The Great Mouse Reporter ~ Chapter 36

Horse hooves clopped against the cobblestone streets in uptown New York. The streets were lined with large, wealthy homes, a far cry from downtown or the poorer neighborhoods. Nellie had never been fortunate enough to live in these parts when she was a star reporter, but she never felt the need for a large home anyway. Vartan had only been here with Nellie on reports.

"Gussie's home is right on the corner," Nellie said, as they walked along the sidewalk.

Vartan nodded, rubbing his bloodshot eyes.

"You going to make it?"

"Ayo…I'll be alright," he said with a yawn.

"We need to get some coffee somewhere," Nellie said with a light chuckle.

They walked up to a posh Victorian home, without much in the way of a front yard, but there was a small lawn with some bushes under the first floor windows. Under a bush beside the front door was a smaller door, for mice. Nellie walked up to it, and knocked. After a few moments, a butler answered.

"Mausheimer residence, who may I ask are you?"

"Nellie Brie. Is Gussie Mausheimer in?"

"Let me ask if she wishes to see anyone from the press at the moment," the butler answered.

"Oh, I'm not with the press…anymore."

"Hmm…even so, I will ask."

He closed the door.

"Who vas that?" asked Vartan.

"Just her butler, someone whose job it is to answer her door, serve her food, that sort of thing," Nellie explained, "It's common for the wealthy to have them."

After a short wait, the butler returned.

"Ms. Mausheimer will see you, Madame. She's in her dining room, allow me to guide you."

Nellie and Vartan followed the butler into Gussie's home, built into the walls of this Victorian home. It was quite sizeable. After some twists and turns through the walls, they arrived at the dining room. Gussie sat at the end of a long table, with a lot of empty chairs. She'd been dining on cheese chowder and tea.

"Newwie Bwie, it weawwy is you! Come, sit down, don't be shy. And is zis your assistant?"

"I'm not really here as a reporter," said Nellie, taking a seat on the other end of the table, "This is Vartan. I suppose you could call him an assistant of sorts though he's not under my employ."

"Ohhh," Gussie said, "A chawming young mouse."

"Thank you," Vartan said politely. He was still in awe over the size of Gussie's home. But he found her accent difficult to understand.

"I have a lot to talk to you about," said Nellie, "We could use your help."

Gussie took a long look at Nellie, the bags under her eyes, her dirty dress, and somewhat unkempt hair, "My dear, you don't seem wike you've been sweeping too well…you wook tewwible."

"Sleeping outside and well, not sleeping at all, will do that," Nellie replied, "But I'm okay. I wanted to talk to you about Mr. Quinn Ratbone, it is most urgent. A reputable source told me you might be the one to go to."

"Your source must have been wight. Zat scoundrel is undoing evewything I've accomplished since coming here to New York fwom Germany."

Gussie motioned toward the large portrait on the wall of herself and a male mouse at her side, well dressed with a handlebar mustache.

"After ze cats got my dear departed husband Günter back in Germany, I moved to Amewica thinking cats wouldn't be a pwobwem here. But it's almost worse here. And now our mayor is making deals with zose fewines, and zat is putting us back on ze woad to being wuled by Wawwen and Waul. We're in Waul's tewwitory now. Do you know my neighbor down the stweet was eaten by one of Waul's cats just two days ago? Money won't pwotect you in zis city."

"It doesn't surprise me," said Nellie, "In fact I'm guessing the death toll might go down for a while, after the election, but spike up again when Ratbone needs it to."

"Exactwy, and we'll be asked to pay more money to ze cats. Zis won't do at all. Tell me Newwie, what exactly bwings you here? And where is Basil, for zat matter? Didn't you move to Wondon with him?"

"I don't know where Basil is, we got separated," Nellie said sadly, "But I have every reason to believe he's in New York somewhere. You see Gussie there's a reason we got pulled into this thing."

