Basil's American Tail - Chapter 19

"Basil, Basil wake up!" Nellie said, shaking Basil gently.

"Ugh…oh, we…we fell asleep?" Basil said, blinking and rubbing his head.

He looked up at the sky, the dark blue tinge of early dawn reflected on the clouds. The rain was letting up.

"Far longer than we were supposed to. It's almost morning." Nellie said in disappointment.

"And not long enough to cure my drowsiness either." Basil groaned, grabbing his violin, "We might as well take advantage of what time we have, before heading back to Tammany Hall."

"Alright. I know we still haven't looked everywhere." Nellie said, unfolding her umbrella and holding her hand out to help Basil to his feet, "We're just too comfortable together for our own good."

Basil smirked, brushing hay off his coat, "We can't let that get in the way of work. At least, not to excess, right?"

"Right, Basil." Nellie answered with a smile, "Let's go."

The two of them made their way down the wet alley, Basil placing the violin beneath his chin again and playing Fievel's song.

"Where should we go next?" Basil asked.

"I don't know, wherever there may be enough shelter from the rain." Nellie said, "We might look someplace where there are a lot of homeless mice…"

"Are there many homeless encampments in New York?" Basil asked.

"There are a few." Nellie said with regret, "Terrible places to be on a rainy night, that's for sure."

"Especially for a child, alone." Basil said, as they wandered through the streets and alleys.

"I'm going to lead us to one in particular…it's a big one, but we might have some luck." Nellie said.

As they turned a corner, they came face to face with just what they'd been discussing.

"It looks like Fievel's not the only child out there either…" Nellie remarked, as they beheld the sight before them.

They'd stumbled into a massive camp of young orphaned mice, huddled beneath cardboard boxes or anything they could use as shelter. The area was wide open, it looked as if perhaps there'd been a building there once.

"It's Orphan Alley. The saddest place in the city." Nellie said with a saddened sigh, "So many broken dreams here…"

"As good a place as any to find Fievel." Basil said.

Basil continued to play loudly as he walked through the encampment, much to the annoyance of some of the orphans who were trying to get some sleep.

"I should do an article on this place." Nellie said, looking around in disgust and pity, "There's no excuse for so many innocent young mice to be living in such squalor."

"I do believe there was a building here once, yes?" Basil asked as he looked around, noticing that it seemed more like a vacant lot than an alley, and seeing the telltale signs of the foundations of a building.

"Oh, that's right. There was an orphanage here once, but, well, they failed to pay Warren's protection money. The next day, there was a 'mysterious' fire. Too bad for the human orphans too." Nellie explained.

"It's a good thing we got rid of him." Basil said, as they made their way through the vacant lot, Basil's violin echoing across the alley for the next several minutes. The light was increasing as dawn broke. Nellie was finally able to fold her umbrella up as the rain stopped. But, still they had no luck finding Fievel.

"I don't know if he's even here." Nellie said, "He'd have heard us by now."

"Let's head to the far corner and we'll move on." Basil suggested, as they walked toward a broken window pane in the distance, playing Fievel's song all the while.

"I can't stand to be in this depressing place much longer." Nellie sighed, "I'm going to make sure something's done about this slum--Basil!"

"Hmm?" Basil asked nonchalantly, looking over at Nellie.

"Basil…beneath that window pane. I…I think I see something."

Basil blinked and squinted at the spot.

"Aha…Nellie, this way."

He played his violin louder as they walked toward what appeared to be a figure curled up in a puddle, wearing a red sweatshirt. His ears semed to perk up, catching the melody Basil was playing, and slowly, he lifted his head and looked toward them.

"Papa…?"

"Fievel!" Nellie called out, "Fievel we found you!"

Nellie and Basil ran toward him. But, the boy simply curled back up again.

"Fievel, we've been looking all night for you! You'll never guess who we found." Nellie said enthusiastically, kneeling down toward him, "Why are you sleeping here anyway? You're not an orphan."

"Yes I am…" he whispered.

Basil and Nellie exchanged glances.

"Don't be preposterous, boy. Didn't you recognize the tune I was just playing on my violin?" Basil asked, "How do you think I knew that tune?"

Fievel was quiet, "I'll never see them again…never…"

Fievel sniffled and buried his face in his sleeves. Nellie nearly felt like crying for him.

She stroked his head with her hand gently, and spoke softly to him, "Fievel. Get up out of that puddle before you catch cold. Let Basil and I take you to Tammany Hall. We have a big surprise waiting for you."

"I live here now. This is my home." Fievel said softly, his voice cracking.

"Now you see here child, I've had just about enough of this foolish--"

Nellie put her finger to her lips to silence Basil. Basil stopped, and exhaled irritably.

"My family doesn't wanna find me…" Fievel said.

"Now where'd you get such an idea?" Nellie asked.

Fievel pointed over at the three boys nearby, sleeping on the hay. Obviously they hadn't shared the spot with Fievel. Basil recognized two of them from the sweatshop he'd liberated.

"Don't listen to them, Fievel." Nellie said, "They may have lost hope but that doesn't mean you have to."

Fievel didn't answer. Basil felt like just picking him up and dragging him there, but he had a feeling he better let Nellie handle the situation.

"Come on Fievel. Please? You won't be sorry." Nellie said, rubbing Fievel's back.

Fievel sniffled, seeming to fight back tears. But then, his ears perked up.

"S-stop playing that violin…" he said shakily, "It's not my papa…you're not my papa…"

"What? I'm not playing any…wait."

