It was Hatch’s first proper winter, and he didn’t like it. The puddles in the hold had frozen over, meaning that he kept slipping when he was chasing the rats down there. Not that there was much down there for them to eat. The Mary Rose, pride of the king’s ships, had been emptied for Christmas. 
Leaving the old basket he called his bed, Hatch padded along the deck, listening out for any sounds of life. 
All the crew had gone home to spend Christmas with their families, even the sailor who was supposed to be watching the ship today. Hatch had the ship to himself.
Hatch went up onto the castle deck, the highest deck on the ship. The Mary Rose was sitting in the middle of a wide river, lumps of ice floating n the water. On the shore he could see children playing in the snow, throwing snowballs at each other.
Suddenly, a small lump of snow hit him behind the ear. Hatch turned, and saw a rat scuttling down the mast to the deck below.  
“I’m not going to stand for that!” thought Hatch, as he made his way to the entrance to the deck below “I’m going to get that rat!"