literature

The Great Mouse Reporter ~ Chapter 33

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Madame Mousey pranced through Central Park that night with confidence. Quinn Ratbone had given her free reign of the area in the absence of the Council of Dogs, and she was gladly filling the power vacuum. At her side were Chula and Fidget, who Waul had agreed to "loan" to her while she scoured Central Park for signs of Basil, and an old bloodhound named Sir Charles that she herself hired, who'd survived the sting operation on the Council of Dogs by not being present at the time. With Chula and Fidget present they became an extra set of eyes and ears for Waul and ultimately Quinn; while they could be helpful in apprehending Basil, Mousey knew if she screwed this up her superiors would be hearing about it from them. Having them with her was a bit of a double-edged sword.

"Now zen, Monsieur Charles, keep sneefing. There must be some rats somewhere in zis park, no?"

Charles sniffed the ground, muttering to himself, "I miss Lone Woof."

Madame Mousey pretended not to hear it. She was determined to pick up Basil's trail from where she'd last seem him. It was quite possible he was still hiding out in the park somewhere.

"Anything yet?" Mousey asked.

"I lost his scent after we left the clearing."

"Hope you don't have any kinda loyalty to this Basil character just because you're British," said Chula, with Fidget riding on his back, "We wouldn't take kindly to that."

"He's a mouse, what do I care?" Charles said, "All I care is that I get my pay."

"You'll get it," said Mousey, "I am ze Queen of Central Park, and I keep my word."

Sir Charles raised an eyebrow, and kept sniffing. Eventually, he stopped abruptly.

"Hang on, I do smell mice…but not Basil."

"Not Basil?" Mousey asked, slipping into her angry Brooklyn accent, "Well then what good is that to us?!"

"We can question them about Basil when we find them," said Charles.

"It will probably get us nowhere, but why not?" Mousey sighed, "How could that sneaky little vermin have covered up his tracks so well?"

"I still think he's holdin' out on us," said Chula.

The bloodhound kept his nose to the ground and the others followed. As he did, Hakan stood at the opening of the hollowed tree stump with his arms folded, Cholena curled up on the ground behind him asleep. The winds carried the distinctive sound of footsteps, and the shrill voice of Madame Mousey. Hakan had to think fast. He jarred Cholena awake.

"Someone approaches," he said, speaking in the Lenape tongue, "Stay here. I will lead them away."

"But Hakan, it is dangerous!" she declared, still rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Run, Cholena. Leave no trail. I will distract them."

Hakan ran from the tree stump into the foliage, as Cholena looked on with worry. He ran toward the footsteps, eventually emerging from the grass onto the path in front of Sir Charles.

"There's one of the mice I smelled," he said.

Madame Mousey approached Hakan, who stood firm.

"You are one of ze Natives, no?"

"I recognize him!" Fidget declared.

"Yeah, it's our escaped patsy!" said Chula.

Hakan was silent. He drew his crossbow. But before he could shoot it, Chula shot a big wad of spider web at him, incapacitating Hakan.

"Chula, bring him to ze sewers, there we'll make him talk," said Madame Mousey. "If he's here, Nellie and those brats can't be far behind," said Chula.

"Keep searching, Charles," said Mousey, "It sounds like we may be close."

Chula walked over to Hakan to pick him up. As he did, Hakan broke his leg free from the web where it wasn't as thick, and kicked Chula in the jaw. As Chula was stunned, Hakan rolled onto his stomach and got to his feet.

"Not so fast mousey!" said Fidget, jumping off Chula's back and wrapping his wings around Hakan.

Hakan ran to a nearby tree and slammed his back – and Fidget- into the trunk. Fidget held on, and bit down on Hakan's ear, causing him to shout. He felt something warm trickle down his cheek; probably blood, but he was too busy to feel pain. Hakan slammed Fidget again, this time causing the bat to let go. He then continued running, as Chula chased after him. But, Madame Mousey slammed her front paw onto Hakan's tail, stopping Hakan in his tracks.

"Bungling morons, how can I trust you to bring him to ze sewers on your own?"

"Come on Mousey, I just gotta spin him in more web," said Chula.

Fidget sat up, and spit out a chunk of Hakan's ear, "We got him now, don't worry."

"I would think Quinn could afford better help now," Mousey scoffed.

Chula grabbed Hakan and wrapped him up more tightly in his spider web. Hakan wriggled and struggled. He knew when he confronted them he'd probably be captured, but at least this would give Cholena time to get away.

Cholena meanwhile frantically climbed up the bark of a tree, right along the edge of the park where there was a fence. She could hear voices not too far off in the distance. She knew that Hakan was brave and would be able to handle himself even if he was captured, but that didn't make her feel any less guilty about fleeing just to save herself. As she reached a branch at level with the iron fence, she hopped onto the top of it, and kept moving.

Sir Charles followed Hakan's trail, soon reaching the hollowed-out tree stump, which for the moment was empty.

"There were many mice in here at one time," he said to Mousey, "But they've left."

"Zat Indian was providing a distraction so the rest of them could get away," Mousey said angrily, "Keep sniffing!"

"There's more than one trail."

"Just pick one."

