Don't Feed the Rat! Read online

  Dave took an angry bite of his toast and chewed vigorously. After a moment’s thought he looked down at his plate. ‘This can’t have anything to do with Robbie, can it?’

  Jacob felt a chill running down his spine. Could it have anything to do with Robbie? He thought for a moment, then shook his head. ‘No, how could it? McDermott wasn’t in York back then.’

  Jacob also took a bite of his piece of toast. Judith had put a thick layer of strawberry jam on it. She winked at him. ‘Baked beans coming up.’ He smiled at her.

  He chewed for a bit. ‘I wouldn’t be surprised if McDermott used the murder as an excuse to get me off the streets. My experiments make him uncomfortable.’

  ‘No,’ Dave said, shaking his head. ‘I don’t think McDermott would go that far. But what about Abe? He should know you didn’t kill Godric.’

  ‘Oh, I think he knows,’ Jacob said. ‘But he’s stuck behind McDermott.’

  Emily, who had been listening quietly so far, spoke up. ‘Abe is just a stupid beat cop, so what would he know?’ Dave frowned at her, but she ignored him.

  Jacob looked at Emily. ‘Actually, young Abe has been promoted to Detective Constable. No doubt because of his local knowledge.’ Emily sulked and crossed her arms.

  ‘It was strange to see him without his uniform,’ Jacob continued.

  ‘Well, he’s a handsome young man, either way,’ Judith said. She was still stirring the bakes beans and every now and then sipping some tea. ‘Do they know when Godric was murdered, dear?’

  ‘Must be somewhere Saturday evening, between nine and eleven,’ Jacob said. ‘They wanted to know if I had an alibi for those hours.’

  ‘But I saw you leave after the space station fly-by,’ Emily said. ‘Wouldn’t that be enough proof that you weren’t on the allotments any more? I could ask Liz to corroborate it.’

  ‘They may think he came back later,’ Dave said. ‘So, it’s not really proof.’ Emily frowned. Dave continued. ‘Did you perhaps visit your mother that night?’

  Jacob shook his head. ‘No, I was alone all evening.’ He started at the table in thought.

  ‘What will happen now?’ Judith said.

  ‘If they find what they think is more evidence to support their case, they might take me in for questioning,’ Jacob said. ‘But I’m certain they won’t, as I didn’t do it.’

  Emily looked up at Jacob, a sparkle in her eyes. ‘You should try and solve the murder yourself! You’re much smarter than the police. I’ll give you a hand.’

  ‘Thank you, but I’m not going to do that,’ Jacob said. ‘If the police think I did it, they should prove it. The ball’s in their court now.’

  The school corridor seemed endless this morning. Jacob dragged himself along. Maybe he should have called in sick. He had after all spent the night at the police station. But he was counting on the teaching to distract him from his current predicament. Despite his assurance to Emily he was still nervous about what would happen if the police couldn’t find Godric’s killer.

  Teenagers milled about the door to the physics lab, waiting for him to unlock it.

  ‘Did you hear about the murder?’ a girl said to her friend. ‘I heard it was very gruesome.’

  ‘I heard he was chopped up into tiny pieces and thrown on to his own compost bin,’ a boy said.

  ‘Really?’ His girlfriend looked at him wide-eyed, then hunkered closer to him. The boy grinned, happy with the desired effect.

  Jacob tried to ignore the chatter. If only they knew.

  As he put the key in the door a voice came from halfway down the corridor. ‘Mr Hicks. Can I have a word?’ The school principal walked up to him. ‘Mr Brown will take over your class for a minute.’ Jacob shrugged and handed the key to the teaching assistant, who hovered behind the principal.

  Jacob followed the principal to his office and sat down on the hard-backed chair in front of his desk. He had been sitting in the principal’s office once before, together with Priscilla. Had it been about her bullying him, or him outsmarting her? He couldn’t remember.

  The principal sat down, put his elbows on the desk and steepled his fingers. ‘I’m sorry, Jacob, but I will have to put you on suspension.’

  Jacob felt as if he was punched in the stomach. ‘What? Why?’