"I feel wike you're about to tell me something vewy shocking," she said.

"You're right," Nellie said, "You see our source, who wishes for now to remain anonymous, found evidence of Quinn Ratbone's lineage. Where he got his money from, and who his father was."

"And?"

"His father is Professor Ratigan," Nellie said, "And that's why he wants Basil and I dead."

"Watigan?" Gussie blinked, "And you can pwove zis?"

"Well, no, not at the moment. But it's true. My source saw the will, and it was from Ratigan. And everything he's doing, becoming the mayor of New York and everything, is following a very specific plan laid out by Ratigan himself in the event of his demise."

"I knew it," said Gussie, "I don't care if you won ze lottery or stwuck an oil well, no one wises thwough ze ranks of society in zis town zat easily or zat quickly. He must have been helped by fwiends in high pwaces."

"Exactly," Nellie said, "And the assassination of Mozzarella was all part of the plan. He set up that Indian mouse to pull it off. He explained it to me himself, in full detail."

"You saw him? Ze Indian who shot Mozarrella?" Gussie asked.

"Yes…though he was captured by one of Quinn's underlings in Central Park last night. The police probably have him now, and they're going to try to make him tell them where the Lenape hideout is. They'd have Vartan and I too if we'd been present."

"Hmm, not much hope of spwinging him fwee now," said Gussie, "Unfortunatewy, without concwete pwoof of Quinn's cowwuption, I can't go pubwic with it. We need pwoof."

"I know," said Nellie, "I'm not sure if we could get our hands on the actual will, but if we did Quinn Ratbone's political career would be finished."

"And he'd take his fwiends down with him," said Gussie, "Could your…anonymous inside contact pwocure it for us?"

"She's taken a big risk telling me this already," said Nellie, "We will see. She's lucky he didn't punish her for looking at the will in the first place."

"Maybe there is another way…" said Gussie, "What do we know about his mother?"

"His mother…" Nellie stopped to consider it, "Presumably some 'lady of the night' from London. I don't think the will named her. Even Basil would probably have a hard time tracking her down. And even so, she'd be on the other side of the Atlantic."

"Wats, we have to find another way," said Gussie, "Maybe we can do something about your Native American fwiend in pwison. Don't wowwy, you're with me now. We will work zis through together. And since it's dangerous for you two out there, feel fwee to stay with me."

"Thank you Gussie, you're too kind." Nellie said.

Outside the window, a certain seven-legged arachnid eavesdropped on the conversation, listening very carefully.

"Boss isn't going to be happy about this," said Chula to himself, "Someone's ratted him out. Guess now that Nellie's bunking with Mausheimer we'll just have to kill two mice with one stone…"

With that, Chula scurried off to find Cat R. Waul, who would then report it to Quinn.

__________________________________________________________________

Bernard Mousekewitz and Hiram Flaversham sat down on the ground in the Chief's tent, with its entrance guarded by two large members of the tribe.

"You did well to make it past our traps," said Chief Wulisso, pacing back and forth in front of the intricate bead tapestry which depicted the history of the Lenape, their 'greatest treasure', "I am somewhat alarmed at the number of Upper-Worlders that have survived the traps in recent years."

"I knew vhat vas coming because Fievel told me about it," said Bernard, "If he hadn't, I'd have been cooked by ze hot coals before I even made it to ze other traps."

"He did not mention the way to bypass the traps?"

"He did," Bernard answered, "But I knew ve vere being followed. I had to go through the traps to shake zem off ze trail."

"You were followed. Who is the bat?"

"A nasty fellow," said Hiram, "I've dealt with him many times in the past. He works for Ratbone now."

"The one who wants us all killed," said Wulisso, "Was he alone?"

"No," Bernard answered, "Zere vas a lizard."

"It could have been another of Ratigan's former henchmen," said Hiram, "I remember him employing a lizard."

"Where is he?"

The two men hesitated.

