Gerbil on a Mission

by Michael Delaney

  They were all still looking for Kenobi when Mr. Armstrong came home from work. The moment he pulled his human mobile into the driveway, Rachel, in tears, hurried over to her father. Obi watched as he stepped out of the human mobile and Rachel told him the bad news. Mr. Armstrong started looking for the dog. He didn’t even change out of his work clothes. He and Rachel got into the human mobile and began driving around the neighborhood to look for Kenobi. A half hour later, the human mobile returned to the Armstrongs’ driveway. From the upstairs bedroom window, Obi watched as Mr. Armstrong and Rachel stepped out of the vehicle. They both looked very discouraged. It wasn’t hard to figure out why: Kenobi was not with them.

  Obi felt horrible. She felt so guilty. Where was Kenobi? She had specifically told the dog to wait for her to come out of the house. So where was he? Why hadn’t he waited like she told him to? Couldn’t that dimwit dog do anything right? Obi was also mad at Mr. Durkins for telling Obi about the broken screen door. What was Obi thinking? She never should have listened to that disgruntled old mouse. Obi was also angry at Mr. Armstrong. If he had only fixed the stupid screen door like Mrs. Armstrong kept asking him to, Obi would not have been able to let Kenobi out of the house. Obi was even mad at Rachel. If she had only shown Obi a little more love and attention, none of this would ever have happened!

  Obi sighed. Deep down, she knew who was really to blame: Obi herself.

  That night Rachel was in tears about Kenobi—which made Obi feel miserable. Rachel climbed up the ladder of her bunk bed and flung herself on her bed and cried and cried. The girl wouldn’t even come down to eat dinner. How could she eat, when she was so worried about Kenobi being outside alone at night? Several times that evening, Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong each came into the bedroom to try and comfort Rachel, but to no avail.

  During the night, Rachel tossed and turned wildly in her bed. Unable to sleep, Obi sat in her bedroom tower, gazing at Rachel in her bunk bed. She felt horribly guilty. Every few minutes, Obi would peer out Rachel’s bedroom window, hoping she might spot Kenobi. The Armstrongs had left the outdoor flood light on in case Kenobi should return in the middle of the night. The floodlight, which was on the side of the house, shone upon the Armstrongs’ driveway and lawn. Where the floodlight didn’t shine, it was dark and creepy. Obi felt so bad for Kenobi. He had to be absolutely terrified being out there in the darkness all by himself.

  Obi remembered Boa’s advice. The corn snake had been right. If you disappear for a while, he had said, you’ll be missed. The only problem was, the wrong pet had disappeared!

  “Kenobiiii!” Rachel suddenly cried out in the darkness, scaring the daylights out of Obi. “Kenobiiii!”

  Rachel was talking in her sleep. No, not talking—calling. Even in her sleep, Rachel was searching for Kenobi.

  Obi realized she had to do something. She had to go on a mission, a mission to find a lost dog.

  Chapter Fourteen Gerbil on a Mission!

  Obi decided to wait until morning to go on her mission. It would be daylight then and she’d be able to see where she was going—which was kind of important, since she had no idea where she was going. And so very early the next morning, in the gray light of dawn, before Rachel had woken up, Obi snuck out of her cage.

  The little gerbil slipped into the secret passageway and followed it downstairs, stopping at the small hole that led out into the kitchen. To her surprise, she smelled coffee brewing. Someone was in the kitchen! Obi peeked out of the small hole and saw Mr. Armstrong! He was squatting over by the screen door. He was dressed in his Saturday work clothes—old T-shirt, jeans, beat-up sneakers—and he had a screwdriver in his hand. A hammer and some other tools lay on the tiled floor.

  What was Mr. Armstrong doing up so early?

  Oh, no! He wasn’t! He was! He was fixing the screen door! Why was he fixing it now of all times? Couldn’t he have waited until Obi had escaped from the house? Obi had planned to slip out of the house by the broken screen door. Now how was she supposed to escape?

  Obi was so anxious to find Kenobi, it never occurred to her that, even if Mr. Armstrong hadn’t been in the kitchen, she could not have escaped by the screen door—not at that early hour, at any rate. To do that she would also have had to get past the other kitchen door, the inside wooden door. That door would have been closed for the night, not to mention, locked.

