Abigail and the Rats of NIMH ~ Chapters 21-30

Part 2

 Penny didn't sleep that night. She laid awake in bed, racked with guilt. She had, unintentionally, brought about the destruction of the mice that had rescued her when she was a child, she knew. In doing so she'd prevented the rescue of other children around the world. And she may have even caused the deaths of the ones who had rescued her as a child, Bernard and Bianca. She didn't know for sure; they could have been among the ones captured to be experimented on. Or they could have not been there at all. Sixteen years is a long time. Maybe they were retired. Or already dead. But the mere possibility of them being dead because of her was unbearable.

It was Sunday today. Though she'd been looking forward to her weekend break on Friday night, the wait now was agonizing. She'd go straight to the lab Monday morning, and the moment she was alone she'd look through the cages and find the new mice, see if Bernard or Bianca was there. And if not, she would ask the mice there if they knew where Bernard and Bianca were.

For now, Penny laid in bed, clutching her teddy bear, her eyes bloodshot. She knew the bear was just pretend, but the mice had been real all along. All of that therapy, and bullying at school, and she had been right the whole time. It made her bitter to look back on it. The world forced her into becoming something she wasn't. Penny became a torturer of the animals she'd once rescued, and all because she’d been brainwashed into believing they didn't have real feelings. She looked at the broken mirror in her room. She'd become a complete mess in the past week. The disarray of her apartment reflected that.

The phone rang beside her bed. She turned toward it, and reached for the phone. She froze for a moment, and then brought her arm back, clutching her teddy bear. She didn't feel like speaking to anyone. It was probably just her adoptive mother wondering why she hadn't called all week. They didn't know what Penny did for a living. They thought she just created new medicines and treatments to help people with psychological problems. That's what she'd told them, because at the time that's what she thought she was doing. But no. She was a murderer. A tormentor.

The answering machine came on.

“Hi, you've reached Penny Stacy. If you'd like to leave a message, leave your name and number after the beep.”

*Beep*

“Why hello there Penny, I do hope you're enjoying a relaxing weekend in New York!”

Penny sat up. It was Dr. Nimnul speaking.

“Tomorrow we have all sorts of fun planned for you at the lab! I want you to tell me everything about these Rescue Rodents, and I mean everything. So start digging up those repressed childhood memories. There's no use in lying to protect them, we have six of them here, and the rest are dead! Oh but don't worry, today we're just getting genetic samples from the remaining six to see what kind of mutation is causing them to be so darned bright for their species, they'll still be quite alive by tomorrow. Whether or not they survive to the end of tomorrow might depend on you. Well, ta ta!”

*Beep*

Penny shuddered, her head spinning. How did he think he was going to get away with this? How did he think she was going to tell him anything after what they'd done? Could he be spying on her right now? He seemed to think she was still in New York, so maybe not. Still, she closed the blinds, and then rewound the tape, listening to Nimnul's message again. That bastard. So smug. Her anger boiled. She took the cassette out of the answering machine and began violently pulling the magnetic tape out from it, before hurling it against the wall.

Work was going to suck tomorrow.

Abigail awoke with a start, jarred awake by the sensation of being lifted in the air by that one-eyed owl. She gasped and panted, waking up Willy and Michelle, who were both sleeping against her on top of a blanket laid over the ground.

"Mmph…you okay?" Willy murmured.

"Y-yes, I am," said Abigail.

Michelle yawned and stretched, "Is it morning?"

"I'm not so sure," Abigail answered, wiping her brow, just above the bandage.

"You had a nightmare, huh?" Willy asked.

"Yes, but I'm alright," Abigail said, rubbing her eyes and muttering, “Life’s been a nightmare lately anyway.”

Abigail immediately regretted sounding so negative in front of Michelle, but she wasn’t listening. Michelle rose to her feet, and stepped over Edgar to tip-toe upstairs and see if it was light out. She opened the door to see that it was indeed sunrise.

"The sun's up! Wake up everybody!" she shouted.

Russell and Edgar groaned.

"We've got all day, can't we sleep a little longer?" Russell complained.

"I bet she wishes she had that bell at Cornelius' house," said Edgar.

Gadget, Dale and Zipper awoke to her shout as well, slowly rising up taking the leaves off the plane, and coming inside.

