Abigail and the Rats of NIMH - Chapter 30

Penny sat cross-legged on the floor, her arms restrained in the straight jacket, staring up at the stars behind the bars of the window, one high up where she couldn‘t reach. It was before dawn, perhaps four or five in the morning, but she couldn’t sleep. She wouldn’t have been constrained to a solitary confinement cell if not for Dr. Strauss’ “insistence” that she’d become a danger to herself and others. Nimnul must have been controlling him somehow, she thought. He wasn’t the same scientist who’d hired her to work for NIMH anymore. Sure Strauss always had a creepy, impersonal air about him, but this was out of character even for him.

Her plan now was to act completely calm and sane, and maybe she’d be released. It was just her first night, maybe after a while they’d decide she was cured, that the whole thing was just a little nervous breakdown caused by deep-seated emotional trauma in her past. They’d give her some pills and send her on her way. Since arriving she insisted to everyone within earshot that she was fine, that rodents couldn’t talk, that they were just animals. Of course, she still knew better than that. But the evidence against her was sizeable; Nimnul had sent their psychiatrists security tapes of her speaking to the animals, as well as copies of the old news clip from the day she’d been adopted. They had records of her therapy sessions from when she was a child too. Her act would only go so far. But, maybe if she kept it up long enough, there was hope.

There was a strong possibility she’d have to keep up this ruse for the rest of her life even if she did get out of here; insisting to everyone that rodents couldn’t speak. She would need to do this for her own protection as well as the protection of those rodents who, through some mystery of science, were as intelligent as humans, perhaps even moreso. But as long as Penny knew in her heart that she was lying, and that she didn’t start believing her own lies like she had before, she was okay with it. It was for an important cause. She’d been careless as a child. She should never have said anything to anyone about talking to mice. It was as harmful to them as it was to her. She knew that now.

But the next big question was what to do after she was released. Penny couldn’t just let the imprisoned rodents at NIMH stay behind to be poked and prodded, studied and then killed. She had to rescue them. She owed them that. But she didn’t think it would be enough to redeem herself after all of the animals she had hurt, all of the screams she had turned a deaf ear to on the lab table because she had tricked herself into viewing them as objects. Penny felt like she deserved to die. She felt like she deserved to suffer and die the same way they did.

But…she’d be of no use to those animals dead.

That was her epiphany. Maybe she’d never feel redeemed if she pressed on but if she could do anything to help the rodents who were in peril now, her life would have a purpose. Sitting in that cell at the insane asylum all night and coming to that conclusion made her feel more calm -indeed, more sane- than she’d felt in years.

It was then that finally she noticed two small shapes descend to the sill of her barred window. She couldn’t recognize them because it was dark, but they looked like mice.
“Hello? Are you two mice?” she asked quietly, hoping no one on guard would hear her as she was trying to convince them she was ‘cured’.

“Can you understand us?”

Penny nodded and stood up. The voice of the male one sounded all too familiar.

“Penny? Is it you?” Bianca asked.

Penny felt a pang in her heart, and almost immediately her eyes watered.

“Am I dreaming this? Aren’t you both…”

“It’s us, Penny,” said Bernard, “We survived the gassing, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Tears rolled down Penny’s cheeks and she became choked up.

“A-after all of these years…I stopped thinking you were real, and now…you’re here.”

“Penny, vhat are you doing here?” Bianca asked.

“I don’t belong here. I was put here for talking to mice, b-but I know you can talk. You’re real. Both of you. You‘re really here.”

“Yes Penny, ve are real, ve vere alvays real,” Bianca said to her, her voice soothing.

“Everyone told me you were imaginary,” Penny said, in tears, “I was made fun of, told I was crazy…and then I started to believe them, about you being imaginary. That’s why…that’s why I did those horrible things, those experiments…”

Bernard and Bianca looked down at her with deep pity.

“But I started to hear their voices again, and I…I knew that the rodents were speaking to me, that they needed my help to get out of that terrible place. But I couldn’t know if it was my imagination until I knew the two of you were real. So I looked for you at the Rescue Aid Society headquarters, right where you told me it was when I was just a little girl. But they followed me. I…I never meant it to be that way. It‘s all my fault.”

Penny curled up and began to cry once more. Now Bernard and Bianca knew the truth. She was innocent in that she didn’t mean for the Rescue Aid Society to be gassed, and truly sorry for the past crimes she had committed against her test subjects.
“I deserve to be punished,” she sobbed.

“Oh come now Penny, you didn’t know,” said Bianca, starting to climb down the padded wall. Bernard huffed a sigh and followed, “Maybe ve vere wrong too. Our society expects children to forget us eventually and conclude ve are imaginary. I don’t think any of us considered the lasting effects zat could have on a child.”

“I could have used your rescue again many times,” Penny said sadly, wiping her eyes on her kneecap without the use of her hands and sniffing.

“You have us now,” said Bernard.

“Your childhood vas hard because of us, and for zat ve owe you,” said Bianca, “Bernard and I have you to thank for us being together as husband and wife after all.”

Penny smiled a little, “You got married? I always knew you two would.”

Bianca giggled and Bernard blushed a little.

“I want to get out of here,” said Penny, “I want to do something right, and rescue all of those animals. I don’t think it’ll make what I’ve done in the past alright but…I want to do good from now on.”

