When the web finally lay in tatters on the ground and the captives stood stretching their aching limbs, Rat Bait’s scissor sword resembled a stick of golden fairy floss.

      ‘Avast!’ he exclaimed, examining the silk-covered blade in the sunlight. ‘I’ll never get this filthy muck off.’

      ‘Don’t worry,’ Horace said, swaying awkwardly as he adjusted to being right-side up again. ‘A sticky spider sword is sure to come in handy for scaling prison walls.’

      ‘Scaling prison walls?’ Rat Bait repeated, raising his eyebrows and turning to Whisker. ‘Is that wee lad feelin’ alright?’

      Whisker shrugged. ‘I think he’s suffering from post-traumatic web disorder.’

      ‘Well, whatever he be sufferin’ from,’ Rat Bait said, ‘it looks likes ye’ve all had quite the adventure.’

      ‘Isn’t that the truth,’ Horace muttered. ‘Birds, blizzards, rescuing sisters … it hasn’t stopped.’

      ‘Ah, yes, this must be young Anna,’ Rat Bait said, smiling at the small rat squirming behind Whisker. ‘I don’t believe we’ve been formally introduced.’

      ‘Come on, Anna,’ Whisker said, trying to coax her forward. ‘I want you to meet our daring rescuer, Rat Bait.’

      Rat Bait’s smile broadened. Anna remained rooted to the spot.

      ‘Sorry,’ Whisker apologised. ‘She’s not usually this shy.’

      Rat Bait let out a hearty roar of laughter. ‘She’s not shy, ye daft apprentice. Take a look. She’s stuck to yer bloomin’ leg!’

      ‘Oh,’ Whisker said, looking down to see Anna trying fervently to detach her sticky coat from his silk-covered trousers.

      After some gentle (and not so gentle) pulling from Whisker, she eventually managed to tear herself free and went bounding over to Rat Bait, throwing her arms wide open for a hug.

      The old rat took two steps backwards, waving his open paws in front of him. ‘Meanin’ ye no disrespect, Miss Anna, but perhaps a hug ain’t such a good idea. I doubt ye want to be stuck to an old rat’s belly for the rest o’ the day.’

      Anna stopped in her tracks and stared inquisitively at his rotund stomach.

      ‘Pillow,’ she squeaked.

      Horace made a bad attempt at stifling a laugh.

      Rat Bait glared at him, and then returned his attention to Anna, who was already skipping off to meet the giant swan.

      ‘Young’ens,’ he muttered in amusement. ‘So honest an’ so full o’ life.’

      ‘She’s certainly fortunate you arrived when you did,’ Whisker confessed. ‘We all are. That gerbil was within a whisker of finishing us off.’

      ‘I’d say yer hollerin’ had somethin’ to do with it,’ Rat Bait said. ‘I been flying blindly through the forest after losin’ ye on the river when I ‘ear a terrible screechin’ sound. That parrot o’ yers be even louder than me Balthazar.’

      Whisker looked above him to where Chatterbeak was perched on a branch, fast asleep after his exhausting flight over the lake. Whisker smiled to himself. It wasn’t the first time Chatterbeak’s ear-piercing screeches had saved their lives.

      ‘Speaking of loud noises,’ Horace said, ‘Why didn’t you just call out to us on the river?’

      ‘I couldn’t be doin’ that,’ the old rat replied. ‘Not with an army o’ eagles circlin’ the sky. They would’ve been after all of us in an instant. It be lucky they didn’t spot me the first time ‘round. A white swan be far less conspicuous than a blue an’ yeller parrot.’

      ‘So how long have you been in the mountains?’ Whisker asked.

      ‘Only just arrived this mornin’,’ Rat Bait said. ‘I found Balthazar diggin’ up worms in a roadside puddle last night an’ the two o’ us struck up a fine ol’ friendship. Together we’ve been flyin’ since first light up Eagle’s Pass. We saw them eagles chasin’ ye into town as we crossed the lake an’ doubled back to assist ye.’ He tapped his nose. ‘It be lucky I knew ‘bout yer fly-in-the-opposite-direction trick, even if ye tried to give me the slip.’

      ‘Sorry,’ Whisker said. ‘It’s hard to tell friend from foe when every other creature is out to get us.’

      ‘Oh?’ Rat Bait said, shooting a wary glance into the forest. ‘What kind o’ creatures?’

      Whisker sighed. ‘Where do I start? Hungry hawks, betraying beavers, one-eared gerbils …’

      Rat Bait turned to where Eddie was lying face down in a patch of pine needles. Ruby sat on a stump next to him, using his motionless body as a foot stool. Her injured left leg lay sprawled across the centre of his back while the blades of her two scarlet scissor swords rested on his shoulders. She drummed her fingers on her sword handles, waiting for him to wake up.

      ‘I’d keep sleepin’, if I be him,’ Rat Bait said, noticing the grim expression on Ruby’s face. ‘Him and his ghastly pyjamas.’

      ‘Do you recognise him?’ Whisker asked.

      ‘Yeah, I know him alright,’ Rat Bait said with distaste. ‘His name be Eddie the Ear, though most folks call him Eddie the Eavesdropper. He loiters ‘round Sea Shanty Island, listenin’ to conversations with that oversized ear o’ his, then pickpocketin’ anyone who sounds half rich.’ He paused and scratched his chin. ‘Though what Eddie be doin’ in the mountains dressed in convict attire be a mystery to me.’

      ‘We suspect he escaped from Hawk’s View Prison,’ Whisker explained. ‘It’s just beyond the forest.’

      ‘Well, that be a right piece o’ news,’ Rat Bait said in surprise. ‘I never heard o’ no Hawk’s View Prison before. Best ye be stayin’ right away from the place. Ye’re not in the gov’nors good books, ye know.’

      ‘Why, what have you heard?’ Horace said, plonking himself next to Ruby on the stump.

      ‘What haven’t I heard,’ Rat Bait grunted. He pointed to the open newspaper, lying in a tangle of silk thread. ‘I’m guessin’ ye already know about them wan’ed posters.’

      ‘We may have seen a couple in our travels,’ Horace said coyly, unsticking his sticky sleeve from Ruby’s coat.

      ‘Are there wanted posters in Two Shillings Cove, too?’ Whisker asked anxiously.

      ‘Two Shillin’s Cove, Oakbridge … ye name it, they be everywhere,’ Rat Bait said, waving a thumb over his shoulder. ‘An’ I’m not just talkin’ ‘bout posters of yer four pretty faces. The entire Pie Rat crew be on the gov’nors most wan’ed list – Fred, Pete, Smudge and the Capt’n.’

      ‘So where is the crew now?’ Ruby asked in alarm, leaping up from the stump and almost impaling Eddie with one sword and Horace with the other. ‘Is my uncle alright?’

      ‘Capt’n Black Rat be safe an’ sound, me dear,’ Rat Bait reassured her. ‘And so are the others. I suspect they’re anchored off the coast, somewhere to the east o’ here with Madam Pearl an’ the school mice.’

      ‘Anchored off the coast?’ Horace exclaimed. ‘But weren’t they supposed to be hiking to Cloud Mountain to rendezvous with us?’

      ‘That was the plan,’ Rat Bait said with a sigh. ‘But the Highland Hounds be convincin’ them otherwise.’

      ‘Curse those Highland Hounds,’ Ruby muttered, lowering herself back