Davey felt around cautiously. “Where are the rabbits?” he whispered.
“In a shoe box, on my dresser,” said Bill.
“Oh,” said Davey, and his disappointment was so evident, even in the dark, that Billy smiled. “I couldn’t have them right here in bed with me,” he explained. “I might roll on them and squash them.”
“Yes, that’s right,” said Davey reluctantly. “Well, good night, Bill. I guess I’ll go back to my own bed now.”
“Hey, hold on. I thought you wanted to sleep with me because you were scared.”
“Well,” Davey admitted, “it was partly that, and partly because I wanted to sleep with the rabbits.”
“Ha! Ha!” Billy laughed. “I thought so.”
“Good night, Davey.”
“Good night, Bill.”
By morning the sky was clear and bright. The ground was littered with broken branches, and sure enough, there was a sort of lagoon formed by the rain water in the low part of the front yard. “Let’s make a raft,” said Janie. “We can use some of those long planks down in front.” After breakfast they started out to play, and Grandma called them back. “You’ll get slivers in your feet if you play barefoot on those planks,” she said. “But we’ll get our shoes wet if we wear them,” said Jane. Grandma looked at them over the top of her glasses. “Ever hear of rubber boots?” she asked. They burrowed into the darkest corner of the clothes closet under the stairway and found some tall rubber boots that had belonged to Grandpa. They were much too large and they made a lovely squashy sound when they walked.