Chapter 11: Eavesdropping

Susan wasn't sure how long she slept, but her eyes were still sore and she was pretty tired, so she assumed it wasn't long.

She sat up and wiped at her dirty face, using the flannel lining of her raincoat to clean her cheeks as best she could. Her eyes had somewhat adjusted to the dim light, but what she was able to see didn't make her feel a whole lot better.The room was small, barely her height long and wide, more like a closet and she guessed it was a cat prison, not meant for someone her size. The floor was cold, damp stone, the same as the walls. The only other features were the door she had come through and the ledge she curled up on.

Susan pulled her knees up to her chest, pressing her back against the wall and tried to think. There had to be a way out. She knew Tucker would do his best to help her, but the fact the cats now had the threat of the rats to deal with meant she could be down in that dark and nasty hole for a long time. The thought made her want to cry again, but this time, she was able to hold off the tears.

Susan was about to stand up and try the door when she heard a scraping noise very close to her. She froze. It sounded like claws on stone. She listened, senses heightened from being in the dark, and almost shrieked in fear when she heard the voice.

"You're thertain you weren't followed?"

She looked around in a panic, but she was alone. But the voice sounded like it was right beside her! Susan sat down again, leaning against the wall, hugging herself.

A second voice spoke. "I'm certain." Susan bit the inside of her lip to keep from yelling. It was Julian!

The first voice was soft and had a squeaky, hissing to it. The Ôs' sounds were more Ôth' sounds, as though the speaker had problems speaking.

"The plan ith in plathe," the first voice said, high pitched. There was a chorus of squeaks and Susan realized the first speaker wasn't alone.

"The plan needs to change," Julian said.

Susan looked around. Why did the voices sound so close? Finally, as the first voice spoke again, she noticed a crack in the wall next to her, near the floor. There was the faintest of lights coming through and Susan realized she was hearing something going on below her.

As quietly as she could, she knelt by the crack and put her eye to the weak little beam of light.

"What hath happened?" The first voice asked, alarm in it. Susan looked down through the hole and jumped back a little. Julian stood right below her. She eased back into place and looked past him to who he spoke to.Susan's heart skipped a beat when she saw the rats. Four brown bodies, their skinny, bald tails glistening in the faint orange light Julian carried with him, cowered against the wall of the hallway beneath her, their red eyes glowing.

"The girl is here," Julian said. "And the scout made it through. They know you're coming."

The rats squeaked at each other.

"We mutht tell our king," the rat said.

"This doesn't have to stop us," Julian told him. "They may know you are coming, but they have no idea you have help. Tell your king he must move now if this is to work."

"I will tell him," the rat said, "but it ith up to my king whether he moveth or not." "Tell the Rat King," Julian said, closing the gap between himself and the lead rat in a

flash, claws extended, "that the Gate will be open and if he wants to take the City, he had better be prepared to move right now."

The rat squealed in fear as it backed away from Julian. "I will tell him," the rat said again. "We will be ready."

Julian backed off, nodding. "Be sure you are. You have one hour."

Julian turned and bounded out of Susan's view, his light leaving with him. She strained to see and was horrified to realize the rat's eyes glowed in the dark.

"Will he betray uth?" One rat asked.

"No matter," the first said. "Our king hath a plan. The cath with not thurvive another day and Cat Thity will be ourth. Come!" The rat scuttled off. Susan waited until the eyes were gone for a few breaths before getting up. She took a seat again on the ledge and tried to quiet her heart.

Julian was betraying the City to the rats! And she was a prisoner and couldn't tell anyone. She briefly considered pounding on the door again, but decided against it. What if whoever she told was working with Julian? They would kill her for sure.

Susan agonized over what to do. If only she could get word to Tucker and Vinnie!

Time was running out and she was trapped.

She nearly jumped out of her skin for the second time when she heard a scratching sound at her door. Heart pounding again, terrified, she pushed herself as far back on her ledge as she could, visions of rats coming to hurt her filling her with dread, huggingherself as the scratching, scrabbling sound at the metal stopped and the door latch creaked.