10-RAH! RAH! RATS!

RAH! RAH! RATS! We decided that Benjamin should keep watch while Trap worked away at the bars. To drown out the noise, Thea and I began singing at the top of our lungs. I must admit I never knew my sister had such a voice. She was truly awful! She sounded as if her tail were stuck in Slobbertooth's high-speed blender! First we sang the ever-popular "Mouse Island March." As any rodent knows, it goes like this:

"We are mice, hear us squeak. Our hearts are strong. We are never weak..." Then we sang another oldie but goodie. It was New Mouse City's fight song, "Rats with Bats": We are rats with bats. We are brave and true. So stand back, all you cats, Rah! Rah! Rats are coming through!" After a few more battle songs, we moved on to some more recent tunes. Thea wiggled her tail to "Nibbling in the Rain." Benjamin joined in on "Squeak Goes the Hamster" and "If You're Happy and You Know It, Clap Your Paws."

All of a sudden, Benjamin started squeaking. CLAWS, our jailer cat, was on his way. "Well, well, what's going on here?" Claws meowed, squinting at us. "We are singing to cheer ourselves up," I explained, looking very sad. "We have given up all hope. You cats are much too smart for us!" Claws grinned. "Good, I like to see a mouse who knows when he's beat. I mean, everyone knows cats have bigger brains than mice," he laughed. "That should make us twice as smart, right? Hey, want to hear me count to ten?" Before we knew it, Claws was off and counting. He only got stuck twice, on five and nine.

When he was done, we all applauded. I tried not to clap too hard —I was afraid he'd start on the alphabet. Luckily, Claws just bowed. "OK, Micey," he giggled, "go ahead and sing your songs. But no sad songs, please. I don't want the other cats to see me crying." What a softie! He was beginning to grow on me a little. If only he wasn't a cat... "Whatever you say, Boss," squeaked TRAP, with a smirk. We were almost ready for our escape.