This is the chapter you are in R.K., I am ready for whatever you throw at me, I am not scared of you :P or your dungeon so there!!
 Word count is now at 48,433, my counting was off last night, sorry to whoever I told that I was 500 away from 50,000, I was not thinking when I guessed.

Sam stood in the middle of the floor and looked up at the rafters over head. Rats ran across them and for some reason that did not surprise anyone, after all why should there not be rats that were likely to drop down on their heads at any given moment.
Behind Sam Meggy, Pip, and R.K. where standing, each taking in different parts of the hall. There were doors lining the hall way, but most of them seemed to be locked, one or two were opened a crack and light was trying to sneak out. However, the moment it reached the hall it froze, not daring to go past the door frame as though there was something in the hall it feared.
Meggy rammed her fists onto her hips and said with a toss of her head, “Well this is fun, now what?”
Pip looked down the hall and suggested they see what was at the end of it. Sam led the way and the others followed with R.K. bring up the rear so that he could mutter in peace. If he was stuck here he was determined to make the time as miserable as was within his power to do so.
Meggy and Pip moved up beside Sam, both walking on either side of her. None of the three were daunted by the blackness of the hall nor the big hairy spiders that would drop down from the rafters to dangle in front of their faces. The rats were now running about on the floor, running in and out of their feet.
R.K. liked the rats, they reminded him of his rats and he liked his rats. What he liked even more was his dungeon, which is where he wanted to be right now, and he muttered as much, but no one listened to him, they were too busy trying to see what was at the end of the hall. Why they would even care was beyond him.
The tree girls left the hallways and found themselves at the foot of a spiral stair case that wound up into blackness. There was no way around the stair case, all they could do was go up or back, they opted for up even though it would be a long climb.
Grabbed the dusty railing Pip placed one foot on the first stair and was surprised when a cloud of thick dust rose up to choke her. Pip leaped backwards as the dirt filled her lungs and sent her into a coughing fit that knocked her to her knees. Sam and Meggy ran to her aid and the dust filled the room, and came after them.
There was nothing for it but to breathe it in, and the next thing they knew they were all four hacking and gasping for breath. They were all on their knees, tears rolling down their eyes. They finally realized all attempt to draw a breath of clean air in that place was impossible and so they made their way to the front door.
R.K., who had been in the rear and in turning and ended up at the head, was the first to reach the front door. He grabbed the door handle and struggled to turn it; it was locked, and locked tight. Desperation seized them as they realized they need air and fast. They all turned and without giving time to thought stumbled toward one of the cracked doors.
Meggy fell against the door, shoving it open. The others stumbled in behind her and crashed to the floor, as the door swung closed and locked fast behind them, leaving them in darkness.
“Oh yes,” R.K. muttered as soon as he had regained his breath. “This is so much better then the dust!”
“Shut up!” Pip growled as she stumbled to her feet. “At least you are still alive!”

Torjan smiled as he muttered, “Yes, you are alive, for now!”
Mark rested his elbows on the table and glared back at a sassy cat that was watching him with bright yellow eyes. It was licking its paw as it eyed him, seeming to be in doubt that the man could fulfill the task before him.
“Now what should we do with them?” Torjan asked as he paused for a moment.
“Lock them in there for good!” Mark said eagerly.
The cat glared at him and ignoring him addressed Torjan. “Put something in there with them,” he said with a sneer, if cats can sneer.
“Like what? They are not scared of anything,” Mark reminded Torjan. “The spiders did nothing to them”
“We need something bigger then spiders,” the cat said with a hiss.
“What do we need then?” Torjan asked as he rolled his eyes.
The cat’s eyes brightened. “I have an idea.”