  Stepping back from the little hole, Obi bumped into something. Something small and furry. Startled, Obi gasped. She spun about, her heart racing.

  It was Mr. Durkins!

  “Mr. Durkins!” she cried. “How long have you been here?”

  Mr. Durkins had a fierce look in his eyes. “What are you doing?” he demanded.

  “I need to get out of the house,” replied Obi.

  “Why do you want to get out of the house?”

  “I need to find Kenobi.”

  “What?! Why?”

  “I need to find Kenobi and bring him back home.”

  Mr. Durkins crossed his arms. “No!” he said. “That’s not part of the plan!”

  “Plan? What plan?” asked Obi, frowning.

  But Mr. Durkins didn’t answer Obi’s question. He just said, “You’re out of luck, kid! There’s no way out of the house except out that screen door! And as you can see, Mr. Armstrong has finally decided to fix it!”

  Something in the way Mr. Durkins said this, though, made Obi suspicious. “There’s got to be another way out!”

  “Well, there isn’t!”

  Obi just couldn’t believe this. She was almost sure Mr. Durkins was lying to her. Obi did something then that was so unlike her, it startled her. But it startled Mr. Durkins even more. With her two front paws, Obi shoved Mr. Durkins up against the wall of the secret passageway.

  “Hey, kid, what are you doing?!” cried Mr. Durkins in alarm.

  “There’s another way out of this house and you know where it is!” said Obi. “Now show it to me!”

  “But it’s not part of the plan!” protested Mr. Durkins.

  “I don’t care about your plan,” she said. “Show me how to get out of this house!”

  “No!” said Mr. Durkins.

  Obi pushed the old mouse harder up against the wall. “Show me how to get out of this house, Mr. Durkins!”

  “All right! All right!” Mr. Durkins cried. “I’ll show you the way!”

  Obi let go of the old mouse. “I’m sorry I had to do that, Mr. Durkins,” she said. “But it’s important I find Kenobi.”

  “I don’t understand you, kid!” grumbled Mr. Durkins as, leading the way, he began hobbling down the tunnel. “I just don’t understand you! That lousy dog is gone! He’s history! You and Rachel are together again! And Mr. Armstrong got what was coming to him!”

  Hearing this, Obi frowned. Then, all at once, it all came into focus for her. “This was your big plan, wasn’t it?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You know what I’m talking about! You told me you were planning something big! This was it, wasn’t it? This was how you were going to get back at Mr. Armstrong and the rest of the Armstrongs! You were going to get rid of Kenobi! And I helped you do it! I fell for it!”

  Mr. Durkins stopped in front of a part of the tunnel that was covered with cobwebs. As Obi watched in amazement, Mr. Durkins wiped away the cobwebs, then slid open a secret panel. Obi had no idea a secret panel was there! Mr. Durkins started down this new section of the tunnel. Obi followed.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Mr. Durkins.

  “You told me you broke the screen door,” replied Obi.

  “Yeah, so?”

  “So,” said Obi. “You knew if Kenobi escaped from the house through the screen door, Mr. Armstrong would feel absolutely terrible about it because he should’ve fixed the screen door weeks ago. You told me Mrs. Armstrong kept telling him to fix it but he didn’t! You knew he’d blame himself!”

  “You’re assuming that I knew that Junior would run away when he
got outside.”

  “Am I?” said Obi. “I don’t think so! I think you knew Kenobi would run away the first chance he got!”

  “Now how would I know a thing like that?”

  “Because you see everything that happens in this house, remember, Mr. Durkins? You’ve seen Kenobi. You know he’s got squish-squish for a brain and as soon as he got outside, he’d run off and get lost.”

  “Look, kid—”

  “And another thing, Mr. Durkins! Stop calling me kid! My name is Obi!”

  Mr. Durkins stopped and turned to face Obi. He held out his paw toward a small hole in the wall of the secret passageway. Bright sunlight was peep ing through the hole.

  “Well, Obi,” he said. “Here we are! Here’s the way to get out of the house.”

  Obi stepped in front of the little opening and peered out. She saw a big green, leafy bush and, beyond that, a green lawn. She had no idea if she was looking out at the front yard or the backyard or a side of the house.