Charles shrugged, and chose the scent trail with the most mice; the one left by Nellie, Fievel, Vartan and Olivia when they left to meet with Tanya. This trail led toward the gates to Central Park and out to the street. For now, Cholena was safe, as she watched the two dogs walk down the sidewalk past her. Chula and Fidget, meanwhile, hauled Hakan back toward the grate of a storm drain.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Tanya awoke early the next morning to a knock at her door. Still in her nightgown, she rubbed her eyes and sat up, looking at the clock on the wall.

"Five in the morning?" she groaned, "The party never stops at Tanya's apartment."

She quickly ran a brush through her messy hair, and got up to walk to the door. Whoever this was better have a good excuse for waking her this early, especially after she'd been awake until at least 1am. Even Quinn had never bothered her before 7. She opened the door a crack, not taking the chain off the door.

"Yes?"

Tanya was surprised to see Nellie, her brother, Olivia, Vartan and Cholena outside the door, Cholena keeping her head scarf low and covering half her face with what looked to be Olivia's scarf.

"Let us in," Nellie whispered sharply.

Tanya quickly unchained the door and they all rushed in. Tanya was a little embarrassed to be seen in her nightgown and with unkempt hair and bags under her eyes, particularly with Vartan around, but was even more concerned with why they were there.

"What happened?" Tanya asked.

"Madame Mousey has a bloodhound on our scent," Nellie said, speaking in a low voice, "They captured Hakan, and almost captured Cholena. We found her when we got back to Central Park. We've been on the run all night trying to shake them."

"But your scent is going to lead them here."

"The plan was to just have Cholena stay here, while the rest of us split up and make ourselves scarce," said Nellie, "There's a lot of mice in this complex, and it's not as if the dog can get inside. We'll exit through the window and climb down. Do you think you can handle having Cholena hide out here?"

"She's the most wanted mouse in the city, and the mayor is over almost every day. How is this a good idea?"

"I cannot return to the Lenape," Cholena said with regret, "Fievel and Olivia are going back there to hide. But I…cannot."

"She's very adamant about that," said Nellie, a hint of irritability in her voice as it seems they'd argued over it, "I know it's dangerous. But it's also not where anyone would expect her to be hiding."

"I can hide in the closet whenever someone arrives," said Cholena.

"It'll be alright Tanya," said Fievel, "After all, we hid her at our house before."

"Let's hope it doesn't lead to any angry mobs this time," Tanya replied, "If the cops ever find her here Quinn might not be able to stop them from arresting me, you know, over the whole McBrusque incident."

"Hopefully this will just be a temporary arrangement," said Nellie, "I know you'll be sticking your neck out for her. You don't have to agree to this, but I suppose the only other alternative would be to send her back underground. She's not safe anywhere above ground."

Cholena looked at Tanya with sad eyes, "I am no longer welcome among the tribe. I do not know what they will do if I show my face there again. Hakan tells me my father still loves me, but he cannot appear to favor me over others. I will be punished severely for leaving. You understand, don't you?"

Tanya's old friend tugged at her heartstrings.

"Okay Cholena. You're welcome here."

Cholena smiled and hugged Tanya, who patted her shoulder.

"What will you and Vartan do, Nellie?" Tanya asked.

"Vartan and I will find someplace else to hide out, and probably stay on the move, but we'll check back in with you every now and then, when it's safe."

"Do not worry for us, Tanya," Vartan said.

"I know you'll keep each other safe," she said, blushing a little, "Um, sorry I'm probably not looking my best, but it is five in the morning…"

"You are always beautiful to me Tanya," he said, smiling and taking her hand to kiss it.

Tanya felt a giddy flutter in her heart. Olivia smiled as she watched.

"We won't stay any longer than we need to," said Nellie, "Next on our agenda is getting these two back underground."

"I hope we get to see you again soon Tanya," said Fievel.

"We miss ya," Olivia added.

"I miss you too," Tanya said, "Try to stay out of trouble. For once."

"Good bye again, Tanya," said Vartan.

"Good bye Vartan," she replied, and the two hugged, with a brief but impassioned kiss.

"You can keep the scarf if ye want, Cholena," said Olivia.

"Thank you very much," she said.

Although she had sympathy for Cholena, Olivia was secretly glad to have Fievel and her separated.

The four of them then snuck out the window, climbing down on the human-sized steel stairs along the side of the building.

"Looks like I have a new roommate," said Tanya.

"I will cook and clean for you if you wish," Cholena offered, "Thank you so very much for having me as your guest Tanya."

"Oh you don't have to," said Tanya, "Actually it might be nice just to have someone to talk to. I've been feeling really alone since Tony was arrested."

"We will be as sisters," said Cholena with a smile.

"Yes, sisters," Tanya nodded, "Well for now, I'm going back to bed."

"I am terribly exhausted as well," said Cholena.

"Then let's go to sleep. When we wake up I'll need to have a talk with you about keeping a low profile."

Cholena gave a nod, and the two sleepy mice made their way back to the bedroom.
Maybe being roommates will be good for both Tanya and Cholena. Anyway, with Central Park no longer a safe haven, it looks like the group is going to have to split up. What could be in store for them next? And what of Papa and Hiram, or Basil and Reed? Find out next time!

Also, RIP Barrie Ingham, the voice actor of Basil. It's too bad they never did a sequel to The Great Mouse Detective while he was alive. It would have been better than having, say, The Fox and the Hound 2. I mean who asked for that? Anyway, he will be sorely missed.
© 2015 - 2024 Surenity
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westwoodbronyfan's avatar
January 23, 2015 Is the year Basil's Voice Actor died, right?