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Olivia Goes West - Chapter 11

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The next morning, there was a knock on the door at the Mousekewitz house. When Tanya went to open it, Bridget and Olivia were at the door.

"Hi there Tanya," Bridget said, "Olivia wanted to come over, but she insisted I walk her over."

"Oh, Fievel's in his room, we just finished breakfast."

Olivia nodded, "Thanks Tanya."

As she rushed to Fievel's room and knocked on the door, Bridget and Tanya looked on.

"Poor lass is actin' stranger an' stranger every day, she is," Bridget said, "Can't go no where on her own."

"Yesterday they came back early and never left the house," Tanya said, "It was kinda weird for them."

Fievel opened the door, "Oh, hi Olivia. Come in."

He sat on the bed, and Olivia shyly followed after him.

"Well I'm here. What do ye think we should do today?" she asked.

"I dunno. Tiger didn't come over this morning like he usually does." Fievel said.

"I bet he's scared after yesterday," Olivia sighed, "I really wanted to go rafting today, we didn't get to go yesterday."

"The bad guys saw Tiger yesterday, maybe he's laying low," Fievel said, "If we wanna go rafting, we'll probably have to go by ourselves."

"Think we might be seen though?" Olivia asked worriedly, "We shouldn't go anywhere's without an adult…"

"Nobody knows about our secret hiding spot in the river except Tiger," Fievel said, "I think we'll be okay. We won't go near the mine again, not until Basil comes to help us anyway."

"It sure would be relaxing to go rafting," Olivia said, tempted, "It's the only thing that gets me mind offa me troubles."

"We could walk, but it'll take a while to get there," Fievel said, "I could bring some water for us, and a basket for our lunch."

"Hm, alright, an' I doubt anyone will see us without Tiger around."

Fievel hopped off the bed and led Olivia toward the living room, finding his canteen and heading for the kitchen to fill it with water and make them some cheese sandwiches. Once done, they headed for the door.

"See you later Tanya, Olivia and I are gonna go play outside."

"Glad to hear the real Fievel isn't tied up somewhere anymore," Tanya teased, "You two have fun. I've got to get ready for work."

With that Fievel opened the door, and they headed out. It was another hot day in the desert. The two of them headed east, out of town and into the open desert.

"We best be makin' sure there's no bats in the air following' us." Olivia said, looking around as they walked.

"I've got my slingshot with me, if we've gotta use it again."

"I hope we don't have to use it."

Olivia was suddenly somewhat nervous, being so far from town, so far from anyone who could help them. Was this wise? She reasoned she'd feel safe once they got on the raft. She always did. And Fievel was with her. Her little sheriff. She couldn't imagine how she'd cope with all that had happened if she were alone.

They reached the reeds, as the ground grew softer and more fertile. The scent of the river filled their lungs. They were almost to the raft. Olivia smiled.

"I think I'm already hungry." she said.

"We can eat once we get out further." Fievel said.

They came upon the raft. But something was wrong. It was untied. The oars were gone.

"What--" Fievel began to say, before he felt a shadow come over them both.

"Ah my dear Ms. Flaversham, how nice of you to finally show up."

They turned around and looked up in terror. Cat R. Waul stood in front of them with Professor Ratigan on his shoulder.

"Ratigan!" Olivia screamed, holding Fievel's arm.

"I think you know why we're here." said Cat R. Waul.

Fievel balled his hands into fists, staring up at Waul, "We know you've got Wylie, and Olivia's papa!"

"Exactly, that's why we're here," Ratigan grinned, "We heard about your little adventure in the mine. Don't try to tell us you were merely exploring. Even if you were, the fact still remains that you saw and heard things we'd rather you not have."

"How'd you find out about our raft?" Fievel demanded.

Ratigan gave a gleeful chuckle, "Your fat orange pal should control the volume of his voice when he spills the beans to his girlfriend."

Fievel frowned, "So what are you gonna do now? You'll never get away with it if we disappear."

"We've thought of that," Waul said, "And I think we will. Very few people know about this hideout of yours, correct? Two children, going out rafting by themselves…ever wonder, Mr. Mousekewitz, why you were always told not to play near the river?"

Fidget and Chula crawled out from the reeds.

"Hehehe, time to go for a little ride, Filly!" Chula said.

Ratigan gave a satisfied smirk, "Get onto the raft."

"No." Olivia answered defiantly.

"Aw come on," said Fidget, "It'll be fun, heh heh!"

