Lulu and Mellie fetched rugs and cushions for themselves, but they did not fetch rugs and cushions for Nan. They fetched her crown and her throne, because it was her birthday.
When Nan saw her crown and throne she said Lulu and Mellie were, as she had always supposed, the very best girls in the world. Whatever they had lost in the walls.
And then she settled down on her throne in the garden, and Lulu and Mellie curled up on their cushions.
And, although they did not mean to, one by one they fell asleep.
But Ratty did not.
Ratty stayed awake.
Ratty was cleverer than the policeman’s children’s hamsters.
He was cleverer than the policeman too.
He found his carrot slices.
One by one he picked them up, carried them down the scarf, through the hole in the air brick, up the walls, across the roof, down the rose trellis and into his cage, where he put them away under his bed.
He was very careful not to fall in the bucket.
When he had collected all his carrot slices he went to bed.
On the roof.
Lulu found him the next morning, still fast asleep. The cats showed her where he was. The cats always knew.
Lulu picked him up, cage as well, and carried him downstairs. Mellie was awake now, but Nan was not.
Snore! went Nan, very gently and quietly, her crown tipping sideways, asleep on her throne.
“Look!” whispered Lulu, and Mellie said, “Wow!”
Later that day the parents arrived and they exploded at once into questions.
“What have you been up to?”
“What’s that hole in the wall?”
“Why are you yawning?”
“And have you been good?”
“They’ve been as good as gold,” said Nan, overhearing. “All of them perfect! All three!”
“Three?” asked Mellie, and she looked up at the roof, where once again the hamster was sleeping, safe in his cage with the door tight shut. “How did you know about Ra …”
“La la la!” sang Nan with her fingers in her ears.
“We camped!” said Lulu. “In the garden all night! Mellie and I had cushions to sleep on. Nan had her crown and she sat on her throne.”
“On her throne? In the garden? But WHY?”
Lulu took a deep breath. Then she bravely began.
“Well, you know Emma Pond …”
But Nan interrupted.
“Because it’s my birthday!” she said.
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this book or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Text copyright © 2015 by Hilary McKay
Illustrations © 2015 by Priscilla Lamont
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