‘So what now?’ Ruth mused as she picked up a small stick and threw it as far as she could into the river.
But Howard was already rolling up his jacket. He curled up on the ground and put it under his head for a pillow.
‘Sleep,’ he said.
‘Didn’t you get any last night?’ Ruth was thinking of the way he’d slept on the bus.
But Howard only grunted.
Ruth took a few swigs from her carton of drink, then walked over to a big boulder and lay back against it. She closed her eyes.
* * *
‘Took you long enough.’
Ruth heard the words as though in a dream. She sat up quickly and looked around, squinting a little. The sun was now bright. Had she fallen asleep?
‘Check this out.’
Ruth looked around, startled. Who was speaking to her? She stood up. Howard was still fast asleep.
It was a familiar voice, but she couldn’t see anyone. She turned to the water and … her heart did a double backflip.
There he was! Rodney! He was sliding down the bare patch of wet slope leading to the water.
She watched in stunned surprise as he ran up to the top and then, holding out both arms to steady himself just as though he were surfing or riding a skateboard, slid down the slope again, stopping himself just before the water.
‘Rodney!’ Her voice was croaky with surprise. ‘Is that you?’
He turned and eyed her up and down.
‘No, it’s Julius Caesar.’
‘Oh,’ Ruth gulped. She didn’t know whether to cry or laugh.
He’d survived
. She wanted to run up and hug Rodney to make sure that she wasn’t imagining him, but she held herself back. He might disappear into thin air if she moved.
‘Do you have you any idea what it was like being thrown in the water?’
‘I’m so sorry, Rodney.’
‘I nearly drowned.’
‘How did you get out?’
He didn’t answer, but ran to the top of the bank again.
‘This is the first time I could get back,’ Ruth called.
‘Don’t make excuses,’ he shouted back.
Ruth bit her lip and watched anxiously as he started sliding down the slope. Any minute he might misjudge the distance and … What if he ended up in the river again? That current was strong.
‘So, what’s up, Rodney?’ Ruth asked.
‘Call me
Rodin
!’ Rodney said as he slid past.
‘But it’s not your name!’
‘I’ve changed my name.’
‘But …’ Ruth didn’t know why she found this so disconcerting. ‘Mary Ellen called you Rodney!’
He slid to a stop, walked up the bank and stared at her.
‘You can’t just change it,’ Ruth persisted.
‘Why not?’
‘It might hurt her feelings.’
‘So?’
‘Well …’ She felt foolish.
‘Do you know of a law that says you can’t change your name?’
Ruth tried to think. ‘No, I don’t. Sorry I mentioned it.’
‘Oh, call me Rodney, then,’ the rat grumbled. ‘Everyone else does!’
‘I’ve missed you,’ Ruth began.
The rat looked up at her. ‘I can’t say I’ve missed
you
much,’ he said.
Ruth gulped and tried to look as if she didn’t care; but, in fact, knowing he hadn’t missed her was almost as bad as never having found him again.
‘Well. Maybe I did a little. From time to time.’
‘Oh.’
‘But after the horror of nearly drowning,’ he shuddered, ‘I had to try to forget and build a whole new life.’
‘A whole new life?’
Ignoring her curiosity, Rodney got up, took off his boots and started cleaning them with a stick. ‘You probably got sick of me sitting up there in your room anyway,’ he said.
Ruth would have liked to tell him that she had absolutely loved having him in her room, and that he was far more interesting than any human being she’d ever known, apart from her aunt, but she didn’t know how to say any of that without sounding like she was sucking up.
‘Things at home have gone from bad to worse since you left,’ she said morosely.
‘In what way?’ He seemed genuinely interested.
‘Well, it’s … a complete horror show now, you know.’
‘Do you
hate
them?’ Rodney asked. ‘Your family, I mean?’
Ruth faltered a little.
Hate
was too strong, but when she remembered the scene that morning and all the other mornings, she felt weary at the very thought of trying to explain how she felt. It was exhausting living with her family, and she saw no signs of it getting any better in the near future.
‘It’s complicated,’ she said, ‘but I think maybe I was put in the wrong family.’
‘Uh huh.’ The rat was staring at her; the long, spiky lashes around his eyes were lowered. ‘So how does
that
make you feel?’
‘Like a fish out of water,’ Ruth said sourly.
‘Go on,’ the rat said with an encouraging half-smile.
But Ruth didn’t know what else to say. She shrugged. ‘Since you left and Mary Ellen died I’m a fish out of water.’
‘Be more specific!’ Rodney ordered sharply. ‘And by the way, I didn’t
leave
. I was thrown!’
* * *
So she told him about the way everything revolved around her brothers now, how selfish and spiteful Marcus could be and how wearisome and spoilt Paul was. She described the way her mother was always running late, always in a flap, and detailed the lack of order in their lives and the lack of money. As well as all the completely stupid things her parents got involved in, like inventions and art, when they should have been concentrating on normal things like paying off the mortgage and fixing the house. The rat was, of course, familiar with most of it, and sympathetic too, but he listened intently with that same sneaky half-smile on his face that made Ruth wonder what he was really thinking.
‘Everything was better when you were around. So I came looking for you,’ Ruth concluded lamely.
Why was she telling all this to a rat? She must be crazy!
Rodney brightened. He bounced up and down as though he couldn’t contain himself.
‘And what a good idea that was, Ruth Craze,’ he puffed pompously, and scratched his head as if there was a very big idea inside just waiting to be let out. ‘What a very good idea!’ he muttered again. ‘What an
excellent
idea!’
‘How do you mean?’
‘You want to get away from them, right?’
‘Do I ever!’ Ruth sighed.
‘And
that
is where I come in,’ he said, looking at her from under his sly, hooded eyes.
