Chapter 3

The Ham-Hams all rushed into the clubhouse, and Boss quickly slammed and bolted the door shut. As he did this, the others all gathered around the table, where Snoozer was still sleeping away, and huddled together. Boss tapped the door a few times with his shovel to make sure it was secure, and nodded, "No HamWraith is getting' in here."

"B-but Boss," Oxnard reminded him, "You said th-that his claws could tear through anything…"

"Quiet!" Boss shouted at him. "You're scaring m- …er, Bijou!"

Hamtaro quickly looked around at the Ham-Hams that were collected around the table…not all of them were present. He said, "At least we're all right…but what about Pashmina? And Penelope? Not to mention Howdy and Dexter…"

"Did someone call me?" came Howdy's voice from one of the other rooms. Everyone looked over as he walked out, carrying his broom with him, and said, "Just thought I'd come back and sweep up a bit before heading home…" Noticing the looks on everyone's faces, he said, "What's the matter with you guys?"

Maxwell said, "We'll explain in a minute, but first…where's the others? Have you seen them?"

"Dexter's around someplace," Howdy said, still confused. "Said he had to come back and take care of a few things. Much as I'd like to have seen Pashmina, I haven't…not Penelope, either. Why?"

Dexter appeared at the upper level, quickly scampering down the ladder to join them. "I heard some talking down here," Dexter said, approaching the table. "What's the problem?"

"Dexter! Thank goodness you're okay," Sandy said. "Quick, over here!" Dexter joined them at the table curiously. "Bijou, why don't you tell them what's going on?" Howdy and Dexter looked at Bijou expectantly.

"Well, see…" Bijou started to say, but a loud *thump* at the door made her stop talking. Everyone froze, staring at the door, listening silently…no one dared move a muscle or even breathe as they listened…the only sound still in the air was the soft "*ZuZuZu*" from Snoozer. They waited to see if the sound they heard before would come again…

There was another *thump* at the door, and everyone jumped, startled. Boss waved his hand and whispered, "Shhhh…be very quiet…don't make a sound…" He gripped his shovel and carefully approached the door. He was sweating nervously, and swallowed once, thinking, What am I getting myself into?

About halfway to the door, there was another sound from the door, but this time, it was someone knocking five times. This was followed a moment later by a voice calling through the door, "Hamha! Anyone here?"

"That's Pashmina!" Dexter and Howdy said simultaneously.

Boss relaxed, letting out a sigh of relief, and walked over, unbolting the door and swinging it open. Pashmina was indeed at the door, as was Penelope. "We saw a bunch of you running back this way," she said as she came in. "Are you guys having a party or something without me?"

"For cryin' out loud," Boss said, waving her inside quickly, "get in!" Pashmina was a little puzzled, but did so anyway. Boss quickly slammed the door behind her and re-bolted it.

"So what is going on?" Pashmina asked as she went over to the table with the others.

Penelope followed her, and took a seat as well, "Ookyoo?"

"All right, everyone's here," Maxwell said, waiting for Boss to return to the table. "It's like this…" As Howdy, Dexter, Pashmina, and Penelope listened, the other Ham-Hams quickly told them everything that happened. About Stan, the Hamwraith, everything. Their expressions turned from confusion to alarm to fear as they talked.

"…so we came back here, 'cause we thought it would be safer," Hamtaro finished up. "And that's everything…"

"Stan…" Dexter said, shaking his head, "I can scarcely believe it…"

Howdy gripped the handle of his broom, and said, "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go find this thing!"

"Are you crazy?" Maxwell exclaimed. "Go out after it? Why?"

"Yeah, that thing's a monster, don't forget!" Cappy added.

"It may be a monster," Howdy said, "but the only way we'll ever be safe is if we capture it. I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't plan on sittin' around until it decides to bust in here…"

Bijou thought about that, and said, "Can we even catch ze monster? It may be too strong…"

"Piece of cake!" Howdy claimed, and looked over at Panda, "I'll bet you could build a trap for it, couldn't you, Panda?"

Everyone stared at Panda, and he thought about it…finally, he said, "Maybe…I'll need some more things to build it from than I've got here…"

"There, you see?" Howdy said, smiling.

"I still don't know about this," Maxwell said, troubled.

