Penny had been looking forward to the picnic all week…
She had packed a basket full of goodies, chosen a lovely spot beneath an oak tree, and invited all her friends. She wanted everything to be just right.
She was carefully spreading out the picnic blanket when Charley shouted, “STOP!”
Penny froze. Charley was staring at an ant crawling through the grass.
“Don’t worry, Penny. I’ll take care of it.”
He planted himself between Penny and the ant, puffed out his chest and growled. The ant disappeared beneath a leaf.
Penny thanked him and went back to her blanket. She had just straightened one corner when a butterfly fluttered past. Charley lunged at it, landing squarely in the middle of the blanket and scattering the cushions she’d arranged so carefully.
“Charley, please!” Penny cried. “Everyone will be here soon!”
Charley looked at the cushions, then at Penny’s worried face.“Sorry, Penny. I’ll help you.”
He gathered up the cushions and arranged them in a neat pile. Penny smiled gratefully and began laying out the food.
Then Charley noticed something moving in the bushes.
He leapt across the blanket, knocked over the basket and sent sandwiches flying in every direction.
“CHARLEY!” Penny shouted.
A small rabbit emerged from the bushes, sniffed at a fallen sandwich and hopped away.
Charley stood proudly between Penny and the retreating rabbit.
“It’s all right,” he said. “You’re safe now.”
Penny looked at the ruined picnic. Charley looked at Penny, then at the sandwiches scattered across the grass.
He sat down beside her, picked up a rather squashed sandwich and handed it to her.
They sat together in silence, eating sandwiches with bits of grass stuck on them and surveying the wreckage.
Then Charley noticed a wasp.
