Egg O was very grumpy. The quest for footwear had been fruitless, he wanted red sparkly shoes or nothing. He rolled his eyes and refused to speak.

Everyone else  had a lot to say about the Opera Hat.

The rabbits declared that long ago they had been pulled out of a hat, but no-one believed them.

Doll Splinter said that the Opera Hat was perfect for the theatre but hard hats were the best thing if you wanted to do daring things.

The clowns said that the Opera Hat was perfect but silly hats that wobbled were best if you wanted to ride a crazy bike and the monkeys agreed with that.

Then the rabbits said that in their experience Opera Hats were always magic so why not tap it and see?

“Tap it!” yelled Egg O suddenly,”Why not squash it!”

Doll Splinter took charge. She found a little stick and waved it over the hat while the clowns and the monkeys shouted “Abracadabra!”

Egg O pretended not to but he watched from the corner of his eye.

And then,there was a little flash and a big  bang and the hat disappeared and there, side by side on the floor was a pair of red, sparkly tap shoes with lovely ribbons!

The rabbits looked pleased with themselves and said: “We told you so!”

“You were right!” said Doll Splinter.

And Egg O’s eyes nearly popped out of his head!