The Great Mouse Reporter ~ Chapter 38

"I lose my way, no one cares. The things I say, no one hears. My world it seems, is a world of dreams…"

Tanya relished in the spotlight during her solo musical number, one she'd convinced the director to insert into the play near the end of the first act, where her character wistfully longs for her crush Ichobod Crane to confess his love to her. As always, her audience paid rapt attention, captivated by her singing. She hoped that maybe if enough mice took notice of her singing ability she could go into a singing career along with acting, as that was her real passion.

And as per usual most nights, Quinn had stopped in to watch her performance from the audience. He had a meeting with his business partners at the Mott Street Mauler's hideout at 11pm, just after the play ended. He had other reasons for attending though. He needed to make sure that he and Tanya were on the same page. She knew about his father's will, and Gussie Mausheimer wanted that information. The two of them seemed to know one another from the past. Best to nip any potential problems in the bud at this crucial stage in his plans.

The audience clapped as Tanya finished her song, and the curtains closed on the first act. Quinn took this as his cue to head backstage, since he wouldn't have time after the play to speak with her. Other audience members headed out to the concession stands during the intermission, but Quinn headed in the opposite direction. While shuffling down the aisle, he accidentally bumped into an older white-furred female mouse, who fell backwards on the steps.

"Oh, excuse me dear miss," said Quinn, reaching for her hand, "Are you okay? You really should pay more attention to where you're going."

"I'm…alright," she said, wincing as she took Quinn's hand.

She locked eyes with him. For a moment, it seemed as though time had frozen. Quinn got a strange feeling from this woman, and he couldn't understand why. The expression on her face seemed a mixture of shock and sadness. Perhaps it was because of the nasty spill she had just taken, Quinn rationalized. Besides, he was somebody famous now. Maybe she was star-struck too.

Quinn shook away the strange feeling, and helped her to her feet. He did need to keep up appearances in public after all, and anyone witnessing the scene would gain a higher opinion of him for helping the lady.

"Enjoy the rest of the play miss," Quinn said with a smile.

"Th-thank you…Quinn," she said, as if in a state of disbelief.

Quinn nodded, and went off toward the backstage area, walking to Tanya's dressing room. He knocked on her door.

"Come in," she answered.

Quinn opened the door, "Hello again my sweet. Terrific performance as always."

Tanya looked over her shoulder at him as she powdered her cheeks, "I'm getting pretty used to the part. Only a few more days though until the last performance, then I'll need to be hired on to star in a different play."

"Leave that to me," he said, "It shouldn't be hard now that you've proven yourself. I've heard A Midsummer Night's Dream is going to be playing soon."

"I love that play," she exclaimed with excitement.

"So do I," he said, "Listen dear, I need to leave as soon as tonight's play is done, but before then I had a couple things I wanted to briefly talk to you about."

"Hm? And what are those?"

"I wanted you to realize that Ms. Mausheimer is fixing to be a major political rival to me," he began, "Right now she'd look for just about anything at all to discredit me."

Tanya listened carefully. It sounded like Nellie had successfully joined forces with Gussie Mausheimer, and Quinn knew about it.

"Well, I only said she helped my family find my little brother once, beside that we're not close."

"Good, you would be well-advised to keep it that way. Surely you realize that you have the kind of information she's looking for…the kind that could destroy my reputation."

"It's safe with me, Quinn," Tanya assured him, getting up from her chair and walking over to him, "I'd never tell anybody about it. After all, where would I be without you?"

Quinn smiled, putting his hands on her shoulders, "That's my little starlet. I see that I'm preaching to the choir right now, but I just wanted to be sure. I have something very big coming up. A pivotal point in my political career. And I wouldn't want something to come along and ruin it."

"What's coming up?" Tanya asked.

"Ah, well…why don't I leave it a surprise, hm? It's not that I don't trust you of course, I just want you to be just as surprised as everyone else."

Tanya raised an eyebrow, "Well…okay."

"I promise Tanya, after I prove myself an effective mayor, the world will be ours for the taking. It will be just you and me, on top of the world," he gently stroked the tuft of fur on her cheek, making her blush a little.

Inside Tanya fought not to let him sweep her off her feet, but she couldn't ignore the pounding in her chest. She knew she couldn't be with both him and Vartan. And she suspected whatever big plan he had coming up that he didn't want to tell her about wasn't going to be good. Why was it almost always the bad boys she fell for, she wondered. Perhaps it was that she knew he wasn't all bad.