‘What do you mean?’ Ruth asked in bewilderment.
But the rat just chuckled. He stood up straight and gave her a mock salute, then in about three swift movements he’d hopped onto a higher rock.
‘It’s no accident that you turned up here today,’ he said cheerfully. ‘I can see that now. So let’s get cracking. We’ve got to get down to business.’
‘T
here is no real risk as long as you’re careful,’ Rodney told her. ‘You’ll have three chances to create your perfect life. If for some reason you don’t like where you’ve ended up, you can return from each wish at the end of one day. If you choose to stay longer than one day, you’ll stay in your new life forever.’
Rodney was lying on his back with his front paws behind his head and his eyes half closed. ‘So … what do you say?’
The sun was still shining and the breeze was still making the leaves shudder, but Ruth felt as if she’d been catapulted into a different universe altogether. She’d just given the last of the biscuits and cheese to Rodney and watched as he ate them, stunned by how much he was able to put away. His belly was now huge and round.
‘How will I … return?’ She could hardly get the words out she was that excited. Rodney had just offered her the most improbable but exciting deal of her life, but her cautious nature told her that there could well be a catch. She needed more time to think.
‘Nothing to it.’ Rodney snapped his fingers. ‘But I’ll tell you all about
that
later. First up, you’ve got to decide if you want to make use of this special offer.’
‘I think so,’ Ruth said slowly, ‘but I’m not
completely
sure.’
‘By all means have a think about it,’ Rodney said dreamily, as though half asleep.
They were quiet for a while. But Ruth could tell the rat wasn’t asleep by the way his eyelids flickered.
‘Could you go through it one more time?’ Ruth asked, thinking she might have missed something important.
‘Okay.’ Rodney yawned and sat up and tried not to look bored. Ruth noticed that he’d been in a distinctly better mood since the food. ‘You describe your perfect life and I’ll do my very best to get it happening for you. My powers are limited, so I can’t promise everything, but I can manage quite a lot.’
‘And I get three tries to get it right?’
‘Correct.’ Rodney held up three claws. ‘Three bites at the cherry.’
‘And I can come back if I want to?’
‘Yes. Before the end of the first day you may return to your present life through a red door, which will be provided.’
‘And will it be easy to find?’
‘Very easy … just make sure you know where it is as soon as you arrive.’
‘Do I need a key?’
‘No keys!’ Rodney yawned. ‘Easy to open and easy to close. If you decide
not
to stay, then you must walk back through that door by six o’clock. If you don’t do that, then you will have elected to stay in your new life.’
‘Forever?’ Ruth whispered.
‘Forever.’ Rodney was getting impatient. ‘Now we’ve been through all this already, Ruth. There are no tricks. No double dealing. It’s really very easy and, if I may say so, you’d be mad not to take up the opportunity. Not everyone gets this kind of chance to change their lot in life.’
‘Have other people done it?’
‘So many that you couldn’t count!’ the rat chuckled.
‘Do most of them stay?’
‘I don’t keep statistics!’ he said shortly. ‘Look, I haven’t got all day.’
‘Did my aunt ever … do this?’
Rodney frowned and wagged his finger. ‘There are privacy issues to consider here,’ he said.
‘Okay,’ Ruth sighed, frowning.
‘Do you want to take up the offer or not?’
‘When I come back …’ She knew she was annoying him, but it couldn’t be helped. She had to be clear about it all. ‘You’ll be here?’
‘
If
you come back after the first and the second wish, then I’ll certainly be here to organise the next. But if you come back from the third one – in other words, if you choose to
squander
all your chances – you won’t see me again.’
‘Okay then,’ Ruth said in a quiet voice.
There was a sudden movement from over near the tree and Ruth remembered Howard. She stood up and peered at him but he was only turning over onto his side. How could she have forgotten him? She was amazed at herself.
‘But what about Howard?’
The rat stared at the prone figure. ‘What about him?’
‘Well, I can’t just leave him!’
‘Why not? He has to be the most unimpressive specimen I’ve seen in a long time. Where did you pick him up?’
‘Rodney!’ she said. ‘He’s my friend from school!’
‘He’s your
friend
!’ Rodney sighed sarcastically. ‘Well, we’ve all got
friends from school,
haven’t we? That doesn’t mean we consider them when we’re making life-and-death decisions!’
Ruth gave him a hard look. ‘Well, I came here with him,’ she said. ‘In fact, it was his idea to come. He said you’d turn up, actually.’ She thought that might engender a little sympathy for Howard, but she was mistaken.
‘Does it mean you have to go home with him?’ the rat sniffed.
‘Maybe not,’ she said. ‘But how will he get home?’
‘He’s got two legs, hasn’t he?’ The rat sighed as though it was all too boring. ‘Okay. I’ll work something out. I’ll make sure he gets home safely.’
‘Well …’ ‘You want to go ahead?’
‘Okay. Let’s do it.’
Rodney sat up straight, suddenly very alert. ‘Have you thought about what family you’d like?’
‘I’ve thought about nothing else for
ages
.’
‘Good!’ The rat gave her a flashy smile. ‘So what
would
you like?’
‘For a start, I want my parents to pay some attention to
me
for a change. I don’t want it to be all about my brothers ALL the time. And I want my parents to be
normal
!’
‘Normal, huh.’ Rodney was nodding carefully, as though committing all this to memory. ‘Can you be a little more specific about that?’
‘I don’t want new schemes or bizarre hobbies. I want parents who are happy to work in normal jobs and watch television at night and eat ordinary food … that they cook. I’ve had enough crappy takeaway food to last me a lifetime. I want a house that isn’t falling down. In fact, I’d like a really nice house where there is no chance of the tap falling off in your hand when you try to turn it, and where I can have a proper room with nice things in it.’ She was getting excited just thinking about it.