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Olivia Goes West - Chapter 12

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Past the waterfall the water began to calm again. It was then that Fievel's face broke the murky green surface of the river. He coughed and spat, but he was swimming, and alive.

"Olivia!"

As he looked around he could see a trail of bubbles along the surface. He dove down blindly, before he finally felt Olivia's hand. He grabbed on tight and swam for shore, as best as he could with the current still pushing them along. He dragged Olivia out of the water.

"Olivia, you okay?" he asked desperately.

Olivia moaned and coughed up water, choking and sputtering. Fievel hugged her tight, and she weakly put her arms around him in return.

"W-we made it…" she said. Her body ached and her wounds stung, but otherwise, nothing was broken.

"I'm so sorry I let this happen Olivia…guess I'm not much of a hero," Fievel said sadly.

"I'm not a good swimmer Fievel, ye mighta saved me life just now…" Olivia panted, coughing the last of the water from her throat.

Fievel smiled a little, "If you hadn't tried to help when we were going down the rapids, we might have smashed against the rocks. You're my hero."

"I'd say we're even," she said.

"I told you about when I got washed overboard on the boat, didn't I? That's why I got scared…"

"It's okay Fievel," she patted his back, "I understand."

It was almost nice, she thought, to see that Fievel wasn't completely the fearless hero he always pretended to be. She felt like she knew him much better. He wasn't so different.

"We gotta decide what we're gonna do now." Fievel said, letting go of the hug finally, "Waul and Ratigan probably told everyone we're dead."

"They think we're dead too," Olivia said, "That can work to our advantage if we can sneak into the mine again."

"But we're far away from Green River now," Fievel said, looking around at their surroundings, "I don't know where we are."

"We know we have to follow the river up. But, we have get past that waterfall first. I'm a bit too exhausted for that right now."

Fievel sat beside her. His sweater was torn open and his pants ripped. Olivia hadn't fared much better, the rocks had ripped at her sleeves, and she had an embarrassing tear on the side of her skirt that she tried to cover with her arm. They were both dripping wet.

"Hey, you've got some cuts…" Fievel said, looking her over, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, thank ye," she said, though she was in pain.

"I've got cuts and bruises too…" Fievel said, "I dunno if I could walk much right now…"

"Me neither," she sighed, "Maybe we ought ta camp here fer a bit before goin' on our way…"

"But my family is gonna think we're dead," Fievel said worriedly, wishing he could be back before the end of the day, just in time for dinner like he always was. But that was impossible. They may have been miles away now.

"I'm sorry, Fievel," she took her arm off her skirt and hugged Fievel from the side, "I know you can't stand bein' away from yer family…"

"I just get lost a lot."

"It ain't the first time I've been separated from me father either," Olivia said.

"Maybe Tanya will know I'm alive," Fievel said, "When I was lost in new York she said she always knew I was alive. She said it was just a feeling she had."

"Kinda like how I knew me daddy was alive too?"

"Yeah, probably like that," Fievel smiled, "The important thing is we'll be able to prove her right again. Though, it'll give her something else to boast about."

Olivia giggled a bit, "It shouldn't take us too long to get back, right? In the meantime we just gotta stay alive."

"It's scary out here at night…" Fievel said, "If we're going to stay here, we better have a look around and make sure there are no holes that snakes or scorpions could live in."

Olivia groaned and got up, "Let's look around then."

She reached into the pocket on her skirt and took out her magnifying glass, luckily it was unbroken.

"I got attacked by both a scorpion and a hawk last time I got lost out here," Fievel said wearily.

"I remember ya telling' me," Olivia said as she examined the sandy ground for footprints. They walked until coming to the base of a cactus, circling it.

"At least we know there aren't any that are too close by," said Fievel, "We should stay by the cactus, and start a fire somehow."

"A fire?"

"It may be hot now but it gets cold in the desert at night."

