Rat A Tat Tat
Mark Thornton
Published by Mark Thornton at Smashwords
Copyright 2010 by Mark Thornton
Copyright Mark Thornton 2010
Copyright (c) Mark Thornton 2010
Copyright (c) Mark Thornton 1997
All rights reserved
Cover art by Jim Anderson
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, governments, institutions, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Rat A Tat Tat
a fairytale for grownups
Cast
Muse: a mouse
Roy: a sewer rat
Kirk: Town Clerk and singing star
Chris: Kirk's friend from childhood aka 'the lame girl'
Snurk: Mayor of Id (rhymes with did), Kirk's boss
Ms. Trap: Owner of Trap Manufacturing Company, Inc.
The CABAL:
Count Cash: Count and Comptroller of the County
Baron Ash: land owner and landlord
Major Bash: ranking officer of the local military
Master Ash: County Attorney, heir of Baron Ash
Judge Lash: County Judge
Prologue
Near dawn, while the other stars twinkled goodbye, the Morning Star rose in the emptying sky. It heard a pipe play and a weary boy cry in the City of Id. For there darkness sat, concealing the stealing of resident rats.
The Star flared, sending light to the Children of Id (who called themselves Idiots and laughed when they did). They'd been drawn from their beds to the ancient Town Square where the Pied Piper stood as if calling them there.
And when the sun rose, the Star shined by its side and sparkled its answer for one watchful eye-the eye of the Piper, who stood in the Square. And despite the hard cast of his unblinking stare, the Piper's eye twinkled as if he might say, "I'm going to have fun this Pied Piper's Day."
Act One
Rats nipped at her heels; Muse ran till she stumbled. Claws tripped her; she squealed. In a jumble she tumbled. "Rats," the mouse whimpered, "sewer rat, Roy, and his horrible pack. To them, I'm a toy."
They raced across rooftops and walls through the night, playing a game called Chase, Tag and Bite.
"Isn't this fun, little Muse?" snickered Roy. "You know that you like it. Yes, don't be coy. It's such a good game; let's play till it's light."
He nipped her again.
Through the blur of her fright, Muse saw a bright light bob and dance into sight. She ran for the light, only to stop, trapped between rats and a twenty-foot drop. But scared beyond caring, she leapt in the air and fell, barely catching a collar and hair.
"Whoa, little one! What's on your mind?"
A boy... Could she trust him? She sensed he was kind, so she carefully climbed on the boy's offered palm, took a deep breath, and tried to be calm.
He tickled her ears and ruffled her fur. "Let's go!" the mouse whimpered. But then something stirred: Roy and his gang had found a way down; eyes glowed on a wall a few feet from the ground.
"I thought so," he said with a mischievous grin. "These rats making trouble for you, little friend?"
Without warning he pointed his torch like a spear, thrust it at Roy, and singed the rat's ear. Roy ran for a hole and squeezed himself in. The other rats scattered like leaves in the wind.
"I think you're safe now," he assured her. "Alright?"
Muse followed him, trying to keep him in sight, but he turned at the corner and entered the Square.
"The Piper!" she thought, "I could rest safely there. I'll hide on his statue; the rats wouldn't dare..."
The thought fled as a roar rumbled out of the Square.
* * * * *
Chris woke in the dark from a wonderful dream about walking with Kirk. The dark moved, and she screamed. A rat at the foot of her bed sharply hissed. Quickly grabbing a crutch, Chris swung, but she missed. The rat disappeared in the shadows. "Oh, Chris, why torture yourself with dreams of a kiss and of walking again when you'll wake up to this?"
* * * * *
Muse peeked in the Square and then quickly hid; Town Hall was besieged by the Children of Id.
"GET RID OF THE RATS!" they chanted and jeered. "GET RID OF THE RATS!"
It throbbed in her ears.
"Get rid of the rats? Is that what I hear? But that would be good!" She started to cheer, but emotion betrayed her; she burst into tears.
Then the sun rose. "There's a star by its side." Muse saw the star sparkle, her eyes growing wide.
