Olivia Goes West - Chapter 19

The clinking of glasses and the smell of cigarette smoke hung in the air as the saloon piano played softly, Tanya singing and dancing in a tight, form-fitting black leotard, ruffles of blue feathers at her shoulders and thighs and a big feather in her hair, her legs bare aside from a single garter around her left thigh.

"Tangerine, she is all they claim,
With her eyes of night and lips as bright as flame.
Oh she's got the guys on the run,
But her heart belongs to just one,
Her heart belongs to Tangerine…"

She winked at Ratigan who sat near the stage with Fidget and Chula, smoking a long cigarette through a filter and sipping wine. The others were playing poker; the three orphan boys from New York were with them. Ratigan chuckled gently, mesmerized by Tanya's voice and beauty. Waul, not being able to fit into the mouse bar, was handling things outside the walls with the cats and dogs. But little did Ratigan realize he was being glared a hole through from two young men at the bar, Tony and Vartan.

"Man, it's been two weeks of 'dis now," Tony griped, "How long does Nell want us to put up wit' dis?"

Tony had eventually let Nellie know he'd figured out Waul and Ratigan had assassinated Fievel and Olivia. He did agree to stay out of the situation and wait for the arrival of Basil, but it was getting harder every day. He didn't want Tanya falling for scum like Ratigan or Waul. Ratigan was more her species, so she'd taken a special liking toward him it seemed.

"Maybe two or three more week," Vartan replied quietly. No one else was really at the bar, everyone having grabbed a seat at the table to get a closer look at Tanya, "We must protect her, until then."

"Ya mean Tanya?" Tony asked, "Yeah, I know…I don't like seein' dis one bit. I mean eh…seein' her flirt wit' Ratigan, not da performance itself…"

"I could watch her perform all day," Vartan said with a small grin.

He patted Vartan's shoulder, "Why don'tcha say hi to her sometime? Or 'barev', whatever it is in your language?"

He looked down, "No, I could not. Not before it is safe to tell her the truth."

"So yer just gonna spy on her and draw pictures of her in dat sketchbook until then?" Tony chuckled, "She might think yer some kinda creepy stalker if she finds ya doin' dat before you've said hi to her."

He couldn't understand all of the words Tony was using, but he did get the idea.

"I cannot help but admire her from afar," Vartan said, "But...maybe it is improper to be drawing her?"

"Eh, you can do what you like as long as she don't find it," Tony said, cleaning a mug, "Well she'd be a nice catch though, I'll tell ya, if I were a bit younger and single, heh heh. But ya gotta be bold when you like a girl. Ya know when I saw Bridget da first time, I didn't waste any time at all. I just grabbed a flower and gave it to her, and then we kissed, and dat was dat. Too bad for you though, I think Tanya's more into bad boys."

Vartan stared on as the song ended and the curtains closed. The room filled with claps, as Ratigan walked onto the stage.

"Thank you dear friends," he said, "I'm afraid that's all for tonight though, it is 2 in the morning after all."

The room filled with disappointed groans.

"The diva will be here tomorrow night, rest assured," Ratigan said, "Now go home, and don't forget to register to vote. The election is in two weeks."

With that, everyone not in Ratigan's gang got up, some drunkenly stumbling, and filed out the doors. Vartan, figuring the night air might do him some good, ventured outside as well. Tanya went up to her dressing room, quick to change into something less revealing for her walk home.

Ratigan walked up to the bar, "Alright Mr. Toponi, you're excused."

"Thanks boss…" Tony said, though he wanted to punch the teeth out of Ratigan's grin.

Ratigan turned to his underlings, "Alright then, to the main bar. Let's see how Waul did tonight in terms of profit."

"Heh heh, we gonna get our paycut today?" asked Simon, the bespectacled orphan mouse.

Ratigan waited for Tony to exit before answering, "Oh I think you will…little by little the mine is finally starting to yield gold, after all. Soon we'll all be basking in wealth."