Basil's ears perked up too. In the distance, they could hear another violin playing Fievel's song. Fievel looked up at Basil, seeing that he wasn't the one playing it. Fievel got up slowly, and staggered toward the direction of the violin. Soon they could also hear voices, calling his name.

"Papa…" Fievel mouthed, barely audible.

"They're here." Nellie said with a bright smile, standing up.

Basil gave a grin too, "Let's follow the little chap, shall we?"

"Papa!!" Fievel called out, as the two of them kept up, keeping a distance but not letting him out of their sight.

The playing stopped, and they heard the voice of Fievel's father, calling out his name. Nellie and Basil had to pick up the pace to keep up with Fievel now who was darting among the discarded trash and splashing through puddles. Until finally, at long last, Fievel and his Papa caught sight of each other, and Fievel jumped into his arms, causing them to fall into a puddle with a splash, hugging one another.

Nellie dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief from her pocket, as Basil looked on with a smile. Fievel's family and friends soon filtered through the surrounding debris. Though with the warm morning sunlight filtering in through the scene, it was easy to forget this tearful reunion was taking place in a dirty alley. Gussie found herself hugging an overjoyed feline, Tony and Bridget celebrated with a kiss, and the Mousekewitz family shared a magical reunion with their lost boy.

Nellie hugged Basil tight and wiped her joyful tears on his chest, as he hugged her back, still holding his violin.

"Another case closed, hm?" Nellie said, looking up at him with a smile.

"Indeed, Nellie. I couldn't have asked for a better assistant either." he said warmly, "I'll have to remember to thank Honest John for that wonderful body guard he loaned me."

Nellie chuckled, and brought Basil down for a long, loving kiss. After breaking the kiss, they gazed into one another's eyes passionately. Falling in love had been the last thing either of them expected when they took this case on, but with the aid of a lost little boy, it seemed fate had other plans.

Fievel and his family approached the two of them, Fievel clinging to his father's hand tightly as if he could lose them again at any second. He was now wearing his hat once again, proudly lifting it with his ears so that it fit.

"Basil and Nellie, I vant to thank you for bringing my son back to me." Papa said.

"Oh…you would have found him if we hadn't." Basil said modestly, "We really had just found him ourselves…in fact I'm sure the same thing eventually would have happened, even without my help."

"Even so Mr. Basil, for all your help, I vant to give you this."

Papa presented Basil with his violin. Nellie took Basil's violin from his hands as Basil took Papa's.

"Oh…why thank you good sir." Basil said, examining it, "Hm yes, very fine craftsmanship."

"It is one of my finest violins. I make zem for a living you know. It's a genuine Mousekewitz violin." Papa said.

"Thank you, Basil and Nellie…for trying to save me from Warren, and then helping to find me…" Fievel said meekly.

"Any time Fievel." Nellie said with a giggle.

"Yes, now you stay close to your parents from now on, won't you? I don't want to have to be called on all the way from London to find you again." Basil said.

Fievel smiled, "I'm not going anywhere. I'm staying close to my family from now on. I'll never ever wander off by myself again, I promise!"

"Why do I get the feeling you're going to forget that promise by tomorrow?" Tanya asked.

-------------------------

"Check the sewers beneath Mott Street for the missing artifacts stolen from the British Museum, signed Basil of Baker Street and Nellie Brie??" a human police chief exclaimed as he read the note left on his desk the next morning as he came in for work, "What is this, some kinda gag?"

"I dunno Chief, I read about those robberies in the paper. No one knows who did it or where the artifacts went. Might be worth checking out." said another cop in the room.

"Nellie Brie…you don't think they mean Nellie Bly the newspaper reporter do you?" the Chief asked.

"Probably some kind of anonymous tip-off, signed with an alias."

"What I wanna know is how they got in here overnight. The place was all locked up." the chief took his hat off, and scratched his head.

"I dunno, maybe they came in through the rat holes in the floorboards." the cop joked.

"Heh heh, yeah that's a good one. Come on, let's get someone to look into this." said the police chief.

Little did they know, two pairs of tiny eyes were spying on them from one of those very rat holes the cop joked about.

"And that officially wraps up this case." Basil said proudly, folding his arms.

"It was all very elementary, of course." Nellie said with a grin, "So, what's next for London's greatest mouse detective, hm?"

Basil stroked his chin, "You know, now that I think about it…a vacation doesn't seem so bad."

"Vacation? You?" Nellie chuckled, "Are you the real Basil?"

"I normally don't have time for such extravagances with criminals lurking about…but I think I could at least afford…maybe a week…or two…"

"Better hope Ratigan doesn't take the crown of England while you're gone." Nellie joked.

"Ha, like that could happen." Basil rolled his eyes, "I know he's out there though…and I will have to return to England…"

"I know…and there's still work to be done here in New York." Nellie said, looking down.

"But…after I've done away with Ratigan…"

"…and after I feel like my work here is done…I'll come to London." Nellie promised, "And I'll try to get a newspaper job there."

"It could take years, you know." Basil said, putting his hands on her shoulders, "Is a neurotic, bipolar, antisocial, obsessive compulsive detective really worth waiting so long for?"

"Of course. Because I'm the only one in the world who could put up with you, and you're the only one in the world who could put up with me." Nellie said with a smile, "We'll be absolutely miserable together, I hope you know that."

"And I wouldn't miss it for the world." Basil replied.

"We'll get plenty or practice these next two weeks." Nellie said, wrapping her arms around him, "Come on Basil, let's head back to the apartment and get a head start."

She reached up and gave him a kiss, and then, with an arm around one another, the detective and the reporter headed down the tunnel and out of the building, anticipating the much-deserved time off together.


The End