  “Well, what are you waiting for, Obi?” asked Mr. Durkins. “You’re not scared to go outside, are you?”

  Actually, she was. She was petrified. It was one thing to tell yourself that you were going to go on a mission outside the house; it was another thing to actually go and do it. Who knew what dangers lurked outside the house for a little gerbil?

  Obi could feel Mr. Durkins eyeing her closely. She did not want him to see that she was having second thoughts about venturing outside the house.

  “Well, thank you, Mr. Durkins, for showing me the way,” she said.

  Then Obi took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and leaped out of the hole.

  Chapter Fifteen A Strange, Rustling Sound

  Obi could feel her heart hammering inside her chest as, eyes closed, she fell through the air. With a ploff!, she landed on something hard yet soft and gushy. She opened her eyes and saw she had landed on—

  Obi shrieked!

  The thing she landed on shrieked!

  It was—it was a big brown toad! It had warts all over its body! Big ugly warts! Obi had never seen a toad—well, not a real-life-flesh-and-blood-and-covered-with-warts one. She’d only seen pictures of toads in the books Mr. Armstrong read to Rachel.

  “Hey, watch it, will ya!” exclaimed the big toad indignantly and hopped off in a huff.

  “Sorry!” Obi called out after him.

  Obi hadn’t been outdoors for more than a few seconds and already she’d nearly killed a toad! Obi told herself she really needed to be more careful. Clearly, being out-doors was a lot more dangerous than being indoors. Plus, if she got into trouble, there would be no Rachel to come to her rescue.

  Obi wanted to start out on her mission to find Kenobi. The only problem was, she hadn’t the slightest clue where to go. Obi turned back to the house. It took her a moment before she spotted the small opening to the secret passageway. It was behind a coiled green garden hose that hung from the clapboard, just above the cement foundation. Obi made a mental note of the little hole so she’d be able to find it later. Lifting her eyes higher, Obi spotted Rachel’s upstairs bedroom window—the one Obi looked out from when she was in her cage.

  “Well, for heaven’s sake!” exclaimed Obi, realizing where she was now. “I’m in the Armstrongs’ backyard!”

  Happy to know this, Obi started on her way. She padded under a bush and across a soft bed of black mulch until she arrived at the Armstrongs’ back lawn. Obi had never walked on grass before. To be honest, she wasn’t entirely sure she liked it. For one thing, the grass needed mowing; the grass was so tall, it made it difficult to see very far ahead. How was she supposed to find Kenobi?

  Obi started to make her way across the lawn. She hadn’t gone very far when she heard something in the grass behind her. It was a strange, rustling sound.

  Obi, terrified, stopped. The moment she did, the sound stopped. Obi nervously glanced over her shoulder. All she saw was tall, jagged green grass.

  “Hawo?” Obi called out. “Who’s there?”

  There was no answer.

  Feeling very vulnerable, Obi started walking again. The strange, rustling sound started up again.

  Obi froze in her tracks. The rustling sound instantly ceased. Obi spun about. Once again, all she saw was lots of tall, unmowed grass.

  “Hawo? Anyone there?”

  Still no answer.

  By now, Obi’s heart was thumping furiously. She walked faster. To Obi’s horror, the strange, rustling sound began moving faster. What was following her? Was it one of the cats? It wasn’t a hungry fox, was it? Or a starving coyote? Or maybe it was a—

  Stop it! Obi told herself. Just stop it! You’re freaking yourself out!

  As Obi continued on her way, she repeatedly glanced over her shoulder, hoping to see who was following her. Why did the darn grass have to be so gosh darn high? Didn’t Mr. Armstrong ever mow this lawn? Apparently, fixing a screen door wasn’t the only thing he put off doing!

  It was then that Obi remembered the woodpile that was at the edge of the Armstrongs’ backyard, by the woods. Obi saw it every day from her cage when she gazed out of Rachel’s bedroom window. If Obi could get to the woodpile, she could hide in between one of the logs.

  Obi abruptly stopped. Just as she had hoped, the strange, rustling sound also stopped. Obi waited a moment, and then, hoping to catch whatever it was that was following her off-guard, she took off like a missile.

  Obi ran as fast as she could. Because she ran every day on her exercise wheel, Obi was in fantastic shape. There was no way the creature would be able to keep up with this speedy gerbil!

