Gerbil on a Mission

by Michael Delaney

  “Oh, my!” gasped Gertrude.

  “I need you to get this squirrel to stop moving,” said Obi.

  “I think I can do that,” replied Gertrude.

  “I know you can do that!” said Obi with a smile.

  Both at once, Obi and Gertrude slid off Kenobi’s back and onto the top of the cage. From there, Gertrude climbed down to the ground. Obi took her position at one of the cage doors. She looked down at Gertrude and said, “Ready when you are!”

  With a stern look on her face, Gertrude glared at the squirrel and bellowed:

  “DON’T MOVE!”

  The squirrel instantly froze. He did not move a muscle. The only thing that moved on the squirrel were his eyes: they followed Gertrude.

  Obi quickly went to work. She gave the door a good yank up. The door lifted. She gave it another yank. The door slid up higher. Obi yanked and yanked again. The door rose higher and higher. When Obi didn’t think she could yank any higher, she yelled down to Gertrude, “Okay!”

  “MOVE IT!” shouted Gertrude.

  The squirrel bolted. He scampered out through the narrow opening under the cage door. As soon as the squirrel was free again, Obi let go of the door. It fell with a crash.

  The squirrel hurried over to a bush, stopped, and spun about. Peering up at Obi on top of the cage, he said, “I’m sorry, Obi, but I can’t do this anymore! I can’t be part of your gang! The life of a criminal is just too stressful for me!”

  And before Obi had a chance to respond, the squirrel scurried out across the Armstrongs’ back lawn toward his maple tree. The last Obi saw of the squirrel was his fluffy gray tail twitching nervously in the air as he scampered up the trunk of the tree.

  Obi leaped off the cage and landed beside Gertrude. “Thanks, Gertrude,” she said. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”

  “Glad I could be of help,” said the mouse.

  “I’ll get Kenobi to give you a lift back to the—” Obi started to say when, glancing about, she stopped.

  The puppy was gone!

  “Oh, no!” groaned Obi. She had a pretty good idea where Kenobi had disappeared to. Obi turned to Gertrude and said, “I’m sorry, Gertrude, I guess I can’t offer you a lift back to your woodpile, after all.”

  “No worries,” said Gertrude. “I know the way.”

  The mouse and the gerbil said goodbye to each other, hugged, and then Gertrude headed out across the Armstrongs’ back lawn toward her woodpile.

  Obi swung around and quickly made her way behind the shrubs to the side of the house, where the kitchen door was located. She hoped she wasn’t too late. Her heart was thumping as she came around the corner of the house. She saw the kitchen screen door, and froze.

  Kenobi was standing outside the screen door, wagging his tail, scratching his front paws on the screen part of the door.

  “Kenobi?!” Obi heard a very startled girl’s voice cry out from inside the kitchen.

  It was Rachel. The screen door burst open, and Obi saw Rachel come out of the house. “You’re back!” she cried happily as she bent down and picked up the puppy.

  By now, Kenobi’s tail was wagging so fast, it was amazing it didn’t break off and fly into the air. The puppy barked a couple of thrilled barks to let Rachel know that yes, yes, it was him!

  “Mom! Dad! Look who’s back!” shouted Rachel, her voice bubbling with excitement and joy. She cuddled the puppy in her arms and brought Kenobi back into the house. The screen door slapped closed behind them.

  For a long, heartbreaking moment, Obi just stood there, stunned, staring at the screen door. She could not believe what had just happened. Rachel had been reunited with Kenobi, her lost puppy, which was a good thing, but it would have been a much better thing if Obi could have been with Kenobi, too.

  A tear slid down Obi’s furry face. She felt a lump in her throat and, for a moment, it was all Obi could do to keep from bursting into sobs. How would Rachel ever know now that Obi, her brave Jedi gerbil knight, had ventured outdoors into the dangerous world, found the little puppy, and brought him back home.

  She wouldn’t!

  Chapter Twenty-five Look Who’s Back!

  With tears in her eyes, Obi trudged to the back of the Armstrongs’ house. She felt utterly desolate as she made her way behind the shrubs. It pained her to think that things would go back to the way they had been, with Kenobi getting all of Rachel’s love and attention, and Obi getting whatever crumbs of the girl’s affection that remained. Just thinking about it made Obi’s eyes fill up with a new round of tears.

