Mouse in the House - Part 2
Ann started down the hall, Mom was fixing supper, and Dad
was outside working on a car. Dad was a good mechanic, they called him Tune Up
Tom at work, and someday she’d have to ask why. Wonder if it was because he was
so good at “tuning “up cars?
“I don’t have him!” Jean was crying as Ann turned the
corner. “Are you sure he’s not in your pocket?”
“No, he’s not in my pocket! That’s why I came and got
you. I thought you had him!”
“Uh oh,” Ann thought, “What’s wrong? Where’s Whitey?” she
asked, looking into the now empty shoebox.
“That’s what we want to know! We’ve been looking for him
all over! He’s gone!” Jean wailed as tears ran down her face.
“Oh boy! Just what we needed!” Danny exclaimed, “Better
not mention Whitey until we find him.” They all agreed.
For two weeks there was no sign of Whitey. Ann, Danny and
Jean were afraid Whitey was dead. Then at the breakfast table on Sunday
morning, before church, Mom said, “We need to put out a trap. I think we have
mice.”
Ann looked at Danny then Jean. Poor Whitey, he sure would
be a goner now!
For four days Ann, Danny and Jean took turns springing
the trap. On Friday morning the trap wasn’t where it had been. So either Mom
had moved the trap or she had caught Whitey. After school they gathered for a
conference on the swing set.
“Well, what are we going to do?” Jean wanted to know, as
she hung by her knees on the swing set crossbar. “I don’t know about you all
but I want to know if Mom caught Whitey.”
“Yeah, I think we all want to know the answer to that,”
Danny said as he turned around toward Ann.
“Sure I want to know, but I don’t want what we’re
probably going to get when Mom and Dad find out we had a mouse in the house
without permission.” Ann said, as she leaned back in the swing. “I’ve already
done my homework, and we have all our chores caught up. So maybe we should
start supper that might soften Mom up a little.”
“Okay, sis,” Danny said getting up off the ground. “I’ll
go get something out of the freezer.”
“I’ll set the table,” Jean said, “if you’ll peel the
potatoes.”
“Okay, let’s get going gang!” Ann said. They all ran into
the house.
They weren’t allowed to use the stove because Mom was
afraid of fire. She had been ever since Ann had burnt off her eyelashes trying
to show Granny Thomas how to light the gas stove. Getting meat out of the freezer,
setting the table and peeling potatoes was all they could do towards supper so
every thing went fast. Ann was just finishing the potatoes when she heard Mom’s
car pull into the drive.
Just about the same time, Jean started yelling from their
parent’s bedroom, “It’s Whitey! It’s Whitey! I found the trap, and he’s in it!”
Danny and Ann hit the door just in time to see Jean
starting to pick up the trap. “Wait Jean!” Ann yelled, “Remember what Dad said
about animals that were hurt. They don’t know that you’re not the one hurting
them and they’ll hurt you, even when they know you, because they’re afraid.”
“Well I don’t care,” Jean said, turning around again,
“Whitey’s my friend, besides it’s just his tail that’s caught. I’m going to let
him go!”
As Jean loosened the trap on Whitey’s tail, he bit her
and ran under the bed. Jean started crying and shaking her hand. “He bit me! He
bit me!” she said dancing around.
“Danny, did you bite Jean?” Mom asked as she came into
the room.
“No, Mom I don’t bite; not unless they bite me first,”
Danny answered, “It was Whitey! Whitey bit Jean.”
“Whitey? Who is Whitey? Or should I be asking what Whitey
is?” Mom wanted to know. “What have you all brought into the house now, I sure
hope it’s not a rabbit, or – it’s not a snake is it, Ann? You know I told you
not to collect any more snakes!”
“Oh Mom!” Ann exclaimed, “You know I don’t do that
anymore! Not since Aunt Sue screamed and scared that poor garden snake. Then
she scared me when she fainted. I didn’t know grownups did that!”
“Okay I believe you,” Mom said, “But what exactly is
Whitey? How long has he been here? More important – where is this Whitey?”
Ann and Danny were both trying to tell Mom about Whitey
as Mom held Jean’s hand to see how badly she was bitten.
“What’s going on?” Dad said, coming into the room too.
There was sudden silence! Dad didn’t often spank, but he
could talk to you, making you feel and see how stupid the best ideas could be.
“Well, as best I can figure out,” Mom started, “the kids
have had a mouse, named Whitey, in a shoebox, Whitey got out. I saw the mice
signs, put out a trap, caught Whitey by the tail – and Jean got bit while she
was letting him out of the trap. Does that about cover it all, kids?”
“Yes Mother,” Ann, Danny and Jean chorused together,
looking up at their father.
“Guess they all have to be grounded for a week,” Mom
said. “Guess that will do,” Dad agreed. Ann, Danny and Jean sighed with relief.
“But we do need to find that mouse.” Mom said.
They never did find Whitey, but every once in a while
there would be signs that a mouse was still in the house.
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