CHAPTER ONE - JUSTIN

The rat stepped out of the doorway of the clay mound and looked up to the sky. The sun shone bright, and not a cloud could be seen. It was a perfect early summer day in Thorn Valley.

Justin smoothed out his green and purple silk tunic. He was not happy with this perfect day; the crops were drying out, and rain was needed soon. Walking on his hind legs - another sign of the intelligence encased within the rat's body - Justin hastened down into the fields.

There he was greeted by another rat, less elegantly garbed than himself but clothed nonetheless. Justin issued a salutation. "Morning, Arthur. How's the situation today?"

The rat Arthur shook his head. "The upper fields are already drying out. If the stream gets any lower, we won't be able to irrigate any of the crops. I've started a bucket brigade to get water to the driest sections, but we're going to lose some of the harvest."

"How much?" Justin asked.

Arthur shrugged. "Too early to tell. Even if rains come tomorrow, we'll still have losses. But I'd say between the drought and the other animals stealing from us, we could have a very hard winter ahead."

Justin stroked the fur on his chin thoughtfully. "Keep me informed. Speaking of the other animals, are they assembled?"

Arthur nodded. "A number of them came. Brutus is with them now on the North Hill."

"Fine." Justin swallowed nervously. "Wish me luck."

"Good luck, sir."

"Thanks." Justin set off for the North Hill, which was on the far side of the fields. He could do nothing about the drought, but as the leader of the intelligent rats who had escaped from the laboratories of NIMH - the National Institute of Mental Health - it was his duty to act in the best interests of his people. The other animals in Thorn Valley were stealing from the rats' food supply, so Justin had arranged for a meeting with members of the animal community to try and find a solution to the problem.

Justin arrived at the meeting site to find Brutus, Captain of the Guard for the rat colony, encircled by half a dozen angry ground animals. Brutus was an enormous rodent, and he wielded a wicked-looking lance that glinted in the sunlight. At Justin's approach, the animals broke the circle and backed away; they feared the leader of the mysterious rats and the strange powers he occasionally used on them.

Justin noticed with disappointment that there were no birds present, for the winged creatures were the biggest thieves of all. "Okay," he began, "you all know why I've asked you here. You've been taking from us, and this must stop."

A female rabbit spoke up. "We have to eat too," she said timidly. "I've got children to feed."

"I understand." Justin folded his forepaws behind his back, as a gesture of authority. "But Thorn Valley is a big place. There are plenty of other food sources besides our fields."

"Every year, you take up more land with your fields," said a male rabbit bitterly. "At the rate you're going, you'll drive us out of the valley entirely!"

"We grow only what we need," Justin countered.

"What about us?" cried a young fieldmouse. "Maybe the rabbits and the squirrels and the chipmunks can travel across the valley for food, but we can't get ten paces from our burrows without being eaten by some predator or other. Your food is our only choice."

Justin was silent a moment as he thought up a response to the mouse's dilemma. Before he could answer, an anxious chipmunk put in, "It's not enough that you're taking over our valley …. you kill us as well for food."

Then all the animals were yelling at once.

Justin hung his head and waited for the shouting to die down. He was ashamed of his people's demand for meat, but he had let them have their way and allowed traps to be set for capturing game. Justin himself ate only fish and vegetables, but he didn't expect those before him now to believe that. Finally he held up a forepaw for silence.

"Your complaints are justified," he began, "but my first responsibility is to my own people. Therefore, I can only make this modest offer: bring me a promise from all the animals of the valley that our crops will be left alone, and I in turn will bring a stop to all hunting and trapping by the rats of the colony. Bring me the answer tomorrow morning. I'll be waiting at the colony gate."

"What if the answer is 'no?'" asked the male rabbit.

"Then the hunting will continue," Justin replied sternly. "Furthermore, I will use whatever means necessary to protect our crops, and that includes ordering my guards to kill thieves on sight." He paused to let his words sink in. "I'll await your answer." That said, Justin and Brutus started back toward the colony.

On the way back, Brutus asked, "Do you think they'll accept your proposal?"

"I pray they do," Justin sighed. "I've no taste for blood."

"It's their blood or our starvation, sir, and I got no hesitation about which I'd choose."

"Well, let's hope it doesn't come to that." The two of them rounded the clay mound that served as the gate to the rats' underground colony. As they neared the entrance, a pair of guards burst from a growth of weeds opposite the door, dragging between them a third rat. They laid the unconscious rodent on the ground at Justin's feet.

"Sir," said one guard, gasping for breath, "we found this rat being chased by a fox. We were only barely able to save him."

Justin studied the rat on the ground. It wore no clothes, and looked to be fairly old. Obviously, it was a wild rat. "Why," he asked the guards, "did you save him and bring him here? You know you're not supposed to interfere with … "

"You don't understand, sir," the other guard interrupted. "He says he's one of us."

"Huh?"

"He says he's from NIMH."