"After ze coals, ve didn't see him," said Bernard.

Wulisso frowned. He called to one of his guards in the Lenape language. The guard came in, and Wulisso gave him orders. The guard nodded, and then exited the tent.

"Can we just take our children and get out of here?" Hiram asked.

"No," said Wulisso, "You are not going anywhere for now. We need to seal the tunnel. We are in the midst of an invasion."

"What? Are you keeping us prisoner?" Hiram asked, his anger rising.

"We cannot take any more risks. No more Upper-Worlders may enter or leave while we are on high alert. You already brought two of our enemies in with you, however innocent your intentions were, and if the lizard escaped, he will tell others of our hidden entrance. Perhaps you will be allowed to leave at a later date. But for now, you remain here."

"This is an outrage!" Hiram said.

"Calm down," said Bernard, before turning to Wulisso, "I see your reasoning for sealing ze tunnels and keeping us here. But all ve vant to do is go home. You let us go, and ve'll take our children straight to ze train station and out of New York. You have my promise."

"Afraid not, father of Chalus-Chalus. We are to be invaded at any moment now. Do you not think that if you leave you won't be immediately seized as well? They saw you enter the passage. This is for the safety of you and your children just as it is for the safety of my tribe."

"So you're just going to bomb ze only passage out of here?" Bernard asked, "You'll be trapping yourselves down here too."

"A bombing is not required in this case," said Wulisso, "We will merely collapse the ceiling of the narrow tunnel you entered manually. And there is still another, secret way to the surface. But I will not risk giving its location away by letting you use it at this time."

"Ya canno' be serious!" Hiram exclaimed, "Look, we'll go in the dead of night, no one will see us use the secret exit!"

"No one leaves. That is my final order. Now if you will excuse me, I must speak to my warriors. They are not well trained for battle. I am afraid we must use the remaining time we have before the oncoming invasion to train them. You will be taken to the tent your children are staying in, and can speak to them there. We know you mean us no harm, and you will be treated as honored guests. The bat will not be as fortunate."

"Do whatever ya want with the bat," Hiram sighed, standing up. Bernard did the same, "Just take me to my daughter."

Wulisso nodded, and gave a command to his guards, who came in and directed the two fathers to the guest tent. Fievel and Olivia had been sent there to wait for their parents. Fievel and Olivia sat at the other end of the tent from the entrance, Fievel with his arms around Olivia, comforting her as she'd been overcome with anxiety and worry about her father being there.

"Daddy," she said, looking at her father, "I'm…I'm sorry, I shouldn't have gone…"

Hiram frowned. He had mixed feelings. Overjoyed to see his daughter alive and well, but furious at what she had done.

"Come with me lass. We'll have this conversation outside. In private."

She looked to Fievel, before getting to her feet and walking to her father.

"Um, hello Papa…" Fievel said to his father, pulling on his collar nervously, "W-was it a nice train ride?"

"You're grounded until Hanukkah. And vhen ve get home, your mother vill ground you until the next Hanukkah."

Fievel gave a sad groan, and Hiram led Olivia out of the tent, looking for an area in the cavern where he wouldn't be overheard.

"Daddy, I'm so sorry," Olivia said, sniffling as she held her father's hand as they walked.

"Are ya now? Sorry you got caught? That I had to come all the way to New York to get you?"

"No…I'm sorry I hurt you," Olivia said, "I knew as soon as I got on the train I'd made a mistake. We…we thought we'd find Tony and Tanya, and that they would take care of us, and we'd only be gone about a week before we came home with Tony…"

"Well, because of your running away from home, we may be trapped in this cave for some time."

"What do ye mean?" Olivia asked.

"They're sealing the tunnels, because that dastardly bat and his lizard friend followed us in here. The lizard might have gotten away. Now we'll be trapped here until further notice. Maybe even permanently."

"No, Nellie and Basil won't let that happen daddy," Olivia said, "They'll beat that old Ratbone. And we'll go home."

