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Speaker 1: Hello friends, and welcome to sleep Tight Stories. If you

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Speaker 1: haven't already, be sure to subscribe to sleep Tight Stories

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Speaker 1: on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. Also,

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Speaker 1: if you have a moment, please consider leaving a review.

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Speaker 1: Your review might help introduce others to our podcast. Thank you.

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Speaker 1: We are continuing with Kat City today. Remember in the

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Speaker 1: last episode, Tucker was trying to make his way to

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Speaker 1: where Susan was being kept, but ran into Harold and

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Speaker 1: his friends. Finny showed up and was happy to help.

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Speaker 1: Finnie and Tucker talked about what to do next when

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Speaker 1: so someone else joined them. Susan heard a noise at

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Speaker 1: her door and decided to try and get a jump

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Speaker 1: on whoever was coming in. It turned out to be

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Speaker 1: Vinnie and Tucker. They rescued her, she told them what

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Speaker 1: she had heard, and they came up with a plan.

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Speaker 1: In these chapters, Susan is upset and very unhappy with Kai.

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Speaker 1: Tucker is being held by some rats, and Kai is

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Speaker 1: not very happy with either Susan or Tucker. Tucker and

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Speaker 1: Kai have an argument about what is going on, and

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Speaker 1: then the rats take Tucker and Susan away. Tucker and

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Speaker 1: Susan hear water and realized that maybe where they are

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Speaker 1: being taken is not a good place. Let's see what happens.

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Speaker 1: Cat City, Chapter fourteen and fifteen. The pink light flashed

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Speaker 1: into existence again, but this time Susan didn't really need it.

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Speaker 1: The illumination from the eyes surrounding her lit up the

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Speaker 1: passage with a glow. She spotted Tucker almost immediately and

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Speaker 1: realized why he hadn't warned her. He was pinned under

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Speaker 1: a dozen rats, one holding very tightly to his muzzle

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Speaker 1: to keep him quiet. Tucker struggled, but there were too

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Speaker 1: many rats holding him down. Susan looked up at Kai,

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Speaker 1: his glowing pink light bobbing by one large ear. He

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Speaker 1: stared down at her with his huge eyes, calm and

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Speaker 1: almost relaxed. You have caused me no end of trouble, Susan,

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Speaker 1: Kai said. In fact, if it weren't for you, the

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Speaker 1: plan would have worked out perfectly. Traitor Tucker managed to

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Speaker 1: free his muzzle and howled at Kai. I trusted you.

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Speaker 1: Kay's tail twitched as he looked at Tucker. I had

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Speaker 1: such hopes for you, Kai said. Likewise, Tucker said, bitterly,

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Speaker 1: guess we're both disappointed. Indeed, Kai murmured, but perhaps if

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Speaker 1: you understood my reasoning, you would see things differently. I

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Speaker 1: wouldn't bother Kai, Julian laughed. As he came into the light.

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Speaker 1: He smirked at Tucker, upper lip raised to reveal his

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Speaker 1: sharp teeth. You've wasted enough time and effort on this

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Speaker 1: half breed. Kai didn't say anything, but Susan wondered at

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Speaker 1: the long stare he gave Julian. Instead, she found the

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Speaker 1: strength to speak up, What are you going to do

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Speaker 1: with us? Kai looked at her, the pink light above him,

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Speaker 1: giving his golden eyes a strange cast. I'm afraid your

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Speaker 1: journey ends here, my dear, Kai told her in a

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Speaker 1: soft voice. As soon as Julian reaches the gate, the

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Speaker 1: rats will attack from both the front and from this

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Speaker 1: hidden passage. My fellow cats will be taken completely by

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Speaker 1: surprise and will be surrounded within minutes. I am hoping,

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Speaker 1: he bowed his head once, the cats will surrend and quietly.

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Speaker 1: Susan shook her head. Did he actually sound remorseful? If

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Speaker 1: you're so worried about them, she said, why betray them?

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Speaker 1: Kai looked up at her again, a fire in his

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Speaker 1: eyes she hadn't seen before, a fire similar to the

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Speaker 1: light in the eyes of the rats surrounding them. Power,

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Speaker 1: of course, he said. The rat king has made me

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Speaker 1: an offer I cannot refuse. Julian chuckled, while Tucker stilled.

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Speaker 1: What offer? Tucker looked back and forth. He plans to

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Speaker 1: make me cat King, Kai said. The rats squeaked and

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Speaker 1: chattered around them, making Susan's skin crawl. He'll just betray

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Speaker 1: you too, don't you see that, Tucker said. He wants

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Speaker 1: Cat's City for himself. He's part of the reason we

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Speaker 1: moved the city in the first place. Kai stood up

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Speaker 1: and stretched, fire fading from his eyes as he returned

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Speaker 1: to his normal calm. I wish things could have been different, Tucker,

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Speaker 1: Kai said, Now I have no choice, Julian. He turned

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Speaker 1: to his fellow traitor set the plan in motion. We

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Speaker 1: will attack within the half hour. Julian nodded and bounded

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Speaker 1: off with a parting slap at Tucker on the way by.