  Yet, incredulously, the thing did keep up! Not only that, but Obi heard the creature closing in on her! Obi shrieked and ran even faster through the tall grass. When she got to the end of the lawn, Obi took a flying leap into the air toward the woodpile. She landed on top of a birch log that had white, peeling bark. Obi quickly sprang to her feet and spun about. She gazed all around the back lawn. Whatever had been following her, it was gone now.

  Obi leaned up against one of the logs. She was totally stressed out. She was all out of breath, and her poor heart was banging inside her chest. As Obi waited to regain her composure, an idea occurred to her. If she were to climb up to the top of the woodpile, she’d be able to see far and wide. From the top, she might be able to spot Kenobi! Excited by this idea, Obi turned to scamper up the woodpile. Before she could begin her ascent, though, a loud, stern voice cried out:

  “DON’T MOVE!”

  Chapter Sixteen The Woodpile

  The moment she heard someone shout “DON’T MOVE!” Obi let out a loud, startled gasp. Then she did something she probably shouldn’t have: she moved. She started to turn to see who had yelled at her.

  “I said DON’T MOVE!”

  Terrified, Obi froze. This time, she didn’t move a muscle, not even a whisker.

  “Notice the way the light falls upon her head,” said the voice, now speaking in a quieter, softer tone. It was the voice of an elderly female creature. Whoever she was, she was standing inside the log cave that Obi was standing just outside of. “See how the light catches the troubled, frightened look on her face.”

  Obi, confused, frowned. Anxious as Obi was to see who was saying this, she didn’t dare sneak a look. She wasn’t about to be yelled at again.

  “See the way she stands,” the voice continued, “with her shoulders stooped.”

  Hearing this, Obi stood up straighter. Who was this creature and who was she speaking to? Obi heard scratching noises from within the log cave. She thought she recognized the sound. But it couldn’t possibly be that. Still, it sure did sound like the scratching noise Rachel made when she sat at her desk, drawing.

  “Notice the way her tail curls so your eye is naturally drawn to the front of her body?” the female voice continued.

  For several minutes, Obi stood as still as a statue at the mouth of the log cave. She was no longer quite so nervous. She figured that if the creatures who were in the
log cave wished to harm her, they would have done so by now.

  Obi stood there, half facing the woodpile, half facing the Armstrongs’ backyard and the back of the Armstrongs’ house. Peering out the corner of her eye, Obi could see Rachel’s upstairs bedroom window. Obi wondered if Rachel was awake yet. She must be, Obi decided. She wondered if Rachel had discovered that her little gerbil was missing. Would the girl be as upset about Obi being gone as she had been about Kenobi? What if Rachel didn’t miss Obi? What if Rachel didn’t even notice Obi was gone?! What a horrible thing that would be! The very thought brought tears to Obi’s eyes.

  “Are you crying?” the female voice suddenly said. A small, plump mouse who walked with a cane—well, a twig—limped out of the log cave. She stood in front of Obi and peered into Obi’s face. “You are crying!”

  “Sorry!” Obi apologized. “I’m just a little upset at the moment.” She started to lift a front paw to wipe her eyes when she remembered she wasn’t supposed to move. “Oh! Sorry, I forgot!” Obi quickly put her paw back down.

  “It’s okay, you can move now,” said the old, plump mouse. She glanced into the log cave and said, “Okay, everyone, wrap it up!” Then, fixing her eyes back on Obi, she said, “So who are you?”

  “I’m Obi. I live in the Armstrongs’ house.”

  “Glad to meet you, Obi,” said the mouse. “My name is Gertrude. Thank you for modeling for us.”

  Obi stared at the mouse in astonishment. “I was modeling for you?”

  “What do you think?” a cheerful voice asked down by Obi’s knees.

  Obi looked down and saw a young mouse. He proudly held up a scrap of paper that had scribbles on it.

  “This is Bill,” said Gertrude.

  “Hawo, Bill,” said Obi. She studied the scribbles on his scrap of paper. It was a drawing of a stick figure with a big balloon-shaped head, huge fangs, little tiny ears, and paws that looked more like lobster claws than paws. “You drew this?” said Obi, impressed.