  Rather than return to her cage by way of the kitchen screen door, Obi had decided to take the secret passageway back. Now that Kenobi and Rachel had been reunited, what was the point of entering the house through the screen door?

  There was none. Besides, Obi was so small she couldn’t scratch the screen the way Kenobi could and let someone know she was there. She would have to wait outside the kitchen door until one of the Armstrongs left the house, and who knew how long that would be?

  The little entrance to the secret passageway was in the rear of the Armstrongs’ house, on the wall behind the coiled-up green garden hose. Obi was heading for it when she heard a strange sound. She stopped to listen. It was a jangling sound, the kind of sound a little bell makes. It came from behind one of the rhododendron bushes. Just then, who should step out from the bush, jingling as she did, but the black-and-white cat, Sweetie Smoochkins! She had a little bell that dangled from her collar, just below her chin.

  “Well, well! Look who’s back!” said Sweetie Smoochkins. Her voice did not sound exactly thrilled to see the little gerbil. “Where have you been, Fuzzball?”

  “Oh … nowhere really,” replied Obi with a shrug. She didn’t feel much like talking about it. “What’s with the bell?” she asked, changing the subject.

  “Do you like it?” asked Sweetie Smoochkins.

  To be perfectly honest, Obi thought it was a rather hideous fashion accessory. Who would want to listen to a jingling bell all the time? Everywhere you went, it would jingle. But Obi was too kind to say such a thing. If Sweetie Smoochkins wanted to wear a little bell that jingled, well, that was her choice.

  “It’s nice,” said Obi.

  “I’m glad you like it, Fuzzball,” replied Sweetie Smoochkins. “Because I hate it!”

  Obi was surprised. “You do? Then why are you wearing it?”

  “Because of you!”

  Obi was even more surprised. “Me?!”

  The cat’s eyes narrowed to practically slits. “Yes, you! All three of us cats have to wear bells now thanks to you!”

  “What did I do?”

  “You disappeared!”

  Obi could not understand how that would cause the cats to have to wear bells on their collars. Was she missing something? “Am I missing something?” she asked.

  “When you disappeared, Rachel was absolutely devastated,” said the cat.

  Obi blinked in surprise. “She—she was?!”

  “Yes, she was!” said Sweetie Smoochkins. “Oh, sure, she was upset when that drippy puppy disappeared, but you, well, you broke her heart when you vanished!”

  Obi was astounded. “I … I did?”

  “At first, Rachel thought the twins had taken you out of your cage. But when you didn’t turn up, we three cats got blamed. The Armstrongs leaped to the conclusion that it was one of us who caused you to mysteriously disappear.”

  Obi could see how the Armstrongs might come to that conclusion. Obi decided to keep this thought to herself, though. All she said was “But you had nothing to do with my disappearance.”

  “Of course I didn’t!” said Sweetie Smoochkins. “Nor did Honey Buns or Sugar Smacks! But none of the Armstrongs know that! So now we each have to wear a bell so little, unsuspecting creatures like you will be warned that we might be sneaking up.”

  “Well, don’t worry!” said Obi. “I’m on my way back to my cage now. The Armstrongs will find out soon enough that I’m safe
and sound.”

  “Oh, but will they?” asked Sweetie Smoochkins.

  Obi did not like the way the cat said this. It sounded very cryptic. “What does that mean?”

  “Think about it, Fuzzball,” said Sweetie Smoochkins. “Here you are, outside in the shrubs, and here I am, outside in the shrubs, and, well, I’m a cat and you’re a gerbil and cats eat gerbils and this would be a perfect place to eat you, since none of the Armstrongs would ever know.”

  “Oh!” said Obi, who really wasn’t thinking along these lines. “But if you eat me, Sweetie Smoochkins, the Armstrongs will never know that you had nothing to do with my disappearance. You’ll have to keep wearing that bell on your collar!”

  Sweetie Smoochkins lifted her two front paws and pretended she was weighing two invisible objects. She moved one paw up and down at the same time she moved the other paw up and down. It looked as if she was trying to make up her mind which invisible object weighed more. “Let’s see …” said the cat. “Having to wear a bell or getting to eat a gerbil. Such a hard choice! Hmm! I think I’ll go with eating the gerbil! I haven’t had a good gerbil in ages! In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever had a gerbil!”