"So Abigail, ready to see that owl today?" Russell asked.

"Nooot particularly," Abigail sighed.

Mrs. Brisby walked out of her bedroom.

"Oh, good morning children," she said with a cheerful smile, "Good to see you're easier to wake up than my children."

Gadget and Dale greeted Mrs. Brisby as well.

"The plane has limited seating, so I was thinking four of us could ride over there while the rest stay around here until we get back. It could hold more, but I don't think it's a good idea to bring too many."

"I suppose I'm going?" Mrs. Brisby asked, "I'm not overly fond of flying, but…"

"You'll be in the front seat Mrs. Brisby, as the navigator. We'll need two others to help with the wings. Volunteers, anyone?"

"I wanna go!" said Michelle.

Everyone looked at Michelle, and it was silent for a few moments.

"Oh alright, I'll stay here, as usual," Michelle sighed, kicking the ground.

"So…I don't have to go if I don't want to?" Abigail asked.

"I guess not," Gadget answered.

"Are you sure you don't want to go?" Mrs. Brisby asked, "I have a feeling you would be able to state your case much better than anyone else here."

"Really? What makes you say that?"

Mrs. Brisby smiled, "I can just tell something about you. The way you care for your friends, how you've been through so much but haven't given up. Michelle told me a lot yesterday. You may have a deep-seated fear of owls, but I know you can conquer it. You have courage of the heart, Abigail, and I think the Great Owl will see that."

Abigail was flattered, folding her arms around her back, looking down, rocking on her heels, "…okay. I'll go."

"One more seat then," said Gadget.

"I'll go too," Willy volunteered.

Abigail gave him an appreciative smile. He really would follow her just about anywhere, no matter the danger.

"Okay, it's settled then," said Gadget, "Dale, you can be the babysitter."

"Suits me," said Dale, not wanting to meet some scary old owl, "So uh, got any board games around here?"

"Board games?" Timmy cocked his head, "I dunno about that, but maybe we can play stickball."

"Hm, kinda like baseball is it? You probably haven't heard of that."

"Behave yourself, kids," said Mrs. Brisby, starting to walk up the stairs, "I won't be long."

"Yes mother," said both Timothy and Cynthia.

"Be careful up there, Abigail," said Edgar.

"I will," said Abigail, hugging Edgar and then Russell, and finally Michelle, "I'll be back, don't worry about me."

Willy took her hand, "Ready?"

Abigail nodded, and the two of them followed Gadget and Mrs. Brisby outiside, walking up to the Ranger Wingamathing.

"The important thing is to not let the owl intimidate you," advised Mrs. Brisby, as she climbed into the front seat, "It's going to be scary, Abigail, trust me. But you have to be straightforward with him. If you tell him why your problem is so urgent maybe he'll listen."

Abigail nodded, listening to the advice attentively, but also feeling her anxiety rise. She and Willy got into the back seat and began cranking the winder-uppers. Mrs. Brisby watched in amazement as the wings began to flap, and the aircraft lifted off the ground. Gadget fastened her seatbelt, and Mrs. Brisby watched her, getting the idea and clumsily fastening her own seatbelt, fumbling with the buckle before fitting it together.

"Neat, huh?" asked Gadget with a smile.

"It's nicer than riding a bird, " Mrs. Brisby remarked, looking upward and then over the edge.

"You should have seen how it originally was built. We added the wings up there after our batteries ran out."

Mrs. Brisby looked to Gadget, "Are you from…well…I suppose you'd have told me by now if you were."

"Am I from what?"

"You just seem so intelligent, I couldn't help but wonder if you were from NIMH too."

Gadget giggled, "Nah, I was just born this way. My dad used to be a pilot too."

"So you're just gifted," Mrs. Brisby said, "It's just that a contraption like this is just the sort of thing one of those rats would come up with. Oh, but I shouldn't say too much about them."

"I can't take all the credit. The kids' teacher from Dapplewood forest invented a plane made of leaves and twigs, and that design is what our wings are modeled after. We added it after our little mishap yesterday."

"Is that so?" Mrs. Brisby glanced back at Abigail and Willy, who were hard at work getting the plane airborne, "Michelle's uncle you mean?"

