Free Anton and Cecil, Book 2 by Lisa Martin Page A

the same thing. It seems to be a popular place.”
    They jumped off the pallets and peered up through the slatted steps. The people coming out of the door were laden with baskets and packages, and the cats caught the distinct scents of cheese and bread. A few men stood talking on the porch above, gesturing with their hands and eating something that smelled delicious.
    Cecil trotted back and forth with his neck craned, his tail curling in anticipation. “If we’re lucky . . .”
    Plop
. A chunk of meat and cheese fell through the slats in the steps to the ground in front of them.
    â€œExcellent.” Cecil beamed, bounding over to the snack.
    â€œGreat cats.” Anton looked up again as a crust of bread glanced off his shoulder. “Humans are so messy.”

    The cats waited until the crowd had thinned before slipping away from the house and back to the train yard. They ducked under the platform to avoid the ruckus above as well as the relentless drizzle, and watched for activity on the rails. Hours passed and only a single train came rumbling in, this one with just a few carriages. Cecil watched as the engine somehow got itself turned around and connected to the back end, chugging off the way it had come, just like the train they’d traveled on.
    â€œDo they never keep going?” Anton complained, gazing in the opposite direction. “There are rails going that way. Why don’t the trains continue on?”
    Cecil shifted in the damp air, his eyes half-closed. “I don’t know. What if we’ve reached the end?”
    â€œThe end of what?” asked Anton stubbornly.
    â€œThe end of this journey,” said Cecil. “Maybe Hieronymus is here in this town, or maybe we’ve already passed him.” He turned to Anton. “Have you thought of that?”
    Anton’s mouth opened and closed again. “No, we’re not at the end, for goodness’ sake. We haven’t seen a whale, haven’t met a coyote, haven’t found any sign of Hieronymus, obviously.” He looked away, shaking his head.
    Cecil’s ear cocked sideways and his body tensed at the sound of a mouse-like scurrying off to his left. He turned his head swiftly and caught a glimpse of three fluffs of brown-gray fur, one bigger than the other two, hurrying along the far side of the platform. Cecil’s mouth watered, but he shook his head.
You’re on a mouse-free diet for now, remember?
he told himself. Still, mice could be useful.
    â€œHey!” he shouted at the mice. They jumped and scurried faster.
    Anton looked over Cecil’s head. “You’re scaring them.” He raised his voice a little. “Excuse me!” he called. The bigger mouse quickly pushed the two little ones ahead of it through a crack in the beam. Anton persisted. “Are you in the mouse network?”
    The mouse’s tail vanished into the crack. Several seconds passed in silence, then a high, quavering voice spoke from the direction of the beam.
    â€œAnd what in the world do you think you know about the mouse network?” said the voice.
    Anton stood but moved no closer. “We received a message at our home very far away,” he said. “Via mouse. Mice, actually.”
    A tiny nose protruded from the crack, followed by two black, shining eyes. “Cats? You’re trying to tell me a pair of
cats
got a network message?”
    â€œYes.” Anton nodded. “And now we’re trying to travel west into the land of the setting sun, but the trains all seem to stop here, and we can’t find our friend. Can you help us?”
    The pink nose swung from side to side, and the voice squeaked louder. “I don’t know who you are, but you’re not fooling me one bit. Mice working with cats? Please. You all are nothing but a menace to me and my family, and the sooner you’re gone, or dead, the better off we’ll all be.”
    At that, Cecil sat up.