  Had this been any other time, Obi would have been nervous as anything and her heart would have been banging inside her chest, she would have been so scared. Yet, oddly enough, she wasn’t afraid—not in the least. That was because Sweetie Smoochkins had made a mistake—a rather colossal mistake. She had said that Obi had broken Rachel’s heart by disappearing. Well, that was all Obi needed to hear! The little gerbil was now bound and determined to be reunited with Rachel! Nothing was going to stop her from completing her mission—not even Sweetie Smoochkins!

  As Obi tried to think of how she could get past Sweetie Smoochkins and disappear into the secret passageway, she heard the jingle of another little bell. It came from behind her. Then she heard a startled voice say, “For crying out loud! Look who’s back!”

  Obi swung around and saw Honey Buns, the honey-colored cat, emerge from behind a rhododendron bush. The cat’s eyes were wide with astonishment at seeing Obi.

  “Hawo, Honey Buns!” said Obi.

  “Where have you been?” asked Honey Buns. “You know, the Armstrongs all think you’re dead!”

  “Who’s dead?” asked another voice. Obi heard yet another tingling bell as the tiger cat, Sugar Smacks, popped out from behind another rhododendron bush. Sugar Smacks stopped in her tracks and stared at the gerbil.

  “Obi?!”

  “Hawo, Sugar Smacks!”

  “Where the heck have you been?” demanded Sugar Smacks. “Do you know how much trouble you’ve gotten us cats into?”

  “Yeah, I know and I’m really sorry about that,” said Obi.

  “Oh, I bet you are!” said Sweetie Smoochkins.

  All this time, Obi had been wondering how on earth she was ever going to get back to her cage. As if things weren’t complicated enough, the three cats had all encircled her. Worse, their tails had all begun to do that awful swirling and swishing thing they always did whenever they were around Obi. It was a good thing the cats had been so confused to see Obi again—otherwise one of them surely would have attacked the little gerbil by now. Wait! What if Obi were to confuse the cats even more? If she got them really confused, she might just be able to sneak away. Well, it was worth a try.

  “It’s all Honey Buns’s fault!” Obi blurted out, pointing an accusatory paw at Honey Buns.

  Honey Buns frowned at Obi. “My fault?! What are you talking about?”

  “You wanted me to hide so Sweetie Smoochkins and Sugar Smacks would get into trouble!”

  “What!?” cried Honey Buns.

  Obi turned to Sweetie Smoochkins. “That was what you told me to say, right?”

  Honey Buns fixed her eyes on Sweetie Smoochkins. “What is she talking about?”

  “I haven’t a clue!” replied Sweetie Smoochkins.

  “Oh, like I’m supposed to believe that?” said Honey Buns.

  “But I don’t!” insisted Sweetie Smoochkins.

  Obi turned and winked at Sugar Smacks. “It’s working!” she whispered.

  Honey Buns and Sweetie Smoochkins both glowered at Sugar Smacks.

  “I saw that wink!” cried Honey Buns.

  “What’s working?” demanded Sweetie Smoochkins.

  “I don’t know!” replied the tiger cat, looking totally befuddled.

  “Uh-oh!” said Obi. “This isn’t working out the way you thought it would, is it, Honey Buns?”

  Sugar Smacks hissed at Honey Buns. “How did you think it was going to work out, Honey Buns?” she asked.

  Honey Buns hissed right back at Sugar Smacks. “Don’t you dare hiss at me like that!” she warned. By now, Sweetie Smoochkins was so riled up that she, too, hissed at Sugar Smacks.

  The cats broke into a quarrel. It quickly escalated into a big catfight, with lots of loud hissing and accusations. Obi, still facing the cats, quietly stepped back from the fight, without any of them noticing. She glanced up at the coiled garden hose. The end of the hose was dangling about six inches from where Obi stood. Obi waited for a particularly heated moment between the cats, and then, when none of them was paying attention to her, she leaped up and grabbed hold of the garden hose with her two front paws. She pulled herself up and scampered up the hose to the hidden entrance of the secret passageway, then slipped into the tunnel without being seen by the cats.

  Inside the dark tunnel, Obi heard Sugar Smacks cry out, “Hey, where did Obi go?”

  “She was here just a second ago!” said Honey Buns.

