Jacob gave her a quick smile. ‘Thanks, dear.’
‘Besides,’ he continued, ‘I’ve decided to concentrate on my big project again.’ He looked around the table. ‘I’ve had some ideas recently to make some good progress and I’m convinced that before the year is out, we will all know more about why and how Robbie disappeared.’
‘Good for you,’ Dave said. ‘Let’s drink to that.’
* * *
Paddy
‘Thank you so much for getting rid of the Three Bambini,’ an older rat with a large bald sport on his head said to me. ‘Without you we might all have been homeless by now.’
I smiled at him, shuffling my feet, slightly embarrassed as he was the fifth rat that had come up to thank me that afternoon.
‘You’re most welcome, but it was most definitely a group effort,’ I said. The old rat went back to talk to his friends and Vinnie appeared at my shoulder.
‘Stop being so modest,’ he said under his breath. ‘After all it was you who realised the egg was just an innocent blob of goo.’
Leo had overheard him. ‘Not so innocent as it turned out to Victor.’ He grinned and took a large bite out of a slice of pizza. I smiled at the mental picture of the Three Bambini engulfed in goo.
It was time for Vinnie and me to go back to Milbury Hill and Gus, Leo and Daisy had organised a going away party for us. The old building was filled to the rafters with rats. I hadn’t even realised there were so many rats around Woolaston Road.
The whole of the Rat Squad had turned up and so had lots of other rats from Ratville. Most of them we had never seen before. They all wanted to wish us bon voyage and, as it turned out, thank me for beating the Bambini.
Embarrassed by all the attention, my first reaction to all their nice words had been one of wanting to leave immediately, but then I realised that what we had done together wasn’t a mean feat and that the other rats were simply grateful.
Before the party started, Leo, Vinnie and Daisy had scoured the car park for as much food as they could find. We wanted to have a right feast and had succeeded. All over the old building rats were eating and chatting away.
I watched as Gus showed some other rats the ring he now proudly wore around his tail. He seemed happy enough again, but the last few weeks had been difficult for Gus.
‘I really hope those two-leggeds hurry up with rebuilding the sewer,’ Leo said, looking at his brother. ‘Gus will have a nervous breakdown if they don’t leave soon.’
Vinnie nodded. ‘Who knew it took so many two-leggeds to rebuild a sewer.’
‘And what about those that came to inspect the old building the other day?’ I said. ‘They seemed nice enough, but I think it was good they didn’t spot us. They might have run screaming from the place.’
‘What about you, Leo?’ Vinnie said. ‘How are you holding up with all this change?’
Leo shrugged. ‘I guess I’ve always been a bit more easy going than Gus, but I must say that I’m looking forward to a little time away from all this in Ratville. Recuperate from all the stress.’
I reached beside me for a half-eaten sausage roll.
‘I don’t blame you,’ I said, taking a large bite. ‘When are you leaving?’
‘As soon as the party is finished and you two have gone home, we will go back to Ratville with Daisy and Charlie.’ Leo looked about him. ‘To be honest, I’m a bit nervous of moving there. It’s been a while since we’ve been to Ratville and from what I hear there’s quite a few new rats that have moved there.’ He pawed the fur on his chest.
‘I’m sure it will be okay,’ I said. ‘Just be your own bubbly self.’
‘Yes, don’t worry about it,’ Vinnie said through a mouth full of fried fish. ‘At least you don’t have to worry about the Three Bambini any more.’
I shrugged. ‘Well, at least for now.’ I thought back to a few days before, when the news had reached us that Victor, Dino and Sal had limped back into Hull, heads hanging, not at all keen any more to take over other rats’ territories.
‘Speaking of old foes,’ Vinnie said. ‘I wonder whatever happened to the two-legged who was so frantically looking for Gus’ treasure. Have you ever spotted him again, Paddy?’
‘Actually, I think I saw him looking down the sewer hole a couple of days ago.’
‘Really?’
‘Well, it might not have been him. After all, the official looking two-leggeds took most of the treasure that was lying about on the road and the rest possibly disappeared down the sewer.’ I shrugged. ‘So why would he still come looking for it?’
We pondered that question for a while.
Charlie walked up to us, his whiskers caked in icing and powdered sugar. ‘This is a great party!’ He chomped down on the piece of chocolate cake he was dragging behind him. ‘Listen, Daisy and I were wondering if you guys ever planned to visit Ratville. You really should, you know, as it’s a nice place.’