"Yes, Cornelius," Abigail answered, "He's one of the ones that the humans took away."

Mrs. Brisby turned back to the front of the plane, looking down, "You know, I can't guarantee anything's going to come of all this."

"What do you mean?" asked Abigail.

"I mean that the rats, well…even if the Great Owl decides it would be worth telling you where they are, I can't say for sure they'll even help you. When you reach them they may not even let you…n-nevermind. I'll tell you more later."

Gadget studied Mrs. Brisby's face. Maybe they were being too optimistic with this plan. Suppose the rats didn't like outsiders? Gadget wanted to know what Mrs. Brisby had to do with them, and what had led to her taking an oath of secrecy. Obviously they were hiding from humans, but what threat did other rodents pose to them? Just how was Mrs. Brisby going to finish that sentence before she stopped?

After flying over the forest for a time, Mrs. Brisby spoke up again, "We're getting close. I think that's the tree down there."

"Okay, unlock the wings and we'll land on a branch."

Willy and Abigail did so. They circled a tree that had a hollow opening in it. Just the sort of place an owl would nest. Abigail's fur stood on end, even seeing it from afar. She was brought back to that night when the one-eyed owl took her into its den.

The plane landed on a branch.

"So…do we all go in?" Abigail asked.

"I guess I'll stay by the plane while you three go in," said Gadget.

"I need to be there so the owl knows not to eat you," said Mrs. Brisby, undoing her seatbelt and climbing out of the plane.

"Okay," Abigail climbed out as well, followed by Willy.

As they walked down the branch Abigail grasped Willy’s hand so tightly it hurt, but Willy didn't want to say anything, already self-conscious over the fact that she was physically stronger than he was. He was however, just as frightened as she.

"Hello?" Mrs. Brisby called into the darkness, "Great Owl?"

There was an ominous silence.

"I guess he's not home…" said Abigail, relieved.

"Who goes there?" came a booming, deep voice from inside.

"It's…it's Mrs. Jonathan Brisby…do you remember me?"

Even Mrs. Brisby was nervous, her voice shaky. There was a silence again.

"Who is with you?" came the same loud voice.

"Um…other mice…ones who want your help, i-if that's alright…"

"Send them in, or go away."

"All right," Mrs. Brisby glanced over at Abigail and nudged her head toward the hole, "Come on."

Abigail swallowed hard, holding Willy's hand, and began walking forward.

"Just you!" he bellowed from within.

"Wh-who…me?" Mrs. Brisby asked.

"No. The one who requests my help."

"But…but all three do…"

"I heard a girl. Send her."

Abigail looked to Mrs. Brisby pleadingly, "I can't go alone…"

"Enter, or leave!"

"Why can't I go with?" Willy asked.

"You dare question me?" the voice growled.

Willy shivered, "N-no, Mr. Owl sir, s-sorry 'bout that…uhh…"

"I will not repeat myself again. Send the girl in, or go away."

"Go on, Abigail," said Mrs. Brisby.

She looked back at Willy, her heart beating out of her chest. She let go of his hand, and he took it back, massaging it and moving his fingers.

"Good luck, Abby," said Willy, trying not to wince due to his hand.

Abigail nodded, and turned toward the opening. She closed her eyes.

"Remember Cornelius…remember daddy…"

Slowly, she walked into the tree. It was dark. There were cobwebs everywhere. Abigail kept her eyes open and alert, not sure what would jump at her from the shadows. She saw some spiders scurry along the walls, and in her distraction she tripped over something, falling forward. When she turned to see what it was, she saw the skeleton of a mouse. She gasped and crawled away quickly, until bumping into something soft and shrouded in spider webs. She stepped away, wiping the webs from her furry muzzle, and looked up. The owl stared down at her with glowing yellow eyes.

"Are you afraid?" the owl asked.

Abigail took a few steps back, and nodded slowly.

"But you've come into my den anyway. Alone. Into the den of someone that could eat you in a second if he wanted to."

Abigail stepped back until hitting the wall. She stared up at him, eyes wide.

"Fearful as you may be, it took courage to do that. I wanted you to come alone, to see if you would really do so."

She tried to speak, but at first no words would come. Finally she forced them out.

