Chapter Twenty
I checked the cage before I let myself panic. Surely, there were some rats still in there, right? Not all of them would have escaped, would they?
But as I scoured the cage for any sign of furry faces or naked tails, the reality of what I was dealing with set in.
Fifteen rats. Ten cats. And eight little girls.
All in a handful of rambling rooms with dozens of rodent-sized hiding places.
This birthday party was about to turn into a Wild Discovery-style bloodbath.
I whirled around, scanning the area behind me for any rats. Or cats for that matter. If I could just keep the cats distracted, maybe I could...
What? What was my amazing plan for overcomingthishiccup going to be? Because I didn’t have anything up my sleeve.
Zero stars. Had to get therapy for my daughter and all her friends after they watched the cats tear apart a bunch of baby rats just before cake was served.
As if on cue, Jojo slunk into the room, ears pricked forward, back straight. He didn’t look like he had spotted anything yet, but he certainly looked like he knew there was something to be spotted.
And that was when it hit me—treats. If there was one thing all ten of the cats loved, it was lickable treats, which they only ever got on very special occasions.
And, apparently, when I desperately needed them preoccupied.
I ran to the storage closet and flung it open, half hoping to see a bunch of rats huddled safely inside. No such luck. But I didfind several packages of treats. Grabbing them, I sprinted into the room where the girls were squished together on the couches, petting some cats under Julia’s watchful eye.
“Hey, everyone. Would you like to see how much the cats love these treats?” I said, waving the packages around. “They go crazy for them!”
I started passing out entire packages of treats, then showed the girls how to open the little tubes and slowly squeeze out the contents while the cats licked the ends.
Talk about a hit—the cats loved it, the kids loved it, and even Julia seemed pleased with how much cat interaction the kids were getting.
One of the girls finished a tube—far too quickly for what I needed—and reached for a second tube. “Oh, Sarah, not too many,” Julia said. “I’m sure the cats’ tummies don’t need too much of that.”
The cats’ tummies definitely did not, but this wasn’t the time to worry about that. “Oh, it’s fine,” I said breezily. “You go right ahead. It wouldn’t be a party without unlimited treats.”
Unlimited treats? I shot a baleful look at Jojo, who had abandoned his potential prey the moment he heard the crinkle of the packages. He had a big enough problem with gas as it was. What would unlimited treats do to his digestive system?
Probably the same thing fifteen rats would do to it, I told myself.
Fair enough.
I counted the cats, relieved that all ten were clustered around the kids, then waved one hand in the general direction of the café area and said, “I’ll be right back. I’m just going to check on...”
Julia wasn’t paying super close attention to me, so I let my voice trail off as I hustled back to the first room and began a frantic search for the missing rats. Dropping to the floor to lookunder the coffee table, tossing cushions off the couch, moving every piece of furniture away from the walls.
Nothing.
Nothing, nothing, nothing.
I didn’t know a magic spell for finding lost rats. I did know one for finding lost keys, which I tried, but the only thing that happened is that I slightly singed a couch cushion and I turned a lock of my hair a smoky pink color.
I was running out of time. While I’d told the kids they could give the cats as many treats as they wanted, there was a limit to how many tubes were in those packages.
Meanwhile, the most productive thing I could think of to do was stand in the middle of the room, pressing my hands against my temples like I was Winnie the Pooh trying to squeeze a good idea out of my head.
