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“Sure.” The girl looked almost as confused as Butterbean, but she cleared away Mrs. Food’s newspaper and place mats.

“Whoooaaa whooooaaaa!!!”

She had hardly cleared a space when she was stopped short by series of shrieks coming from the office. Tiny, thin shrieks that sounded like someone very small riding a roller coaster. Or two someones.

Bob came in carrying a glass aquarium. The shrieks got louder. They were definitely coming from inside the aquarium.

“Whoooaaa whoooaaa WHOOOAAAA!! YEE-HAW!!” came a tiny voice.

“AIIIIEEEE! MAKE IT STOP!!” came another tiny voice.

Butterbean stared at the aquarium in horror. There were two rats inside, and they weren’t even attempting to hide. One was covering its face with its paws and peeking out through its fingers as it tried to keep its balance. The other was waving its arms in the air and shrieking with glee, like the moving aquarium was a surfboard or a Tilt-A-Whirl.

“WHO ARE THEY??” Butterbean squealed, trying to get a closer look.

“Down, boy,” Bob said, nudging Butterbean aside.

Butterbean toppled onto her back in shock, furious at herself. She had often thought, while she chewed on her rawhide chew or disemboweled a squeaky vegetable, that Mrs. Food’s office smelled like it might have an infestation of some sort. There had been some distinctly ratty odors wafting through the doorway occasionally. Not all the time, but often enough. But then she would realize how unlikely that was, laugh quietly to herself, and go back to her chew toy. Because come on. Mrs. Food’s OFFICE? Infested with RATS? Hardy-har-har. And yet, here was Bob with the cold hard evidence. Butterbean’s whole life was a lie.

“So yeah, these two also. I guess just keep their cage from stinking and give them food and whatever. Looks like they’re good on water, but keep an eye out.”

The girl peered inside the aquarium. The rats stared back at her. They’d stopped acting like they were on their own personal amusement park ride and were watching her expectantly. “Do they have names?”

Bob checked the crumpled paper in his hand.“They didn’t give me names. So just Rat One and Rat Two, I guess. Or call that one Colleen and that one Elizabeth. Who cares? I mean, they’re rats. It’s not like they know the difference.”

“HEY!” said one of the rats (aka Colleen).

“RUDE,” said the other one (aka Elizabeth).

Butterbean slowly turned from the infestation and stared at Walt in horror. Walt, who spent a good amount of time in the office. Walt, who could climb on high surfaces. Walt, who liked to keep secrets.

“Did you KNOW?” Butterbean demanded. “That we had RATS?”

Walt shrugged.

“You KNEW? And you didn’t say ANYTHING?”

Walt shrugged again.“I didn’t know it was a secret. They were right there on the shelf. You went in the office. They weren’t hidden.”

Butterbean’s jaw dropped. “I’m SHORT. I’m a SHORT DOG. I don’t see things up high. YOU KNOW THAT.”

“Well, I’m sorry. I’m telling you now. We’ve got rats.”

“Yes, so I understand. Rat One and Rat Two,” Butterbean grumbled. “And those are just the ones we can SEE.”

“Marco!”

“Polo!”

Butterbean whipped her head around and glared at the aquarium.“EXCUSE ME?”

“I’m Marco,” said Rat One (aka Colleen).

“And I’m Polo,” said Rat Two (aka Elizabeth).

“We don’t really go by Rat One and Rat Two, no matter what that guy says.”

“Or Colleen and Elizabeth. That guy is bonkers.”

“Totally.” Marco rolled his eyes.

“Totally,” Polo echoed, making twirly “crazy” motions next to her head.

“Well, yeah.” Butterbean had to agree there. They may be infesting the office, but those rats weren’t stupid.

“Ahem.”

The animals immediately stopped their conversation and stared up at the girl, who was looking at them with a puzzled expression.“Are they always this… chatty?”

Bob shrugged and handed her Butterbean’s leash. “How would I know? Mice squeak, right? They’re chatty. Dogs too, I guess.”

“Rats,” Marco and Polo said in unison. “Not mice.”

“Right.” The girl frowned. She clipped the leash onto Butterbean’s collar.

“Bean,” Oscar said in a low voice. “Be careful. Observe everything. Urgent house meeting when you return.”

“Okay,” Butterbean said, trying hard to control her tail. It was her natural instinct to start wagging when the leash went on, but it didn’t seem appropriate this time, somehow.

“House meeting,” she said as she trotted to the door, girl in tow. “Urgent meeting. Got it.”

“Urgent,” Oscar said as the door shut behind them. “Because if what Bob just said is true, I was right. We’re all in serious trouble.”

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4

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BUTTERBEAN WAS DOING HER JAUNTY walk when she came back. Tail wagging, high bouncing, the whole bit. Oscar was disgusted.

Butterbean obviously didn’t understand how serious their situation was. Oscar averted his eyes as Butterbean licked the girl on the hand and then bounced on into the living room.

“Hoo! What a workout!” Butterbean flopped down onto the carpet as the girl left the apartment. Oscar gave her a disapproving look, but she didn’t seem to notice.