Rainbow Garden by Patricia St. John

Author:Patricia St. John [St. John, Patricia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Moody Publishers
Published: 1960-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

* Revelation 3:4.

12

Philippa Comes Home

Next morning the mail arrived during breakfast, and there was a letter from Mrs. Thomas, Philippa’s mother, saying they were coming home again on Wednesday and asking Mrs. Owen to find help to get the house ready. This caused a great deal of excitement among the children, for Philippa was a friend of theirs and had done everything with them before her illness.

I knew all about Philippa too. She lived in the house belonging to my garden and had caught polio just a year ago. She had been very ill indeed, and, although she was much better, her legs remained partly paralyzed. Her father was in the navy and was usually away, and Philippa had been in a special hospital learning to walk again while her mother stayed nearby.

“Can Philippa walk again?” asked Janet eagerly.

“Only a very little, with crutches,” answered Mrs. Owen sadly, “but of course she may still go on getting better. Poor Philippa! We must do all we can to give her a big welcome, and you must show her that you still want to play with her.”

Everyone around the table was happy and excited except me, for I was feeling very uncomfortable. Johnny and Francie planned to fill the room with flowers, and Janet said she was going to make some sweets. Peter wanted to make Philippa a little bedside table, if his father would find him some wood. Mr. Owen thought this was a very good idea, and they went off together to see what could be done about it.

Robin decided to lend her Jumbo for a while, which was a real sacrifice.

Peter suddenly hurled himself into the room, breathless with excitement, with Janet behind him.

“My rabbits, Mum!” he cried. “They’ve had babies! She’s pulled all the fur off her tummy and made a nest in the closed half of the hutch. Do come and see—no, not you, Elaine and Robin—one at a time. The father eats them if too many people look at them.”

“You’ll have to take the father away and put him by himself, Peter,” said Mr. Owen, coming in. “They often kill their babies if you leave them in the hutch. Just let Mummy and Elaine have a peep, and then give the mother a good feed of bran and dandelions and leave her alone.”

I seized Mrs. Owen’s hand and we tiptoed to the hutch, Robin hiding behind us. Very carefully Peter opened the door just a crack, and we saw a mass of white fur. In the middle was a pink mass of squirming, squeaking baby rabbits.

“How many?” I whispered.

“Don’t know,” answered Peter softly. “They all seem stuck together, and I don’t like to touch them to count. We’ll leave them alone for a day or two till she gets used to them. Dad, instead of a bedside table, could I make a new rabbit hutch? Then Philippa could have two baby rabbits; she could have them by the bed, and they’d be good company.”

“I don’t know what Mrs.

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