Quinn gave a soft chuckle, "Oh how rude of me, I wouldn't want to fluster you before the performance. Why, you could start stumbling over your lines. Try to focus, dear Tanya. We could pick up where we left off another time. I knew I could never doubt you."

He gave her a soft peck on the cheek, and patted it.

"Good bye for now," he said, "I'll still be in the audience."

And with that he left, Tanya indeed feeling both flustered and conflicted. Quinn had only been getting more flirtatious each day. What was his ultimate plan for her? And, would it even be safe for her to say no?

Tanya had to push her feelings aside to make her way through the next two acts, and tried not to notice Quinn in the audience. By the end of the night, she was exhausted and her vocal chords tired out. Quinn had left to whatever secret meeting he was holding with his peers. After changing into her regular dress with a kerchief over her hair, she left out of the back entrance of the auditorium. There was a light rain that night, so she readied her umbrella. It was then that she was approached by someone from the shadows.

"Excuse me, miss," said a white-furred female mouse, "Are you…Tanya Mousekewitz?"

A fan, at this hour, in the rain? Tanya supposed she should feel flattered.

"Yes Miss," she replied politely, "Would you like an autograph?"

"No thanks, that's not why I was looking for you," she said, "Your manager is Quinn, correct? Quinn Ratbone? I read about it in the newspaper."

Tanya nodded, "He is. I know having the mayor as my manager is quite the privilege."

The woman looked around, making certain they were alone.

"There's something I need to know about him," she whispered, "Although…since running into him earlier…I think I already know the answer. I've come a long way to get here."

Tanya blinked, "Wh-what might that be, ma'am?"

The women came close to Tanya, and whispered the question into her ear.

"Is Quinn the son of Ratigan?"

Tanya gave a small gasp, and the woman pulled away, looking at Tanya with saddened eyes. Tanya didn't know how to answer this.

"Who are you?" Tanya asked.

"Answer my question, please Tanya."

Tanya hesitated, gripping her umbrella tightly.

"If I tell you who he is…I could get in trouble," Tanya said quietly.

"I promise he will never know I got the answer from you," the woman said, "I swear."

"I…well…" Tanya didn't know how this woman knew who Quinn was, but with a gulp, Tanya slowly nodded her head yes to her question.

The woman's eyes widened, "I knew it, when I looked into his face, his eyes."

"Who are you?" Tanya asked again.

The woman fought back a sob, and took out a handkerchief to dry her eyes, though her fur was already wet from the rain. She remained silent, not wanting to answer Tanya's question.

"You must have known Ratigan," Tanya said, before an idea entered her mind. The woman seemed a bit older. She was still very beautiful, but easily in her late 30's. Could she be who Tanya thought?

"Where are you staying?" Tanya asked.

"Nowhere," she said sadly, "I…I just got off the boat this morning…"

"From where? England?"

She slowly nodded.

"Come with me to my apartment," Tanya said, "We'll talk more there."

Tanya offered the woman shelter under her umbrella. Because the woman was taller than Tanya, she offered to let her hold it as they walked back to Tanya's apartment, a silent trip down the rainy sidewalks of the city. When finally they reached the apartment, Cholena was making some tea because it would help Tanya's voice. She was shocked when she turned and saw Tanya bringing someone else into the apartment.

"Ah! Tanya! Who…who is our guest?" Cholena sputtered, before trying to act natural because she didn't have time to hide in the bedroom.

"I don't know," Tanya said, feeling sympathy for Cholena and hoping this woman could be trusted, "But…she needed help. She knows something about Quinn, and Ratigan."

Cholena cocked her head, interested in this mystery woman. The woman folded the umbrella, and sat on the sofa, burying her face in her arms as she leaned on the arm of the sofa. Tanya took a seat beside her, and Cholena sat down across from them in a chair.

"I guess I owe you an explanation," she sniffed.

"It's safe to talk here," Tanya said, "Quinn's at a meeting, and so is anyone who might eavesdrop."

She gave a shaky sigh, drying her tears and sitting up.

"My name is Catherine Mouse, I'm a burlesque singer from London," she said.

"A singer," Tanya was instantly interested, "That's what I want to be, though I like being an actress too."