He led them through a mousehole-shaped door in the wall. Waul's bar was empty now as well.

"Ah, Mr. Ratigan, things went smoothly I presume?" Waul asked, sitting at a table near the bar, the smell of smoke and beer hanging in the air. He was slightly tipsy, finishing off another glass of fine wine.

"Indeed," he said, walking up to Waul's chair.

Waul knelt down and picked Ratigan and the three orphans up in his paw, placing them on the table and moving a mouse-sized table over for them to sit at, with little chairs. Chula, who still walked with a slight limp due to his missing leg, simply climbed up the table leg, while Fidget flapped his way up to the top.

"I take it my diva is still drawing a crowd?" Waul asked with a grin.

"Oh she's been simply wonderful for business," Ratigan said fondly, "Our profit margin is through the roof. Especially now that we're advertising her in nearby towns."

"Very good, I know that if she's enough to charm me enough not to eat her like the mouse she is, she's enough to charm anyone," Waul said, taking another swig of wine, "Terribly hard work, keeping up this 'vegetarian' act. I haven't eaten a mouse in weeks. It's awful for a cat's digestion to go too long without meat. And fish just doesn't have the same beautiful taste."

Ratigan chuckled, and looked over at the three orphans, who were dealing out another hand of poker amongst themselves. Now that they already had the Flavershams, these orphans had merely been tag-alongs, working behind the scenes, sometimes put to work at the mine watching over their prisoners. They were perfectly expendable now. Perhaps they could afford to part with one of them.

"Well, you know if it's that difficult, perhaps you could …satisfy your craving for a Caesar salad with a croissant," Ratigan offered, nudging his head toward their mouse employees.

"Heh heh, hey boss, can I have a 'croissant' too?" Chula asked.

"Not now, Chula…you'll get to have your mouse haggis as soon as we no longer require the services of the Flavershams," Waul answered, finishing off his wine, "As for me, I'll go for the kosher meat. I'll finally get to have mouse tartar with that little brat Fievel."

"Aww," Chula drummed his fingers on the table.

"It almost makes me wish I were a cannibal," Ratigan laughed gleefully.

Waul gazed down at the three orphans, licking his sharp teeth. The fat one. That's who he wanted.

"I say, Roc, is it? I think I'll give you your weekly pay first."

The three mice looked up.

"Saaay, you cheatin' us?" Sammy asked, "Why does he get paid first?"

"Yeah what gives, boss?" asked Simon.

"Oh…you'll get yours soon enough. I'm paying you alphabetically, yes that's it."

The three of them thought about it, "Q, R, S…dammit, he's right ain't he?"

Roc gave a satisfied grin, "Heh, sucks to be you guys. Alright Waul, fork over the dough."

"I have it right backstage, if you'll accompany me," Waul said, picking the mouse up by his tail, "Right behind those curtains…"

"Man, I'm going to bed then," said Simon irritably, "Ain't got enough money to gamble with now anyway."

"Yeah, let Roc catch up with us." said Sammy, as the two of them slid down the leg of the table and were out the door.

"How very convenient," said Ratigan, "I believe this will be rather loud."

After having washed her makeup off and changed into a more modest dress, Tanya came out of her dressing room, just across the hall from Nellie's apartment. It had been a good show that night. She'd come to enjoy performing in front of big crowds, her stage fright had all but vanished. She was doing what she loved. And though she was sure her papa wouldn't like it, she enjoyed wearing the outfits she performed in too. Maybe one day she could perform somewhere big, like San Francisco, or back in New York. Maybe even Broadway!

Tanya knew Miss Kitty would be in her dressing room too after her performance, and it was normal for her to say hi to her old mentor before going home. Miss Kitty's dressing room was backstage, near the cat's bar, where Tanya occasionally performed too. She turned a corner to the backstage area…when she saw Cat R. Waul standing behind the curtain, a mouse dangling from his paw.

"Hey boss, this is starting to hurt," Roc said, "Put me down and give me my money, will ya?"