"I-I just…have had bad experiences, with owls…"

"Hm. Yet you live to tell the tale. You must have much courage. Fear is natural. If a mouse walking into the den of an owl was not afraid, it would have to be brainless. Courage is doing what needs to be done, regardless of your fear."

Abigail wet her lips, panting, but said nothing.

"What is it that you want, friend of Jonathan Brisby's widow?"

Abigail hesitated for a moment, searching for the right words. This was important.

"I…I want to know where the rats from NIMH live. I need their help."

The owl glared at her, "Mrs. Jonathan Brisby brought you here to ask me that?"

Abigail nodded slowly, "Humans from NIMH k-kidnapped…everyone from where I live. From Dapplewood."

"Dapplewood. Yes. I've heard of it. Everyone, you say?"

"Yes. My father, my friends' families, my teacher Cornelius…"

"Cornelius? The badger?"

Abigail gave a look of surprise, "Y-yes, him…h-how do you know who he is?"

"His name is not unknown in these woods," was the owl’s cryptic reply, "Student of Cornelius, if he and your family are at NIMH, there is almost no hope. Creatures that are taken there never return. The humans will not make the mistake they made with the rats twice."

Abigail looked down, "I can't give up."

"I say, almost no hope. The rats may have the ability to help you. But, they are very secretive, and weary of strangers. If I give you the whereabouts of their settlement and you go there, know that they may not help you. They also may not allow you to leave."

"What?"

"No one ever leaves Thorn Valley. They want its location to be a complete secret."

"Thorn Valley," Abigail repeated in a whisper.

"Are you prepared for the consequences?"

"I…I suppose I have no other choice. They're the only ones who know anything about NIMH."

"Very well. Thorn Valley lies beyond the woods, along the banks of the nearest river. There is a deep ravine, surrounded on both sides by a briar patch. You will find the entrance to their settlement at the trunk of a lone tree beside the river, surrounded by a thicket of thorny plants. Tell this to absolutely no one but those you plan on taking with you."

Abigail followed the words closely, memorizing them.

"Okay…thank you, Great Owl…"

"You are truly a courageous one. May you be successful. Now, leave me. I must slumber."

Abigail nodded, and quickly scurried away, hopping over the mouse skeleton and back into the light.

"Abigail!" Willy exclaimed, running up to her and hugging her tightly.

"Did he tell you?" Mrs. Brisby asked.

"Yes, he did," she answered.

Mrs. Brisby breathed a sigh of relief, and Gadget walked up to them.

"He knew who Cornelius was," Abigail said, resting her chin on Willy's shoulder.

"Golly, he did?" Gadget asked, "I guess we're really not too far away from Dapplewood."

"I never found out how he knew my husband," Mrs. Brisby remarked, "What else did the owl say?"

"He said that if we go…they might never let us out again."

Mrs. Brisby looked to the side, "Yes…that's true. My son and daughter, Martin and Teresa…they went to Thorn Valley to live with the rats, once they became adults. And they can’t leave. When Timmy and Cynthia are old enough I'll let them choose whether or not they want to go too."

"Why didn't you go?" Abigail asked.

"Well I wanted to give my children a choice. Timmy and Cynthia still need me. Maybe one day, if both my children decide to go, I'll go with them."

Abigail thought it must be sad having to decide something like that.

"Well, let's go get the others, and we'll go to this Thorn Valley place together," said Gadget, "Maybe we can convince them to help us and let us leave afterwards."

Abigail nodded, and Willy let go of the hug. The four of them got back into the Ranger Wingamathing, and headed back toward the farm. Abigail knew that facing the owl would be only the first fear she'd have to conquer before this was over.

Chapter 22: Chapter 22

Wilbur glided over the city of Washington D.C., with Bernard and Bianca on his back. The two of them were dirty, exhausted and still in shock over the massacre they had narrowly survived the day before. Bianca couldn't stop blaming herself for not going back to help the other mice. Bernard insisted going back would have meant death. Once the two had staggered up to the roof and Wilbur dislodged his beak from the door, they explained everything, and resolved to make the trip to the nearest Rescue Aid Society outpost, located to the south, in the basement of the United Nations Information Center in Washington D.C. With any luck it hadn't been hit yet.

"So many great members…gone," Bianca lamented, "Vhat do you think became of the ones those…those dastardly humans took avay?"

