Don't Feed the Rat! by Annie Appleton

Author:Annie Appleton
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2018-02-28T05:00:00+00:00

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Paddy

‘Here, look what I found you.’ I held out some chips and a piece of fish that I found in a discarded newspaper. ‘It’s your favourite.’ Vinnie looked uninterested. I couldn’t blame him really. If I still had a headache, I wouldn’t want anything to eat either, least of all a piece of fish. I wrinkled my nose at the smell.

‘Your stupid behaviour got us into this situation,’ Vinnie said. He rubbed his head with his paws. ‘Your obsession with Mad Maggie is getting out of control and making Cecil behave worse. And have you forgotten how he’s taken in your nephews?’

‘Of course I’ve not forgotten about my nephews.’ My voice was shrill. I didn’t want reminding of my failure to keep them under control. Why hadn’t I managed to keep them away from Cecil? Some uncle I was. But of course the situation with Mad Maggie had taken over somewhat. Vinnie was right about Mad Maggie, but I didn’t know why I couldn’t control my fear of her.

‘Please eat some fish,’ I said. ‘I’m sorry my actions got you hurt. I will try to do better in the future. In fact, I will do something about it right away.’

Vinnie smiled and took a bite of the fish. ‘Do whatever you want. I’m going to take a nap.’

I left Vinnie in peace to enjoy the quiet of the evening and together with Pete and Eddy went in search of Cecil.

‘What are we going to do when we find him?’ Pete asked.

‘Tell him he should grow up,’ I said.

We found Cecil at the allotment where this afternoon I destroyed his prank.

‘You stay away from here,’ he said when he spotted us coming. His posse materialised around him from nowhere. I was disappointed to see Albie and Max among them, but I had to press on. I was on a mission.

I faced Cecil. ‘It’s time that you became a more responsible rat within our community.’ He glared at me, his ears bent forward. I continued. ‘You’re already two years old and could be a great role model for the young rats in your posse.’

Cecil laughed and his posse followed his lead. ‘I am a role model and a responsible rat in the community. I make them all laugh and have fun!’ He looked over his shoulder at his posse. ‘Don’t I, guys?’ The posse cheered. I couldn’t believe how mindlessly they all followed him.

Pete stepped forward. ‘You misunderstand, Paddy,’ he said. ‘Of course having fun is important. I’m all for that. But if you anger the two-leggeds in the process, you endanger us all. I haven’t had bird food to eat in two days!’

Cecil rolled his eyes. ‘Your problem is that you only think about food. And two-leggeds? Pfft, who needs them? We can have fun without them.’

Patch suddenly jumped forward towards Pete. ‘Boo,’ he said and Pete flinched. All the posse laughed.

‘See? They’re having fun without the two-leggeds,’ Cecil said.

I got hot under my fur. ‘Shouting boo is very mature.

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