Someone spotted the boy. "Look, look! It's Kirk!"
Every head turned. "It's Kirk, the Town Clerk."
"Help us," they clamored. "Go find Mayor Snurk."
"He's hiding inside..."
"...pretending to work."
"The Mayor is doing his best..." began Kirk.
"Snurk better get rid of this plague of fat rats..."
"...or we will get rid of some fat bureaucrats."
"They eat what we work for..."
"...leave nothing at all,"
"...and seem to be thickest inside of Town Hall."
* * * * *
Snurk heard the crowd chanting, "GET RID OF THE RATS!" as he sat at his desk, wearing coat, gloves, and hat, and stared at a pile of reports about rats. He doodled and dawdled. Chiefly he sat, which he thought was his job as the chief bureaucrat. And he sat till a rat landed flat on his hat.
"The Piper, protect us!" Snurk screamed. "Scat, rat! Scat!"
("And why should I scat?" Roy thought as he sat, peering down from the crown of the Mayor's crushed hat.)
He leapt to Snurk's desk and (without saying please) rudely nibbled one bite out of each kind of cheese before helping himself to the bread and fine wine.
"Help! Someone save me," Snurk breathlessly whined.
At that moment, Kirk knocked. "Need some bread, some more wine?"
Snatching some cheese, Roy ran for a hole (his favorite hole where he stashed things he stole).
Kirk backed through the door, holding a tray of refreshments, and said, "Happy Pied Piper's Day!"
Then he saw Mayor Snurk. "Are you feeling okay?"
"I'm f-fine," stammered Snurk adjusting his tie. "But stay for a moment. You hear that mob's lies. What would you say to silence their cries?"
Reshaping Snurk's hat, Kirk let his eyes slide down the speech on Snurk's desk then aptly replied, "That you've found a solution to rats stealing food."
("Who's stealing from whom?" Roy bristled. "Yes, who? Not me! Couldn't be--I collect what I'm due.")
Snurk wrote, "a solution," then blinked. "Stealing food? 'Stealing'...the rats? What's the matter with you? I can't say that in public. No, no, that won't do. They're just rats; they don't steal," the mayor pooh-poohed.
"You asked," Kirk replied, "and that's what I'd say. It's the perfect announcement for Pied Piper's Day. Because of the rats, there's not enough food. The people are frightened; they're looking to you."
("There's plenty," Roy smirked, "and places to dine. The food in Town Hall is especially fine.")
"At the baker's," Kirk said, "there's already a line."
"So?" grumbled Snurk. "What can I do? Your parents both begged me to look after you when they knew they would die. It was all I could do to get you a room, clothing, and food. But I can't feed the town. So what can I do? I'll be forced to use force if this riot's for food!"
"Mayor, face the crowd now or be forced to resign!"
"I have powerful backers," Snurk snapped, "I'll be fine. "And as for that rabble," he angrily whined, "this speech should suffice to keep them in line."
"Right," muttered Kirk, sounding resigned.
Together they marched to the doors of Town Hall. Roy came along, too, but he raced through the walls.
When the mayor peeked out, barely cracking the doors, shouts exploded, once more rising up to a roar. Clutching his chest, Snurk stepped back in alarm, but Kirk threw the doors open and, raising both arms, cried, "Hush!" And they hushed as if magically charmed.
After two gulping breaths, Snurk hid his alarm and then, mimicking Kirk by raising his arms, strutted outside as if fearing no harm.
"I'll answer your murmuring expostulation concerning the state of the rat population by publicly posting this great proclamation." He displayed it with flourishing gesticulation.
("I'm too far away. I can't hear him," Muse said.)
So she crept through the people, cringing in dread, hoping no one would tread on her tail or her head, and climbed on the statue's stone base as Snurk read: "...and it's therefore decreed: There shall not be one rat or a gathering thereof in Id."
"Well, that's that." He tacked it up high, gave it a pat, and theatrically sighed, repeating, "That's that."
"Hooray!" the crowd shouted. "It's settled."
"That's that."
"Yes indeed, about time that he dealt with those rats."
