by Holly Webb
They all wandered over in a group to the dining hall for lunch – the triplets with Fran, Saima and Megan. Normally they aimed for one of the tables by the windows, which gave them a good view of the whole room, but Annabel and Saima shepherded everybody to one of the middle tables for some reason.
Katie was confused. “Bel, why do we want to sit here? Look, we’re really close to Mr Hatton” – their very strict French teacher was on lunch duty – “can’t we go where we always go?”
“Sssshh!”
Becky giggled, and nudged Katie. “Look who I can see!”
“Oh.” Katie sounded completely disgusted. “What a surprise. Now we even have to eat lunch next to Josh Matthews?”
“Will you be quiet? He’ll hear us – just sit down and shut up, Katie!”
Annabel was starting to sound fraught, and Saima’s normally perfect face was set in a scowl, so Katie sighed, and did as she was told.
They got out their lunches, and waited for Fran to come back from the hot lunch queue with something fairly horrible-looking. The school dinners weren’t actually that bad, but they certainly didn’t look great, and it was fun to tease Fran about them, as she didn’t really mind.
Fran arrived back with her tray – and everyone peered at it with interest.
“Cheese?” asked Annabel, innocently. “A new kind they’ve been growing in the kitchens for a while?”
“Ha-ha. Get glasses, Bel. Anybody else want to admit they don’t know what fishfingers look like?” Fran said mildly.
There was a general chorus of “Oh, so that’s what it is!” and Fran shook her head and grinned.
Annabel and Saima went back to the magazine that they were using to camouflage the fact they were really watching Josh. They kept giggling attractively every so often.
“What are you reading, Bel?” Becky peered over at the article. “Is it one of those My Most Embarrassing Moment things?”
“Ooh, yes, they’re really funny, read it out,” said Megan, taking a big bite of her sandwich.
Annabel went a bit pink – she’d had a lot of teasing from Becky and especially Katie about Josh already. But Saima wasn’t worried.
“It isn’t that sort of article. It’s about making yourself look attractive. Boys like girls with a good sense of humour, so you have to laugh when you’re around a boy you like.”
Katie looked incredulous. “You mean the pair of you are fake-laughing to make Josh Matthews think you’re funny?”
Saima nodded. “Mm-hm.”
“That is so sad. I’m sorry, Saima, but it is.”
“I don’t see why you have to pretend to be funny, anyway,” put in Becky. “You are funny, both of you. Why don’t you just act how you do normally? We’re always getting told off for making too much noise in here ’cause you said something really funny and we’re all laughing, Bel.”
Annabel and Saima exchanged glances, and sighed.
“It’s not the same thing,” Annabel explained, in a voice that suggested she was about ten years older and wiser than Katie and Becky. “It’s about – well, it’s about attracting the right kind of attention. Just trust me.”
The triplets’ table were so focused on Annabel and Saima that they failed to spot they had a visitor. Max was forced to cough to attract their attention, which was annoying.
Katie turned round to look at him. “Oh, what do you want?” she said, sounding bored and slightly irritated, which just ruffled up Max even more.
Megan grinned. “Told you yesterday it wouldn’t take him long to get over it.”
Max ignored this – as Megan had thought, he was quite good at blocking out what he didn’t want to hear. He smiled sweetly at Katie. “I haven’t come to talk to you – I want to talk to your sister.”
“What do you want to talk to me for?” asked Annabel in disgust. “I certainly don’t have anything to say to you,” she added sniffily.
“Not you either, Little Miss Perfect.” Max’s voice was becoming positively sugary – he knew he was about to get the kind of reaction he wanted. When he finally looked at Becky and saw that she was doing a very good impression of a petrified rabbit about to be eaten by a boa constrictor, all bug-eyed and shaky, he couldn’t hide his satisfaction.