"Oh…" Olivia looked at her magnifying glass, "Well I know how we can start one, but the sun's got to be up. Gotta get us some dry twigs or grass or somethin."

Fievel nodded and began to scour the surrounding area for any dry timber they could use, finding some dried up reeds and grass further from the river and bringing it back to the spot he and Olivia had chosen to stay at.

"Okay," Olivia squatted down at the little pile Fievel had made and took her magnifying glass out, holding it up to the sun.

Soon the dried foliage began to smoke and simmer slightly, before it lit up in flames.

"Woah where'd you learn that trick?" Fievel asked.

"Basil taught it to me, of course," Olivia said.

"It's a good thing you kept that memento, huh? I wish I had my hat…"

"Is it hard bein' without yer hat?" Olivia asked as she began to warm her damp fur and clothes by the fire.

Fievel nodded, "I don't feel right without it..."

"They probably jus' gave your hat back to your family, so they could prove you were dead."

"At least my hat is probably safe."

Olivia took her shoes and socks off and placed them near the fire to dry them off. Their clothes were still damp, and though the desert sun was hot their swim through the mountain snow melt in the river had left them shivering.

"So what did ye eat when you were lost out here?" Olivia asked.

"I…didn't really eat anything that day," Fievel answered, "There weren't a lot of plants, and the cactuses were too spiny. I wasn't close to the river though, maybe we can eat plants or seeds here."

"Stuff that wild mice eat."

"Yeah," Fievel sighed a bit, "I heard they eat bugs and worms too, but I'm not eating any bugs unless I get real hungry."

Olivia made a face, "Not unless we're starvin'."

The sun began to disappear behind the mesas as late afternoon turned into evening. Having not eaten anything since morning, Fievel volunteered to scrounge for anything edible, digging up some grass and seeds from the dirt. It wasn't exactly the tastiest thing but enough to keep a mouse alive in the desert.

"At least we have plenty of water," said Fievel as they nibbled on the bland food, "I found my canteen washed up on shore when I was looking for food. We'll have to share but refilling it won't be a problem."

"That's good news," she said, looking up at the orange sky, stars beginning to appear in the east where it was darker.

"So what should our plan be now?" Fievel asked.

"We'll follow the river back startin' tomorrow," said Olivia, "I wanna go back to the mine."

"After all this, you really wanna go back?"

"My daddy would do the same fer me," she said insistently, "We've got to get him outta there."

"But, should we hide out and wait for Basil?"

Olivia thought it over. But she knew what she wanted to do.

"It'll take weeks for him to get here. But Basil can help us take down Ratigan and Waul for good. I wanna sneak me daddy outta the mine. We'll go in the middle of the night, no one'll suspect us since they think we're dead. We'll get him out and then we'll sneak back into town, maybe hide with Nellie."

It was a reckless plan, but she was strong-willed. And Fievel could tell she was going to do it either with or without him.

"Okay Olivia, I'll help you," Fievel conceded, "But we have to be careful this time."

"Yer the best friend anyone could ever have, Fievel," she said, coming over to hug him.

Fievel blushed a bit and hugged back. Olivia giggled, staying close to him.

"Where are we gonna sleep?"

"I guess we're stuck sleeping on the ground," Fievel answered, "But we can soften it up with some grass and leaves."

"Okay…and with the fire there we should be able to keep warm," Olivia noted, "But um…should we make two beds? Will we be too cold?"

"Oh…" Fievel looked down at his feet bashfully, "Um, maybe one's enough…"

"Ya wouldn't mind um, maybe keepin' close ta stay warm?" Olivia asked, fidgeting with her tail.

"It's not like you have cooties," Fievel gave a shy giggle, "I-I'm okay if you are."

"It might be just…a good idea to keep warm, that's all…" Olivia said shyly.

"I think we'll be okay," Fievel said, "I mean as long as no predators come along."

"You get the extra grass, an' I'll make the bed fer us, sound like a deal?" she asked.

