The Rats, the Cat and the Thieves

By Teresa Nelson

Miranda warned Auto as she put on her apron, “I will give you away.”

Miranda threatened to send Auto, a Siamese cat, away after she wrongly accused him of stealing food at night. He needed assistance because he couldn’t possibly look into the situation on his own.

Who will help him? He made the decision to approach his foes, the rats, for assistance in clearing his name because he had no idea who had stolen the food. When she threatened to give him away, Miranda meant it seriously. Auto is running out of time because food has been stolen three days in a row and the thief left the kitchen floor dirty.

Are the rats going to believe Auto’s story? Why should the rats help an adversary? What if he harms them? How will Auto convince them that he is telling the truth? Will Auto and the rats put the past behind them and look into the situation? Or, will the rats simply ignore Auto’s pleading for assistance and mind their own business?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Aug 18, 2023
• ISBN: 9781035814428

Teresa Nelson

Teresa enjoys teaching and interacting with her Sunday School students; there is never a dull moment when teaching since they are humorous and full of excitement. Before leaving her job to pursue her genuine love, she spent quite a few years working in the hospitality industry. She enjoys reading books by a variety of authors, including Shashi Tharoor, Ruskin Bond, Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl, and Charles Dickens. In her free time, she enjoys spending it with her family and friends, watching movies, listening to audiobooks, cooking, or doing other activities.

Book preview

About the Author

Teresa enjoys teaching and interacting with her Sunday School students; there is never a dull moment when teaching since they are humorous and full of excitement.

Before leaving her job to pursue her genuine love, she spent quite a few years working in the hospitality industry. She enjoys reading books by a variety of authors, including Shashi Tharoor, Ruskin Bond, Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl, and Charles Dickens. In her free time, she enjoys spending it with her family and friends, watching movies, listening to audiobooks, cooking, or doing other activities.

Dedication

MAMA THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU. THANK YOU FOR YOUR LOVE. YOU ARE THE BEST STORYTELLER.

Copyright Information ©

Teresa Nelson 2023

The right of Teresa Nelson to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781035814411 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781035814428 (ePub e-book)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published 2023

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd®

1 Canada Square

Canary Wharf

London

E14 5AA

Chapter 1

Never a Dull Moment at

the Ratty Home

Nate Rat and Jessy Rat have three energetic and curious little ratty kids. They are Auggie, Drier and Poly. Auggie and his brother Drier, being boys, like to play rough games, allowing their sister to play alone.

Girls are no fun. They can’t play rough games like us boys. They’re better off playing with their girlie toys, Auggie would remind Drier.

Poor Poly was always left out. She’d either cry or whine to her parents about how mean her brothers are at times. In other words, there’s always a little drama in this household.

When Auggie and Drier wish to keep their sister out of ‘the exciting games,’ they may occasionally let her play with their toys.

Poly, the youngest, knows most of Auggie’s and Drier’s secrets. Some days, at night, while their parents were asleep, the boys would go upstairs on an adventure to ‘play’ with the cat.

Auggie, Drier, I’ll tell Daddy what you did if I can’t join you. Yes, I will, and I’m not joking, Poly would threaten her brothers.

If Poly reports to Daddy, not only will Auggie, but also Drier get in trouble. Drier is Auggie’s loyal follower and there is no way he will tell Daddy where they went.

Nate Rat is not a rich rat. He rents a portion of the basement of this double storey house belonging to Adam and Miranda Cobbs. Every month Nate must pay Robo Rat, his landlord, the rental cheese.

It’s difficult to get the cheese from Hugh’s shop. The cats are relentless in their pursuit of them. It’s also dangerous to cross the busy road to go to Hugh’s cheese shop. Not to mention the rodents’ need to keep an eye out for the dogs and approaching vehicles, which would be another concern. They are willing to put their lives on the line only to grab a slice of cheese to pay their rent.

They’d have to get their food and cheese from the Cobbs’ pantry on days when they didn’t have a choice. Of course, the rats would have to wait until the Cobbs were sound asleep to carry out their dangerous duty. They aren’t always so lucky, as Auto, the Cobbs’ Siamese Cat, will give them a good chase.

Because there is a hole in the wall, the rats are lucky to have easy access to the kitchen. Mrs Cobbs will sometimes cover the hole with a piece of wood.

These rodents are aware of the Cobbs’ rat trap placement in the kitchen at night. For three nights, it would be in the same location. Dangerous Zones are the regions where the rat traps are installed.

When the older folks are asleep the Auggie, and Drier and their young male buddies would gather in a secret place. There they would draw lots on who should bully the cat. This is how the game is played: A rat would have to pull Auto’s whiskers and his tail and run as fast as he can to safety. Although this is a dangerous game, but the little rats enjoy provoking Auto just for the fun of it.