“It’s never too late to change your life,” said Bianca, “Let zis be the first day of the new you. You are on our side from now on. A human Rescuer.”

“An honorary member of the Rescue Aid Society,” Bernard added.

Penny smiled through tears, “I’d like that. I’ll devote my life to helping all of you.”

“But first ve have to rescue her one more time,” said Bianca to Bernard, “How are ve going to do that?”

“I think the nurse has a key,” said Penny, “The one working the graveyard shift. Think you could get it somehow and open the door?”

“That’s easier said than done for someone our size,” said Bernard, thinking, “Is there a way to unlock it from the inside?”

“Not that I know of,” Penny replied.

“Then we can’t slip it under the door. We’d need another human to open it. I can’t think of any other way to get the door open.”

“Okay, you two help me out of this straightjacket, and I’ll get the nurse’s attention,” said Penny, “When she opens the door, I’ll make a break for it.”

“Good thinking. You were alvays good vith planning escapes weren't you?” said Bianca, remembering how she helped them plan her escape the last time, “Come Bernard, let’s unbuckle ze straps on her straightjacket.”

The two mice set to work undoing the straight jacket that bound her arms. With the straps unbuckled she could move her arms again, and she slipped it off, wearing a blue medical patient’s uniform underneath. Penny scooped the two of them up and nuzzled them to her cheek happily, before reaching up and bringing them as close to the window as she could.

“Best to do it before daybreak,” she said, “The nurse will make her rounds again soon, I’ll meet you outside.”

“Alright Penny, we‘ll find you when you come out through the entrance,” said Bernard as they climbed the padded wall to the window and made their way to the sill, climbing back up the string again to reach Wilbur.

Inside, a drowsy nurse sat at a desk near the entrance of the asylum, lazily thumbing through a magazine and whiling away the hours until her shift was up. She’d be making another run through to check up on the patients in another half hour, but for now she was only to keep watch. It was then that she heard pounding on one of the doors.
“I need help!!” Penny shouted from down the hall.

The nurse sighed and sat up, “Guess I’ll make my rounds a little early.”

She walked down the hallway carrying the keys with her. The other patients in solitary were all asleep as usual. But Penny was throwing her body against the door and screaming. It was normal enough behavior around these parts, but still best to at least check up on her.

When she got there, Penny was nowhere to be seen through the window on the door. In reality, she was hiding just beneath it.

“Where is she?” the nurse took her key out and opened the door.

When it opened, Penny took her chance. She knocked the nurse to the ground with a shoulder tackle and darted down the hallway. The nurse had the wind knocked out of her, but struggled to her feet. By that time Penny was swiftly making her way to the entrance. As she ran barefoot on the concrete outside, she could hear an alarm go off in the building. She shortly noticed an albatross flying overhead.

“Penny!” Bianca called down, “A car is coming through ze front gate! Run!”

The asylum was surrounded by high walls and black gates. A car coming through would be the only time those gates would open, after entering a code. She spotted the car, one which probably belonged to one of the nurses, and ran as fast as she could before it closed. The car stopped and a man yelled for the guards after Penny exited the gates just before they closed. Penny ran through some nearby woods, panting, as the albatross flew down in front of her.

“Wow what an escape!” said Wilbur, “A lucky one too.”

“Great job Penny, now ve need you to keep moving,” Bianca said.

“We’ll need to get her some other clothes somewhere too,” said Bernard, “Where can we take her?”

“I can try to make it back to my apartment in Bethesda, somehow,” said Penny, “But I’ll need to get there in secret, and I’ll need a disguise.”

“You don’t have any money, do you?” asked Bernard.

“Not on me,” she sighed.

“Hey, vhat about your parents, vill they help?” Bianca asked, “Ve found out vhere you vere by going to your parent’s house.”

“That’s right! All I need is some change for a pay phone, and maybe they’ll listen,“ Penny gave an excited smile, before it slowly faded as she did some more thinking, “Or…m-maybe not. They never believed me about you two, they might just think I’m crazy and take me back to the asylum.”

“We need to prove it to them somehow,” said Bernard, “We’ll try to speak to them, or write them something on a piece of paper if they can‘t understand. They’ll have to believe you.”

Penny thought a moment, and then nodded, “We’ll show them once and for all that I was right all along.”

“I’ll fly around and scan the ground for coins,” said Wilbur.

“Oh, are you Orville?” Penny asked.

“Nah that’s my brother, my name‘s Wilbur,” Wilbur chuckled, “I remember him talking about the time he helped Bernard and Bianca rescue you though.”

“Very well, you stay here in the bushes and hide for a vhile,” said Bianca, “Bernard and I vill keep vatch in case anyone comes looking for you, and vhen Vilbur comes back vith money ve’ll find a gas station or something vith a pay phone.”

“Perfect,” said Penny, “Thank you all so much. I’ve been waiting for this since I was a child. My parents will finally know the truth.”

“No one will call you crazy after this Penny,” said Bernard.

Penny smiled and picked the two of them up again, kissing their heads gently and placing them back on the ground. Once it was all said and done she’d proudly serve as the only human member of the Rescue Aid Society. All it took now was to finally convince her parents at long last that mice really did rescue her from her kidnappers when she was eight, all those years ago.