  The principal studied his face. ‘I think you know why. I’ve heard about your arrest and we simply can’t have a murder suspect teach class in this school.’

  Jacob looked at the principal. The man lowered his eyes to the desk as if unable to look Jacob in the eye. ‘But I didn’t do it. Can’t you make an exception for me? I need the money.’

  ‘Suspension means you will retain your normal wage, so you don’t need to worry about that. See it as a paid vacation.’ Too late the principal realised his words weren’t funny at all.

  He stood up. ‘Sorry, Jacob. I have got no choice. When this matter is cleared up you will of course get your job back.’

  Jacob reluctantly stood up and walked out of the office. At the door he glanced back over his shoulder. The principal had already sat down again and was scribbling something in a file.

  Jacob walked home in a daze. He was feeling sick. What had just happened? This stupid vendetta of McDermott’s might actually have cost him his job. A job he desperately needed to look after his mother, his cat and himself. He couldn’t lose his job and be without an income! That couldn’t happen. Not now that he expected a breakthrough in his experiment.

  Back home, Jacob sank down in his favourite comfy chair. Spike jumped on to his lap and Jacob started petting him without noticing. He had to put his trust in Abe.

  * * *

  Paddy

  Vinnie was wrong about two things: ratlore and the fact that things always looked brighter in the morning. I didn’t have a good night’s sleep and things looked just as gloomy as the night before.

  I had tossed and turned all night, reliving seeing Mad Maggie for the first time when I was a little’un. She had materialised from Great-grandma Arabella’s ratlore stories into the real world and in front of my eyes was digging a hole on one of the lower allotments at the bottom of the hill, using that terrible shovel of hers. Luckily she didn’t see me, but the ordeal had left me shaken. Even now as a five-year-old middle-aged rat I sometimes had nightmares about that event.

  And now Mad Maggie might have materialised again. What were we to do?

  Vinnie walked on to my allotment. He smiled. ‘How are you doing this morning, buddy?’

  I glared at him. ‘How do you think I feel? Horrible.’

  Vinnie’s whiskers drooped a little. ‘Oh, I had hoped you’d feel a bit better.’

  ‘How can I feel better with all that has happened lately?’ I paced up and down in front of my digs. ‘Older Female has done some crazy things, Vinnie, you can’t deny that.’

  Vinnie, resigned, lay down as I counted them off. ‘She’s taken away our food, set her dog on Cecil, nearly killed Pete with a broom, set her dog on Pete and cut down the tree we used to climb up the garden wall, in the process nearly killing Pete for a second time. She’s got it in for us all!’

  Vinnie shook his head. ‘You worry too much, my friend. I only see a two-legged who doesn’t like rats.’ His eyes followed me as I paced some more. ‘And besides, we don’t need the tree to climb the garden wall.’

  I stopped pacing and rubbed the fur on my cheeks. Could Vinnie really not see what I saw?

  ‘No, you’re wrong,’ I said. ‘I see a bad omen in all her behaviour. Bad things are on the horizon for all the rats on the hill!’

  Vinnie got up. ‘You said that last night, but I really don’t see the trouble.’

  I stopped in front of Vinnie. ‘It’s just like all those years ago when I was a little’un. Mad Maggie has come to life. Older Female is Mad Maggie. She’s come to destroy us all!’

  I pulled my left ear twice and my right ear once.

  ‘What are you doing?’ Vinnie said.

  ‘Warding off evil. Just like
Great-grandma Arabella taught me to.’

  Vinnie rolled his eyes and sighed deeply. ‘Warding off evil? Really? That is an old rat’s tale and no more!’

  My blood boiled. Livid, I jumped up and down in front of Vinnie. ‘Why don’t you believe me!’

  ‘What’s going on, guys?’ I turned around and saw Pete and Eddy staring at us.

  I pointed a paw at Vinnie. ‘He doesn’t believe Great-grandma Arabella’s stories. Tell him, Pete. Tell him they are real.’

  Pete looked up at the sky in thought and smiled. ‘Great-grandma Arabella certainly told us a lot of stories. It was fun listening to her in our digs, all warm and cosy, wasn’t it? I do miss her.’ He looked at me, a warm smile on his face. I glared back. I was very close to pulling his tiny little ears off one by one and stuffing them in his mouth.

