It wasn't long after Mary and I had our discussion, all of us girls were gathered in the dining room, crowded around the rat catcher. I hadn't been able to speak to Hetty for very long, but from the pleased glint in her eyes, I'd gathered that her talk with Gideon had been a success.
I was interrupted from my thoughts by the noise of something hitting the table, as I looked up to see the rat catcher placing a cage holding the rats that had previously been in the kitchen, eliciting a noise of disgust from most of the girls. "Right!" The rat catcher straightened up, brushing off his hands. "That is the kitchen sorted." He looked around at all of us, holding up a finger as he spoke. "Ladies, for your entertainment, let me introduce to you..." He paused in his speech, putting his hand in his bag and pulling out a white ferret. "Cecil." There were more noises of disgust from most of the girls, and even Nurse M shrank back into the corner she was hiding in. I, on the other hand, leaned forward, looking at the ferret curiously. The rat catcher obviously saw my interest in the animal as he shot me a wink before comforting the other girls. "Cecil is the fastest ferret on this side of Bishopsgate," he announced, seeming particularly proud of that fact, and grinning when an excited 'ooooh' came from the crowd. "Now, let me show you our skills." As he spoke, Hetty turned to Polly and I, and I could see an idea forming in her head.
"If anyone can get us through the hatch, this man can," she whispered to the two of us. Polly and I exchanged looks, before she looked back at Hetty in awe, answering her with "Hetty, you're a genius." Not wanting Hetty's ego to inflate any further, I tugged on her arm to get her attention. As the rat catcher kept speaking about his plan, I whispered to Hetty "He can only get us through the hatch if he agrees to help us, and how are you going to get him to do that?" She contemplated the question for a couple of seconds then shrugged. "I'll think of something", she whispered back to me. "That's a terrible plan," I retorted, to which she just rolled her eyes. Both of us turned back to the rat catcher and Harriet at the front of the room, just in time to see her grab a tray and to see him put Cecil down the back of the cabinet. He grabbed his net and raced round to the other side, kneeling on the floor and looking up at Harriet, who (despite clearly looking nervous) nodded in answer to a question that I hadn't heard - probably due to mine and Hetty's conversation.
"When I say," he addressed Harriet, peering underneath the cabinet, presumably looking for rats. "Bang!" On his shout, Harriet began to hit the cabinet with the tray, whilst the rat catcher moved around the base of the cabinet with his net. This went on for a minute or so, before he stood up with a rat in his net, after which Harriet stopped the banging. Almost as one, the whole group of girls around me drew backwards with varying noises of disgust escaping into the air, especially as he moved the rat closer to us. Putting the rat in the cage, he turned to Nurse Macclesfield, who drew back fractionally, and sent her an award-winning smile. "That's your lot in here Nurse," he reassured her, his smile seeming to calm her down. She thanked him fervently, before turning to use and trying to herd us into some orderly line, so we could begin chores. Hetty seemed to also have overheard this conversation and piped up from beside me, "Of course, it's the rafters that's the real problem ."
That caught his attention, and he turned around to look at Hetty.
"Yeah." His interest seemed piqued, and as he continued to stare at Hetty, I realised exactly what her plan was. Before I could chime in to help her, Polly beat me to it. "We can hear them." Nurse Macclesfield (who had been eavesdropping on this conversation) quickly jumped into the conversation, gesturing to Hetty and telling her to "Show him to the rafters". The rat catcher turned to look at Hetty, who stuck out her hand, introducing herself to him. "I'm Hetty." He shook her hand. "I'll show you exactly where to go."
As she turned to the rest of us, I spotted the white ferret from earlier (Cecil) sneak out from underneath the cabinet, and make a dash for the door into the kitchen. Disregarding whatever Hetty was going to say, I darted forward and caught him just before he got to the door, lifting him up and letting him run over my hands. I grinned softly at the animal, reminiscing about my borrowed family and the animals that I grew up with until I was forced to move back to the Foundling Hospital. Cecil continued to run up and down my arms as I walked over to the rat catcher, who was packing up his equipment so he could go to the rafters with Hetty. He seemed to be searching frantically for something underneath the cabinet and as I got closer, I could hear him calling Cecil's name softly - presumably not wanting to scare the rest of the girls by hinting that the ferret was missing. When I reached him, I knelt down and tapped him on the shoulder, effectively getting his attention, and causing him to turn around quickly. He saw Cecil - who at this point had run up my arm and was curled around my neck and shoulders - and the worry seemed to slide off his face, and was replaced by relief. I quickly reached up to my neck and got the ferret down, handing him back to the rat catcher, who grinned fondly down at him.
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Just A Number ⋆Hetty Feather⋆ (SLOW UPDATES)
FanfictionRaven Smudge is a foundling. She knows nothing about her past. Who her parents are, when she was born, where she was born or what her real name is. She is stuck inside an empty person, frantically searching for a sense of identity. Yet, her life isn...
