Rat Song

Chapter 10

The children surged forward with all the strength of the Tantalus. Tiny hands clawed at William's guitar, and feet kicked his shins. William shouted, raising the guitar to block the blows. "What's gotten into all of you?"

No one answered him.

Nails dug into William's arms as Jennifer Baker and Matthew Cunningham forced his hands away from the strings. Wood groaned beneath a dozen pummeling fists. Blood spilled from split knuckles, yet the blows kept coming as Peter Farnsworth grabbed the neck of the guitar. He bared his teeth as he struggled to wrestle the instrument out of William's grip, a horrible hissing noise coming from his mouth.

Unlike the others, Emma stood away from the chaos. Her lips moved wordlessly as she fidgeted with her skirt.

"Emma, make them stop!" William screamed as he blocked Edmund Wright from punching him in the gut. He dared not lift a finger against his young assailants, only shield himself with the guitar he held dear.

She locked eyes with him then, drawing her lips into a fine line. A twitch curved the corners of her mouth downward as she took a deep breath.

Her high-pitched scream pierced through the children's grunts and snarls. William yelled, his grip on the guitar loosening as he fought the urge to clamp his hands over his ears.

Peter ripped the guitar from his grasp and threw it out of his reach. Strings snapped as the instrument hit the ground.

With his only protection gone, the children pinned William under their weight. Jennifer yanked his arms above his head and grabbed his wrists so hard they cracked. Matthew pressed his legs into the damp leaf litter, leaving Emma and Peter to stand on opposite sides of his head.

"I didn't mean to upset you," William said hoarsely. He strained to lift himself into a sitting position, only to wince as Emma pushed him back to the ground. Her face didn't betray the slightest hint of emotion as she stared into his eyes. "Please let me up. I just wanted to help you."

None of the children said a word to him.

"What should we do about him?" Jennifer Baker asked. Her nails dug into William's wrists, carving stinging crescents into his skin. "He knows what we're doing. Otherwise, he wouldn't have played that."

Matthew Cunningham giggled as he took a rock out of his pocket. Smooth enough to skip across a pond, the stone thumped against the palm of his hand as he tossed it into the air again and again. Dried blood marred the dark surface, a thin crust of brown running along the edge of the blackness. "If he knows what's good for him, he'll say this was all just a game."

"You win!" William gasped as Edmund twisted his leg. "Let me go, and I promise I won't tell anyone."

Peter laughed. The horrible, ugly sound that rattled out of his ribcage made William's insides quiver. "That's as much of a lie as cheese in a trap."

"We could cut his tongue out." Jennifer licked her lips. "Can't tell anyone anything if he can't talk."

"I say we keep him pinned until he swears to obey us," Edmund said. "That worked well enough on my brothers."

Suggestions flooded the clearing, each one ringing in William's ears like church bells at a funeral. He didn't dare try to resist. The slightest twitch of his limbs made the children tighten their grips until his bones ached, and he couldn't bring himself to risk hurting any of them in his struggle to free himself. Despite everything, they were still just children.

"Quiet!" Peter silenced the other children with a withering glare. "In case you've forgotten, I'm the one the Piper chose to be our leader. Would any of you dare to question him?"