  ‘But they were real, weren’t they,’ I said through clenched teeth.

  ‘Well.’ Pete scratched his chin. ‘She told so many stories, they can’t all have been true. But I did see Mad Maggie myself once, so that one must be true.’

  It wasn’t much of a victory, but I couldn’t help strutting over to Vinnie and giving him a triumphant stare down my nose. To my great satisfaction Vinnie started pulling fur from his chest in frustration.

  ‘Older Female is Mad Maggie,’ I said. ‘I am certain of it. We’d all better beware!’

  Pete nodded his assent. ‘Great idea! Now let’s get something to eat.’

  Eddy had watched us from a distance, a blank stare on his face. I wondered if Mad Maggie ate squirrels as well.

  Not much later and I had to get away from Vinnie for a while. Even though he was frustrated at Pete’s answer, he just kept going on about how the ratlore couldn’t be true. How could I make him see sense?

  I had wandered down the hill, glad not to bump into anyone, trying to remember all the different ways Great-grandma Arabella had taught me to ward off evil.

  Then my attention was drawn to one of the allotments. What was that, stalking through the high grass? I held my breath and crept nearer as silent as I could. Through the slats in the fence I watched a huge creature. What was it? My heart was now pounding. I’d never seen anything like it.

  The creature was walking on all fours and had a long bushy tail. Was it a cat? But that couldn’t be. Cats were not that big. I entered the allotment, very careful not to make a sound. I watched as the creature went over to the edge of a pond and started drinking. It was at least as big as two cats and with long grey-white fur.

  Did Great-grandma Arabella ever tell me of such a ratlore creature? I couldn’t recall. I would have to ask Pete if he knew. But then I’d better make sure that Vinnie wasn’t listening. I couldn’t deal with more of his scepticism right now.

  The creature moved on and disappeared through a gap in the bramble hedge. I quickly pulled my left ear once and twice tapped my right foot on the ground. Better to ward off this new evil and hope it never appeared again.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  30 March 1972

  Everything had gone crazy, really fast. Jacob had always assumed that all difficult things could be handled by adults. He wasn’t so sure now. Jacob watched from a distance as men in uniform scoured the banks of the River Ouse with sticks and yelled at each other.

  Dusk was already setting in and Jacob turned his back on the scene to make his way through the now empty caravan park towards Lower Tile Street. As he walked back up the street, he kept his eyes fixed on his shoes to avoid looking at the posters stuck on trees and walls all over the neighbourhood. He knew what they said. Missing and Four years old, but he didn’t need to see the picture or the name to feel worse than he already did.

  Up ahead, Jimmy and Benny Spratt, Priscilla’s younger brothers, loitered on the pavement. Jacob tucked his hands deeper into his pockets and sped up his pace. As he passed them by, he let out the breath he’d been holding, but then noticed they fell into step behind him. Ignoring their muffled giggles, Jacob tightened his hands into fists, and began to walk even faster. He doubted that Jimmy and Benny wanted to compare notes on Mr Patterson’s bat colony.

  His mother’s house came into view, but he didn’t want to go home. He could turn left into River Street, but that would mean he’d had to walk all the way up to Woolaston Road with little chance of shaking off the Spratt brothers. Or, he swallowed down a sudden lump in his throat, he could turn right and duck down the alleyway behind Silica Street, but that would take him right past Dave’s back garden and he didn’t really want to run into him right now.

  Silica Street was coming up and he had to decide quickly. Even as he was making a decision, his feet carried him past the alleyway and left into River Street. On the corner was another poster. Robbie, missing, four years old. He began to run again.

  * * *

  Present Day

  Jacob made his way down Milbury Road towards the allotments. He couldn’t sit at home being miserable any more. He should try and make the most of the day, like the principal had said this morning. Have a holiday. In any case, he needed to check his allotment computer.

  The crime scene tape across the path had gone. There was a strange atmosphere on the allotments. Very quiet and still.

