Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1 'RATTY DAYS ARE HEEERRREEE AGAIIINNNNNNNN, yes they are, yes they are, oooohhhh bbbabyyy!' the singer blasted out, as he finished his set with a bow. 'You've been a great audience, thank you and good night!' he called to the wild crowd.

'CATFACE, CATFACE, CATFACE! they chanted, as he wiped the sweat from his brow, waved to the adoring throng one last time and made his way off stage. TOTO THE NINJA CAT and the gang had come to see their friend play at the legendary PAWS ROBINSON JAZZ AND MILK BAR IN SOHO IN LONDON. All the hippest cats, dogs, ferrets, foxes and even pigeons were here tonight. Paws Robinson welcomed every kind of animal- you just had to be cool, which meant: be true to your animal self; no cat or any other kind of fights; love your neighbour; and love your music. This was certainly the place to be. Toto was enjoying the last night off she'd be having for a while. Tomorrow some human diplomats would be arriving from France, and their animal equivalents would be coming with them. So, she'd be on duty looking after the FRENCH ANIMAL AMBASSADOR Monsieur Raton Laveur.

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For Toto and her boss, Larry, babysitting animal diplomats would be an easy security assignment, and after all the adventures she'd had since becoming a fully fledged NINJA CAT, 'easy' sounded just fine. Catface had made his way down the stairs at the side of the stage, and was weaving his way across the floor to where his friends were seated at a candle-lit table. Dressed in a black roll-neck sweater and a midnight- blue velvet jacket, topped off with a beret and dark shades, he certainly looked the part of a jazz crooner! Around the table with Toto were: Her cheeky, but brave and loyal brother Silver, who, because Toto was almost totally blind, acted as her eyes and considered himself to be her deputy- even though he unintentionally caused as many problems as he solved!

Her newly adopted brother Socks, who'd joined the family from Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, although he still kept in touch with his gang of street urchins: the Battersea Bruisers Toto's boss Larry, head of the UK branch of the Ancient Order of International Ninja Cats And their police dog friend, sheila snarlingfoot, who was head of Criminal Investigation Animals (CIA) and had been put in charge of planning security during the ambassador's visit As Catface slid into a chair, a huge, fluffy, brown-and- red cat wearing a fedora hat appeared behind him.

'Catface, my friend, THAT WAS IMMENSE... wild set, he drawled in an American accent. Everyone gasped as they realised it was the legendary PAWS ROBINSON HIMSELF! He was the owner of the club and was one of the finest cat jazz musicians in the world. 'Y'all must come round again some time so I can have dinner with this crazy gang of misfits,' he said, and then put a huge, warm paw on Toto's shoulder.