"Hopefully they're alive," Bernard said, his arm around his wife, trying to comfort her, "We'll get them back. Rescuing is what we do after all."

"Ve've never had to rescue our own kind before."

"I know." Wilbur sighed, "I think we're about there now. I sure hope they know what to do there."

The building was on K Street, which was lined with offices and embassies, and someplace Bernard and Bianca had visitied many times before, being not too far from the Hungarian embassy. The albatross made a landing on the sidewalk in front of the building, making sure no humans were watching, and quickly Bernard and Bianca slid down his wing.

"I'll be on the roof waiting for you to come back out," Wilbur whispered.

"Okay, thank you," Bianca replied.

The two of them waited patiently at a rotating door in the front. When finally a man in a suit pushed his way out from the building, Bernard and Bianca ran in, keeping up with the spinning doors until they were in the main lobby of the building. The two of them scurried toward a little hole where the information desk met the wall, and squeezed through into the darkness. Turning a corner, the crevasse became a hallway lit by lights borrowed from a string of Christmas tree lights. At the end of the hall was a door marked 'Rescue Aid Society Information Center and Outpost'. The two of them walked in. The door rang a little bell as it opened, and heads turned. The staff gasped at the two of them, with their dirt-smudged fur, looking like something the cat dragged in.

"Bernard and Bianca…?" the bespectacled mouse in a suit and tie at the desk breathed, as if he were seeing ghosts.

Another mouse at a telegraph began typing out Morse code, letting it be known to other surviving branches of the Rescue Aid Society that the duo were alive. Around the office mice in security uniforms were moving boxes on dollies. It looked mostly empty already.

"Mr. Liederkranz, thank goodness you veren't at ze meeting," Bianca said, as they walked up to his desk.

"B-but weren't you?" he asked.

"Oh we were," said Bernard.

"It vas a narrow escape," Bianca added sadly, "Ve only had time to save ourselves."

"What happened in there?" asked Mr. Liederkranz, "What brought the humans down there?"

"It was just a normal meeting at first," Bernard answered, "But then suddenly some scientists came in with exterminators, and the next thing we knew we had to run for our lives as the gas spread."

"Are you sure no one else survived?" Bianca begged.

Mr. Liederkranz pushed the glasses up his snout, and sighed, shaking his head, "The humans didn't even leave any bodies behind. They cleaned out everything. You'd never know the Rescue Aid Society was there."

"A lot of delegates didn't show up because the meeting was such short notice," said Bernard, "I mean…couldn't we hold another meeting somewhere else and get to the bottom of this?"

"As a precaution the council rooms at the other United Nations locations are being quickly dismantled. The ones in Geneva, Nairobi and Vienna are all gone, or should be by the end of today. As you can see we're getting ready to move out of here too. Our information center is the one closest to NIMH. We're not leaving a trace. We're just not sure how we're going to continue as an organization yet."

"Ve could hold a meeting somevere else," Bianca suggested.

"Everyone's just a little on edge right now," said Mr. Liederkranz, shaking his head again, "We suspect NIMH might have been behind it, though the lack of survivors meant there's no solid proof…unless you two saw or heard something?"

The mouse at the telegraph readied himself to tap out whatever they said.

"Well it seems obvious it was NIMH," said Bernard, "At the meeting, we were just talking about how they captured those Rescue Ranger vigilantes in New York when the scientists showed up."

"I…I remember that they said something about collecting some specimens, and exterminating the rest…" Bianca rubbed her forehead, trying to remember everything about that nightmarish moment, "I think…there must have been survivors."

"I think I remember that too," Bernard said, nodding.

"Henry, message that to the others," said Mr. Liederkranz, before turning back to Bernard and Bianca, "Anything else?"

Bianca looked to Bernard, "Do you remember? One of them vas named Penny…"

Bernard sighed, "Look, there's gotta be thousands of women named Penny, I don't see how-"

"But only one who ve told about the Rescue Aid Society, Bernard."

"Penny?" Mr. Liederkranz raised an eyebrow.

"She vas ze very first human Bernard and I rescued," Bianca said, "She'd be all grown up by now…"

"Do you really think she'd join with NIMH?” Bernard asked, frowning, “After what they do to animals like us? And not only that but then tell them about the Rescue Aid Society?"

