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Authors: Michael J. Daley

Rat Trap (16 page)

BOOK: Rat Trap
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Rat looked around the tidy room. Boring without the mess. Without the boy. When would he come back?

The loudspeaker crackled. The captain announced, “Attention, all personnel. Station lockdown is now over. Situation … ah … normal. And people, eat a piece of cheese to honor that rat!”

Cheese would be nice. Had the boy left any in their secret stash? Rat checked the drawer in the desk. There was one cookie: peanut butter, jumbo size. Dragging it onto the desk, she munched greedily, eager to find a peanut chunk. Crumbs dropped onto the perfectly clean carpet. Rat stared at them. Inspiration struck. She jumped on the cookie.

Jump, jump, jump
.

Crumbs scattered everywhere. Onto the keyboard. The chair. The perfectly clean carpet. Picking a peanut bit from between the keys, Rat shaved it into thin explosions of deliciousness.

She ran up the cubbies, kicking books and toys out. A jump onto the chessboard sent pieces flying. The hurt paw collapsed, tossing Rat into the laundry drawer. She shook her head in disbelief—piles and piles of neatly folded clothes! Wrestling a T-shirt into a ball, she rolled onto her back and launched it into the room with a kick from both hind feet.

Tap-tap-tap
,

tap-a-tap-a-tap-tap
.

The boy!

He came in and froze. “What the heck is going on?”

Rat hurled herself onto his shoulder. Pushing through the pain, she ran down his front, across his back, around and around, her sharp toenails making
snick-snick
sounds as they clung to his jumpsuit.

The boy collapsed onto his knees, pleading, “Oh, Rat! Stop—tickles—oh—oh, please!”

Rat stopped.

Recovering his breath, the boy said, “Let me see that tail.”

Rat let him inspect it, but she signed, “Will grow back.”

“I suppose it might.” The boy brought out the first-aid kit and, with a gentle touch, cleaned up the wound. He was quiet and thoughtful as he worked.

When he finished putting on a tidier bandage, he said, “Dr. Vivexian broke the truce. So you don't have to keep it either. That's fair. I'm really mad at Dad for coming up with the idea. I think he planned to turn you over to that league thing even
before
Dr. Vivexian got here.”

“Scientists,” Rat signed. “But do not worry. Rat has a plan.”

“Really? What?”

Rat hesitated. Was this the right time to share her last secret with the boy?

“Peek-a-boo, I see you two!” The machine's voice burst from the intercom with singsong exuberance. “Sunshine, sunshine, sunshine. LB guessed your word. Do you want to know how? LB will tell you. LB found all the eight-letter words beginning with
s-u
. There are lots! LB needed another hint, but you were very busy in the battle. LB heard Jeff save you with that word. That was the clue LB needed. It was a scary battle, Cousin. You are lucky Jeff knew your word. He is a hero.”

Rat and the boy exchanged a look. He said, “Oh, LB, you're the real hero, and you don't even remember!”

LB made a click of disapproval. “Cousin Rat, come back to live inside LB. This boy is too strange.”

“Sorry,” Rat signed. “Boy is first friend. But Rat will visit you. Promise.”

“Visit soon. LB wants to know why sunshine was so important.”

“Hey, how do you know Rat's signing? Are you
watching
us?”

“LB is connected. LB is everywhere.”

The boy stared at Rat. “You taught LB to hack?”

Rat nodded, then signed, “No more spying today. Naptime.”

“Cousin Rat likes to nap. Bett likes to nap. LB used to be bored during naps. But not anymore! Sleep tight.”

“You know, Rat,” the boy said as he stripped off his jump suit, “you might be sorry about that.”

Rat shrugged. “Necessary. Will help bring old friend back.”

“You think we can bring him back?”

“Yes. Explain later. Tired. Sore. Naptime.”

The boy held out his hand. Rat came to him. He lay on his back in the bed, holding Rat on his warm belly. The slow rise and fall from his breathing combined with his warm and familiar scent reminded Rat of cuddling with her nestmates. Not the mother. Never the mother. An illusion. But the boy was real.

Rat snuggled deeper into the crook of his arm.

Rat's cool nose pressed hard against Jeff's biceps, burrowing. She had never wanted to be cuddled. But she seemed to be snuggling in now. It felt … nice.

A toenail scratched lightly along his arm, an unwelcome reminder of sharp toes, sharp teeth! Jeff fought the urge to slide his arm away.

“Rat, you haven't ever killed anyone, have you?”

Rat freed a paw from his encircling arm. With shielded toenails, she gently tapped out the Morse code for NO.

Jeff sighed a long sigh. “I'm glad, Rat.”

And strangely enough, so was Rat.

Acknowledgments

The author wishes to thank all the members of the Monday night writers' group for their invaluable critique and support, especially Andra Horton and Erin Heidorn for their insight into what makes a sequel work, along with Jay Callahan and Joyce McNeill for suggesting the perfect word to close the trap! Also thanks to my new editor, Julie Amper, who really knows how to trim a story; my agent, Nancy Gallt; and a farewell to Regina Griffin, without whom Rat would never have found her way into the hearts of readers.

About the Author

Michael J. Daley's career as an author has been inspired by a lifelong love of science, spaceships, and science fiction. He writes his stories on a solar-powered laptop in a five-foot-square tower room. This keeps him well acquainted with the cramped conditions in spaceships! When not traveling among the stars, Daley lives in Westminster, Vermont, with his wife, children's author Jessie Haas.

All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2008 by Michael J. Daley

Cover design by Jesse Hayes

ISBN: 978-1-4976-3728-3

This edition published in 2014 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.

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BOOK: Rat Trap
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ads

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