Hiram stopped in his tracks, and looked down at Olivia in anger.

"Olivia. Give me a good reason why I should let you continue to be with the Mousekewitz lad anymore. Because I blame him for this more than I blame you."

Olivia's eyes widened, "Fievel, he…he's sorry too daddy. Ya don't mean yer gonna break us up?"

"I wanted to. As soon as I read that letter you left. I was going to move us out of Green River. Go someplace that's better for business, and further from New York or England. Like San Francisco."

Olivia gasped, tears streaming down her cheeks. She didn't have the words to reply to this.

"I've had more time to think since then," Hiram concluded, "I don't trust that boy anymore, but I know how much it would hurt you if I separated you. I don't want to cause ya any pain. The question is would it be for your own good in the long run?"

"It…it wouldn't daddy, no!" Olivia cried, "I…I need him. He was the one who was there for me when ya got kidnapped the second time. He saved my life in the river."

"He was the reason your life was in danger to begin with," Hiram said, "You weren't supposed to be rafting in the river."

"It's gonna be different from now on," Olivia pleaded, "He knows we made a mistake, and I do too. No more risk-taking, no more adventures. Just please, please don't separate us daddy!"

"I already lost yer mother Olivia," Hiram said, trying his best not to be moved by his daughter's tears, as he hated to have to hurt her, "I don't want to lose you too. If I give you one more chance, would it be your last?"

"We've learned our lesson daddy, honest, it will never happen again," Olivia said, begging on her knees, on the edge of sobbing.

"Perhaps you should listen to your daughter, Upper-Worlder," came a deep voice from behind.

Hiram turned, and saw that Chief Wulisso was standing behind him.

"Is a bit of privacy too much to ask, Chief?" Hiram asked with irritation.

"I could hear you from my tent," he said, "And it is my business to know what goes on in my village."

"So you've come ta tell me how to parent me own child, have you?"

"No, only to offer you a warning, from one father to another," the Chief explained, "You see, I once had a daughter too, not long ago. And…I have lost her. I wanted to keep her down here, have her marry one of my warriors, raise children. I wanted to keep her safe. But she wanted to be in the Upper-World. She had been given a taste of life beneath the sun before with your daughter's friend, who you know as Fievel, and upon her return she yearned for nothing else. More than anything she wanted to be free, not trapped beneath the ground. She was as a bird in a cage. So, she left. And to keep the rest of my tribe obedient and safe, I had no choice but to publicly disown her. Now, I will never see her again."

Olivia and Hiram fell silent, as the Chief related his sad tale.

"I miss her dearly, and it pains me every day," he continued, "But, I was left with no choice. If I were to let her travel back and forth freely, the rest of my tribe would demand the same freedoms. And before long, cats and European mice would do to us what was done to the human Lenape. For us to be safe, we must stay hidden. So I had to banish her. I only wish there could have been another way."

"I see," said Hiram, nodding sadly.

"Your little Firefly is a free spirit, much like my daughter," the Chief said, "I may not have had a choice in banishing my daughter, but you do have a choice. Certainly it was not right for your daughter to run away. But, if you take away her freedom, it would be like keeping her locked in a cage."

Hiram looked down at Olivia, who wiped tears from her eyes.

"I'll never leave ye again daddy, no matter what, even…even if you decide ta do this," she said, "But please give Fievel one more chance…please daddy. For me."

Hiram sighed, "Don't make me regret it, Olivia. Yer all I got left in the world."

Olivia got to her feet and gave her father a tight hug, with tears continuing to roll down her cheeks. Hiram smiled lightly, and patted her on the head. Chief Wulisso gave a nod, and went on his way, back to where his warriors were getting ready to train against dummies stuffed with straw. As angry as Hiram had been, nothing brought him more happiness than feeling the embrace of his only daughter again, his mind drifting to thoughts of her mother.