'Of all the damn things to happen-'

'What?' Zach yelled, unable to work out what his boss was saying.

Hilton flushed red and then began ushering visitors outside.

The lad had half expected his boss to hold everyone in the museum but was pleasantly surprised, so much so that he almost ignored a pleading visitor.

'I said, where's the fire?'

'There isn't one. It's-'

'Fire!'

A half dozen people bolted toward the doorway, kicking and splashing as they strived to reach safety.

'Dammit... There's no fire. Please, stay calm.'

'Stay calm?!' another visitor demanded. 'We're about to become barbeque brisket, and you're just stood there.'

'Nobody's getting barbequed because there's no fire! Now please, just walk.'

'All clear?' Hilton asked of a harried-looking Lana.

'What?'

'Are we all clear?'

'Oh,' Lana answered with a shrug. 'As far as I can tell.'

'Good. Now let's get out there and-'

The fire alarms suddenly silenced, and Zach poked at his ear. The ringing wouldn't go away, though.

'Thank you, momma.'

Lana had scarcely spoken the words before there came the beating of a drum. And after several quick thuds, a familiar voice boomed. 'Bunny Hop! Bunny Hop! Come and see who ends up on top!'

'Loftus?'

The big man glanced over his shoulder to grin like a wolf. Then he was singing again. 'Bop, Bop, Bop, come try your luck at the Bunny Hop!'

The lad couldn't believe his eyes or ears. 'Has he ever done this before?'

'No, never. But it's bloody working.'

At first, only a couple of visitors were intrigued, then as cheers erupted from somewhere nearby, everybody followed the drum-beating madman.

Zach was also itching to see what was happening, but he was at work. And so he pursed his lips, deliberately not looking at the Manager.

Hilton noticed. 'You can go. Just find out what kind of job they've done with the so-called Bunny Hop. And who knows, you might even find your parents.'

'What about you?'

Hilton gestured at the museum entrance. 'I need to make sure this place looks passable if the Fire Brigade does come.'

Zach said no more and started walking. And as he moved, the sunlight burst from behind the scattered cloud cover.

He tried using his hand to shield his eyes, but the gaps between his fingers made it somewhat pointless.

'Well done. Now, who's next for the Bunny Hop?'

Zach had only to follow the big man's voice to know where they were. Of course, the clustered visitors were also a dead giveaway.

The field next to the road wasn't far from the museum, and the gates had been peeled back to form a pen. Zach hardly recognised the place.

Red banners and baby-blue bunting draped over the otherwise plain wood fencing. And colourfully coated Llamas patrolled the far corner of the pen, with Amy standing next to them. She, too, wore bunny ears, but unlike Loftus, she held a glistening bucket in one hand and a clipboard in the other.

In a matter of minutes, the duo had created a petting zoo, not to mention the game Loftus had already coined 'The Bunny Hop.'

'Not the back!' Yelled Amy, reaching for her shoe. 'Read the sign, kid! You'll piss them off if you pet them anywhere but the neck.'

The child's carer had been listening despite talking to someone on her phone. 'Get a life. My nephew can pet the thing wherever he wants.'

'You know what,' Amy shook the bucket so hard the loose change rattled inside. 'Be my guest. But, if he gets his arm ripped off, it's on him.'

Zach quickly ducked. In no way did he want to be associated with his colleague. Of course, he instantly regretted his decision.

'What the hell are you doing? Hey, Martha, this bloke's trying to sniff your arse.'

In the lad's haste to hide, he'd not noticed the wall of denim standing before him. Martha was clad head to toe in blue. Yes, she even wore a blue baseball cap, washed-out and holed.

And when she stuck her leg out, Zach didn't know what to think. Then there was a rumble like thunder.

In the silence that followed, there came a stench like no other. The putrid smell clung to the lad even as he dashed away, and glancing back with tear-wracked eyes, he spotted Martha with her hands on her lips, looking proud.

'Bunny Hop, Bunny Hop, who's next for the Bunny Hop?'

'Over here.'

Zach spun at the sound of his mother and squeezed his way to the front of the crowd.

Loftus chuckled. 'Three times. You must be a pro by now, Mrs Garrett.'

She pointed to the wooden stool next to the man, baring a look of fierce determination. 'I'll win that stuffed rabbit even if it kills me.'

Loftus clapped his hands. 'Let's make it interesting then. Where's your husband?'

Unwilling to back down from the challenge, Mrs Garrett dragged Stephen in front of the masses.

'On his back at the count of one.'

'This is going to end badly.'

Mrs Garrett punched her husband's arm and crouched, ready.

'One!'

On the big man's mark, she jumped. Mr Garrett caught one leg but missed the other as he hopped into the center of the first rubber tire.

It was too late for him to fix his mistake, so he leaped again, only this time with his wife dangling upside down.

'Well, isn't this a new one for the Bunny Hop?'

Zach felt embarrassed, but still, he couldn't turn away. 'Come on! You've got this.'

With the next jump, Mr. Garrett tripped, and his wife's face struck rubber.

'Better luck next time,' Loftus announced, already dragging the pair from the obstacle course. 'Who's next for the Bunny Hop?'

'Not us.' Mr Garrett wheezed with a stern look at his wife.

'Well, you two look like crap.'

Zach's mother smiled at the sight of him, but instead of hurling a comeback, she grabbed the lad and sent him stumbling into Loftus' arms.

'My son wants to do the Bunny Hop blindfolded. What do you say?'

Loftus swiftly pulled an old crumb-covered cloth from his back pocket and began to fold it. 'I say let him hop.'

Zach stood, frozen with his stomach doing somersaults. And if waiting for Loftus to yell 'one' wasn't enough of a torment, the visitors began to chant.

'Let him hop! Let him hop! Let him hop!'

Suddenly, the rough-textured rag slid across the lad's face to cover his eyes, and he knew that only a few seconds lay between him and total embarrassment. His turn had come.