  “You idiots!” cried Sweetie Smoochkins. “Don’t you see what that gerbil just did? She tricked us! Well, it doesn’t matter. I’ve got a feeling that when Fuzzball finds out what’s in store for her when she gets back to Rachel’s bedroom, she’s going to wish we had eaten her!”

  Obi had no idea what Sweetie Smoochkins was talking about. Nor, honestly, did she care. She was safe inside the secret passageway, heading back to Rachel’s bedroom, where she would be reunited with her adoptive mother. The thought of being with Rachel again made Obi run even faster through the dark tunnel.

  And then—bam!—Obi slammed into a wall. She crashed into it at full speed! Obi bounced off the wall and fell backward onto her bum-bum. She sat on the dusty floor of the secret passageway, dazed, staring at the black smudge in front of her, wondering who on earth had put a wall up in the secret passage. Obi sprang to her feet and began banging her front paws against the wall.

  “Open up!” she cried.

  Obi stopped banging her fists against the wall and took a step back. She was all ready to slam her shoulder against the wall to try and bust through when she remembered something. When Mr. Durkins was taking her through the secret passageway to the outside world, they had passed through a secret panel. This must be that secret panel! Obi tried to remember how Mr. Durkins had opened the panel. Unfortunately, the light had been so dim, she had been unable to see. Obi began groping the wall, feeling around for a secret button or something that might open the door. She felt nothing, though. Then she tried sliding the door, the way a human would push open a sliding glass door.

  It worked! The secret panel slid open!

  Obi was about to break into a run again when she had the most terrible fright. Up ahead in the darkness, positioned right smack in the middle of the secret passageway, stood a small, stooped figure. Obi stopped in her tracks. She screamed.

  “Aaaaaahhhh!”

  The figure moved toward her and into the thin light. It was the old mouse, Mr. Durkins.

  “Mr. Durkins!” cried Obi, placing a paw over her furiously beating heart. “You scared the daylights out of me!”

  “You’re back!” said Mr. Durkins.

  It was such a typical Mr. Durkins greeting. No “Hawo!” No “Sorry to startle you, Obi!” Nope, just a curt “You’re back!”

  “Yes, I’m back!” replied Obi as she quickly squeezed past the old mouse. “Sorry,
Mr. Durkins, but I can’t talk now! I need to get back to my cage!” She began to run again.

  “Kid, wait!” cried Mr. Durkins, hobbling urgently after her. “I need to tell you something! It’s important!”

  “I know what you’re going to say!” replied Obi, glancing over her shoulder at the old mouse. “The Armstrongs think I’m dead!”

  “No, it’s not that!”

  “Then it must be the cats!” said Obi. “I know all about them, too, and the little bells they have to wear now on account of me. I know they’re all really angry at me. Don’t worry, Mr. Durkins. I’ll be careful!”

  Mr. Durkins yelled out something, but Obi was scurrying so fast through the dark tunnel, she was unable to hear what he said.

  Obi followed the secret passageway as it sloped up to the second floor. Because it was so dark and hard to see in the secret passageway, Obi had a tendency when she was rushing through it to overshoot her mark and miss the little hole that led out into Rachel’s bedroom. Not this time, though! Obi made sure she didn’t run past the little hole!

  Rachel wasn’t in her bedroom. Obi stepped out of the hole and raced across the yellow shag carpet to Rachel’s dresser. She ran to the side of the dresser and grabbed hold of the lamp cord that dangled over the side. She climbed up the cord in record time and hurried across the dresser to her cage.

  Just as Obi was about to climb back into her cage, she saw, to her astonishment, that the little square cage door was closed. How could it be closed? Obi was positive she had left it slightly ajar. Then Obi realized that Rachel must have closed the cage door. She had probably closed it after turning the cage inside out, searching for Obi.

  Obi tried to pull the cage door open with her front paws, but she couldn’t get a good grip on the bars. Then an idea occurred to her. She wrapped the end of her tail around one of the bars of the cage and pulled. The door sprang open. Obi hopped into her cage, closing the cage door behind her with her tail.

  Out in the bedroom hallway, Obi heard footsteps coming up the stairs. They were Rachel’s footsteps! Obi’s heart felt like it was about to explode, it was beating so fast. Excited as anything, Obi waited for Rachel to appear in the bedroom doorway.