Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8 BARON VON GRUMP WAITED. HE listened. He waited and listened. No one was hollering. No one was shouting. No one was singing or saying, "Good morning." No one was shouting, "RATS!" And there was certainly no bullhorn. "Could it be?" asked Baron Von Grump. "Could those irksome villagers finally be gone?" "Caw, caw!" said Edgar. "Yes! Yes, my fine feathered friend," said Baron Von Grump, "let us see for ourselves." He stomped over to his shutters. He pushed them wide open. He raised his big, black, bushy eyebrows. And then Baron Von

Grump did something that Baron Von Grump rarely ever did. Baron Von Grump smiled. Not a small, crooked smile like before. This was a full, wide, genuine smile. He looked to the left. He looked to the right. He looked across the village.

"They're gone!" he said. He clapped his hands together and danced in a little circle. "The villagers have all gone. My rat plan was a success!" There were no villagers. No horses. No wagons. No children. No chickens. No smiling or singing or gum-chewing or "good mornings." The village was entirely empty... except for the rats. Big, fat, lazy rats with wedges of cheese, as far as the eye could see. Baron Von Grump leaned out his window and shouted down to the rats, "Hey! Would you mind nibbling your cheese just a bit more quietly?" "Sure thing, boss," said the big rat. "HEY! RATS! QUIET DOWN!" Baron Von Grump's smile disappeared. Rats had been part of his plan. Loud, nibbling, cheese-chomping rats had not.