The Cunning Escape, Part Two

by J. Rosemary Moss

Genre: Fan-Fiction (Bonanza)
Rating: General Content

LINK TO PART ONE

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Adam watched Little Joe bash the cage door. The fool had tried ramming it with his head first, but fortunately thought better of it. Now he had wedged himself so that he could slam on it with his feet.

“That’s not going to work,” the black rat said calmly.

The pinto glared at him. “You have a better idea?” he demanded.

“Why do you want to get out at all?” Hoss asked as he gnawed on a popcorn kernel. “We’ve got a big, clean cage, plenty of water and food—good food, too! Did you taste that salmon? If you’re so set on exercising your feet, go use the wheel.”

“You’re the one who needs the wheel,” Joe retorted. “Look at the size of you!”

“Hoss has a point,” Adam interrupted, noticing that the big rat looked about ready to throw down his kernel and tackle Joe. “We have a decent home and a decent human—a human that likes rats, which is pretty rare.”

“Yeah, did you smell the fear on the other one?” Hoss asked.

“I don’t want to leave,” Joe explained. “Not permanently. But I don’t like being locked up. I want to be able to scout around when I feel like it. Besides, sooner or later we’re going to want to get to those girls over in the other cage.”

Adam and Hoss exchanged glances. “Well, that’s true,” Adam owned. “But ramming the door still won’t work.”

“Listen to him, Joe,” Hoss advised. “I reckon he knows what he’s talking about. After all, he’s almost two weeks older than me and another two weeks older than you.”

Joe twitched his whiskers. Apparently he found it hard to argue with that logic. “Fine!” he said, turning to Adam. “It’s your turn, older brother. You figure out how to get us out of here.”

Adam considered that. He had closely observed the two humans each time they opened the cage. He had a pretty good idea of how the latch worked. It was a simple enough mechanism—he just had to figure out how to reach it.

“Hoss,” he said at last, “go get that chew stick. If we all work together, we should be able to use it to reach the latch.”

Hoss scurried to the bottom of the cage and then ran back up the ramp with the chew stick in his mouth. Each of the boys grabbed a part of it as Adam guided it through the slots of the bar, toward the latch.

“Push hard!” Adam ordered. “I think we’ve got it at the perfect angle to catch the latch.”

He was right. After about fifteen seconds of pushing, the chew stick struck the latch and forced it undone. Adam watched with satisfaction as the cage door fell open.

Little Joe and Hoss both screeched with excitement until Adam shushed them. The human—Jenni, the one who liked rats—was sleeping nearby. “Quiet or you’ll wake her up!”

“Not likely,” Joe opined. “She’s a heavy sleeper. She doesn’t even wake up when everyone runs on the wheels at night.”

“Yeah, I think we’re fine,” Hoss agreed. “Now where to?”

But Joe was already out of the cage and poised on the edge of the table that held it. Adam watched with alarm as he took an acrobatic leap and landed on the human’s bed.

Hoss opened his mouth to screech in horror, but Adam quickly shot him a warning glance. Hoss got the message and bit back his yell. “That dang fool!” he whispered hoarsely as all his whiskers quivered. “Now he will wake her up.”

Adam grit his teeth, wishing that he could gnaw on Joe’s tail right about now. But there was nothing to do but watch and hope for the best.

Joe scampered over to Jenni’s face and rubbed his nose affectionately against it. Adam held his breath, but Jenni just brushed him away and rolled over, still sleeping.

Adam glanced at Hoss. He was breathing a sigh of relief. Adam nodded at him and the pair duplicated Joe’s flying leap. They both landed safely on the bed and quickly followed Joe, who was now scampering up the headboard. From there it was just one more leap to reach the outside of the cage that held the girls. All three rats made the jump easily.

“Hello ladies,” Joe said as they landed on top of the cage. A pretty white rat, who had been watching their progress with interest, climbed up to sniff him.

“You fools!”

Adam spun around at the sound of an authoritative male voice. It was coming from a cage across the room that housed two older male rats. One of the pair, a beige rat, was glowering at them.

“Who’s that?” Hoss asked as he peered at the stranger.

“Don’t you know?” Joe asked. “That’s our Pa!”

“Oh,” Hoss said, embarrassed.

Adam sent him a sympathetic glance. Rats seldom knew their fathers as well as their mothers.

“The cat is on the loose!” their Pa continued. “Can’t you smell her?”

Adam swallowed hard as he sniffed the air. There was a cat in this apartment, even though she wasn’t allowed in Jenni’s bedroom. But she sometimes managed to sneak in regardless.

The rats were generally safe enough, even when the cat slunk into the room. After all, she couldn’t break through the cages. But if she found a rat outside his cage…

And their Pa was right—her scent was near.

Adam twitched his ears. There was no sound of her, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t stalking them.

“What do we do?” Joe whispered.

“Three rats stand a decent chance against a cat,” Hoss pointed out, keeping his voice low and his gestures small.

“Three grown rats, maybe,” Joe argued. “Not us.”

“What choice do we have?” Hoss demanded. “Even if we make it back to our cage, how can we get the door shut?”

Adam cringed. Hoss was correct—opening the cage door was one thing. Closing it was something else again. There would be nothing to stop the cat from swiping them with her claws.

“We can’t just sit on top of this cage waiting for her to pounce on us,” Joe said.

Just then something with claws, fur and teeth slammed into the cage. “Jump for the bed!” Joe screeched as the cage tipped over.

Adam leapt almost blindly onto the covers. He could sense Joe leaping next to him, but he couldn’t account for Hoss. But he had no time to wonder what happened to him. He scurried to the human instead and bit her hand, instantly waking her.

What happened next always remained a blur. Jenni shot up at the bite, even though Adam hadn’t broken her skin. She flicked on the light and grabbed the cat, who had somehow managed to pin Hoss between the floor and the now-upturned cage that held the females.

Jenni carried the cat out of the room. She returned soon enough and carefully shut the door behind her. She righted the cage, picked up Hoss gently, looked him over for injuries, and then put him on the bed next to Adam and Joe.

She spent a couple of minutes checking on all the females before she turned back to the brothers. She rolled her eyes at them but called to each with affection in her voice. Adam scurried up her arm and perched on her shoulder. He nuzzled her neck to let her know that he was grateful to her for coming to their rescue. He was also sorry for the nip he gave her, but that couldn’t be helped.

Joe and Hoss, meanwhile, climbed onto her outstretched hands. Jenni brought all three brothers back to their cage and placed each of them on the hammock inside. Then she shut the cage door and shook her head at it. Finally she left her bedroom, presumably to check up on the cat.

“That was close,” Hoss said in a shaky voice.

“Yeah,” Joe agreed. “We’re going to have to plan it better next time. Hey, do you think Jenni’s going to make it more difficult to get the door open again?”

“No,” Adam said slowly. “I think she blames herself. She believes that she left our door unlatched.”

“No kidding?” Joe said. “That’s perfect!”

“How can she believe that?” Hoss asked. “You know, sometimes I wonder if humans really are smarter than us.”

Adam managed a smile at that. “They’re not,” he assured his brother. “They just happen to have thumbs.”

~The End~