Don't Feed the Rat! Read online

  Dave shook his head. ‘I’m sure you’re wrong. Jacob wouldn’t do anything so stupid, would he?’

  ‘Well, don’t you think it’s a bit strange that Jacob disappears just now that we have found some evidence against Rupert?’ Emily looked at her uncle. ‘What did Rupert say this morning when you confronted him about the plans?’

  ‘Um... nothing much.’ Dave turned red. ‘He denied knowing about it.’

  ‘Typical.’

  Then Rupert himself arrived on the allotments.

  ‘Talk of the devil,’ Dave said.

  Emily and Dave ducked down behind the gooseberry bush and peered around it. Rupert didn’t see them and walked past, his face set like thunder. With big strides he walked straight to Georgie’s allotment.

  Georgie looked up when Rupert entered her allotment. Immediately he started gesturing and talking. Emily strained her ears, but couldn’t hear a word.

  ‘We need to get closer,’ she said and moved forward, bent double.

  ‘What? No,’ Dave said.

  Emily looked over her shoulder and gestured at him with her hand. ‘Come!’

  Dave joined her at the side of Georgie’s allotment, where they hid behind the fence. Emily watched with one eye through the vertical opening between the slats. She still couldn’t hear what was said. Rupert looked about him at the Jeffersons who were craning their necks over the hedge of their allotment, and grabbed Georgie by the arm. They disappeared into her shed.

  With the entertainment gone, the Jeffersons went back to their hoeing. Immediately, Emily was on the move again. No time like the present. She needed to know what was said between Georgie and Rupert.

  She heard Dave’s urgent whisper behind her. ‘What are you doing? Come back.’

  Emily looked at her uncle and jerked her head towards the shed. As silently as she could, she entered Georgie’s allotment and sneaked up to the shed.

  Dave arrived just as she put her ear against the door. ‘This is not going to help your probation.’

  She looked daggers at him. ‘Shhhh...’

  Pieces of the conversation could be heard through the door.

  ‘...building plans...had a copy,’ Rupert said.

  ‘...don’t know...’ Georgie said.

  ‘...you tell them?’

  ‘...want to get ready for the funeral...’

  Footsteps came towards the door.

  ‘Go, go, go,’ Emily said and got up. They just made it off the allotment in time. The door opened and Rupert and Georgie came out.

  As the two of them walked off the allotment they passed Emily and Dave, who were now standing on the path, innocently studying some flowers. Rupert glared at them, but they ignored him.

  ‘The Jeffersons saw us,’ Dave said. He watched as their heads disappeared.

  ‘Who cares,’ Emily said. She looked around and pointed. ‘Someone else is watching.’ Marlee was looking at Georgie and Rupert’s retreating forms. She looked sad and angry at the same time.

  ‘I’ve had enough of this spy business,’ Dave said. ‘I’m going home for lunch.’ Emily walked with him towards the exit. She looked back over her shoulder at Marlee, but the girl was gone.

  * * *

  Paddy

  I was in a bad mood. Oscar and Millicent had gone back to their own digs, Vinnie wasn’t talking to me and pretending to take a nap, Pete had walked off in a huff and Eddy sat at a distance, quietly nibbling some rosebuds, throwing a glance in my direction every now and then.

  For want of anything better to do, I had taken out my button collection and was sorting them out in front of my digs. Large and small, dark and light. Normally this made me feel better, but this morning it only made things worse.

  Why hadn’t my plan worked? A moving scarecrow should have been the perfect thing to make Cecil look foolish in the eyes of his posse. Of course it was Pete’s fault. He had moved about too much in the head, which made the whole thing topple. We had replanted the scarecrow solidly enough, so it had to have been Pete’s presence that made it out of balance.

  I picked up a pawful of buttons and flung them into my digs. Stupid Pete.

  Vinnie looked up. ‘Don’t beat yourself up over this,’ he said. ‘The problem is that Cecil is often lucky and at the same time charismatic. That combination is hard to beat. Especially now that he has a giant cat backing him up.’

  ‘There must be a way to get through to Cecil,’ I said.

  ‘Well, part of the Cecil problem is of course that Ace eggs him on and laughs at all his stupid pranks.’