“Wh-what?” Becky stammered. However often her sisters and her mates laughed about Max being stupid, and however much she agreed with them, she still found him scary. She couldn’t just laugh off his insults like Katie and Annabel, and she found it very difficult to keep calm enough to think of anything smart to say back to him. At least she wasn’t on her own – she could feel her sisters and Fran and the others bristling, like angry cats.
Max smiled. “I just wondered – I’ve been talking to Jack, you see, and he told me about his rats. I noticed in history that you were talking to him about them as well, and I just wondered–” He paused.
“What?” snapped Katie. “Get on with it!”
Max ignored her completely, and focused a charming smile on Becky. “I just wondered if you knew what he was breeding them for?”
Becky gazed at him, the rabbit still hypnotized by the snake, and said waveringly, “Um, to sell? Isn’t he going to sell them to a pet shop, or – or put ads in a magazine, or something?”
Max’s smile intensified into a grin. “Oh no. It’s very difficult to make money doing that. No, Jack’s got a much simpler idea. I think it’s really clever.” He beamed at her.
“Wh-what’s he going to do?” whispered Becky, transfixed by Max’s mean smile.
Max crouched down and put his elbows on the edge of the table, then rested his chin on his hands. Katie and Annabel would normally have told him to stop contaminating their food, or something like that, but by now they just wanted to hear what he was going to say. Max lowered his voice confidentially, and everyone leaned in to hear him – he was in his element. “He is going to sell them to a pet shop, but not the way you think. He’s going to sell them to the place he got his lizard, in Stallford – the exotic animals shop.”
“What would they want rats for?” asked Annabel, disbelievingly. “Rats aren’t exotic. Don’t be stupid.”
But Becky knew exactly what Max meant, and her eyes filled with tears. “Oh no! He wouldn’t!”
“What?” asked everybody else, confused – Becky might be super-sensitive, but they totally couldn’t see what Max had said to upset her.
“Oh yes,” said Max silkily. “It’s a brilliant way to make money, I think. Those places pay loads for decent snake food. Nice and fresh. Juicy. Still running about.”
“Don’t!” wailed Becky. “That’s so horrible!”
“And sometimes the snakes, and the big lizards and things, they want something a bit bigger than a mouse, but not like a full-grown rat, so baby rats are just perfect. . . Anyway,” – Max smiled round at all the girls – “I thought you might like to know, that’s all. Sorry if I’ve put you off your sandwiches, Becky.” Then he wandered back to his own table, casting satisfied glances over his shoulder at the scene he’d left behind.
Chapter Four
The triplets’ table were left in stunned silence for a moment, but it was soon broken by Katie, who took one look at Becky’s face and immediately tried to undo some of the damage Max had caused.
“Honestly, Becky, don’t listen to him – it’s probably not even true,” she said hopefully.
But Becky was really upset, and she wanted to find Jack right away. The others persuaded her not to – at least not until after she’d calmed down.
“We’re right, Becky,” Annabel assured her. “You don’t want to talk to anyone looking like that. You look half mad.”
From their worried faces, the rest of the table seemed to agree, so Becky decided she’d better wait for a bit.
But by next morning she’d made up her mind. Of course, she knew that really she was bei
ng silly – the exotic pet shop people were going to get their walking snake food from somewhere, whatever she did, but she just couldn’t bear the thought that Jack’s baby rats were going to be the ones.
So at registration on Wednesday, she left the others watching her anxiously and forced herself to go across to where Jack and Robin were sitting with some of the other boys, discussing PlayStation games. Even though she knew Jack quite well, it was a bit daunting.
Fran caught her up while she dithered. “I thought I’d come with you. What are you going to say to him?”
Becky looked embarrassed. “I haven’t really got that far.” She wasn’t very practised at arguing – Katie would just storm in and tell Jack that he wouldn’t dare to do something so horrible, but Becky didn’t think that simple bossiness was really something she could carry off. She was hoping just to – well, she wasn’t quite sure what she was hoping, but she knew that if she didn’t get on and do it now, she’d slink back to her seat and never pluck up the courage again.
“Hi Jack.”
