by KH Gordon
Chapter Four
Torus went to the entrance and called out softly.
“Nevi? What are you doing here?”
“Torus! Can you come up?”
He walked up the short tunnel and out into the main tunnel outside the nest.
“What’s going on? Why are you out after curfew?”
“Something strange is happening. Something’s not right. Where’s your dad?”
“Out foraging, I guess.”
“No, I don’t think so. No one is out tonight. They’re all somewhere else.”
“How do you know? Why are you wandering around so late? You’ll get into trouble.”
“When I got home my mom wasn’t there. That’s no big deal, she’s always out doing stuff so I didn’t really worry about it. I got something to eat, and then I thought I’d see if I could find her. Sometimes she takes me out on the forage if things are quiet.”
“Really? That’s kind of risky.”
“No, we keep out of the way and it’s no problem. Anyway, I went out looking for her and she wasn’t in any of the places she usually forages. And I didn’t see anyone else out foraging either. All the tunnels are empty. It’s weird.” She shuddered a little.
“I can’t believe you go out when it’s late like this. Aren’t you worried someone will see you?”
She gave him a funny look.
“No one ever sees me if I don’t want them to.”
“Okay, well, do you want to come in and wait ‘til my dad comes home so you don’t have to get back home by yourself?”
“No, that’s not it at all! I want you to come out with me and figure out what’s going on and where everyone is.”
“What? I can’t do that! I have to stay with the kids or my dad’ll kill me.”
“I thought they were big enough to stay alone for a little while,” said Nevi. “Aren’t they half grown?”
A small voice came out of the tunnel behind him.
“What’s going on?” Moki came up beside him and blinked his big eyes.
“Nothing,” Torus said, “Nevi just came over to say ‘Hi.’”
“I heard you talking. You can go if you want. I can watch the sisters.”
“Are you sure?” Torus asked uncertainly.
“Sure he can,” said Nevi. “He’s more than big enough.” Moki smiled and his tail twitched.
“I don’t know,” said Torus. “What if my dad comes back?”
“He’ll be gone for at least another hour if he’s out foraging. Besides, we won’t be long, just a few minutes to check some things out and then you can come right back.”
“It’s okay,” said Moki. “I’ll stay awake the whole time.”
“Okay,” said Torus. “Okay, but if anyone comes, don’t say anything, okay?”
“Sure,” said Moki, and he turned and went back down into the den.
Torus sighed nervously and turned to Nevi.
“All right. Where are we going?”
“Follow me,” she said and she stepped quickly and silently down a side tunnel that led toward the center of the building.
Nevi led them down a winding course of little-used tunnels and pathways. It was late in the evening. Occasionally they passed near a room full of noisy humans, but for the most part the building was quiet. Torus had hardly ever been out during foraging time, but he could tell that things were unusually quiet.
“Nevi!” he whispered. “Where are we going?”
She stopped and looked over her shoulder at him, holding one claw up to her lips. Then she gestured forward and continued along the tunnel. They came at last to a small, abandoned nest and she turned and spoke to him.
“I checked some of the lookouts earlier and no one was out. There weren’t even any Scouts at the posts. I can only think of two things – either there’s some really amazing garbage at the park and the entire clan is over there, or else they’re all gathered together inside the building for something.”
“Neither of those makes any sense,” said Torus. “The tunnel to the park is too small for everyone to use at once, and we already had a gathering today.”
“I know, but I don’t know what else to check. The park is too far to check out now, so I just want to check out the meeting place and see what’s up.”
“So why bring me along?”
She smiled sheepishly.
“I didn’t want to be crazy all by myself.”
She started off again, skittering silently along the tunnel. Now that he knew where they were headed, Torus could make some sense of the route she was taking. They were headed toward the meeting room but using side passages that avoided the main tunnels where they might run into someone. He had never been in most of them, but Nevi was running along like she went this way every day.
They finally came to the furnace room and she paused before running out on to the floor. Torus thought she was going to the doorway to the meeting room, but instead she ran to the far wall behind the enormous metal furnace. He followed her and saw her disappear into a very small hole at the base of the wall. It was almost too small for him to squeeze through, but he finally managed it. Then he followed the sound of her feet up inside the wall.
There, near the top, was a metal vent. By perching on a board below the vent and stretching up as high as they could reach, they could peer through the slits in the metal and see nearly the whole room. The floor was covered with rats, all facing the Chief and his advisors. Everything was silent. The Chief had evidently said something very profound and was pausing to let it sink in. Torus and Nevi were behind the Chief and his advisors on the platform, so all the rats on the floor were facing them as well. Torus suddenly felt very visible.
“Can they see us up here?” he whispered.
“No, I don’t think so. No one has ever seen me before.”
“How did you find this place?”
“It’s a long story. Shhhh”
The Chief started speaking again.
“I understand your concerns,” he said. “Many of you may be upset, some of you are even angry, perhaps. Please understand we took all these things into account before we made this choice. We would never have embarked on this path if we didn’t feel it was in the best interests of the clan.”
A rat in the front row spoke up.
“Why do we need to do this? If we claim the dumpster as Clan-right the neighboring clans will be angry. My wife is from across the alley and her family there might suffer if we do this.” There were murmurs of agreement in the crowd and Nevi nodded her head silently.
“As I said, we understand your concerns,” continued the Chief. “It’s best for the clan that we take this course.”
“I agree!” said another rat, back in the middle of the floor. “My family has barely enough to eat now. If we claim the dumpster, then we can at least take care of our children through the winter.” There were louder murmurs in response to this, and some rats stomped on the floor with their feet.
“Yes, you see?” said the Chief. “It is as I said: We must do this for the good of the clan. Our very survival may depend on it. Our very survival…” The Chief paused and looked down at the floor. One of his advisors stepped up and whispered in his ear and he looked up again.
“Yes, of course,” he said. “Not alone.”
The advisor whispered again, more urgently. The Chief nodded but remained silent.
“Hey, look!” said Nevi. “There’s my mom! And there’s your dad over there.”
“Where?” Torus was suddenly nervous again about being seen.
“Over there on one of the paint cans.” She pointed. “By the main door.”
Torus stretched up even higher to try to see better. Then the Chief spoke again.
“No one denies there are risks associated with this action. Of course we must be prepared for unhappiness and even anger from our neighbors. That is why we are not doing
this alone. No. We will go forward together with friends and allies and we will protect each other’s interests and each other’s safety.”
Torus was tired of stretching so high and he slumped back down onto the board. There was really nothing to see, anyway, and he could still hear clearly.
“Tonight is the dawn of a new day,” said the Chief. “Tonight we are no longer a single clan scrambling for survival, but a member of an alliance! Together with our new partners we will secure this valuable resource for ourselves and our children!” There was more excited murmuring and foot-stamping.
“Now, if I have your agreement, I would like to introduce our new allies to you. They are a powerful friend in our time of need and I am very pleased to bring them here to meet you now.”
There was a sudden clattering commotion and startled uproar of astonished shouting from the room.
“Oh, no!” Nevi said. “No, no, no…”
“What! What is it?” said Torus. He scrambled up and tried to peer out the vent again.
Nevi’s voice was thin and tense.
“Pigeons.”
* * *