I glanced at Vinnie. ‘We might well do that in the future, but for now we just want to go home.’
‘Of course,’ Charlie said. ‘I totally understand. There’s no place like home, after all.’
‘But if we ever do visit Ratville,’ I said, turning to Leo, ‘I do hope to get a glimpse of that famous alligator.’
‘You can’t actually,’ Leo said. ‘They don’t swim up the hill.’
‘Oh.’
‘But there’s lots of other ratlore stories going around, so we’ll be sure to have some fun!’ He clapped me on the shoulder with a greasy paw.
Vinnie grinned. ‘I’m sure Paddy would love to hear them all.’
‘You know what I don’t understand?’ I said, ignoring Vinnie. ‘Why did the alligator in Leo’s story need to be tripped? That simply doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the story. Odd.’
‘Please don’t worry about that old tale now,’ Vinnie said, rolling his eyes. ‘Just enjoy the party.’
I nodded. ‘I guess you’re right. That conundrum is for some other day.’
Gus joined us. His eyes glittered. ‘Everyone simply loves my ring! Isn’t that great?’
‘Well, the diamond is in a fine princess cut, which is very pretty,’ Vinnie said, eying the ring.
I stared at him. ‘And one day you are going to tell me more about that knowledge you have of jewellery.’
‘I’m Italian.’
‘No, it’s more than that.’
Vinnie took a large bite out of his fried fish and ignored my glare.
I sighed and looked from Gus to Leo. ‘You know, if you guys ever feel up to it, you are most welcome to visit us on Milbury Hill.’
‘Is there as much yummy food there as there is here?’ Leo said.
‘Of course.’
‘Then I will definitely come to visit one day.’ He waved with his paw over his shoulder. ‘But first the sewers need to be back in order again.’
‘Hear, hear to that.’
The End
Book 3 in the Jacob Hick Murder Mysteries comes out in 2020. Can’t wait that long for more adventures? Then download the free short story Peanuts!, to dive right into a new mystery.
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Setting off on their holiday, Paddy the Rat and his pal Vinnie bump into their old enemies, the grey squirrels. Paddy soon realises that these fluffy-tailed creatures hang about the pub on Milbury Green for nefarious reasons. He has no option but to warn his old pal Carl about them, temporarily postponing the holiday, much to Vinnie’s chagrin.
**
Things go from bad to worse when Carl’s son Billy gets kidnapped by the Greys, and Paddy, Vinnie and Carl scramble to rescue him from their clutches.
**
Will Paddy and Vinnie ever make it to Woolaston Road for their well-deserved holiday?
* * *
If you enjoyed Sewer Mayhem, please consider leaving a review, even if it’s only a line or two, it would be a big help.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Annie Appleton is an indie writer, wh
o loves cats, baking and reading mysteries. Although this might make her sound like a stereotypical cosy mystery writer, Annie is far from that. She actually spent nine months of her life working on containerships and loves looking at the night sky in search for the International Space Station.
In 2004, Annie was lucky enough to move from her native Netherlands to the English city of York, where she ended up in a close-knit, but vibrant community. Annie soon fit in, thanks to a part-time job at the local deli and an allotment society vegetable plot.
Having written two non-fiction books about York, Annie is now using her time in York as inspiration for her cosy mystery series.
To find out more about Annie visit www.annieappletonwriter.com
Alternatively get in touch on Facebook or send her an email: [email protected]
Annie’s non-fiction books have been published under her real name Maria Staal.
OTHER BOOKS BY ANNIE APPLETON
Jacob Hicks Murder Mysteries
Don’t Feed the Rat!
Peanuts!
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This book is not just the product of one person’s overactive imagination and hard work. Luckily, I have my developmental editor Eva Kattz to brainstorm with and without her suggestions it wouldn’t have become what it is.
Further thanks go out to my editor Helen Baggott, who ironed out the text and caught all my Dutchisms, and Jennifer from Indie Designz who did the cover and formatting.
I also would like to thank my beta-readers Suzanne Bowditch and Yvonne Klein-Wilderboer, who each gave me valuable feedback.
Last but not least, I would like to thank my readers, who seem undaunted by the fact that there are talking rats in my books.
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