The Surprise Rescue

 It had been raining for several days and the little field mice were getting bored. They could not find anything exciting to do.  It was especially hard for Sed and Ned who loved to play together out in the meadow.  Of course, they were always on the alert for the big black cat.  But with the rain, they didn't have to worry about him. The rain stopped enough for the two little brothers to go out and play.  They remembered to put on their rain gear. The last words of their mother was, "NOT to PLAY in the storm drains, because they could be very dangerous after rain.

The two little mice were so happy to be outside again. But it wasn't  long  before it started to rain again.   As it started to come down harder and harder, Sed and Ned  forget what their mother told them and ran for cover in a storm drain. Suddenly, a huge rush of water picked up the two little mice,  tossing and banging their little bodies from side to side. Finally, they they were able to grab hold of a piece of tile floating by. They both were able to crawl up onto the tile and float the rest of the way out of the drain,
Waiting for them at the end of the drain was a pack of SEWER RATS!  After a storm , it was always a good place for sewer rats to wait to see if they could capture some mice as slaves.  Sed and Ned great grand father had been enslaved for many years, until his father made a heroic attempt and rescued him. At first the rats didn't see the boys hiding in the bushes. 

The mice were shaking so hard with fear.  They thought for sure they would be captured and become rat slaves.

"Sed, we have got to do something quickly, brother, or we will be captured and slaves for life!"  cried Ned.

"What do you think we should do?  You are the oldest." said Sed confidently

"We'll, have to move fast.  When I say run, we will ran as fast as we can to our hideout in the old oak tree.  If we can get there, the rats will not be able to fit through the hole and we can wait for help".

"That sounds great Ned, but what if we don't make it? ?"

"We have got to make it Sed.  Just be ready to run......NOW!"

Just as soon as Ned said NOW, the two mice ran out from under the bush and headed for their hideout.  The sewer rats saw Sed and Ned running across the meadow and hurried into their hideout.  The rats caught up and started to surround the tree.  The boys were so exhausted and out of breath.

 "Phew! Ned, we made it!  That was a wild run.  I don't want to run like that again, but what are we going to do now brother? "

" I don't know, but we will think of something " We better wait here until morning to make sure all the rats have left."

Meanwhile, it was getting dark and their parents were very concerned. They decided to call Murky the mole to see if he knew anything about the boys. Fortunately, just that afternoon, Sed and Ned had asked him to make a separate hole out of their hideout in case of emergency. Murky wasn't able to finish to hole that day, so he told their parents that he would take a run out to the hideout and see if they were there.

Murky didn't have any problem getting to the old oak tree.  Most of the hole was already dug.  All he had to do was to connect it to the hideout.  Inside the hideout Sed and Ned were getting tired and started to fall asleep.

"Ned, anxiously  asked Sed, "Do you hear that noise? I hope it isn't the rats?"

"Sed, don't worry about the rats.  They don't know how to dig." exclaimed Ned .Suddenly The boys saw dirt separating under their feet.

"It's Murky, he has come to rescue us!"  The two little mice excitedly exclaimed as they started to dance around the room..  Up popped Murky's head. "Hi fellers.  Are you all right?

The boys explained to Murky their afternoon ordeal and didn't waste any time escaping through the tunnel.  

The sewer rats never knew what happened to the mice.  They gave up waiting for them to come out and went home.  Sed and Ned were happy to be safely back home, but they had a lot of explaining to do with their parents.  For the next week, they were not allowed to play in their hideout, until they learned to listen and obey. Murky was the hero and from that day on, there was a permanent escape from their hideout, across the meadow into their back yard.