lost city of Atlantis!’ Horace exclaimed. ‘My Papa is always talking about it – you know what he’s like when it comes to Greek mythology.’
‘Oh, yes,’ Ruby groaned. ‘It’s always Hercules this and Zeus that with Papa Niko. His constant ramblings are almost as annoying as you counting stairs.’
Horace pulled a face at her.
‘An underwater city sounds a li’l farfetched, even for Anso,’ Rat Bait admitted.
‘Fine,’ Horace sulked. ‘Stick to your boring explanations. And don’t ask me to help you with the last line.’
He crossed his arms defiantly as Ruby read, ‘My hope, a key revealing all.’
‘The first two words are obvious,’ Whisker said. ‘My hope must refer to the anchor pendant – the symbol of hope. The choice of the word anchor in the first line is Anso’s way of emphasising his point. It’s all interconnected.’
‘Huh?’ Horace exclaimed, throwing his hook in the air. ‘Interconnected? Keep it simple. Some of us can only handle one line at a time.’
‘Speak for yourself,’ Ruby muttered, turning her attention to the last section. ‘A key revealing all. Hmm? The anchor is the key to something. But what does it reveal …?’ She stretched her legs over Eddie’s back and let out a deep yawn. ‘I’m stumped.’
‘Me, too,’ Whisker admitted. ‘And until we know the exact location of the six hundred stairs, there’s no point even speculating what the treasure could be.’
‘I guess the jailbreak is back on the cards then,’ Ruby said. ‘It’s a pity Horace lost his skeleton key attachment on our last pris –’
She never finished her sentence. Without warning, Eddie launched himself off the ground, catapulting Ruby’s feet high into the air. Her legs flew up and over her head, sending her entire body, swords and all, somersaulting backwards off the stump.
By the time Ruby hit the pine needles, the master pickpocket had snatched the bag of gold from Rat Bait’s belt and was already scampering away into the trees.
‘Shiver me somersaults!’ Horace gasped as Eddie disappeared into the dark forest. ‘There goes our prison guide and our gold.’
‘Not if I can help it,’ Whisker said, scooping up his scissor sword from beside the stump. ‘Find a weapon and follow me.’ He looked down at Ruby, lying dazed on the ground, and added, ‘If you’re up to it.’
Ruby stared up at him and groaned. ‘Blasted gerbil! Blasted ankle! Count me out of this one. I’ll wait here in case he doubles back for everything he dropped.’
Gesturing for Anna to stay with Ruby, Whisker bounded off after Eddie with Horace by his side. Rat Bait took one look at his silk-covered sword and grabbed one of Ruby’s scarlet scissor swords instead.
‘Beggin’ yer pardon, ma’am,’ he said, tipping his hat and bounding after Whisker.
Catch Me if You Can
The three rats scampered into the dense trees, swords raised, hearts beating rapidly. Whisker led the charge, desperate not to let the slippery little gerbil slip through his fingers. Horace kept pace, his short legs working overtime to match Whisker’s smooth strides. Rat Bait trailed a few paces behind the younger rats, puffing and panting, but refusing to stop.
With their ears locked on the soft jingle of coins, they ran for several minutes until the ground began to slope upwards. The forest suddenly became silent and they halted to look for tracks. The thick layer of pine needles covering the ground made it impossible to tell which direction Eddie had gone.
Horace pointed to the closest pine trunk with his hook. ‘Maybe he’s climbed a tree?’
Rat Bait raised his nose and sniffed the air.
‘Nope,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘He’s not up a tree, but he did pass by here. I can smell his filthy stench a mile away. I doubt he’s taken a bath in months.’
Horace inhaled deeply through his nose.
‘Good garlic!’ he spluttered, screwing up his entire face. ‘And I thought Fred’s mouldy pies smelt bad. Eddie’s au naturale body odour is positively revolting!’
‘So which way did he go?’ Whisker asked, his eyes focused on the slope ahead.
Rat Bait sniffed the air again and pointed into the trees.
‘North-west,’ he whispered, ‘to the right o’ that slope.’
‘The same direction as Hawk’s View,’ Whisker said with a worried look. ‘If he reaches the town we won’t have a hope of catching him. There are too many barns, basements and back alleys to hide in.’
‘And too many eagles hunting for us,’ Horace added.
‘We still have a chance to capture him in the forest if we’re smart about it,’ Rat Bait said calmly. ‘He can’t be travellin’ fast carryin’ that much gold an’ not makin’ a sound.’
He cleared the ground with his foot and drew an X in the dirt with the tip of Ruby’s sword.
‘This be Eddie,’ he said, pointing to the X. ‘An’ this be us.’ He proceeded to draw a short, straight arrow beneath the X and two longer, curved arrows around it.
He tapped the shorter arrow with his sword blade. ‘I’ll continue followin’ Eddie directly while ye two speedsters overtake him from the flanks. Once y’er in line with the top o’ that slope, head back in to cut him off.’
‘Alright,’ Whisker said, already on the move. ‘You take the high road, Horace. You’ll be the least visible on that slope if Eddie is looking for us. I’ll take the low road.’
Horace saluted his companions with his hook and began scaling the slope. Rat Bait simply nodded and continued along the level ground. Whisker drew his sword and descended a shallow gully to the north of the slope.
In seconds, he had lost all sight of his companions in the sprawling maze of pine trunks, fallen branches and rotten logs that littered the gully floor. Patches of snow clung to the sides of grey granite rocks and Whisker felt like he was back in the Erratic Blocks of Cloud Mountain.
In the gloomy half-light of the gully, Whisker began to doubt that he was heading in the right direction. He reached down for his compass, hoping to take a bearing, but realised he hadn’t reattached his brown drawstring bag.
Cursing himself for rushing off without being fully prepared, he raised his eyes to the sky, hoping to navigate using the sun. He searched the gaps between branches, trying to locate the exact position of the sun but, with his eyes accustomed to the darkness, every patch of sky appeared to be the same bright white as the next.
Abandoning his futile efforts, he chose to trust his instinct and continued forward, the winding path of the gully his only guide. He travelled
