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the wardrobe door where he had decided the sound was coming from.  He dismissed the idea of sleeping downstairs and leaving it until tomorrow, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to sleep, wondering what, or who, was in the wardrobe.
    ‘Dad, Dad,’ Jamie called quietly from outside his parent’s bedroom.
    He listened carefully and wasn’t hopeful when he heard the unmistakable sound of his dad snoring.  Jamie gave a huge sigh and then tried calling again.  This time he heard some movement inside the room and the snoring stopped.
    ‘Blimey, Dad, they went out of fashion a long time ago,’ Jamie said when his bleary-eyed dad appeared at the door wearing baggy underpants with a union jack pattern.
    ‘Never mind my grundies.  What do you want?’ Kevin asked, trying to keep his voice low.
    ‘There’s a noise coming from the wardrobe in my room.  It’s a scratching noise and it’s really loud.  I think someone is in there and trying to get out.’
    ‘Don’t be daft.  It must be an insect.  Maybe it’s a moth or a fly.  Go and open the door and let it out.’
    ‘What sort of insect has claws, or finger nails?’ Jamie asked, thinking his dad could always come up with some excuse for not doing anything he didn’t want to do.
    Kevin sighed.  ‘Come on then, let’s see what you’re making a fuss about.’ and then groaned when he saw Leanne appear on the landing. ‘Now you’ve woken your sister up as well.’
    ‘What’s happened?’ asked Leanne who then yawned and stretched her arms above her head.
    ‘There’s nothing for you to worry about, Princess.  You get into bed with your mum until this is sorted out.  It won’t take long.’
     Kevin waited until Leanne was in bed with her mum and then made his way towards the source of the disturbance.  Jamie followed him, but not too closely.
    ‘Bloody hell! I see what you mean, son,’ Kevin gasped when he got close to the wardrobe. ‘Nip down and get me the torch that’s on top of the little cupboard near the front door.’
    Jamie was soon back upstairs and handing the torch to his dad who had his ear against the wardrobe door.
    ‘Right, you little beggar.  Let’s see what you look like.’
     As Kevin slowly eased open the door the scratching stopped and was replaced by a scurrying sound and then a squeal just before he slammed the door shut.
    Kevin let out another, ‘Bloody hell!’ and then held the door closed as though he was expecting it to be forced open.
    ‘What is it, Dad?’ Jamie asked nervously.  He had never seen his dad look as concerned as he was now.
    ‘A great big rat,’ Kevin whispered and then quickly added, ‘but we mustn’t tell Leanne.  We’ll say it’s a tiny little field mouse and we’ll let it loose tomorrow.  Now, don’t you dare wind her up!’
    Jamie was thinking that Leanne wouldn’t want the bedroom if she knew that there had been a rat in there, but he wouldn’t take advantage and frighten his little sister.
    Jamie was pleased when his dad suggested that they slept in Leanne’s room and that’s where he headed to bagsy the mattress before his dad did.
    ‘It’s just a little field mouse,’ Kevin lied when he saw Leanne huddled up against Debbie. ‘It probably escaped from the cat and hid in the wardrobe and I’ll let it go in the morning when the cat’s not about.  You stay with mum, Leanne and me and Jamie will sleep in your room.’
    ‘Daddy, can we keep the mouse in the budgie cage?  I don’t like that cruel cat downstairs and I haven’t got a pet.  Can we, please?’
    Kevin said that he would think about it, but was already planning to get rid of the rat in the morning before anyone else was up.  He would tell Leanne that the ‘mouse’ must have found a way out of the wardrobe and gone back to its family in the field.
     

CHAPTER THREE
    Kevin was slurping his third mug of tea of the morning when Debbie and Leanne joined him in the kitchen and there was a buzz of excitement as they