clean? And make sure they get some exercise?" He waited a second for John to see his point.

Mandy sighed. She'd feared this was going to happen.

"But, Dad, it doesn't take long. They're very easy to look after. Aren't they, Mandy?"

She nodded, but she could see they were fighting a losing battle. Button and Barney would have to spend more time in the pet shop until another kindly owner came along.

"See — Mandy knows! And I've already paid for them, Dad. I can't back out now!"

Mandy looked at James. She could tell his heart had sunk as low as hers. John was in for another big disappointment.

"Look, can we talk about this some other time?" Mr. Hardy was beginning to frown. He hopped and wobbled on one foot, struggling to keep his balance. Then Sara opened the door from the far side. She stopped short, immediately sensing that something was wrong.

"I need to know right away!" John persisted. "Rabbits are my main project for science this year. I'll be at home for the whole summer to look after them. And I can come back for more weekends and vacations. You'll hardly have to do anything!"

"That's what you say now, and it's all very well. But just you wait, it'd be me looking after them most of the time. I'd bet a lot of money on it!"

"Honestly, Dad! Listen, they're fantastic, aren't they, Mandy? They're brown all over and really friendly. They need a good home; they're getting bored cooped up in the pet shop all day long. I want to look after them!"

Mr. Hardy sighed. "Listen, once and for all, John. I said no! It's not practical. So you'll just have to go straight back to the shop and get your money back!" He marched on through the door. It was his final word.

Sara hovered nervously, just inside the kitchen door. She peered into John's face. "Never mind. Let me talk to him, see what I can do."

Mandy noticed that John, who was quite small himself, easily reached Sara's shoulder. She was a shy, bright, birdlike woman.

"If you leave it a day or two, perhaps I can get him to come around," she suggested.

John hung his head. He was silent.

Oh, no! Mandy thought. She half expected to see John rush off again.

But he kept his head low and stood there thinking. "It wouldn't do any good," he said at last.

"How do you know? You could let me try at least." Sara spoke gently, pushing her loose hair back behind her ears.

"What for?" he demanded. He looked her straight in the eye. "Do you like rabbits, or something?"

Sara's face broke into a smile. "As a matter of fact, yes! I had some myself when I was a kid!"

"Hmm," John scuffed at the table let. He hung his head again, then sighed. "No thanks, don't bother."

Mandy frowned. She wanted to shake some common sense into him, but she knew how upset he must be.

"Why not? Since I am going to be living here after the wedding, I could easily take care of a couple of little rabbits when you're away. No problem!"

"They won't always be little!" John broke in scornfully. "They'll grow. And anyway, I said no thanks!"

"Okay," Sara backed off, ready to retreat into the bar.

"Anyway, you'd never be able to persuade him. You don't know my dad like I do. Once he's made up his mind, he never changes it!" He gave her a haughty look, back to his old buttoned-up self. "Come on, James, you haven't seen the latest photographs. Have you got five minutes to come up and have a look?" He went off, quietly accepting his father's decision.

Mandy shot a wide-eyed look in Sara's direction.

"Time for juice?" Sara asked.

Mandy nodded. John was hard to figure out. What had happened to his bubbly excitement over Button and Barney? He seemed just to have swallowed it as he led James up the narrow stairs.

"I'm not getting any better at it, am I?" Sara sighed and stared out through the back door. Tiny pink and white flowers framed their view of the old-fashioned walled yard. "Julian and I get married in June, during John's vacation, but I'm beginning to think he'll even refuse to show up for the wedding!"

"I just think it takes a long time to get to know him," Mandy admitted.

"If ever!" Sara sighed again and shrugged.

"What ever happened to his mom?" Mandy asked. As far back as she could remember, there had always been just John and his dad at the Fox and the Goose.

"It was very sad. She was badly injured in a car crash. She was unconscious in the hospital for five months, then she died."

Mandy greeted the news in silence.

Sara continued in a slow, quiet voice. "From what your mom has told me about it, Julian and John got quite a lot of money from the insurance firm after the crash. It helps pay John's school fees and so on. But of course it never made up for losing his mom."

Mandy nodded. She felt tears come to her eyes, hot and shining. "My biological mom and dad were killed in a car crash," she said at last. " I was adopted. I was only a baby when it happened, so I don't remember."

"So was John. In fact the crash happened before he was born. He was lucky to survive."

Mandy nodded. Now she understood much more about John's moods, his long silences, his serious gaze. "Does he like his school?" she asked, trying to find something good to say about the whole sad situation.

But Sara shook her head. "Not much. It's because Julian has to work all hours at the pub; he feels John gets a better deal away at Grange. And between you and me, I think poor John feels a bit guilty about not liking school as much as he should. After all, it was his mother's death that paid for it."

Mandy nodded and sighed. "Yes, poor John."

She felt Sara give her a quick hug and saw her brush a forefinger across her own lashes.

"Never mind, perhaps things will work out in the end," Sara said quietly as James and John came back downstairs.

John gave her a cool stare and walked on out of the house. "I'm on my way to High Cross. Does anyone feel like coming along?" he said to James and Mandy in his distant, couldn't-care-less way.