Waul gave a chuckle, "Oh I'll put you down alright…"

"Huh?"

"It's been so long since I had mouse meat…and you have so much meat on you…"

Roc began to scream, until Waul brought the mouse to his mouth and, shutting his jaws, bit the mouse in two. It was a bloody display. Tanya's eyes went wide with shock, and she felt her stomach churn, as she stayed hidden behind the corner. Waul dabbed his face with a handkerchief from his pocket before finishing the rest of the mouse off, blood dripping into a puddle on the ground. Tanya put her hands over her mouth and hyperventilated. She was going to be sick.

"Mmm delicious…." Waul said, opening the curtain and passing through, "I think I'll pick a leaner mouse next time…far too much fat on the meat. Very juicy though."

Tanya heard Ratigan give a chuckle, and she gasped, "Ah, you're so much more amusing than my cat Felicia was back in London. I used to feed her mice all the time."

"Yes well, any time you have some trash to dispose of, namely of the rodent persuasion, just let me know," Waul said.

"Hehehehe, too bad you couldn't have just done that to Fievel and Olivia, instead of pushing them down the river," Chula chimed in.

"Yeah heh heh, would have been a lot better for all of us if you'd just ate them," said Fidget.

"It was your stupid idea now wasn't it?" Ratigan snapped.

Tanya put her hands to her cheeks in horror. Her body trembled and she stepped back, before tripping on the helm of her dress and falling backward on her behind. She crawled back down the hall, on the verge of nausea. Everything, everything had been a lie. That poor mouse she'd just seen get killed by Waul…her brother and Olivia…

Tiger was right!

She staggered to her feet, tears rolling down her cheeks, and ran, back through the mouse bar, off the stage and out the door. She ran aimlessly down the wooden sidewalk, just wanting to run to her bedroom and lock herself in. How could she ever go back to work after seeing something like this? She still felt sick to her stomach, every time she shut her eyes she saw Waul having his snack.

Out of breath, she stopped and sat at the edge of the sidewalk, crying. She knew she had to get home soon. Maybe tomorrow she'd find Tiger, and they could talk about what to do…

"H-hi…"

Tanya gasped and turned around, gasping and getting to her feet as a figure stepped out of the shadows. It was a young mouse, black hair down past his ears, wearing a black shirt with a red sash.

"Wh-who are you?" Tanya choked out, her body trembling.

"My name is Vartan…" he said, sounding nervous, speaking in an accent that reminded her a little of her father's, but different enough.

"You're not with Waul or Ratigan?"

"I am Nellie Brie's assistant."

Tanya blinked. She did remember seeing a teenage boy follow Nellie around town. In fact, he was usually at the bar with Tony, though he never drank anything. He just watched.

"I'm sorry, but I-I really can't talk to fans right now…" Tanya said, looking down, figuring he wanted an autograph or something.

"Why do you cry?" he asked.

"Hm?" Tanya's ears perked up, but then she sighed, "I…I couldn't tell you…"

Vartan looked around, making sure they weren't being watched, "It is because Vaul and Ratigan, che?"

Tanya bit her lip. What did he know? She still didn't know anything about this stranger. What if he was going to tell Waul and Ratigan that she knew too much? They'd killed Olivia and Fievel, why not her too? Only…even after two weeks, she still felt that Fievel was alive somewhere…

Vartan could see the hesitation in her eyes, and he whispered, "Come to see Nellie Brie. We know too, what Vaul and Ratigan are doing, and vhat really happened to your brother and the girl."

"Y-you do?"

Vartan nodded, "If you cannot trust me yet, then trust her. Tomorrow, come to see her in her apartment."

"Okay…" Tanya said, "And um…th-thank you, Vartan."

He nodded, "You're welcome. Go home then, do not let anyone see you."

"Okay…" Tanya said, shakily turning around and walking back town the sidewalk, as Vartan watched.

Vartan turned around, heading back to the saloon, and to Nellie's apartment. He needed to tell Nellie what had happened. He wondered though, if he had made a good first impression.