A rat could be seriously injured, or even worse, killed by the cat, the youngsters were warned by their parents. The warning obviously fell on deaf ears.

The young rats are terrified of yanking the cat’s whiskers or even touching its tail. Auggie, Booster, and Drier would gladly accept the task merely to demonstrate their bravery. Their ratty pals praised their bravery, earning them the title The Brave Ratty Boys.

Auto hates being bullied by the young rats. The Brave Ratty Boys pull his whiskers and his tail. When he was sleeping, the rats would squeak loudly and give him a horrid fright. Despite all these problems, Auto was never able to catch the rats.

Auggie and Drier would never allow Poly to join them on this adventure.

This is a dangerous game, and it is not for girls. Girls should play with girls and tell each other silly stories, Auggie and Drier would remind Poly.

You boys think you’re better than girls. Auggie and Drier, if you step out of the house, I will report you to Daddy. I mean it, warned Poly. Auggie and Drier laughed at their sister.

I’m afraid. Go tell Daddy, cry baby, Auggie teased his sister.

The truth is, Drier isn’t quite as courageous as Auggie. He would blindly follow his brother. There are days when Auggie will bribe Poly and Daddy will never know about the midnight adventure with Auto. There are days when bribing Poly will not work, and the news will be revealed as soon as Daddy awakes.

Auggie and Drier went out one night to have some fun with Auto. They were under the impression that Poly would not report them. She wasn’t thrilled, even though Auggie had bribed her and let her play with his favourite toy. Poly gave her brothers a long sourpuss face. They had no idea she had told their father about their misdeeds after they snuck out quietly.

Nate was furious with the boys. He sat in the rat hole in the Cobbs’ kitchen for hours, waiting for his sons to arrive. When he heard a sound, he nervously poked his head every now and again, hoping it was his sons. For fear of Auto harming them, he didn’t dare call out their names.

I’ve been here for an hour. I’m tired. I’ll go home. When they return, I’ll deal with them, Nate thought.

He had been waiting for them for over an hour. As he paced back and forth, Nate was upset. He didn’t say anything to Jessy.

Finally, he said something. Why are our sons so obstinate, Jessy?

Jessy was in tears. She was terrified. What if the cat harmed them in some way?

What if the cat harmed them? she said in between sobs.

Poly blamed herself for causing her parents to be concerned about her brothers’ safety. If I had just kept my mouth shut, Mummy and Daddy wouldn’t have to worry about Auggie and Drier.

Do you know, Jessy, that we are the only ones with disobedient sons? I don’t know how else to tell them that what they’re doing is wrong and dangerous, Nate said.

Nate, like Jessy, feared the worst. What if Auggie and Drier were killed by the cat?

Poly felt helpless watching Mummy cry. She was mad at her brothers.

Well, Daddy and Mummy wouldn’t be worried if Auggie and Drier hadn’t done anything stupid. Silly Auggie, Silly Drier, Poly thought to herself.

Nate had had enough of waiting and decided to return to the Cobbs’ kitchen rat hole. When he was about to open the door, he heard a familiar squeak.

What a relief, Nate said to Jessy as he opened the door. They’ve returned home. I must put a stop to this nonsense.

Darling, please be gentle with our sons. They’re still young, Jessy said, wiping her tears.

Jessy, this is getting out of hand. Don’t try to teach me how to handle my sons. How long have they been making fun of the cat while we’ve been sleeping? I’m sure Poly was aware of her brothers’ frequent visits to the cat. I’m going to put an end to this nonsense, came the reply.

Poly raced to her room, almost in tears, thinking, That’s not fair. How can Daddy hold me responsible for their wrongdoings? I’m not their accomplice.

Why aren’t you all in bed? Auggie inquired when his father opened the door.

Wiping her tears, Poly returned to the living room to watch the drama unfold.

When Auggie and Drier saw Poly in the living room, they knew who had informed their parents. The brothers couldn’t say anything to their sister, even though they were furious with her.

Auggie and Drier, where have you been and what time is it? Nate asked.

I know we have Rat Rules, Daddy. However, the times have changed. We must prove to Auto that we are not scared of him. We must overcome our feline fear, Auggie replied.

"Are you trying to teach your father how to get over his fear of cats? The Rat Rules must be followed. Our predecessors gave us these guidelines to help us live our lives. Let me inform Auggie and Drier that cats are significantly larger than rats. Do you have any idea how many rats have been killed in the past because they attempted to challenge a cat? I’m sure you recall what I said about the fifteen irresponsible young rodents. These fifteen irresponsible young rats did, in fact, disobey their parents. How many times have we reminded you both of Rat Rule number two, which is