  I threw another button into my digs. ‘I told you before that I don’t want to hear Ace’s name any more. He’s an irresponsible layabout, who acts like a teenager, and seduces the ladies with his boyish charms.’

  Eddy came closer. ‘Sounds like he beat you to the affections of a lady once.’

  ‘What?!’ I ran up to Eddy until I was nose to nose with him. ‘You know nothing, so shut up.’

  Vinnie grabbed me by the shoulder. ‘Calm down. It’s not his fault. For one he’s a squirrel and secondly he has only arrived a few weeks ago. He doesn’t know.’

  Eddy smoothed out the white fur on his chest. ‘What is there to know?’

  ‘Ace is the father of quite a few young rats on the hill,’ Vinnie said. ‘Including Paddy’s nephews, Albie and Max.’

  ‘Oh, I understand. Sorry.’ Eddy looked at me.

  I waved my paw at him. ‘It’s okay. It’s just that he left Clara with two little’uns, who now run riot with Cecil, all because their father doesn’t want to take the responsibility to look after them.’

  ‘Is Ace Cecil’s father as well?’ Eddy said.

  ‘No, Ace is his stepfather.’

  ‘Oh. But why would Cecil look up to Ace, if he is not his real father?’

  Vinnie shrugged. ‘Well, my guess is that even though he’s already two years old, deep down Cecil is still a needy little rat who craves the attention of an older male rat. His real father Don left before Cecil and his two litter sisters were born, so he’s never had a male role model in his life. On top of that, Ace just loves the attention Cecil gives him. He’s thrilled to be Cecil’s hero.’

  ‘So if there was a responsible male rat who would take on the father role for Cecil, he might change for the better?’ Eddy said.

  ‘Yes, he might.’

  I shook my head. ‘I don’t see that happening any time soon. Cecil’s mother Ada is having another litter of Ace’s babies pretty soon. And this while all her children still live with her. Cecil and his two litter sisters, and Cecil’s two older half-brothers, who are bullies themselves, vying with Cecil for the attention of their real father Ace.’

  ‘It’s a hornets’ nest,’ Vinnie said. ‘It will be very difficult to get Cecil to give up his power.

  Pete came running on to the allotment. He stopped in front of us, breathing heavily. ‘Two-legged... gone crazy... come quick...’ He ran off again and we followed. I wondered what Mad Maggie was doing now and quickly pulled my left ear twice and my right ear once. Just in case.

  Pete took us to an allotment halfway down the hill, but it was not Mad Maggie that was acting crazy. A young female two-legged was frantically searching the allotment, bucket in hand. She picked up every snail and slug she could find and put them in the bucket.

  ‘This is a disaster.’ Pete hopped about in a frantic way. ‘Why is she doing this? Do two-leggeds eat snails?’

  ‘Who’s to say that she’s going to eat them?’ Eddy said. He shivered. ‘Ugh, slimy creatures.’

  Vinnie frowned and followed the two-legged with his eyes. ‘Isn’t this the little two-legged who keeps hanging around Flirty’s allotment?’

  I nodded. ‘Yes, it’s her, but what is she doing?’

  Little One exited the allotment and entered the next one. We followed her. Again she started looking for snails, picking up any she could find.

  ‘Oh, no,’ Pete said. ‘She’s on a rampage! There won’t be any snails left!’ He
paced up and down in frustration. ‘I’m getting hungry already!’

  I swatted at him with my paw. ‘Don’t be silly. She will never be able to find all the snails. There will be more than enough left for us.’

  Pete looked at me down his nose. ‘I’m not talking to you as you made me fall into the pond.’ He turned away and stood next to Eddy. I rolled my eyes at both of them.

  Little One was on the move again. With large strides she made her way down the hill and entered Flirty’s allotment. We followed at a distance and watched as she scattered out the snails in between Flirty’s vegetable plots. She wiped her hands clean, looking very satisfied, and left.

  ‘Why did she do that?’ Eddy asked.

  Vinnie shrugged. ‘Who knows? Two-leggeds are crazy.’

  Pete wasn’t listening. He ran towards the vegetable plots and started eating snails as fast as he could. ‘This is snail heaven!’

  We watched him for a while.

  ‘You’re going to be sick,’ I said.