("Those Idiots!" Roy laughed. "He's tricked them quite slickly.")
Snurk bowed, backed inside, and closed the door quickly.
("A law!" Muse exclaimed. "And what good is that? If rats obeyed laws...well...they wouldn't be rats.")
For some moments, Kirk sat on the steps in disgust. Then he strode to the statue and whispered, "Help us."
* * * * *
After Kirk left, Muse collapsed for a nap, yet she saw someone linger and shuddered: "Ms. Trap. She's a woman who knows about rats (I would think); she's the owner of Trap Manufacturing, Inc."
Trap laughed: "Snurk's afraid--that will help me persuade the old fraud to partake in the plans that I've made. But he's clearly prepared for a frontal attack..." So she slunk down the alley and snuck in the back.
"Oh May-or," she sang as she tiptoed inside.
"Who is it?" the mayor abruptly replied.
("Yes, who?" questioned Roy as he sniffed side to side. "Has the smell of a trap! Should I listen or hide?")
"Just a friend...but I noticed as I happened by that the town might need services I could supply--Rat Removal and X-termination," she sighed.
(Roy choked, "Genocide! Don't let her inside!")
"Ms. Trap, good to see you," Snurk unctuously whined while Ms. Trap helped herself to his cheese and fine wine. "I've worked very hard to resolve this," he lied. "Tell me, what could be done? What haven't we tried?"
"Have you offered to pay?" she inquired. Then boldly, she sat on Snurk's desk and explained, smiling coldly, "Whoever gets rid of the rats should be paid... You could ask for a bid. It's a matter of trade."
Understanding, Snurk answered as quick-as-a-wink: "Tell me who should receive the award. Do you think maybe Trap Manufacturing Company, Inc?"
She wrinkled her nose with a sly, smiling wink.
(Roy mocked her sly wink and her swaggering slink while his tail lashed so wildly it kinked a new kink.)
"How much?" Snurk inquired, "...say a sum nice and round like a thousand gold marks?"
Calculating, she frowned. "No, fifty," she stated; "We're saving the town!"
"Fifty thousand!" Snurk gasped. "That's the price of a crown. Fifty thousand? Ms. Trap, you could buy the whole town."
"Shall we split it?" she laughed. "You want Up-town or Down?"
"We could, and I would, but it won't get past Kirk. He'll know if we rig this--the boy is town clerk. If he talks...if the Idiots learn, it won't work."
"Yes, I've heard," said Ms. Trap, "of your talented clerk. His songs of the Piper are likely the cause of the riot this morning..."
Snurk laughed, and she paused.
"Songs?" said the Mayor, "songs by my clerk."
"It's the symbol you're fighting--the Piper, not Kirk. And the Piper is dangerous."
"Really?" mocked Snurk.
"The Piper could magically take away rats. If people compare you to him..." explained Trap. "Well... It's hard to live up to a legend... So, Snurk, will you give me the contract?"
"It won't get past Kirk."
"The boy is enchanting--a popular star, the best singer we have in the city by far. But he's only a problem for us as Town Clerk. If you think he'll make trouble, fire him, Snurk, because no one pays heed to a bum out of work."
"Ms. Trap, did you know you've made trouble for me?"
She sat very still. "Go on, Mayor, please."
"All the harvesters quit to be your employees. Now the crop's almost ripe. It's a bit of a squeeze."
"I hate troublemakers; I'll fire the bums. These cheeses are really quite good. Umm, yum yum!"
Act Two
At lunchtime, Kirk went to a hospital ward. There were rumors: a word that he couldn't ignore (a horrible, terrible word)--the "plague."
The plague is the reason for Chris's lame legs. Her parents and mine all died of the plague. Without Snurk, I'd have been on the streets to beg.
Rumor proved true-the plague had returned. Kirk saw a man's corpse taken out to be burned.
That man was the father of some other boy...someone like me whose life's been destroyed. And the patients here now, are all of them cursed?
"Do they have any hope?" he asked the old nurse.
"There's no cure for the plague; it can only get worse."
