hadn’t strayed too far off course.
The scent that met his nostrils, however, was as unexpected as it was foul. It was a strange mix of mouldy gruel, unwashed fur and rotten eggs, with the slightest hint of earwax.
Whisker’s entire body froze. He stood rooted to the spot, hoping his footsteps hadn’t already given him away. Only his eyes remained active, searching the gully for the source of the smell.
The trees were still. The air was silent. He was alone.
And yet …
Whisker’s eyes focused on the long object lying in front of him. He sniffed the air a second time and felt the tip of his nose tingle. The foul smell was coming directly from the log.
A faint tinkle of coins was all Whisker needed to confirm his suspicions. Eddie the Ear wasn’t heading for the town. He was hiding three paces away in the centre of an enormous hollow log.
The chance discovery set Whisker’s mind racing. From where he stood, side-on to the log, the decaying wood appeared to be hollow at both ends, giving Eddie two possible exit routes. As soon as Whisker crawled in one end, Eddie would hightail it out the other, disappearing into the dark gully before the larger rodent was even halfway through the log.
If only Horace or Rat Bait were here … Whisker thought.
He considered calling out for backup, but decided his words would scare off Eddie quicker than it took to say, ‘Over here! I’ve caught the little blighter.’
He resigned himself to waiting patiently for any signs of his companions, while keeping one eye fixed on the log. As he stared at the patches of pale green lichen and bracket fungi covering the bark, he saw a tiny flicker of movement from the centre of the log. Honing his eyes on a crumbling section of wood, he spotted a small round hole. Staring out at him through the hole was a beady black eye.
The eye blinked once and then vanished with a loud tinkle of coins.
‘Rotten pies to rotten logs!’ Whisker hissed.
In desperation, Whisker hurled his scissor sword at the closest end of the log and it hit the bark with a clanging THUD, sending fragments of wood flying everywhere. At the same time, he sprinted towards the opposite end, hoping the gerbil would flee in the ‘safer’ of the two directions.
Rounding the end of the log, he dove into the tight space, his arms extended to tackle the gerbil – only to see Eddie squirming through a large hole in the centre of the log’s rear side.
‘Putrid pastries to third exits!’ Whisker exclaimed, stealing yet another line from Horace.
He tried to raise himself onto all fours to crawl after Eddie, but slammed his head on the low roof and collapsed back down again.
Eddie was gone and with him the bag of gold and any hope of breaking into the prison. In frustration, Whisker began to wiggle out backwards. His torso had just exited the end of the log when he heard a CRACK of splintering wood, followed by the sound of coins spilling over the ground.
Baffled, he hauled himself to his feet and rushed behind the log, just in time to glimpse Rat Bait lowering a rotten piece of wood. Eddie was lying unconscious in front of him, covered in splinters and gold coins. Horace stood spectating from the top of the ridge.
‘Nice shot, Gramps,’ he shouted out.
‘The bligh’er never saw me comin’,’ Rat Bait chuckled, running his paw down his green velvet suit for dramatic effect. ‘Ran clean into me club, he did. Must ‘ave thought I was part o’ the scenery.’ He glanced down at his unsuspecting victim. ‘It’s fortunate for him I wasn’t brandishin’ Miss Ruby’s scissor sword, or poor Eddie would be missin’ more than just his ear.’
Whisker rubbed his neck and gulped. ‘Let’s just hope all those blows to his head don’t erase his memories. He won’t be much of a prison guide if he forgets the escape route.’
‘I hear ye,’ Rat Bait said, throwing his club aside. He pulled out a silk handkerchief from one of his pockets. ‘Best we tie up his legs to stop him runnin’ off again. Three blows to the head an’ he might forget he was a prisoner in the first place.’
Sometime later, three rats and their limp captive arrived back at the spider’s web to find Ruby sitting on the stump, clutching her remaining scissor sword in both paws. She was busy demonstrating a complicated sword fighting move to Anna and Balthazar, while Chatterbeak continued to sleep peacefully on his perch.
Anna picked up Rat Bait’s fairy floss sword as the companions approached and moved to stand in their way.
‘Grrr,’ she said, swishing the sword through the air. ‘Anna grisly guard!’ She bared her teeth and took several bear-like steps towards them.
‘Grisly indeed,’ Whisker said, ruffling her messy fringe with his paw. ‘Enemies beware when you’re on watch.’
Balthazar let out a loud ‘HONK!’
‘And who could forget your trusty dragon,’ Horace chimed in, patting the bird on the neck. ‘You two are enough to scare away any forest nasties.’
‘Speaking of forest nasties,’ Ruby said, spotting the lump over Rat Bait’s shoulder, ‘I see you’ve been doing some hunting of your own.’
‘Aye,’ Rat Bait said, dropping Eddie at the base of the stump. ‘We have returned yer footstool, Miss Ruby, along with yer sword.’ He drew Ruby’s scissor sword from his belt and passed it back to her.
‘Much obliged,’ he said tipping his hat.
‘Don’t mention it,’ she said, studying the blade for scratches. Seeing nothing that required her immediate attention, she glanced down at Eddie and frowned. ‘Am I imagining things, or did Eddie just move?’
Receiving shrugs from Whisker and Rat Bait, Ruby raised her sword and gave the gerbil a firm jab in the backside. He instantly let out a high-pitched squeal of alarm, ‘Awooo!’
‘Thought so,’ Ruby said smugly. ‘Unconscious, my fractured foot. He’s probably been awake the whole time.’
Whisker looked down to see Eddie staring up at him through one bloodshot eye. His nose and second eye were squashed into the ground and his mouth was filled with pine needles.
‘Err, Whisker,’ Horace murmured, ‘you don’t think he overheard something important we said? I mean, we did discuss the plan a couple of times on the way back.’
‘Of course I overheard you, blabbermouth,’ Eddie spluttered, spitting out pine needles as he spoke. ‘And I’ll tell you right now, there’s no way I’m going back inside that weevil-infested prison. I’m out and I’m staying out!’ He attempted to draw himself off the ground but the tips of Ruby’s swords forced him back down again.
Ruby turned to Whisker, fury in her eye. ‘Permission to chop off his eavesdropping ear?’
‘Permission denied,’ Whisker said, stepping closer. ‘I want to hear what he has to say first.’
‘Why?’