  ‘I don’t care.’ Pete took a large bite out of a snail, then another out of a slug. Eddy looked away in disgust.

  As we left Flirty’s allotment, I thought it likely that Pete wasn’t the only one who was going to be sick.

  We were halfway back up the hill, when we neared the allotment where Cecil had his digs.

  I slowed down a bit. ‘I hope he isn’t home. I don’t feel like bumping into him right now.’

  ‘You can’t let him dictate your life,’ Vinnie said. ‘That only makes him stronger.’

  ‘I’m not! I just don’t want to see his stupid face right now.’

  We walked on in silence.

  ‘Do you guys hear that?’ Eddy asked. Vinnie and I stopped and listened. Strange sounds were coming from Cecil’s allotment.

  ‘You’re so beautiful... Look at that long fur...’

  I looked at Vinnie and Eddy. ‘What is happening in there?’

  Careful not to make a sound, we sneaked closer to the entrance of Cecil’s allotment. Then we peered through the gaps in the fence. An unbelievable scene unfolded in front of us.

  Moe, lying on a brightly coloured pillow with his eyes closed, had his fur groomed by Cecil’s posse. They swarmed all around him, raking their paws through the long fur of his back, tail and feet, taking out the knots and odd pieces of weeds that had got tangled in it. Every now and then he opened his eyes to check on the progress, then continued purring, enjoying the attention and the warmth of the sun.

  ‘Look at that,’ Vinnie said, staring with his jaw open. ‘He looks like a king.’

  Next to the pillow stood a plastic bag filled with cat treats. I could smell them from where we were. One of the posse members took out a treat and hovered it in front of Moe’s nose. Moe sniffed the air and opened his eyes to slits. Then with a graceful bend of his head, he took the treat out of the rat’s paw with his mouth.

  We gasped.

  Eddy’s eyes were wide. ‘I would never let a cat eat out of my paws. They’re too unpredictable.’

  I nodded. ‘But now I understand what Moe gets in return for helping Cecil. He’s treated like a king and lapping it all up.’

  We watched, mesmerised, as Moe accepted another cat treat.

  ‘This could be his downfall,’ I said.

  ‘You’re right,’ Vinnie said. ‘If Moe keeps eating that many treats, he will be as fat as Pete in no time, and not able to move any more.’

  Eddy giggled.

  ‘No. Moe is too big for that,’ I said. ‘He will never be fat. His stomach is simply too huge.’

  We sneaked away, leaving Moe to the mercy of Cecil’s posse.

  ‘I actually meant his downfall in another way,’ I said, as we climbed further back up the hill.

  ‘What do you mean?’ Vinnie said.

  ‘I don’t know really.’ I pondered the situation. ‘This knowledge is too valuable not to do anything with.’

  ‘I agree, but what?’

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Jacob and Emily got off the bus and made their way to the cemetery.

  ‘Hurry up!’ Emily said. Getting away from Jacob in a fast walk. ‘We’ve already missed the funeral service. Don’t want to miss the actual burial as well. They must have already started.’

  ‘We’re fine,’ Jacob said, looking at his watch. ‘It’s not even two o’clock yet.’

  Emily waited for him to catch up, her foot tapping the pavement. ‘If we’re late we can’t get a nice spot to observe everyone.’

  They walked through the ornate gates.

  ‘This is the second time you kept me waiting today,’ Emily said. ‘What’s up with you today?’

  Jacob ignored the dark look Emily gave him and said nothing.

  ‘I told you not to turn your phone off again,’ Emily continued. ‘You might as well not have one if you keep switching it off.’

  In the distance they saw a large group of people, halfway up a slight hill.

  ‘I bet that’s it,’ Jacob said. He looked around. ‘I’d forgotten how lovely this cemetery is.’

  Emily ignored him. She was still on the war path. ‘You’ve been acting really strange since you visited Rupert this morning. Uncle Dave didn’t want to talk about it either. What happened? Did he threaten you some more?’

  Jacob was silent.

  ‘Surely whatever threat he makes is a bluff. The man is definitely hiding something.’

  ‘Georgie is just as suspicious as Rupert,’ Jacob said. ‘So we should focus our attentions on her.’

  Emily stared at him. ‘You are joking, I hope. Are you now thinking that Georgie killed Godric by herself?’

