The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett Read Free Book Online Page A

the first mouse get?”
    The roar of voices made dust fall down from the ceiling. “The Trap!”
    â€œAnd don’t you forget it,” said Darktan. “Take ’em out, Specialoffer. I’ll be with you in a minute.”
    A younger rat stepped forward and faced the squads.
    â€œLet’s go, rats! Hut, hut, hut…”
    The Trap Squad trotted away. Darktan walked over to Dangerous Beans and Peaches.
    â€œThat’s got us started,” he said. “If we can’t get the humans looking for a good rat catcher by tomorrow, we don’t know our business.”
    â€œWe need to stay longer than that,” said Peaches. “Some of the ladies are going to have their babies.”
    â€œI said we don’t know it’s safe here yet,” said Darktan.
    â€œDo you want to be the one to tell Big Savings?” asked Peaches sweetly. Big Savings was the old head female, widely agreed to have a bite like a pickaxe and muscles like rock. She also had a short temper with males. Even Hamnpork kept out of her way when she was in a bad mood.
    â€œNature has to take its course, obviously,” said Darktan quickly. “But we haven’t explored.There must be other rats here.”
    â€œThe keekees all keep out of the way of us,” said Peaches.
    That was true, Darktan had to agree. Ordinary rats did keep out of the way of the Changelings. Oh, there was some trouble sometimes, but the Changelings were big and healthy and could think their way through a fight. Dangerous Beans was unhappy about this, but as Hamnpork said, it was either us or them and when you got right down to it, it was a rat-eat-rat world….
    â€œI’m going to go and join my squad,” said Darktan, still unnerved at the thought of confronting Big Savings. He moved closer. “What’s up with Hamnpork?”
    â€œHe’s…thinking about things,” said Peaches.
    â€œThinking,” said Darktan, blankly. “Oh. Right. Well, I’ve got traps to see to. Smell you later!”
    â€œWhat is the matter with Hamnpork?” asked Dangerous Beans when he and Peaches were alone again.
    â€œHe’s getting old,” said Peaches. “He needs to rest a lot. And I think he’s worried that Darktan or one of the others is going to challenge him.”
    â€œWill they, do you think?”
    â€œDarktan’s more wrapped up in breaking trapsand testing poisons. There’s more interesting things to do now than bite one another.”
    â€œOr do rllk , from what I hear,” said Dangerous Beans.
    Peaches looked down demurely. If rats could blush, she would have done so. It was amazing how pink eyes that could hardly see you could look straight through you at the same time.
    â€œThe ladies are a lot more choosy,” she said. “They want to find fathers who can think.”
    â€œGood,” said Dangerous Beans. “We must be careful. We don’t need to breed like rats. We don’t have to rely on numbers. We are the Changelings.”
    Peaches watched him anxiously. When Dangerous Beans was thinking, he seemed to be staring into a world only he could see.
    â€œWhat is it this time?” she asked.
    â€œI have been thinking that we shouldn’t kill other rats. No rat should kill another rat.”
    â€œEven keekees ?” she asked.
    â€œThey are rats too.”
    Peaches shrugged. “Well, we’ve tried talking to them, and that didn’t work. Anyway, they mostly stay away these days.”
    Dangerous Beans was still staring at the unseen world.
    â€œEven so,” he said quietly, “I should like you to write it down.”
    Peaches sighed but went off anyway to one of the packs the rats had carried in and pulled out her bag. It was no more than a roll of cloth with a handle made from a scrap of string, but it was big enough to hold a few matches, some pieces of pencil lead, a tiny sliver of a broken knife blade for