Smell a Rat...

Cornered

Cornered

They packed most of the remaining food-fruit mostly-into Chris's backpack. Then, they proceeded in the direction the rat had taken. Above deck. They snuck sneakily up the stairs, making slightly more noise than the lumbering Mr Walker. Suddenly, they heard a shrill shriek from up the corridor. Seconds later, a teenage girl with a 'whatever' t-shirt and a mini skirt ran out of an adjoining room. She ran up to Jacob.

"Oh, please help me!" she pleaded in a British accent.

"There's a-a thing! A big, hairy, brown thing with horrid little whiskers! In my room!"

Jacob had turned bright red.

"Um... it's... it's a rat!"

"A rat!" Chris's eyes lit up!

"Oh! How horrible!" The British girl moaned, and fainted in Jacobs arms.

Jacob was now the colour of an over ripe tomato, and quickly turning purple.

Chris laughed.

"Maybe you should lay your... friend... down there, and come with me. We need to corner that rat, and then get rid of it."

Jacob obliged, and they proceeded down the corridor.

They looked in. There, standing by the cupboard, chewing on a skirt, was a fat, ugly rat.

"Jacob!" Whispered Chris

"Stand in the doorway so it can't get out. I'll go in and... well, you'll see."

He was fumbling with his backpack. Finally, he got it open.

"Eat these!" he commanded, handing Jacob a pile of apricots.

"Why?"

"Just do it!"

He did so, and saw that Chris had pulled another item from his backpack. It was a curious slingshot, with gears and pulleys everywhere.

"Gramps designed this!" He said proudly.

"The gears allow you to pull back further with less effort. It's deadly! Now hand me those apricot stones!"

Jacob began to understand.

"I'll get as close as I can, then I'll shoot. If I miss, it'll run, so hit it with... where is it, I know it's somewhere here..." He drew a metal crowbar from his pack. "This. And hit it hard!"

Jacob held his questions. Now was not the time.