  They neared the crowd and Jacob hoped she was going to let the subject drop. But no such luck.

  ‘Do you seriously think that Rupert hasn’t got anything to do with it any more? What is this hold that he has over you?’

  Jacob walked on, again choosing not to answer.

  Emily stomped her feet on the gravel path. ‘Is a bunch of loan shark’s henchmen suddenly so much more important than murder? What’s your deal with them?’

  ‘Shhh...’ They had reached the crowd and the ceremony had already started.

  Jacob and Emily kept to the back to study them. The people stood scattered about between the gravestones. Jacob noticed that quite a few of the mourners were wearing kilts. It seemed that Godric Ainsworth had Scottish connections.

  There were quite a few tenants from the allotments present to pay their last respects. They were clumped together to one side, headed by Georgie Wilcrick. She was wearing a tight black dress that showed off her curves. Jacob looked away, embarrassed at having noticed that.

  Emily poked him with her elbow and nodded her head towards Rupert Fairclough, who stood by himself, halfway between the tenants and Jacob and Emily. He had his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his trousers and looked daggers at them.

  ‘Isn’t it always the case that the murderer comes to the funeral of his victim?’ Emily asked.

  Jacob smiled. ‘I think you confuse that with an arsonist always watching the fire he started.’

  Emily shrugged. ‘Still, our two main suspects are here.’

  They scanned the crowd some more.

  ‘Interesting,’ Jacob said. ‘Though he is a tenant, Ian Fraser is standing with the kilted mourners. It looks like he feels more at home with his fellow countrymen than with the people from Hoes & Rakes.’

  Suddenly DCI McDermott materialised at Jacob’s side. ‘Interesting to see you here.’ He squinted at Jacob.

  ‘Did you know murderers often go to their victim’s funeral?’ he continued. ‘That’s why we’re here. To keep an eye on everyone.’

  Jacob glanced at Emily, who rolled her eyes.

  ‘Well, I agree with you that there is more than enough to see,’ Jacob said. McDermott walked back to where Abe Monday stood, looking back over his shoulder at them several times.

  Then half-hidden behind a tall gravestone, Jacob spotted Clyde Simms k
eeping an eye on the mourners. Clyde briefly made eye contact with him, then continued to scan the crowd. Jacob wrinkled his brow. Could it be that Clyde was keeping an eye on him? Perhaps McDermott had asked him to spy.

  Priscilla drifted into Jacob’s field of vision. She looked pale and somewhat dishevelled. Her blouse was not tucked into her skirt and her hair was stringy and tousled. Not at all her normal neat and tidy self.

  Priscilla kept a wary eye on Georgie, not seeming to notice any of the other people.

  ‘You,’ she suddenly said in a loud voice. ‘It’s all your fault.’ She walked up to Georgie and glared at her. ‘You allow the rats to roam wild on the allotments and don’t do anything about it.’ People now started to turn around to sneak a peek at Priscilla, and the minister who had been in the middle of a short speech stopped talking.

  Georgie smiled nervously at Priscilla and patted her on the arm. ‘Not now, dear. Let’s talk about this later.’ Priscilla snatched her arm away and walked off only to stand at a distance away from the tenants, glaring at Georgie, who stood hugging herself as if she was cold. The Jeffersons whispered with their neighbours, throwing glances at Priscilla. The minister continued.

  ‘Priscilla has some serious issues,’ Emily whispered at Jacob. ‘She was out of sorts this morning as well. Positively crazy, actually.’

  ‘Well, nothing new there...’

  Priscilla now noticed Jacob and Emily.

  Jacob quickly looked away, pretending he didn’t see her, but it was too late. Just as the minister started a prayer and a hush came over the crowd, Priscilla walked up to them. Her face was pale and her eyes bulged.

  ‘This girl has brought animals to the funeral,’ Priscilla said in a loud voice. She pointed at Emily and scanned the crowd for their reaction. ‘Very disrespectful.’ All heads turned in their direction and the minister fell silent for a second time. A rumbling of voices went through the crowd.

  The minister walked up to them. His lips in a vague smile. ‘What sort of animals?’

  ‘Rats!’ Priscilla shrieked. The was more rumbling of voices.