Catherine smiled a little, and then looked to Cholena, expecting her to introduce herself. Cholena stayed silent.

"Don't mind my roommate," Tanya said quickly, "You can trust her. She probably wants to make sure she can trust you first though, before she tells you about herself."

"Oh, okay, I understand," Catherine said, looking back to Tanya, "How close are you to Quinn? If I tell you anything more about myself, I want to be sure you won't tell him."

Tanya wasn't even certain how to answer the question to herself, "It's kind of complicated, but I…I won't tell him about you. You can trust me on that."

Catherine nodded.

"Well…you see, Quinn's father, Ratigan…he and I had a history. A long history." She stayed silent for a moment, struggling with how to put her past into words, "Around twenty one years ago, when I was probably about your age Tanya, I was in my late teens, just starting out in the singing business. Ratigan and I…well…I thought I loved him. I knew he had a reputation for being a terrible criminal, but there was another side to him, you know? One that no one ever saw."

Tanya listened closely, as this all seemed very familiar.

"And then, well…I got pregnant. Ratigan was furious, he knew a child would only make him more vulnerable. And I was just a young girl, starting out on my career. I wasn't ready for a child. So…Ratigan had the baby shipped off to an orphanage in America."

"And the baby's name was Quinn…" Tanya finished.

Catherine nodded, her eyes tearing up again, "I…I never stopped regretting it."

Tanya hugged her, and she hugged back, as Cholena looked on.

"I knew his last name was changed to Ratbone , and that Ratigan was keeping track of him. When I heard Ratigan had died, I wanted to finally go and find Quinn, but I didn't know where to start. Ratigan never told me where Quinn had been sent, other than that it was in America, besides that, by then he would have been too old for the orphanage. And then…I started seeing his name in the newspapers, and the articles said that he'd become mayor and inherited a fortune from his mystery parent after growing up an orphan, and…I dropped everything, and got on a boat to New York. My two sisters tried to talk me out of it, but…I had to. I had to know if it was really him."

"I can't believe it…you're Quinn's mother," Tanya said.

"Maybe you can be the one to help us," said Cholena.

"Help you…what do you mean?" Catherine asked.

Tanya knew this would be hard for Catherine to hear, but she had to tell her.

"Catherine, after Ratigan died, Quinn received his will. He inherited Ratigan's fortune, and Ratigan gave Quinn a plan that's supposed to result in him becoming president of the United States. But a lot of mice are going to be hurt in the process…some already have been."

Catherine was stunned at this news.

"Quinn wants to destroy my native tribe to further his own goals," Cholena added, "Because of him, I am a fugitive."

"He…he what?"

"It was all part of Ratigan's plan," Tanya explained, "He's following it word for word, because he wants to make his father proud of him."

"Ratigan…is turning my son into another criminal?" Catherine's shock slowly melted into anger, "Why…to use my son like that…as some sort of backup plan in case he died!"

"Quinn's not a completely bad person," said Tanya, "Maybe you could talk him out of it? The will didn't really say anything about you."

"You've read it?"

Tanya nodded, "It said you were some…lady of the night? I don't think he knows anything about you. It made it sound like you didn't care about him when he was born. Ratigan must not have wanted him to find you."

"Lady of the…." She let out an angry scream and punched the sofa, as Tanya backed away. Catherine huffed, balling her fists.

"I…probably shouldn't have said that," Tanya said sheepishly.

"No…no, I'm glad you did," Catherine said, breathing heavily, "I can't let there be another Ratigan in the world."

The three of them were silent, as Catherine slowly calmed down. Eventually, she looked to Cholena.

"I'm sorry, for…whatever he's doing to your tribe."

Cholena nodded, finally trusting Catherine, "My name is Cholena, my tribe is the Lenape."

"Cholena," Catherine repeated, "I'm truly sorry. We're going to stop him before he hurts anyone else. I'm going to take back my son, and we're going to live a normal life."

"I don't know where to begin," Tanya said, "He's already mayor, he's friends with the cat gangs, the stray dogs, the editor of the newspaper and the sweatshop owners in the city."

"We'll find a way," said Catherine.

Tanya thought for a moment, "We may want to get you in contact with Nellie Brie, and Gussie Mausheimer."

"Who are they?" Catherine asked.

"They're friends," Tanya answered, "Together, we'll do this. We'll save your tribe, Cholena. And maybe, we'll even save Quinn."