Something brushed up against Pip’s leg. Something else climbed up Meggy’s back, as another one a launched themselves from the wall and onto R.K.’s head. Another one ran up one of Sam’s arms and down the other. Sam and Meggy stood while wondering the same thing, “What on earth are they?”
The patter of small feet filled room and R.K. growled, “Rats, they are rats!”
One of the rats pulled up short and stropping before the tall man who was still sitting on the floor, said, “And who are you?”
“R.K.,” the villain said as he lowered his piercing eyes on the rat whose outline he was able to see as his eyes adjusted to the darkness around him.
“I thought as much,” the rat muttered.
Pip moved over to the rat and looked down at him. “Oh, this is unexpected! You are the general to the rat army I made up all those years ago. Well, I guess it was a rodent army.”
Pip knelt before the rat and looked deep into his red eyes. He stared back at her unblinking.
“What do you want?” Pip finally asked.
The rat smiled as he rested his hand on a long, thin sword. “I am glad you asked my creator,” he said in a surprisingly deep voice for a rat. “We have been living in here for some time, me and my men. The other rodents of my army have long since vanished, and as you well know, a rodent army is not much good without other rodents in it,” the general paused.
“You want us to help you find the rest of your army?” Sam asked the tall rat.
He bowed, and as he did so Meggy thought she caught an evil glint in his eyes. “If you would so honor us,” he said in his low voice.
Pip looked over at Meggy and Sam, and then they looked at R.K. who had by then stood up. “Might as well,” he muttered. “It isn’t like we have much of a choice. I mean we are stuck here, might as well spend our time doing something, even if it is looking for rodents.”
“Okay then!” Pip said as she turned back to the rat. “Led the way General…” she paused realizing she did not remember his name.
The rat looked her in the eye, his irritation plan. “Rufus,” he reminded her with a sharp tone.
“Yes, General Rufus,” Pip did not let his tone of voice get to her. “Led the way!”
Rufus turned away from the door and moved off into the shadows. The others followed without a word as rats stepped out of the shadows and followed them. Some moved up beside them and some in front so that before the four knew it, they were surrounded by rats.
This would not have bothered any of them had not the rats kept looking up at them with hateful red eyes that reflected in the dim light. The four returned their gazes without so much as batting their eyes, but this only seemed to make the rats madder. Everyone knows that if a rat is mean there is nothing he likes better then scaring people, and if that person does not get scared he gets mad, and one can never be sure what a mad rat will do.
How long Rufus led them no one was quite sure, but finally they came to a dead end. This R.K. of course commented on. “Great, now what are we supposed to do?” and he scowled at the wall that rose before them as he spoke.
Rufus turned his head and looked back at the villain. Had he had been in a more irritable mood he may have run up the man’s shoulders and done him in. However, he turned back to the wall and ignored the villain as he began to tap on the wall.
Pip looked over at Meggy and Sam. Sam was grinning.
“I bet there is a secret passageway,” she said as her eyes glowed in the dimness.
Meggy rubbed her hands together in joyful expectancy. Pip allowed a grin to pull up the corners of her lips. Secret passageways were always good!
Thump, thump, the hallow noise filled the room. Rufus rested his hand on the spot and began to push. Meggy, who was closest, would have helped him, but one never helps a rat, especially when that rat has a sword. A low creaking filled the hall as Rufus continued pushing, slowly light began to enter the hall and before anyone knew it they were standing in a lit room, blinking at the sudden burst of bright lights.
None of them had time to look around their new surrounding before a man appeared. He was tall and sharp, sharp nose, sharp eyes, and a sharp chin. He looked the dirty party up and down and then turned his sharp nose in the air as he said in a sharp voice, “Would you like me to throw them out Master Rufus?”
“You will not!” Rufus said with a growl. “These are my guest Jeaves, and they will be joining us at dinner!”
Meggy looked at the sharp man and realized he was a butler, characters are not that great at naming characters, and so, obviously had given his butler a typical butler name.
Jeaves looked back at Meggy, Pip, Sam, and R.K.; he said nothing but made it apparent he was not pleased with their appearance. However he said nothing but turned and left the room, saying, “Dinner will be ready shortly.”
Everyone then walked into the room and Rufus shoved the secret door closed behind them. They room they were in had a tall ceiling, a large roaring fire place, thick, deep red carpet, a long, low couch rested before the fire and in the center of the room was a long table that was set for dinner. The china plates and polished silver wear gleamed in the light.
Their feet sank into the carpet as the moved about the room, looking at the many pictures that lined the walls. Most of the pictures were of scowling men and women who looked as though they had eaten a lemon just before having their picture painted. Meggy pointed this out and R.K. said, “Painting pictures took a great deal of time, are you saying they ate a lemon every day before sitting?”
Meggy rolled her eyes at the man and moved to the other side of the room.
Sam was looking at an old clock that was no longer ticking, when Jeaves re-entered the room. He gave them all a wary look as though he was worried they were going to tear the room to shreds. He cleared his throat loudly and they all turned to look at him. “Dinner is served,” he said his sharp eyes flashing.
The doors opened behind him and several men and woman entered bearing silver platters.

“Silver?” Meg asked.
“Why not?” the cat demanded as he looked up from the screen and glared at the girl.
“Well, this is a rich man, would not gold be better, it would show his status in life and show that he thinks he is better then everyone else,” Meg explained.
“You’re saying a rat would care about status?” Trojan asked with a shake of his head.
“Rufus is not the master of the house I thought,” Meg reminded the other two.
The cat scowled, but moving the mouse back backspaced the word silver and entered gold. “Happy?” he demanded.
Meg smiled and Torjan rolled his eyes. The cat hissed under his breath and continued writing.

