The Fort: Lions first roar

Chapter Thirteen

"Are you sure?"

"Yes" Twig nodded furiously. "In the larder. Look behind the barrel farthest in."

Penny sighed. "I'm going to tell Nebula this."

"Fine, just...get it out of there."

Penny grabbed a broom and went into the larder. It was going to be pitch black in the back.

"Are you really sure you saw it?"

"Yes. One hundred percent. It had fangs."

"A rat with fangs and I'm monarch over the Middle Lands" she murmured and moved a sack of potatoes. As she walked further in, she slowly raised the broom so when she could see behind the barrel...where there was nothing. First, she almost screamed at Twig, but then she decided this could be an excellent prank.

"Hiya! There you go, stinky rat, and smack there you have again, and bam had it now, eh? Oh, you little...smack smack smack bam. Twig!" she couldn't almost hold back her laughter.

"Is it dead?"

"Yeah, but the body is stuck behind the barrel and I can't move it alone."

Silence. "Are you sure it's dead?"

"Yes, I hit it in the head like ten times."

Twig came reluctantly into the larder. She hid behind a shelf and bit her knuckle so she wouldn't laugh. Twig was almost at the back now.

"Penny?"

"HUGGAMUGGA!"

Twig screamed like a stuck pig and stumble over the potatoes, falling down on the floor, crawling away from the monster behind the shelf. Penny laughed so she couldn't stand straight.

"You...should have seen....your...face!" she gasped.

"That wasn't fun at all!" Twig whined and crawled up from the floor.

"Oh, come on" she teased. "A little?"

It pulled in the corner of her mouth. "I screamed pretty grotesque, did I?"

"Yes you did"

"And I fell backwards..." now laughed Twig too.

"...over the...potatoes!" they both started to laugh hysterically, because potatoes is as everyone know the worlds funniest word.

"Potatoes! Po...pota...toes...! Po..."

"Penny shut up"

"Oh come on, there isn't any rat! It was a joke! I made it up with the smashing and..."

"No, look." Penny looked up.

And a yellow eye stared back.

From the small bung hole someone looked out on them. Someone sitting inside the barrel.

"But oh my gods" Penny walked up to the barrel. "Okey, fine, did you play a joke on me too?"

"No" Twig squeaked. "No."

"It's a bad one, I can tell you. But I'll play along" she breathed in, and knocked on the barrel.

Someone knocked back.

The two women froze. Penny swallowed hard, and grabbed the top of the barrel. Twig had her eyes wide open. Was she planning on...open it?

She did. It was empty.

"See, nothing there. No creepy old ghosts or anything, probably just a rat or the light or..."

"Hello!"