"How many?" Kirk asked.
"Three...three today..."
"What can we do?" Kirk gasped in dismay.
"Get rid of the rats, Kirk. There's no other way."
Get rid of the rats. It's always the rats. But what can I do about something like that?
* * * * *
Muse rested till noon, curled up in a ball at the feet of the Piper in front of Town Hall. Now licking her wounds, feeling safe from the rats, she noticed Kirk waving to someone. "Who's that, a girlfriend?" And then the mouse noticed--"She's lame."
The girl sat by the statue to wait. When Kirk came, she looked at his clothes (in complete disarray). "You spent the whole night on the hill in the cave, didn't you?"
"Yes, we've talked about this. You agree that he left through the cave, don't you Chris? He led our forefathers to Id through that cave, and then when he left, he went back the same way. So there must be a door to a charmed passageway."
"The door's hidden," she said. "As children we played in the cave, yet we never discovered the way..."
"But we need him, Chris. Now! And it's Pied Piper's Day, so I thought it might open or give me a clue..."
"You're hopeless, you know that," she laughed, "but me, too. For me, this will always be Pied Piper's Day. Who made the decision to change today's name? And why Boss's Day?"
"No way!" he exclaimed. "You're joking. Right, Chris? Happy Pied Piper's Day!"
"Kirk, listen to me. I'm not joking. Okay? The party Snurk's giving tonight at Town Hall, he's calling the party the Boss's Day Ball."
"He couldn't; I'd know."
"Oh, Kirk, don't you see? Mayor Snurk didn't tell you 'cause you'd disagree."
"Chris, are you serious? What did he say?"
"That the Piper was evil--taking children away."
"But those children built Id," Kirk said with dismay. "We've forgotten him, Chris...the Piper, I mean. He wielded great power never since seen: power that saved our forefathers from plague, power so awesome it made them afraid. If only our parents...I wish..."
"It's okay. We haven't forgotten. (I mean you and me.) And when he comes back..."
"But when will that be, Chris? When I was a boy, my parents would say that he'd come if I called. They died of the plague. So, where was he then? I begged and begged..."
"What's wrong, Kirk? What is it? This isn't like you."
"The plague has come back. I don't know what to do."
"Get rid of the rats!"
("Yes!" whispered Muse. "Get rid of the rats!")
"Of course, Chris, but how?"
"The Mayor?"
"I wish, but we need action now: people are dying--we lost three today. If ever we needed the Piper to play..."
"So you think that the Piper can cure the black plague?"
"I don't know, but..."
"Oh, Kirk, maybe even my legs, like when we were children and played make-believe. Remember who you always wanted to be?"
"The Piper, of course."
"And my legs would be healed when you played on your pipe."
"Chris, this is real. You know that the boy who was lame wasn't healed?"
"Well, I think that he was; if I heard the pipe play, I'd dance in the streets."
"But the stories all say that the lame boy just couldn't keep up, lost his way, and..."
"And maybe they're wrong. I don't care what they say, Kirk, the Piper would never have left him behind. If he did, Snurk is right--he was evil, not kind."
"In the archives..."
"I know, Kirk, I'm lame, not blind."
"...there's a list and description of children who came through the cave with the Piper--no one was lame."
"That's because he was healed," she explained, "like our game."
"So we're children again, Chris, playing pretend; if we don't like the story, we change how it ends?"
"Believing in Him isn't playing pretend. And I still believe we can change how this ends."
Chris looked at the statue. "Kirk, we must fight; we can't go on living with rats in plain sight. The Piper defeated the rats, so tonight, sing about him."
"...at the concert?"
"That's right. Sing of the Piper while everyone's there."
"If they come," muttered Kirk. "Does anyone care?"
"Don't worry!" she laughed: "Of course they'll be there. They'd come to hear you, anytime, anywhere."
"And you, Chris, tonight, will you also be there?"
(Muse giggled, "She likes him; look at her blush.")
Changing the subject, Chris said in a rush, "What are they doing, Kirk? See over there?"