"Maybe she vas tricked…" Bianca said, "I don't vant to believe she could have become that either but…ve don't know vhat became of her after she vas adopted. Ve don't know vhat her life has been like. She may not have expected us to have been real. Children usually forget us, later in life."

"A former rescued child by the Rescue Aid Society…becoming a member of NIMH and remembering us," Bernard let that idea sink in. It was something none of them had ever fathomed before. In it's over 2,000 years of existence, nothing of this magnitude had ever happened to the Rescue Aid Society.

"If you want we can try a background check, try and find out if this Penny really does work at NIMH," Mr. Liederkranz offered, "I think it's worth finding out."

"Yeah uh…good idea," said Bernard.

"If it does turn out to be a match, why don't you two handle her case while the RAS regroups," Mr. Liederkranz said, "Either way I don't think we'll recover enough to organize some kind of counter-offense for a week at least. Everyone's too afraid to meet again."

"Even if NIMH has some of our delegates?" Bianca asked.

"Miss Bianca, these are tough times, and our members are frightened. Besides, that facility is fool-proof. We'd need one hell of a plan to even get in there."

Bianca frowned, "Vell, ve vill just need to come up vith such a plan."

"When are we doing the background check?" Bernard asked.

"We have some files stored away in the back. They're being moved out today of course, but we're not through yet. We don't keep track of the children we rescue for long, but we keep notes of the immediate aftermath of each case. It'll be up to you to find out where she is now based on the information we find. Did this Penny have a last name?"

"Ooh, vhat vas the name of her foster parents?" Bianca rubbed her temples, trying to remember, "It began vith an S…Stace…Stacy. I think it vas Stacy."

"Good, that will help a lot when you try to find her. Unless she's married, that is. What year was her rescue?"

"It was 1977," Bernard answered.

"Okay," said Mr. Liederkranz, "Come with me, I'll take you to the file room."

He led the two of them into the back as Henry the operator tapped out more Morse code to other RAS branches. Behind a door was a room filled with file cabinets, each one labeled with a different year. Security guards were loading them up at one end of the room, but the records went back centuries. Liederkranz found the cabinet marked '1977' and opened it, thumbing through folders until finally finding the one containing some documents related to Bernard and Bianca's first mission together.

"You know, I remember this one," Liederkranz remarked as he looked through the copied documents, coming upon picture of Penny, clipped from a newspaper, "She was such a cute little girl."

Bianca looked down with a long, sad sigh. Bernard put a comforting arm around her shoulder as she blinked back a tear.

"Aha, here we go," Liederkranz said, snapping his fingers, "She was adopted a short time later by the Stacy family, and they moved her to Baltimore. That's all it says."

"Baltimore isn't too far away," Bernard remarked, "But that record is from 16 years ago. Suppose she moved since then?"

"The National Institute of Mental Health is in Bethesda. Still in Maryland. I'd say if you heard what you think you did, that one of the scientists was named Penny and she was the one who knew about us, the evidence leans toward it being the same person."

"So vhat do ve do, find the home of her parents first?" Bianca asked.

"We'll go to Baltimore real quick, and then look through a phone book," Bernard suggested, "Once we find them, if we find them, maybe we'll find clues about Penny."

"Maybe she vill still be there, and this will all be a mistake…"

"I sure hope so," said Bernard, "But if it isn't, our next stop is Bethesda. Maybe we can reason with her. It may be our best shot."

"Are you going so soon?" asked Mr. Liederkranz.

"Ve couldn't sleep if ve tried," Bianca said, "You know, vith NIMH not so far away from Vashington, you ought to leave quickly before they gas you too."

"That's what we're trying to do," said Mr. Liederkranz, handing them the folder, "Take this. You may find it useful. And good luck out there. As sad as yesterday was, at least two of our finest made it out alive."

Bernard gave a nod, taking the folder and leading Bianca to the exit. Once finally outside, Wilbur spied them from the roof and swooped down to the sidewalk.

"Whadja find out?" he asked.

"We're going to Baltimore," said Bernard, as the two of them climbed up Wilbur's wing, "We'll be looking for Penny's parents to pick up clues, so when we get there we'll have to stop at a pay phone and go through the phone book."