Jack turned round from telling Robin that there was no way he could ever beat his time on that race track, because he was useless at the bends, and gave Becky a “What?” look. Actually he was a bit embarrassed, and just trying not to show it – the triplets still had a kind of celebrity status at Manor Hill, and even though Becky (he was fairly sure this was Becky, because Fran was with her) was less intimidating than Katie or Annabel, he still didn’t want to look an idiot in front of all his mates. Unfortunately, Becky had absolutely no idea that she was scaring him, she was far too nervous herself even to consider the possibility.
“Um, hi,” said Becky again. Then she looked helplessly at him, and then round at Fran, while she tried to work out what to say next. Jack just stared at her, and Fran wasn’t much help either. Finally Becky pulled herself together.
“Max told us about your rats. That you’re not going to breed them as pets, I mean. You’re – you’re not really going to sell them for snake food are you?” she finished hopefully. Maybe Max had just been trying to upset her after all?
“Course I am,” said Jack stubbornly. “It’s a brilliant idea. Snakes are really popular pets. Loads of people need rats for them – probably more than want rats as pets. Who’d want a pet rat?”
“I would!” squeaked Becky in a hurt voice. “They’re lovely. Please Jack, think about it – those lovely little furry rats. You’ll feel awful, sending them off to be eaten!”
Fran nodded vigorously. “You couldn’t do it!”
“Typical girls!” Jack grinned round at his friends, who smirked back. “You’re so babyish. This is a business proposition, Becky, it’s not for fun. And I don’t feel bad about the rats – why should I? I feed Godzilla crickets all the time” – Godzilla was Jack’s pet lizard – “why should I have a problem with snakes eating rats? Because they’re furry. It’s just like a girl to think that makes a difference,” he added sneeringly.
Becky was getting cross now, and that helped her arguing. “Actually, baby rats aren’t furry at all, they’re bald and ugly and they have weird blue lumps where their eyes are going to be. They look horrible, but I’d still love them, and I think you’re being totally heartless!”
“Well, they’ll be furry by the time they get eaten,” Jack snapped back.
Becky gave him a Look – then sighed. She could see there was no point in this. “You really think it’s going to work – that you’ll make money out of them?” she asked sadly.
“Definitely. I’ve got it all worked out.” Jack’s pride in his brilliant business plan suddenly won out over his irritation at being lectured. He wanted to show off. “Look, come and see if you like, both of you. After school this afternoon – I’ll show you the rats, and their cage and everything. I’m not being cruel to them, Becky – I look after them. The babies will have a really good life until they go to the pet shop.”
Becky shuddered. Somehow that almost made it worse – she could just imagine all those happy little rats, with no idea what they were really living for . . . urrgh! But she still very much wanted to see Jack’s pair. And maybe seeing them would give her some idea of how to stop Jack’s terrible plan?’
“Ummm, all right. I’ll borrow Bel’s phone and check if it’s OK with my mum.” Becky didn’t have a mobile, but Annabel had begged and pleaded to be allowed one, and their mum had finally given in – provided Annabel paid for it. Annabel was fairly generous about lending it, although she did tend to demand favours in return.
Becky and Fran trailed back to their table, feeling down. Fran looked apologetic. “Sorry Becky, I wasn’t much help. I just couldn’t think what to say except ‘Don’t do it!’ and I don’t think that would have been much use.”
“Don’t worry, it’s not your fault, I couldn’t think of much to say either. And I don’t think anything would have worked except for a guaranteed reason why rats won’t make Jack any money, do you?”
Manor Hill didn’t let students have phones turned on except at break and lunch (or that was the theory), so Becky asked Bel if she could borrow her mobile at breaktime.
“Why?” asked Annabel, vaguely. She’d been deep in an excited conversation with Saima about the end of term show – a list had just gone up for auditions, and they were both planning to try out.
“Jack says me and Fran can go round and see his rats after school – I just want to know if it’s OK with Mum.”