All was quiet for a few moments, before Sandy spoke up, "Build it. The HamWraith totally needs to…" She stopped, and closed her eyes to prevent tears from forming.

Maxwell looked at Sandy, then back to the group, and said, "If Sandy thinks we should do it, then I say we do it." There were slow murmurs of agreement from everyone around the table, everyone voicing their support. Maxwell nodded confidently and said, "Okay, Panda, what do we need to find?"

Working quickly, Panda scribbled out a list on some little pieces of paper, handing them out to the other Ham-Hams…except for Snoozer. "Bring everything back here," Panda told them. "I'll build it right here, and then we can carry it outside and lay the trap…"

"Got it!" Boss said. "All right, everyone, go for it! And be careful!" The Ham-Hams split up, heading off into different directions across the clubhouse, in search of the items that were needed. Panda, in the meantime, stayed next to Snoozer, and started scribbling the plans for the trap down on a fresh sheet of paper…

* * *

Hamtaro, Bijou, and Cappy headed off down the same hallway, and Hamtaro looked at his sheet of paper. "A spool of thread," he read aloud. "That shouldn't be too hard…"

"I have to get a sewing needle," Cappy said. "I know just where one is, too! I'll meet you guys back at the table!" He scurried off into one of the rooms at the end of the hall.

Bijou stopped next to another door and said, "Zis is where I need to go…I will find ze heavy rope here."

"All right," Hamtaro said…he waited for a moment, then said, "Are you okay and everything? I know that had to have been scarier than anything back there…"

"I'm…fine…" Bijou said, although she didn't really sound like she meant it.

"Listen, don't worry," Hamtaro told her. "We'll stop this thing…okay?"

Bijou nodded, and Hamtaro was about to leave, when she said, "Hamtaro…thank you," and smiled. Hamtaro smiled back, and turned, heading into the opposite room. Bijou continued into the room she was heading for.

Rummaging through the junk in this room, Hamtaro dug through everything, looking for some rope. Not finding any, he stopped to think about it, and rubbed his head, "*Kushi-Kushi*…I know we've got some around somewhere…wait, I know!" He left the room and went down the hallway further.

Coming to the door where Cappy had gone. He was going for a sewing needle, Hamtaro figured, so there must be a spool of thread there, too. He swung the door open, and called into the room, "Cappy, did you find th-…" He froze in his tracks, though, and let out a startled scream…

Bijou must have heard it, because she came running, "What? Hamtaro, what's wrong?" Noticing him standing motionless at the door where Cappy had gone, she asked, "Is it Cappy?"

Still staring horrified into the room, Hamtaro managed to say, "I…I don't…know…" She peeked into the room, and threw her paws over her mouth to keep from shrieking, turning away quickly. Hamtaro couldn't take his eyes off of it, though…the floor, the walls, and even the ceiling were splattered with blood, and there were… pieces scattered around, most of them too bloody to identify, although he recognized what looked like a paw, and a tail…if it weren't for the blood-soaked hat also lying amongst it, he wouldn't have been able to identify who it was at all…

That wasn't the only thing, either…the wall had a sizeable hole carefully sliced into it, opening it up to the outside. The edges were rough, like it had been cut with claws, and it was wide enough for something huge to pass through. He finally snapped out of his horror-struck trance, and slammed the door shut, bracing his back against it and trying to steady his breathing, which was now coming double-time, much like the beating of his heart.

"Oh…Hamtaro…" Bijou wept, still turned away with her paws covering her face, "It's…it's…."

"W-we gotta t-tell the others…" Hamtaro stammered. "It's…i-it's not safe here…anymore…"

* * *

Though few wanted to see what Hamtaro was talking about, Boss decided to have a look, and when he came back, he looked as though he regretted it. "I'm never setting foot in that room again," he muttered, dizzily sitting down at the table.

"Now what do we do?" Pashmina said, frightened. "If the HamWraith can come in here…"

"Just calm down!" Boss said. "Let's stick to the plan, already…we've got everything we need, so Panda, build us the trap! It could be our only chance here…"

"Right!" Panda nodded, and quickly got to work putting the pieces together. Everyone else looked around, watching each of the doors fearfully, knowing that at any moment, the HamWraith could come bursting through any door…or any wall. Hamtaro was shaking…he hoped that the trap would work, because if it didn't, it could mean disaster for them all…

TO BE CONTINUED…