"Sounds tough, but uh, shouldn't we head straight over to NIMH ya think?"

"We need to find out about Penny first," said Bernard, "We can't get inside there without help."

"And ve just have to know," said Bianca sadly, "Ve have to know if it vas really her…"

"Alright, I get ya," said Wilbur, snapping goggles over his eyes, "Our next stop is Baltimore then."

He flapped his wings and took to the air, flying north east as Bianca buried her face into Bernard's shoulder, overcome with grief and fatigue.

Chapter 23: Chapter 23

Upon returning to the Brisby home, Abigail explained to her friends what had happened and what the Great Owl had said. The next course of action was to leave for Thorn Valley, without haste.

"Thanks for letting us spend the night," said Gadget to Mrs. Brisby, smiling and putting a hand on her shoulder, as everyone gathered outside in front of the Ranger Wingamathing, "I don't know what we'd do if we hadn't met such a kind family."

"Oh, it was nothing," Mrs. Brisby answered shyly.

"Good luck at Thorn Valley," said Timothy, "When you get there, try and find my brother and sister. Tell them what happened and they'll help you."

"Thanks," said Abigail, "And thank you for all your help yesterday."

"Don't mention it," Timothy said with a smile, "Maybe you guys could come visit us again sometime."

"Sure," Abigail said with a giggle, "Maybe we'll resettle somewhere nearby when this is all over."

"That would be great!" said Cynthia, "There's not that many other mice to talk to around these parts."

"Best of luck to all of you," said Mrs. Brisby, "Remember if all else fails, try and find my children there. Their leader, Justin, will probably be understanding though if you just tell him everything."

Gadget nodded, "We'll keep all that in mind, thanks."

"So do I get to go with this time?" Michelle asked.

"As a matter of fact, you do Michelle," Gadget said, patting Michelle's head.

"Yes yes yes yes YES!" she cheered and jumped.

"Stay with me though," said Abigail, "We don't know what it'll be like there."

"Kay!" Michelle answered, hugging Abigail's arm.

The furlings and the Rescue Rangers finished saying their goodbyes to the kind family that had taken them in and given them a direction in which to continue their long journey, and piled into the Ranger Wingamathing with renewed determination. Once again Michelle sat on Abigail’s lap. Once in the air and over the forest canopy, Gadget turned around to Abigail.

"So what exactly did the Great Owl say about the location?"

"He said it was near the river, in a deep ravine and a briar patch," she answered, her chin on Michelle's shoulder, "There's supposed to be a tree marking the spot. If we just follow the river and keep our eyes peeled, we'll find it."

"Gotcha," said Dale, looking over the edge of the plane, "I need something to keep my mind occupied after all, with the radio gone."

Gadget steered the plane over the river, and followed its winding path through the forest. It was perhaps a couple hours before they got their first hints that they may have found Thorn Valley.

"Look at that ravine down there," said Edgar.

"Yeah, lotsa thorny plants," said Dale, "It's got thorns, and it's kinda like a valley."

"Alright, let's go down and investigate," said Gadget, taking the plane down. She circled around, finding it hard to see a place to land.

"Golly, does anybody have a problem climbing here?" she asked, "I don't see anyplace to land but in the branches of that tree. This ravine is so steep."

"I'm okay with that," said Willy.

"I like climbing trees," Abigail answered.

"I…guess I could climb…" said Edgar, who out of all of them was probably the worst at it.

Gadget nodded, "All right, get ready to take us in for a landing on that branch over there."

The furlings cranked the winder-uppers, and Gadget flew the plane along one of the thick tree branches, one with dimensions not unlike the tree where Rescue Rangers HQ had been. It was camouflaged well enough by the tree's leaves not to be seen by any passer-by, both protecting themselves and Thorn Valley from being discovered by NIMH. Everyone unbuckled their seatbelts, and stepped out. Gadget grabbed some string from the glove compartment that they could use as rope.

"Okay, pick someone to be tied to while we climb down," said Gadget, "Anyone not good at climbing should be tied to someone who is."

"I'll go with Michelle," said Abigail, "Willy, maybe you can help Edgar."

"Sure," said Willy, as Gadget passed around string.

"Chipmunks are natural born climbers," Dale boasted, "Let's see, who do I go with?"