“That was odd,” Sam said as the silver platters turned to gold right before their eyes. Jeaves rolled his eyes at her as the servants placed the platters on the table.
Everyone took their seats and the lids were removed off the platters. After the food was dished onto the plates the servants and Jeaves left, saying they could ring for him if they needed anything. Rufus bowed his head to the man as the door closed, and then he dug into his food.
Meggy picked up her fork and knife and cut off a slice of meat. There was steak, fresh bread, corn, bread pudding, and a slice of sharp cheese on her plate. Her cup was filled with some kind of drink that looked like hot coco but tasted more like creamy milk.
Slowly the three authors and the villain ate, and even R.K. had to agree that the meal was very good; in fact it was so good they had seconds. They may have had thirds to but everyone knows that is rude and everyone knows not to be rude around rats.
The rats ate quickly and showed no manners as the devoured the food. They drank by sticking their heads right into their cups, slurping loudly and not caring how noisy they were. They dropped a lot of their food on the floor, but two dogs came in and ate it all.
Sam shook her head at the rat’s rude behavior and bad table manners, but there was really nothing anyone could do about it, the rats did have swords after all. And really, no one can expect a rat to have good table manners, in fact to find a rat with manners at all is as rare as rain in a desert.
No sooner had the rats finished eating then Jeaves returned. He glared at Meggy, Sam, Pip, and R.K. as he called the servants to clear the table. He seemed to think those four were the messy ones and not the rats.
“Shall I serve dessert?” Jeaves asked Rufus once all the plates and platters were removed.
Rufus looked over at his guests and Pip was dead certain she saw an eager gleam in his eyes. What was he planning in that deceptive brain of his? Rufus looked her in the eyes as though daring her to guess. Finally he turned back to Jeaves. “Yes, dessert would be good.”
Jeaves bowed, scowled at the authors and villain and took his leave. The rats all went to clean up and so the four were left alone for a moment.
“I do not trust Rufus,” Pip said once they were alone.
“Neither do I,” Sam said. Meggy nodded to show she agreed.
“What can we do about them?” Sam asked as she held up her hands. “We are unarmed after all.”
Pip rubbed her chin and Meggy leaned back in her chair. R.K. scowled and said nothing.
“I do not think there is anything we can do at the moment,” Pip said after a long silence. “Just keep an eye on them. They out number us and if we were to try anything we would probably end up dead.”
Sam nodded her head and Meggy stood up and started to pace. “Do you think he really needs our help?” she finally asked.
Pip shook her head and said thoughtfully, “I cannot be sure; he seems to be in earnest about that, but one can never tell with a rat.”
“I say we poison them all,” R.K. finally muttered.
“With what?” Sam asked with a shake of her head. “Have you forgotten we are unarmed? We don’t have anything, even poison that we can fight with.”
Meggy moved to the fire and with a grin picked up the fire poker. “We have this!” she said with a gleam in her eyes.
Pip broke into a grin and Sam could not help but grin as well. Meggy bent over and placed the poker close to the fire so that the tip would get red hot. They then made a plan as to how to get someone over to the poker in case the rats tried anything. They had just taken their seats again when the rats returned. They were soon followed by Jeaves and the servants who set the dessert down.
Dessert consisted of a light, fluffy cake and soft cookies. The drinks were sweet but not too sweet. The rats once more devoured their food, but the authors and villain ate slowly so they could enjoy the taste. They had just finished one helping when the rats served them another and they ate that too so as not to upset their hosts.
Once they were done everyone moved to the fire and sat down to enjoy the warmth. While they were sitting there a heavily drowsiness fell upon R.K., Pip, Sam, and Meggy. They tried hard to fight it but slowly felt themselves dropping off. As they struggled against the sleepiness Pip suddenly mumbled, “How are you guys trapped here when you are masters of the house?”
Rufus laughed as he watched Pip fight against sleep. Her eyes were falling and she was having trouble keeping them opened.
“It was a trap!” Sam said as she tried to rise. She suddenly felt foolish for not having seen it before.
Meggy grabbed onto the couch and rose to her feet, only to fall to the floor with a crash. She did not rise again but fell into a deep sleep. Sam fell beside her and Pip beside her. R.K. fought the longest but in the end he too fell beside his author. As his eyes closed he cursed himself for not having seen any of this before. Now they were all done for, and there was nothing he could do for Pip or the others.
“Not that I care,” he muttered, though deep down he knew he really did.
Rufus and the rats laughed as they stood over their fallen captives. The General rubbed his paws together and said with an evil gleam in his eyes and a cackle in his voice, “We have succeeded master, they are yours!”

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