Uncle Toothless announced that he was tired and needed a cat nap, so he would not be going to the ball with the rats. "Besides," he murmured, so only the cats could hear, "I don't believe one word those sneaky rats say. We must be very wary. They have something else in mind, mark my words."
A small rat named Slide Out told Rascal and his group that he would show them where there were mice that were very easy to catch. Stand Off, a bigger rat, nodded his head in agreement. "I know about those mice. They aren't quite all dead yet and they really are very easy to catch."
"A curious and engaging animal, the sidehill mouse," said Slide Out. "Sidehill mice were once plentiful in the hills, though I fear they are now nearing extinction, especially in this area."
"What do they look like?" asked Rascal, curiously, forgetting the old saying that curiosity killed the cat.
Stand Off said, "The right-hand variety, you mean?"
Slide Out added, "There is also the left-hand variety."
"Which ones are easier to catch?" asked Snow and Dandy.
Restless, Rascal walked around with both his curiosity and now excitement.
"It means both of their right legs are longer than the left. They can only walk the hills in a counterclockwise direction. However, there are an even larger number of left-handed sidehill mice. They only walk in a clockwise direction. Then behind the Rat's Pass lives the high-behinded sidehill mouse. It travels only uphill."
"Wow!" shouted Lumby.
"I don't believe it," replied Philosopher suspiciously
"I know, town cats like you - City Slickers - don't know about them," said Stand Off. And Slide Out added, "Don't forget to mention about the low-behinded sidehill mouse. They only walk downhill."
Uncle Toothless exclaimed, "Don't trust rats! They are rats! I won't go, even though those mice might be tasty and pink, like ice cream. Besides, my legs ache. I've done lots of walking instead of lots of sleeping like I usually did in my old house." Uncle turned around and to himself he said, "...mice that taste like chocolate or vanilla or ...high-behinded mice ... ha, ha, ha ... they must think we're stupid."
"Where are Sheriff and the others?" asked Sofia.
"They've gone hunting for those side-hill mice," answered a big rat with a friendly smile and a smaller rat added, "Let's go before it gets too late."
Uncle Toothless tried once more to prevent Rascal and the others from following the rats. "Don't be so quick to follow them. Like I said, they're up to something."
"But they're going to lead us to mice," sighed Rascal. "Tasty mice. Mmmmm. What harm can there be?"
"Watch out," called Uncle in a final warning.
Rascal was very excited and quickly forgot about his dream of the night before. He had dreamed about huge danger and as he discovered, the danger of death in the Wild West was ever present and took many forms. But in his dream the danger had only one form - RATS! He dreamed that all the cats, humans, cows and horses were changed into rats. It bothered him for about two seconds but then he easily dismissed it and happily followed the two rats, letting the idea of catching a mouse or two cloud his better judgment. Besides, if Wandering Sheriff has already left to hunt the mice, he thought, it will be safe for them, too. Maybe Uncle was being a bit too cautious.
Philosopher thought about staying behind with Uncle Toothless because he, too, was not convinced that the rats were sincere. But he thought he would be better able to help the others if something did happen, so he followed along.
They went behind Cat Valley towards Angry Cat Pass. There were some mice on the meadow but the rats said they were not the ones they were looking for.
That did not matter to the cats. They got into pounce position, but the rats interrupted their concentration.
"These are not the mice we're after," they said. "Let's go find the real juicy mice."
Reluctantly, the cats continued to follow the rats. After an hour or so, they saw coyote tracks, lynx tracks, rabbit tracks and squirrel tracks, but no mice tracks.
Suddenly the rats shouted, "Run! Faster! Let's go!"
The cats followed their leader when suddenly they were airborne. First Rascal, then the rest of the cats. With a jolt of surprise they found that they had fallen into an old mine hole. The rest of the cats were there with Wandering Sheriff. He looked up in puzzlement. Around the rim of the hole lots of rats were leering down at them with evil grins.
"Anything that can go wrong will go wrong," commented Wandering Sheriff.
"And here we are, feeling as if we'd all been hit on the head," Rascal added.
Philosopher sat, thinking his deep thoughts; thoughts not known to others.
"Dudes! Dudes! Ha, ha! There are also mice that have colors like pheasant but taste like duck or even small deer," jeered the rats.
And this is only the beginning, Sofia thought miserably. She did not know whether to be sorry or fearful or angry or if she should just cry. Poor lady-cat, she got hysterical in the way that well-bred cats will do.
Rascal asked Sheriff, "You were looking for those side-hill mice too?"
Wandering Sheriff opened his eyes wide. "What? Side-hill mice? What is this nonsense? I was chasing those bad guys. They told me they found a big trap where some cats had fallen down and I ran here to rescue them."
Rascal remembered what Uncle Toothless had said and felt foolish for believing the rats.
"Why are there no kittens, except for that orange one that looks like a miniature Wandering Sheriff?" asked Snow.
"That one is my son," stated Sheriff, proudly.
"I want to rescue our brothers and sisters and friends," said Yellow Nugget, the oldest son of Wandering Sheriff and White Mist, a white cat who was standing silently not too far away.
"They are being held as prisoners somewhere in this mine. And it's very sad because the rats are raising them like rats. Then they use them to carry out their evil plans. The poor kittens think they are rats. Only I escaped from them and I know I'm very proud to be a cat!" Meanwhile the rats became bored of harassing the cats and left. Not too long after, the cats heard the voice of Uncle Toothless. "I knew those rats were up to no good."
"I knew you'd come, Uncle Toothless! I'm sorry we didn't listen to your warning," called Rascal.
"I was often in trouble too, a long time ago when I was young. And I learned one thing: there's always a solution to everything... But ... for now ...I have an idea. Each one of you, push a stone to one side of the wall. Then keep doing that until they are piled up high enough so you can climb out."
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