It was mid-afternoon before the rats reached the woods. It wasn't hard to find the trees the wizard spoke about. They were really quite forbidding! As the rats approached the trees sneared at them, asking if they were the new servants of the witch. "No, we are in search of the magic cheese so the witch can be defeated", answered Mars. "In that case have some apples to eat so you will not be hungry for the remainder of your trip;" replied the trees as they tossed the apples down to the rats. "Do you not have the cheese?" asked Otis "No we don't ",replied the trees. The rats were disappointed but decided to eat before returning to the wizard with the news. They were so busy eating and freshening up from their long journey that they did not see the approaching danger. The trees saw the Evil Boss Rat first and yelled to the little rats to take cover, but the warning came to late as the Boss Rat motioned for his army to attack!