Katie looked worried. “You’re going to go and see them? But Becky, won’t that just make you more upset?”
Annabel and the others looked as though they agreed with her, and Becky shrugged.
“Maybe. But I’d still like to see them. Wouldn’t you, Fran?”
“Mmmm – then at least we’ll know he’s not feeding them on chocolate, or something stupid. I wouldn’t put it past him.”
Katie and Annabel exchanged glances. “Well, if Jack doesn’t think his mum will mind, I think we should come too,” Katie said firmly.
Even though she was feeling depressed, Becky smiled to herself. Katie was doing her protective big sister act again. Well, it wouldn’t do any harm – and the more exposure Annabel got to cute rats, the better, as far as Becky could see. She shrugged again. “OK. Anyway, we should check with Mum at break.”
Mum was fine with the plan – in fact, her work was obviously going well, because she suggested that any of the triplets’ friends who wanted to could come back to their house for a bit afterwards, if their parents didn’t mind picking them up. Annabel and Saima, who had some credit on her phone for once, did fairly well at break with Fran and Megan bribing them with chocolate biscuits for phone time.
Jack said his mum was fine with them all coming, though Becky suspected that she didn’t actually know she was getting Jack, Robin, the triplets and three others.
This suspicion was confirmed by the expression on Jack’s mum’s face when she opened the door to eight people that afternoon. Jack’s little sister was delighted and desperate to come and play with all these exciting new big children, but Jack was firm. “No, Susie! Mum, you’ve got to keep her downstairs. We’re going to let the rats out and you know what Susie’s like.”
He led the stampede upstairs, hard-heartedly ignoring Susie’s wails. When they got to his room he explained, “She’s a complete nightmare. I’ve had to put these special safety locks on Godzilla’s vivarium and the rat cage, otherwise she’d be in here playing with them as soon as Mum’s back’s turned, and I’d never see any of them again, probably. She wants to dress them up and put them in her dolls’ house. Honestly.”
The others nodded wisely, and Saima put in, “My sister’s hamster got out once, and my dad had to take the floorboards up. He was furious.”
By this time they were all gathered round the big table under the window where Godzilla’s big heated tank stood next to a rather less plush-looking rat cage. It
wasn’t huge, and Becky was looking at it worriedly. She didn’t want to start in on Jack straight away, but she just didn’t think it was going to be big enough for a mother and possibly twenty babies! (She’d been amazed when she’d read that it could be as many as that.) And what was Jack going to do with his male rat when the babies came? She didn’t think it was a good idea to keep him in the same cage – she’d have to check on the net.
Then the big mound of shredded tissue in the corner of the cage, which had just been twitching occasionally up until now, suddenly erupted. A whiskery face poked out, sniffing, and looking around with interest.
“That’s One, he’s the male,” said Jack over his shoulder – he was undoing the locks on Godzilla’s tank and getting the lizard out, murmuring to him admiringly. Godzilla was a leopard gecko, and Becky could see that he was very handsome, with his spotted head and dramatic colouring, but she just wasn’t that interested in lizards.
“One?” asked Fran, confused.
“Yes, I’m not giving them proper names – like I keep telling you girls,” Jack explained loftily, “this is a business. One and Two are not pets. They’re money-spinners.”
One was mostly white, but his head and shoulders were very dark brown, and Becky could easily tell that he was a hooded rat. He was gorgeous, and had the most intelligent-looking eyes. He was quickly followed by Two, who was a lovely rich red-brown, and had enormously long wobbly whiskers.
Fran looked at Becky. “Wow! I’ve never seen a rat that colour, isn’t she sweet?”
Becky was in love. “Is she a cinnamon, Jack? She’s so pretty! Can we hold them?”
Annabel and Saima, who’d been peering into the rat cage in a sort of horrified fascination (and trying not to get too close to Godzilla either), took a very quick step back. They had no desire to be anywhere near those things without a good solid cage in between. In fact, preferably one that was a lot more solid than Jack’s.