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    Ship Rats
    Ship Rats
    Ship Rats
    Ebook101 pages1 hour

    Ship Rats

    By Rhian Waller

    ()

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    About this ebook

    “Bigs hunt us, they hurt us and they trap us. They spoil our food and make us sick. You can’t be friends with a Big. Bigs hate us. They want us all gone. Now I want you gone too!”
    – Black Spot

    Three young rats set out on an adventure which will take them around the world.

    Born in a busy dock, sisters Rip, Lu and Preen join the crew of the Hydromyst, a Dutch ship sailing in the time of pirates, trade wars and wind.

    Despised by the human sailors and distrusted by Black Spot, the dangerous Skipper of the rats, the three sisters have to win their place on the ship by undertaking a series of trials.

    Lu’s friendship with a young stowaway will put all three sisters at risk - but worse is to come for everyone on board when the ship sails into a terrible storm.

    Will the three sisters ever make it back to port?
    Sea Rats is the first part of a trilogy charting the adventures of three rats and the human companions they meet along the way.

    This book supports the APOPO Foundation which trains “Hero Rats” to save human lives. Visit www.apopo.org for details.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRhian Waller
    Release dateApr 13, 2017
    ISBN9781370542604
    Ship Rats
    Author

    Rhian Waller

    Rhian is a lecturer, sometime journalist, writer and charity fundraiser. Her latest book is Ship Rats, part one of the Rat Tales Trilogy (5-8 years). Her first book, Eithe's Way (for adults), was published by The Write Factor and can be found at www.amazon.co.uk/d/Books/Eithes-Way-Rhian-Waller/1500142085.

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      Book preview

      Ship Rats - Rhian Waller

      Ship Rats

      A Tale of Heroism on the High Seas

      Rat Tales, Part One

      By Rhian Waller

      Copyright © 2017 by Rhian Waller

      All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

      Printed in the UK

      First Printing, 2017

      ISBN 978-0-244-30857-5

      Cover image by @Tofu_Soup

      Inside illustrations by Gill Thomas

      Maps drawn by Rhian Waller with reference to the Mercator map.

      Dedication

      With thanks to the crew who helped plug the leaks in this story and keep it shipshape. To Barrie, Ato, Teddy, Alex, Róisín, Michael and my mother, who have shared (or at least put up with) my growing rat obsession.

      Dedicated to Leeloo, Priss and Ripley, the rescue rats who started the obsession in the first place.

      Characters

      Rats

      Lu: a friendly, trusting white rat. She is just over one month old when her adventure starts

      Rip: Lu's calm, collected older sister

      Preen: The middle sister. She frets a lot and likes to be tidy

      Pew: A smelly but cunning old rat

      Sleek: A messenger-rat for Black Spot

      Black Spot: The Skipper of the rats. He hates and fears humans

      Thug: A very large, strong rat who lives on the Hydromyst

      Bigs

      Runa: A young Swedish girl who is determined to find her Pa

      The Captain: A Dutch man. He is in charge of the ship and all of the crew. He keeps his jacket buttons shiny

      The Bosun: The officer in charge of anchors, sails, ropes and rigging. He is jolly

      The First Mate: The second in command after the Captain. He is trustworthy and true

      The Second Mate: The third in command. He likes a stiff drink

      The Hydromyst sails into a storm…

      Author’s Note

      Thank you for picking up my book, dear reader. Before we begin, I must admit I used to be afraid of rats. I thought they were dirty. They made me jump. I worried they might bite me. Then I found the writings of a certain young naturalist who spent a great deal of time observing three particular rats – and I learned a lot about them.

      I pieced together the story of their travels. Of course I have taken some liberties but the core of the tale is true. Nothing that takes place in this book is beyond what an ordinary rat could do.

      Rats are prone to adventure because they are brave and bright. They are also small enough to pick up in one hand. When you are that size, even crossing a room can be a challenge.

      This book is the first in a series of stories about three ratty sisters. I hope you enjoy them and learn to look past what you believe of rats to see what they really are.

      Chapter 1: Home nest

      There were eight babies to begin with. When their mother realised they were about to be born, she retreated to her safe nest in the wall of the Customs building in the Dutch port of Vernaya. The nest was a soft place to give birth as it was lined with yellow paper stolen from the clerk's desks and stuffing nibbled free from the chair in the boss' office.

      The baby rats lay in the paper, all cuddled up and warm. They looked like pink jellybeans. Five of them were boys and three were girls.

      Mum Rat named her girls Rip, Preen and Lu. They had to be short names because rats can only manage small, squeaky words.

      Their eyes opened when they were two weeks old and then Mum Rat had a job on her paws because they started to explore. Their world broadened from warm, milky softness to something larger.

      Rip, who was the biggest rat, had fur that was a rich brown. She was calm and did not enjoy playing or fighting. Preen, who was the middle rat, had grey fur that ran from her face right over her back to her tail. She was pretty and spent a lot of time washing. Lu, the smallest sister, was almost pure white except for when her fur was a bit scruffy. She was the friendliest but also rather silly.

      Their brothers were lazy and happy to sleep. Their names were Stretch, Snore, Snooze, Snug and Kip.

      Lu was the first to waddle out of the nest on unsteady paws and find the gap in the wall while Mum Rat was busy grooming Rip. Lu stuck her nose out.

      There were all sorts of interesting smells in the Customs Office. This was where sailors and their passengers declared their cargo. Sometimes they had to present the things they carried across the sea in their ships and boats. They brought in samples of tobacco, exotic drinks, whiffy cheeses, animal skins and plants from the other side of the world. Lu could also smell ink, paper and people. She could see the dim outlines of furniture.

      She wanted to explore.

      Rats communicate in lots of ways. They use quiet sounds, too high-pitched for a human to hear, and they also talk through their whiskers, twitching ears and through touch. They only squeak loudly when they are scared, angry

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