  Even though it was Monday morning several tenants were quietly digging plots or sowing seeds. Ian Fraser rolled up his garden hose, then started hoeing his onions. On the crossing of allotment paths a number of tenants stood together in a huddle, whispering to each other. Georgie in her flower print wellingtons was one of them and of course the Jeffersons were there too.

  They stopped talking as they saw Jacob coming, and stared. Georgie glanced at him, then looked away, taking a minute step back. Not so flirty now. Jacob ignored them and noticed how they started whispering again behind his back. Nosy busybodies. He didn’t care what they said.

  As he walked up the hill, Jacob wondered who would become allotment Chair, now that Godric was dead. Georgie was already vice-chair, so she would be the most logical candidate. Funny, as she had been complaining about Godric stealing her place as Chair since he took the position. Now she got what she wanted in the first place. Jacob stopped and raised an eyebrow. Interesting...

  But no, he didn’t want to think about Godric’s murder. The police would certainly already know about Georgie’s ambitions. She should be a suspect as well. He would leave it to them.

  Jacob walked on. The steepest part of the climb was ahead.

  But killing Godric might have sped up the process of Georgie becoming Chair. No, that was ridiculous. She would certainly need more reasons to kill Godric than just wanting to become Chair.

  A little out of breath, Jacob stopped for a short rest.

  And Wilbur had told him that Godric was harassing him as well. Had Wilbur snapped and killed Godric? His motive would be clear: to stop Godric nagging him about the voles and his greenie lifestyle.

  Jacob shook his head. No, Wilbur was too nice a guy. He just couldn’t see him kill anyone.

  He made his way further up the hill and entered his allotment. The door of his shed was standing ajar. A rush of adrenaline went through his body. Someone had broken into his shed!

  He started running, but his knees felt weak. His project!

  He entered his shed. In passing the door he noticed that the padlock was cleanly cut off, without any further damage to the door.

  Inside, his first thought was for his computer. At least it was still here, standing in the corner of his shed. He quickly checked out the displays and flashing lights. It was still working. He took in a lung full of air and slowly let it out.

  Turning around, he surveyed the rest of his shed. It was a mess. Papers were on the floor and test tubes on the desk knocked over. His books moved and leafed through, judging by the creased pages. Muddy footprints marked the floor.

  He walked to his desk and opened the drawer. His folders still hung in a neat row. He ran a hand through them. None seemed to be missing.

  He looked around his shed again. Th
is was one strange break-in. Or was it indeed a break-in? Could this be the handy work of the police, searching for evidence of his guilt? The padlock had been cut off and all his stuff still seemed to be here. It had to have been the police. But why would they think they could find any evidence in his shed of him having murdered Godric? That idiot McDermott! He must already be getting desperate. Petty.

  ‘So they searched your shed?’ a voice came from behind him. Jacob almost jumped a foot in the air. It was Emily. He hadn’t heard her coming.

  Catching his breath he said, ‘Yes, it seems they searched my shed.’

  Emily came in and looked around. ‘Did they tell you they were going to do a search?’

  Jacob crossed his arms in front of his chest. ‘No, they didn’t. And they left the door standing open. Suppose some real thieves had come in after them and stolen my stuff. This is not what I need right now.’

  Emily walked up to his computer. She studied the large rectangular machine, watching the blinking lights. ‘What does this machine do?’

  Jacob stepped between his computer and Emily, arms wide. ‘Nothing of importance. Please step back. It’s quite fragile.’

  Emily snorted. ‘Fragile? It’s a giant lump of metal with some yellow and orange lights.’

  ‘Okay, maybe it’s not fragile.’ Jacob herded Emily away from the computer. ‘But what it does is none of your business.’

  ‘Why have you got it here, anyway?’ Emily said, looking over her shoulder at the machine. ‘The allotments seem a strange place to have this kind of equipment.’

  Jacob sighed. ‘If you must know, my house is too small, but above all I like the peace and quiet of the allotments. At least I can work here, without interruptions. Well, most of the time.’

  Emily ignored the hint and now took in the books and the piles of papers on his desk and the floor. ‘I thought you were just like Wilbur, studying wildlife and such, but this is something else.’ She looked him in the eye. ‘You really are a weird professor.’