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Speaker 1: Tucker began to struggle again, harder this time, but the

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Speaker 1: rats had larger numbers, and soon he was panting from

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Speaker 1: the effort. Enough. Kai said, we must prepare, and these

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Speaker 1: two are in away take them and deal with them.

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Speaker 1: As we discussed, one of the rats nodded and squeaked

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Speaker 1: at his mates. They lifted Tucker and started to carry

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Speaker 1: him off. Susan, certain they planned to hurt both her

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Speaker 1: friend and herself, had every intention of fighting back. Kai

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Speaker 1: must have known it. I would go with them like

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Speaker 1: a good girl, he said, if you give them any trouble,

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Speaker 1: they have orders to deal with Tucker immediately. Susan's heart stilled.

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Speaker 1: She nodded once to Kai. Fine, she said, I'll go.

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Speaker 1: She got up and brushed herself off, before looking down

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Speaker 1: at Kai one last time. Susan turned and walked away.

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Speaker 1: Knowing she would have no luck trying to convince the

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Speaker 1: counselor no matter what, he would go through with his

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Speaker 1: mad plan, and the cats he shared his home with

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Speaker 1: were of little consequence. She went meekly, trusting the rats

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Speaker 1: would do exactly as Kai warned, and not wanting Tucker

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Speaker 1: to get hurt because she did something wrong. She clung

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Speaker 1: to the hope of Vinny, knowing he was already raising

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Speaker 1: the alarm and keeping her fingers crossed he would save

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Speaker 1: the city in time. Susan caught up with Tucker after

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Speaker 1: a few moments, are you okay? He was no longer restrained,

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Speaker 1: but was surrounded by rats. One even sat on his back,

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Speaker 1: pulling his ears. Tucker, however, ignored it, head down, tail dragging.

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Speaker 1: When he didn't answer, she let him be, knowing he

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Speaker 1: must be blaming himself for what was happening, but unable

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Speaker 1: to come up with a way to help. They walked

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Speaker 1: only a short distance when Susan began to hear water.

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Speaker 1: The slow, heavy sounds of fat drops hitting a lake

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Speaker 1: or pond echoed toward them, quickly getting louder. She strained

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Speaker 1: to see ahead, but the glow of the rat's eyes

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Speaker 1: only carried so far, and then they were out of

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Speaker 1: the passage and into a large open space that felt

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Speaker 1: like it went on forever. Susan could hear the water,

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Speaker 1: and when the rats turned, could see the edge of

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Speaker 1: a lapping lake as the water rippled in waves toward

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Speaker 1: the stone shore. Had she not been in so much trouble,

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Speaker 1: she would have thought it was cool. Instead, she started

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Speaker 1: to be afraid and was pretty sure she knew how

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Speaker 1: the rats planned for her and Tucker to spend their

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Speaker 1: last moments. Tucker, Susan said, feeling desperate as she and

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Speaker 1: her friend were surrounded and slowly forced backward towards the water.

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Speaker 1: I'm sorry, Susan, he said sadly. I never meant for

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Speaker 1: this to happen. I just wanted to keep you safe.

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Speaker 1: We have to fight. She looked down at him and

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Speaker 1: saw the complete despair and sadness in his eyes. I

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Speaker 1: love you, Susan Tucker said. She felt the water splash

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Speaker 1: against the back of her boots as she was forced

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Speaker 1: further by the advancing rats. I love you too, she said. Together.

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Speaker 1: They stepped back into the water. As soon as the

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Speaker 1: water closed over her boots, Susan felt the undertoe. She

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Speaker 1: took one further step and slipped on a rock. Her

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Speaker 1: feet flew out from under her, and she fell back

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Speaker 1: into the lake. She went under the water and felt

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Speaker 1: herself being pulled by a strong current in over her

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Speaker 1: head almost immediately as the bottom dropped out from under her.

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Speaker 1: She clawed her way to the surface and caught a

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Speaker 1: glimpse of a patch of glowing eyes already a distance

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Speaker 1: from her. Before going under again. Susan kicked off her

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Speaker 1: rubber boots, knowing they would pull her deeper. At the

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Speaker 1: same time, she shed her her raincoat She was suddenly

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Speaker 1: very thankful for the swimming lessons Mom forced her to

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Speaker 1: take and the years of playing in the cold North Atlantic.

