I watched out the window as the Mare left down the path towards the community. Taking a breath, I waved a paw at my team, and they took off to their positions.

I smirked as our plan went into action. Every year on her birthday, the Mare brought home the remains of a cake. Of all the food she ever brought home to the cottage, that cake was the one thing she never shared with us, her devotees. She said it was for our diets, but what did that matter? Each one of us could smell the creamy strawberry frosting and warm, spongy flesh of that confection. It nearly drove us mad every year!

Once I had endeavored to have at the cake when she was upstairs. The first taste was so unbelievable it knocked me off the countertop and into an open cupboard full of pots and pans. The noise brought the Mare running, and she found me dazed and with frosting on my paw.

I served my sentence proudly, for I had tasted perfection. I would not be denied it again.

Unfortunately, after that the Mare took to locking her cake away in the kitchen when she left, and in the years since then I had hardly caught a glimpse of it.

No longer!

I knew I could not accomplish my goal alone, but there were several others in the cottage that shared my ambitions. I had built a team, and when this year’s cake had arrived, we were ready.



Robin was our eye in the sky, following the Mare as she went into town and ready to warn us when she started for home. He was such a sap. His job was arguably the most important, and yet he had only asked for a few crumbs’ share of the prize. I could afford him that much. He was a low-risk, low-cost asset, and I was lucky to have him.

Spider was our key into the kitchen. She promised she could pick the lock, but as far as I knew she had never even expressed interest in the cake itself. Perhaps it was just the shift of her eyes, but something about her didn’t seem right. I didn’t trust her, but I needed her.

Retrieving the package was my job, naturally. Ferret would give me a boost onto the counter, then he and Raccoon would help me lower the cake to the floor, where the three of us would carry it away to safety.

Ferret was dumb as a brick. I tricked him into agreeing to a half share, and Raccoon was the only one that noticed. He just smiled and let it happen, though. He was clever, the only one I truly worried might try something. He wasn’t clever enough for me, though. I would be ready either way.

Of course, there wasn’t enough cake for every creature in the cottage, so someone needed to keep them away until the cake was hidden. That responsibility went to Squirrel, who assured us with almost disturbing intensity that he could keep them distracted. I didn’t like to think about what he had in mind, but I didn’t doubt he was capable.

Once we were out of the kitchen, we needed somewhere to keep the prize safe and divide it. It was with great reluctance that I had gone to Beaver about that. The dirty fleabag demanded a double share for the use of his den, but I didn’t have many other options.

None of that really mattered, though, because none of them would actually get anything out of it. The plan went smoothly until I got up onto the counter. I turned around and waved smugly to Raccoon, then dove right into the cake.

Raccoon chittered in outrage as I stuffed my cheeks with strawberry frosting. It’s no use, Raccoon! Soon the evidence will be safely hidden out the window behind a bush, and you can’t touch me without condemning yourself to the Mare! I win!

It was then that I heard a smug chirp from the open window. I paused in my gorging and looked up.

Robin?

MARE!

The Mare herself was there at the window, looking down at me with fury in her stare.

Traitorous bird! What did she offer you? How long have you planned this?

“You’ve been a very bad bunny, Angel.”

I lose.

From the safety of the living room, I heard Raccoon’s laughter.