Corrigan watched as his plans started taking place. He watched Ronald Rifferty climb the large tree with a rope in his mouth. It was firmly secured and then made into a trap so that when Lester stepped onto a loop of rope on the path, it would tighten around his leg and pull him up into the tree. Then Sneaky’s part was to sneak up into the tree, climb down the rope and inject Lester with deadly poison. Their problems would be solved with Lester out of the picture. Bobby Brown’s part in this picture was a safety measure. He was to carefully observe and if the primary plan didn’t work, Bobby would simply have a rabbit dinner. This trap was set up on the trail Lester would take to get to the garden so that Nogdorf, who came from the other direction, wouldn’t be the one to get caught.
Corrigan felt really good about their plan and preparations. His plans always worked because he put so much effort into making them, so he felt confident that Lester would be out of the way soon.
Lester had gone home, apprehensively, wondering how his wife would react to the cookie medicine. Right before bedtime, Lester asked his wife, “Bonita, because that was her name, Bonita, I have a surprise for you.”
“Oh I love surprises, Lester. What kind of surprise is it?”
“Bonita, as soon as you get the kids in bed, come to our room for a special snack.”
Lester went to the kitchen and made his wife a nice cup of rose hips tea to go with her cookie. He was so anxious to find out if this was going to work. The whole neighborhood had been talking about all of the beheaded mice and who was committing such a bloodthirsty crime and just yesterday the titmouse family had moved out of the area to protect themselves. Hopefully, this cookie would help her sleep and prevent her from going out tonight.
Lester fluffed up Bonita’s pillows and turned back her covers in preparation for her snack. When Bonita came into the room, she remarked, “Oh, Lester, you are so thoughtful. What kind of snack did you fix for me?”
Lester sat her down on the bed, after she put on her nighty and put a tray on her lap. There was a pretty rose in a bud vase, a flowered plate with her cookie on it and a steaming cup of rose hips tea. “Honey, I hope you enjoy it,” he said.
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He watched as she practically inhaled the cookie and then said, “What an unusual flavor. I like that spice, whatever it is.” She took her time sipping the tea and after every sip, took the rose out of the vase and sniffed it. After she finished her snack, she looked like she was thinking about getting up again, so Lester thought quickly and told her he wanted to read her a story.
Bonita exclaimed, “Oh, I love stories. You are so good to me, Lester. This is like being on our honeymoon again.”
Lester grabbed a book and started reading to her to help her fall asleep. He figured that once she was asleep, she probably would be too relaxed to get up again. Bonita, listening, got a big smile on her face. She was visibly relaxing. One of the bunnies started crying and Bonita said, “What is that sound? Is there an airplane going overhead?”
Lester said, “It’s ok dear. It will pass soon. Just relax.” So she did.
Bonita sat up and said, “Oh, Lester, I am so hungry. Could I have a few more cookies?” Lester didn’t know if she could handle more than one cookie, because Nogdorf had shown him the importance of giving out doses of medicine. Plus, there was the issue of if she consumed all of the cookies he had saved out from Nora’s medicine, he would have to make more cookies for the next few nights for Bonita, while Nogdorf was researching permanent cures for her. He would not be able to get all of that done in one day. Why, there was the hike to the sweet garden, picking the sticky buds, cooking them and then 4 hours of boiling them in the butter and water. Then the mixture would need to sit overnight, before he cooked the cookies. No, he would have to offer her something else and save the other two cookies for the next couple of nights.
“Honey, I don’t have anymore cookies for you tonight, but I can make you a nice sandwich, if that is ok.”
“Sure Lether, what kind of summich? Why spinning? The room is going….round. Hungry, spinning, happy.” And with that she fell asleep.
Lester breathed out a sigh of relief. He went to the kitchen to make a sandwich for later, in case she woke up again and was still hungry. He was so glad this was working. Walking back to the bedroom, he was still congratulating himself, when he saw the empty bed. Lester looked under the bed, on the other side of it and then in the bunnies’ room. Bonita was gone. “Oh, no, Bonita is under the influence of strong medicine. Where did she go?”