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Speaker 1: The water was cold, but not icy, and only took

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Speaker 1: her a minute to get used to. Now on the

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Speaker 1: surface and able to maneuver, Susan began to look frantically

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Speaker 1: around for Tucker. She started to panic as she realized

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Speaker 1: she couldn't see him anywhere. It was only by sheer

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Speaker 1: luck her hand brushed against soft fur. She locked her

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Speaker 1: fingers around his tail and pulled him to her. Poor

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Speaker 1: Tucker gasped water, and she was certain he would have

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Speaker 1: drowned if she hadn't found him. When she did, Susan,

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Speaker 1: he choked, I can't swim. She got a hold of

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Speaker 1: him as best she could with the strong currant buffeting her,

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Speaker 1: and lifted his front paws to her shoulder. He dug

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Speaker 1: in his claws so hard she had to bite her

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Speaker 1: lip to keep from crying out, but he managed to

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Speaker 1: pull himself onto her back and cling on for dear life.

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Speaker 1: As she tried to figure out what to do. There

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Speaker 1: was little light in the river passage, but Susan knew

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Speaker 1: Tucker could see better than her. How close are we

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Speaker 1: to the side close, he said, I could almost touch it.

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Speaker 1: Is there a beach or a ledge? Her teeth chattered

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Speaker 1: a little. That worried her. She was already losing body heat.

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Speaker 1: It wouldn't be long before she started to feel tired.

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Speaker 1: They had to get out of the water. No, Tucker said,

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Speaker 1: just rock. Wait. He looked up ahead of them. Do

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Speaker 1: you hear that? Susan couldn't hear anything above the rushing

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Speaker 1: of the current. What is it? A roaring sound? Tucker

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Speaker 1: said softly, Susan, I think I know where we are.

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Speaker 1: His voice was panicked. What is it, Susan repeated Tucker.

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Speaker 1: We have to get out of here, He told her.

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Speaker 1: We're heading right for the waterfall. As he said the word,

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Speaker 1: Susan suddenly heard the roaring, rushing sound of water cascading

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Speaker 1: over the edge of the river. How far I don't know,

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Speaker 1: he said, Desperation in his whole body. His claws dug

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Speaker 1: in deeper. Close. Is there a beach before it, Susan asked, yes,

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Speaker 1: and a lot of rocks. Tell me when you see one,

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Speaker 1: she said, I'll try to grab it and you can

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Speaker 1: climb out. I'm not leaving you. Tucker had to shout

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Speaker 1: now to be heard over the roar of the water.

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Speaker 1: I'll be okay, Susan yelled back. You need to get help.

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Speaker 1: Tucker didn't answer. Susan felt something hard brush against her leg.

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Speaker 1: I felt a rock, She said, we must be really close.

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Speaker 1: And then the passage opened up and Susan could see

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Speaker 1: more clearly and wished for a moment she couldn't. The

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Speaker 1: cavern the water rushed into was huge and full of rocks.

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Speaker 1: The water crashed over them, turning white and frothy. She

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Speaker 1: was suddenly very afraid one wrong move and they would

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Speaker 1: slam into a rock. Hang on, Susan yelled as a

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Speaker 1: large rock loomed. She kicked as hard as she could

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Speaker 1: out of the way and made it just in time.

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Speaker 1: She continued to kick her way on an angle toward

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Speaker 1: the shore, all the while the edge of the falls

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Speaker 1: got closer and closer. Susan was getting very tired, but

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Speaker 1: refused to quit. It wasn't just her life she was

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Speaker 1: responsible for. She had to save Tucker. Susan was close,

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Speaker 1: so close to the shore when she heard some one

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Speaker 1: shout her name. She looked about wildly and concentration gone

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Speaker 1: lost Her momentum and collided full on with a large rock.

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Speaker 1: She felt the smooth stone hit her in the chest

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Speaker 1: and almost passed out. Luckily, she wasn't hurt, just d

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Speaker 1: winded and got a grip on the stone. She felt

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Speaker 1: Tucker's weight leave her and looked up to see him

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Speaker 1: perched on the rock looking down at her. She felt

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Speaker 1: relief flood her that her friend was safe. Tucker, however,

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Speaker 1: wasn't so relieved Susan. He yelled, hang on. Her grip slipped.

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Speaker 1: The rock was smooth, battered by who knew how much water,

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Speaker 1: the edges long since worn away. She struggled to hold on,

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Speaker 1: but she was so tired. She felt claws hook into

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Speaker 1: her shirt and looked up. Tucker had one paw on

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Speaker 1: her shoulder. Don't let go, he said. Susan nodded, too

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Speaker 1: tired even to talk. The water continued to push again

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Speaker 1: against her, shoving her sideways across the surface of the rock.

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Speaker 1: She looked up at Tucker again, just as her grip

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Speaker 1: let go, and did the most unselfish thing she had

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Speaker 1: ever done in her whole life. With the last bit

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Speaker 1: of her strength, Susan pulled his paw free of her

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Speaker 1: shirt and let the water take her, and that's the

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00:18:30,560 --> 00:18:35,760
Speaker 1: end of this chapter. Susan will be back wet but

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00:18:35,960 --> 00:19:01,480
Speaker 1: okay in our next chapter. Good Night, sleep tight, bo.