"Yeah, until your little mousey skulls get smashed against a jagged rock in the rapids!" Chula added with sadistic glee.

"Don't make us force you onto the raft, dear children," Waul said, "Lets do this the easy way shall we? Oh, and Fievel, give us your hat. And Olivia, that bow behind your ear."

"What do you want those for, you big jerks?" Fievel snapped.

"We need proof that you were sent down the river, and that we tried to save you, of course." Ratigan said with evil glee.

"Hand them over now, or we'll just eat you." said Waul.

"Ooh can I eat 'em boss? Please?" Chula begged.

Fievel looked to her, and then to the raft. He wore a fearful expression. Olivia gave a sad sigh, and took her bow off, throwing it on the ground. Fievel swallowed, and took his hat off carefully, putting it on the ground next to her bow. Fidget picked up Fievel's hat and placed it on his head.

"Heh heh, how do I look?" Fidget said with a grin.

"Like a git, as always." Ratigan scoffed.

"Ye won't get away with this…" Olivia said bitterly.

"Chula, wrap them up in web, will you?" Waul requested, "And do be quick about it."

"Sure thing boss!" he said, as he shot web at the two of them.

Olivia tried to push Fievel out of the way, but the web hit the both of them anyway. They struggled, but Chula wrapped them up together in one bundle, and placed them on the raft.

"Let us go!!" Olivia shouted, growing desperate.

"You…you evil…evil monsters!!" Fievel sputtered, trying to break free.

"Farewell, my old friend," Ratigan said, dabbing his eyes with a handkerchief mockingly, "If only you'd been more cooperative."

"Bon voya-gee, heh heh heh!" Fidget cackled as he pushed the raft out into the water with an oar.

"Right then, Ratigan, time to get dirty." Waul said.

Ratigan sighed, "I do wish this plan didn't involve us getting our nice clothes all muddy, but, what can one do?"

As the raft began to drift down river, Waul hopped into the river, as did Ratigan. In the shallow, muddy water, he clawed at his own cape to tear it up, and Ratigan tossed a shoe into the river.

The current was slow at first. Slow but pulling the raft along, without an oar to keep it steady. Olivia fought and struggled for several minutes. She wasn't going to give up. Finally, she reached down and bit the web around her chest. It was disgusting, but she was able to chew through it with her teeth, Once she managed to move her arms, she pulled herself free.

She turned to Fievel. The river was picking up speed.

"Fievel, let me help you."

She pulled the web apart as he helped, and soon he was able to break free too.

"W-we're gonna go down the rapids…" Fievel said fearfully, "We'll never make it…"

"Never say never, Fievel," Olivia reminded him, "We've got to try. We canno' let them win."

Fievel sat up and looked around. The river was growing more narrow. Jagged rocks jutted from the water's surface and the water became foamy. His heartbeat quickened and he was almost hyperventilating. Olivia looked back at him. She was scared too, but Fievel seemed like he was on the verge of panicking.

"Fievel, calm down, we need ta steer the raft somehow," she urged.

Fievel didn't answer. He hugged his knees.

"Papa…papa…" he whispered, rocking gently.

"Now's not the time ta lose yer wits!" she shouted, before the raft jolted at the impact of a rock. Olivia gripped the edge tightly. "What's the matter, Fievel?!"

"All I wanted was to see the fish…"

"What? What on Earth are ye talkin' aboat?"

The current sped up, reeds and cacti on the banks passed by quickly. Fievel gave a high-pitched scream as the raft hit another rock. Around him he could see the water churning and splashing in big waves, soaking the both of them, making Fievel cough and sputter as it went down into his lungs. The world was spinning around chaotically. He could almost see a menacing face in each wave…the faces roared and slapped at the raft with their arms. All he could think about was that night on the Atlantic Ocean, the night he was swept overboard. It had left more scars on his subconscious than even he realized until now; he felt like that helpless little boy on his way to America again.

Seeing that Fievel was just about having a nervous breakdown Olivia knew it was up to her to get them out of this, if she could. Seeing a big rock speeding up to meet them. She grabbed the edge of the raft and used her weight to lean, changing the raft's course and barely grazing the rock. She moved to the opposite end of the raft to evade another. But then a third scraped up beneath the raft. Fievel clung to the back edge, crying and shivering. A rock scraped against Olivia's shoulder, tearing the sleeve of her shirt and cutting her, but she had to ignore the pain. Their little raft was being tossed and spun without control now, there was very little she could do except try to dodge some of the rocks and keep the raft together.

