09-THE NOBLE CANNYCAT CLAN

THE NOBLE CANNYCAT CLAN What a day! What a night! What a fright! I stared down at my fur. What mouse bumps! They were popping up all over the place like pimples on a teenage rodent! I checked out the room I had stumbled into by candlelight. It was painted all black. How dark and depressing. I prefer yellow myself. It's a very cheery color. And of course, it's the color of cheese! The room was covered in cobwebs. In the center stood a huge four-poster bed. I noticed a name carved on the headboard: Slicedpaw Cannycat. There was also a marble fireplace. I

wondered if there were any mouse bones in this one. I shivered. Then I noticed something odd. The room seemed to be connected to a laboratory. It was filled with shelves of books on magic. Could Duke Slicedpaw Cannycat have been a magician? I locked the door and pushed a heavy chest of drawers against it. You never can be too safe. Then I lay down on the bed. But my eyes were wide open. In fact, I hadn't blinked for ten minutes! No, I wasn't tired. How could I sleep with a terrifying ghost cat prowling around out there?! My teeth began to chatter. I had to get my mind off that ghost. I picked up a book on the bedside table. The title was THE CANNYCAT CLAN TELLS ALL: SECRETS AND SCANDALS OF A NOT-SO-NOBLE FAMILY.

As I leafed through the book, I recognized the cats from the portraits I had seen earlier. Curious, I began to read. PRINCE BIGPAW CANNYCAT Founder of the Cannycat dynasty. Known to his friends as Bigpaw Poppa. DUCHESS CURLYPAW CANNYCAT Famous for her stunning muskrat cape. She ruled the family with an iron curly paw. Meow! DUKE SLICEDPAW CANNYCAT His paw was cut off during the battle of Raterloo. It is rumored he could smell a mouse blindfolded in an airtight room with a clothespin stuck on his nose! Legend has it. he was a magician, His ghost wanders around the castle to this day.

DUKE SHORTYPAW CANNYCAT Nicknamed "Penny- pincher" because of his stinginess. He wore the same underwear for months to save on laundry detergent. BARONESS PINKYPAW CANNYCAT The duke's daughter. A beautiful female cat. She married Baron von Slinker and had three kittens: Slinky, Slinkette, and Slinks Cannycat. DUKE LONGPAW CANNYCAT Curlypaw's great-grandson. He was known for his expensive tastes. He would only eat at the best fish restaurants in town. He loved gambling and ended up squandering the family fortune.