"Setting the fireworks up in the Square."
"But isn't that dangerous?"
"Maybe..." Kirk frowned. "Don't know, Chris," he shrugged. "What brings you downtown?"
"I'm sketching a memory: Town Square and the Mall...the Pied Piper's statue in front of Town Hall."
"What do you mean by a memory, Chris? Are you going away? If you are, you'll be missed."
"And where could I go--the 'lame girl' and all? Don't be silly. You know that Snurk's changing the Mall."
"What?"
"You weren't told? But it's all been approved. Snurk's having the Pied Piper's statue removed."
"No!" he exclaimed. "It mustn't be moved."
Chris muttered, "None of this makes any sense. Why denounce the Pied Piper when everything's tense? Why today of all days (and with trouble at Trap's), not to mention a riot because of the rats?"
"Trouble?" Kirk asked.
"The strike... Don't you know? Wages were cut...employees let go."
Kirk stammered, "But why? Did she say? Do you know?"
"Trap reports, 'Local sales are expected to slow...'"
* * * * *
At Trap Manufacturing Company, Inc., the ConTraption Department was just on the brink of a better rattrap, or so you would think--their chinking and clinking kept everyone blinking; the Thinking Department could not do its thinking.
But all of that ended when lay-offs were made.
Near the factory entrance, Kirk stopped, dismayed. "Rats! Double rats, and the Piper to pay!"
In front of the gate stood a stout barricade. Jobless workers were marching-an angry parade. Brandishing pitchforks, axes, and spades, they were shouting in chorus, "BETRAYED, BETRAYED!"
Then somebody saw him: "It's Kirk, the Town Clerk."
He took a deep breath. "Okay, Kirk, time for work."
He greeted each worker by name, unafraid. "How can I help you?"
They cried in dismay: "We left our old jobs."
"She promised more pay."
"Now we have nothing."
Kirk answered, "Okay, I hear what you're saying: you've all been betrayed and need to take action. This isn't the way; someone will surely get hurt if you stay. And, as you all know, it's Pied Piper's Day. We'll find a solution tomorrow. Today, come hear me sing. There's a fireworks display."
He cheerfully coaxed them and led them away. And yet when they followed him, Kirk was surprised. "They believe I can fix this," he thought. "Do I?"
* * * * *
Muse lazily basked in the afternoon heat and watched the girl sketch at the Pied Piper's feet until suddenly people were filling the streets, and a riotous chorus began to repeat: "GET RID OF THE RATS!"
Her heart skipped a beat.
"GET RID OF THE RATS!"
One man loudly sneered, "You mean Sneaky Snurk? He's the worst of our fears."
"GET RID OF THE MAYOR!" the angry crowd jeered.
* * * * *
The commotion woke Roy in his hole in Town Hall. Hearing voices nearby, he peeked from the wall to find Mayor Snurk with the ruling CABAL, which included Count Cash, Baron Ash, Major Bash, Ash's brother the Master of Ash, and Judge Lash.
"Rats are eating their food, and you ask, 'Why a riot?' Bread prices quadrupled! Lines form just to buy it."
"More profit," Cash noted, "for those who supply it--Us." Then he laughed. "But of course, I'll deny it. While you, Snurk, as Mayor, of course, must appear to do something about the rat problem--that's clear."
(Roy yawned, "This is boring...back to my nap.")
"So explain this arrangement you've made with Ms. Trap."
(Roy snapped to attention as if he'd been slapped.)
"Burn Trap and her factory!" Baron Ash snapped. "All my harvesters quit to make traps for Ms. Trap."
"Ms. Trap announced lay-offs at noon..." began Snurk.
(Roy noticed the Baron relax with a smirk.)
"Excuse me!" Bash boomed. "Could we get back to work? In case you forgot--there's a RIOT to quiet! I'll bring my brigade and, by force, pacify it."
"Politically fatal!" Snurk gasped. "Please, don't try it. We need to find out who's behind all these riots."
"Kirk's holding the torch as you know; why deny it?" hissed Master Ash.
(The room became quiet.)