"Jus' hold on Fievel!" she called out as the white water tossed them uncontrollably and the raft scraped against boulders.

It was then that they saw the inevitable drop-off in front of them. The river seemed to end in a peculiar straight line, and the roar of water got louder. The waterfall couldn't be more than fifteen feet high, but to mice as small as them that might as well have been fifty feet. Olivia clutched Fievel close, and they screamed as the raft fell over the waterfall, and crashed into the misty foam below.

_________________________________________________


Muddy and sopping wet, Waul and Ratigan trudged down Main Street, as crowds of mice came from their shops and homes to see what had happened.

"We…w-we tried to save the poor little dears…" Waul said between sobs.

"So young! So young and now they're gone!" Ratigan cried out, limping with only one show and giving a wailing cry.

Tony, Nellie and Vartan were the first out of the saloon, followed by the other tipsy customers, and finally, Tanya Mousekewitz, in her new skimpy performing attire. Tiger peered from the upstairs window. Curiosity overcoming him, he quickly made his way down and went out into the street.

"Ay! What's goin' on here?" Tony called out as they walked along the wooden sidewalk, following the two of them.

"Those poor, poor little children!" Waul sobbed in response.

The two of them sobbed and cried out laments until they reached the front of the Mousekewitz home, where they stopped. Fievel's parents came out into the street, followed by Bridget. Almost every mouse in town was following behind the two.

Mama wore a look of fear, "Vhy are you stopping in front of our house?"

Ratigan buried his face into his arm, sobbing heavily, taking a handkerchief out to blow his nose, before opening his coat and producing a big blue hat, and a red bow.

"I-it's your son, Miss Mousekewitz!" Ratigan said with convincing tears, "Your son and his companion Olivia."

"Vhat happened?!" Papa demanded.

"We tried to save them," Waul said sadly, "My deputy Fidget was on patrol, he saw the two little children frolicking toward the river, where children mustn't play."

"We went there to try and stop them, but it was too late!" Ratigan cried, falling to his knees.

Tanya put her hands on her cheeks. Tony gulped. Tiger gasped and clutched his tail.

"They were too far out when we got there," Waul said, "We…we swam out to try and rescue them, tried desperately I might add…but they'd lost their oars. The current took them into the rapids and we could no longer follow them."

Mama let out a gasp, and there were concerned murmurs among the crowd.

"Quickly, we made it to shore and ran along side of the river to try and find any sign of them…but to no avail," Waul said, taking his top hat off and putting it over his heart, looking downward, "All we found of them were Fievel's hat and Olivia's bow, washed ashore. I'm afraid we were never able to find the raft…"

"We've failed!" Ratigan bellowed into the sky before sobbing, tugging at his hair, curling up on the ground and, of course, giving the performance of his life.

Mama fainted into Papa's arms.

Tanya blinked back tears, "Oh no…"

"Filly…no…" Tony was stunned numb.

"Anyone but those two…" Tiger said, beginning to cry, "I-I shoulda been with them…"

Nellie couldn't hide a furious frown, nor the tears beginning to seep from her jasmine eyes.

"My God…what have they done…?" she muttered to herself.
That raft was just a disaster waiting to happen. =/

Don't worry folks, this is far from the final chapter. ^^; But I can just imagine Ratigan hamming up his performance like this when deep down inside he's breaking out in maniacal laughter. And poor Fievel's still scarred for life after his Atlantic Ocean mishap, of course. It's a good thing Olivia's brave too.

Anyway, until next week.
© 2012 - 2024 Surenity
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CyberDuke's avatar

Music Idea

 

When Fievel and Olivia walked down the desert, I played only the first 30 seconds of “The Shootout” to make it sound like they’re approaching danger.

 

And when they met with the villains, I played “Enter Ratigan  (end at 1:14)” and “Ratigan's Plan”. Those two tracks blend very well together for this scene when Fievel gave his hat and Olivia her bow to the villains.

 

Around the end of “Ratigan's Plan” was when the villains got themselves dirty while the kids were on the raft to their doom. Right after that I played “The Storm” when they got closer to the rocks and fall off the rapids. “Ratigan's Plan” seems to blend very well with “The Storm”, but I wasn’t playing them both at the same time.

 

As for when the villains told the town that Fievel and Olivia were dead, I actually just didn’t play anything to feel as shocked as the mice when they heard the news. But if there has to be any music for that, “Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor (slow-paced with only the beginning part of the music.)”

Alternatively “Death of Cedric (only from 1:08)” can be played for when the villains reveal the hat and bow to everyone.