‘NOW!’ Glory shouted.

Oz jerked his head up in alarm as her cry blasted through his headphones.

‘Reel her in!’ he cried to DB. ‘Hurry! Something's wrong!’

DB started reeling frantically. Oz could feel Bunsen's paws digging into his skin through the fabric of his shirt. ‘Is she all right?’ the lab mouse asked anxiously.

‘Shhh, I'm trying to find out,’ said Oz, pressing the headphones to his ears and closing his eyes in concentration. At first, he couldn't hear anything above the clattering of the can as it ricocheted back and forth along the tunnel, tugged upward by the fishing line. Then, in the background, he began to make out Dupont's voice.

‘After them, you idiot!’ he heard the rat shout in a rage. ‘Faster, they're getting away!’

‘Dupont and Scurvy are chasing them,’ he reported tersely.

‘Oh, do pull faster, DB!’ Bunsen urged.

DB's hand was practically a blur, her face set in lines of fierce determination as she worked to reel the can containing their friend and her father to safety.

‘Hold on, Glory!’ Oz shouted into the microphone. He gasped as another sharp cry from his tiny friend blasted through his headphones. All of a sudden, the fishing rod snapped up towards the ceiling and DB toppled backwards off the bench. ‘Ouch!’ she cried, landing hard on the concrete floor.

Oz rushed to help her up. ‘What happened?’

DB shook her head. ‘I don't know. One minute I could feel the weight of the can, and the next minute – nothing.’

‘Glory? Glory!’ Oz shouted into the microphone. There was no response.

‘Is she there?’ cried Bunsen. ‘Check the line and see. Maybe DB is mistaken. She must be mistaken!’

Oz took the fishing rod from DB and reeled in the last few feet of line. There was no can attached to the end of it.

He stared down at it, then at Bunsen and DB. The three of them looked at each other in horror.

‘What do we do now?’ asked DB.