"Alright," Fievel got up, and walked back toward the nearby bush, gathering soft material for them to lay down on. Once he had enough Olivia got to work, making them a little nest-like bed beside the fire. By the time they'd finished, it was getting dark out. The stars began to shine in the sky, along with the rising moon. The sounds of coyote howls echoed across the desert. The two of them climbed into the bed and huddled together for warmth. As night fell, the temperature had dropped steadily. Every little sound made them nervous; they didn't know if a snake could be sneaking up on them, or a hawk coming to swoop down.

"Ye were right Fievel, I didn't think it got this cold in the desert," she said, keeping an arm around Fievel from behind as they curled up beside one another.

"Just try and sleep," Fievel said, fairly cold himself, since his clothes was still somewhat damp.

"It's hard at sleep…it's cold and scary out here, an' I miss me daddy."

Fievel turned to face her, laying on his back. She kept an arm over his chest and looked up at him.

"I know how you feel. Want me to teach you a little song that helped me when I was lost?"

"Hm? A song?" her curiosity was piqued.

"It's a song my sister and I made," Fievel explained, as he looked toward the moon in the sky, "We knew if we were ever far apart, we could sing it to the moon, and know the other was out there somewhere, looking up at the same time."

"Oh my, that…that sounds so sweet," Olivia said, surprised that such a sibling bond could exist, "Please, sing it to me."

"W-well, okay, I'll sing it to you so you can learn the words." he said shyly, clearing his throat and beginning, "Somewhere, out there, beneath the pale moonlight, someone's thinking of me, and loving me tonight…"

Olivia couldn't help but quietly giggle at the way Fievel's voice cracked a bit on the high notes, but the lyrics were so precious. The thought of a younger Fievel singing this was almost too adorable for her to comprehend.

Fievel continued, "Somewhere, out there, someone's singing a prayer, that we'll find one another in that big somewhere out there. And even though I know how very far apart we are, it helps to think we might be wishing on that same bright star…"

As the song continued, Olivia thought about how sad it must have been for Fievel to have lost his family, and then how sad it was for her to be separated from her father. She could feel her eyes begin to water.

"And when the night wind starts to sing a lonesome lullaby, it helps to think we're sleeping underneath the same big sky…"

Fievel had become lost in the song as he sung, focusing on the moon, himself wondering what his family was doing right now. Maybe Tanya was looking at the moon too, singing this exact song…

"Somewhere, out there, if love can see us through, then we'll be together, somewhere out there, out where dreams, come true…"

"Oh Fievel, that's…that's the most beautiful song I ever heard," Olivia said, hugging Fievel and wiping her eyes, "I-it makes me think of me daddy, he must be so worried…"

"We'll fix that," Fievel said with a smile, "But right now we ought to get to sleep…"

"I guess yer right," she said with a yawn, "Um, Fievel?"

"Yeah?"

"I'mma sing that song with ye next time, maybe tomorrow night."

"Okay," Fievel said with a smile, as he laid back with his arms folded behind his head, staring up at the stars as Olivia dozed off beside him with an arm over his chest. Somehow their situation didn't seem so bad, now.
Yay they're alive!

I was going to have this as half a chapter originally, but it got really long. The next chapter will have more of what's going on in Green River.
© 2012 - 2024 Surenity
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CyberDuke's avatar

Music idea

 

The early start for this chapter, we just hear the waterfall.

When the sun begins to set while they settle for stuff and talk a bit, I played my mix of “Fievel & Olivia (only up to 1:24)”

And of course when reaching nighttime, I played “Somewhere Out There (solo version)” when Fievel sings to Olivia. Of course the instruments can tone down to sound more dramatic while hearing a bit of Olivia’s tune in between “it helps to think we're sleeping underneath the same big sky…" and "Somewhere, out there, if love can see us through.


 

I also imagined a bonus music track that may not play during the story, but it is “Somewhere Out There” with both Fievel and Olivia singing together.