"Maybe you can go with Russell," said Gadget, "I'll go on my own."

"Just be careful," said Dale, "And don't look down."

"If you tell her that, she's gonna look down," said Russell, tying the string around his waist.

"Oh, uh, well look down all ya want then," said Dale.

"Probably not a good idea to tell her that either," said Edgar.

"I can't win!"

"Golly, I'll just look where I'm putting my hands and feet," Gadget said, hoping to solve the argument, "I'll be fine, I can climb."

Abigail tied the string to her waist and helped Michelle with hers, "Okay, you go down first."

"Me?" Michelle peered over the edge nervously. If they fell they'd land in the thorny bushes.

"That way if you accidentally let go I can hold on," she said, "Otherwise if you were on top your weight might pull me down too."

"Well, okay…"she said, carefully lowering a leg down and finding a place to plant her foot on the bark.

The others followed suit with the worse climbers going first. They slowly and carefully made their way down the tree bark. Luckily the bark was filled with grooves, places for them to grab hold of. Zipper hovered along beside them, ready to intervene something were to go wrong.

As they reached around the halfway mark, Abigail noticed Michelle beginning to pant and gasp down below her.

"Michelle?" Abigail asked, looking down.

The little girl's face was going red. She clutched her throat with one hand, and accidentally let go with the other, falling and dangling by the string that connected her and Abigail. Abigail let out a squeak and clutched the bark, struggling to hold herself and Michelle up.

"She's having another asthma attack!" Willy exclaimed, he and Edgar below them on tree.

"Zipper, help them!" Gadget called out.

Michelle hyperventilated as she dangled from the string. Zipper flew over to her, rubbing her back as she coughed.

"G-get the inhaler from my pocket," said Abigail, holding on with all her strength.

Zipper nodded, and flew up to Abigail, fishing through the side pocket of her overalls and retrieving the inhaler, going down to bring it to Michelle. Michelle had learned to work the device herself, and shook it before putting it in her mouth, and then pressing down on the canister, holding her breath as long as she could before coughing again, and beginning to breathe normally. Zipper pushed Michelle against the tree, and she grabbed onto the bark, just as the bark Abigail was holding onto began to crack and peel away. Abigail quickly climbed downward, once relieved of Michelle's weight.

"Good job you guys," said Gadget, smiling and resuming her climb.

"I-I'm sorry, Abigail…" Michelle said with a sniff, "I guess this is why I don't get to come with you a lot."

"Don't worry about it Michelle, just keep climbing," Abigail said, looking down at her.

Michelle nodded, and they continued climbing down the tree. Eventually all of them reached the bottom. They untied their strings. Gadget took one of them and wrapped it around her shoulder, just in case they needed it later. Michelle returned her inhaler to Abigail, who tucked it away into her pocket. The ground here was steep, and consumed by a carpet of twisted, thorny plants.

"The Great Owl said the entrance was around this tree somewhere," said Abigail.

"At least we shouldn't have to go very far, if this is the right place," Gadget said.

They slowly walked around the base of the tree, feeling its bark for any kind of switch. The tree was wide, and the plants surrounding it thick, so it took them quite a few minutes before Abigail, feeling around the bark, pressed it in just the right place. There was a large button underneath the bark, and when pressed, they heard the rumbling of a door open nearby, between the roots of the tree, followed by a ticking sound.

"In there," said Gadget, pointing, "I'm not sure what that ticking is but my guess is that it's timed to close on it's own. Hurry!"

They hurried toward a circular opening in the wood, Abigail holding Michelle's hand. They just made it in when the door closed, almost closing on Russell's pants.

"Phew, just made it," Russell said, rubbing the quills on his back.

There was a dark staircase. Abigail felt around on the walls.

"Edgar, can you see?" she asked.

"Sure. This is too dark for you guys?" Edgar asked.

His eyesight was bad above ground, but being a mole he could see just fine in the dark, even without his glasses.

"Maybe you should lead us down," Gadget suggested.

"All right, just walk down these stairs," said Edgar, taking the lead as the others blindly walked down the steps. The stairs went on for a long time, leading them deep underground. After a few minutes, Edgar said, "Here's where they end. There's another door here. And a sign above it."

"What's it say?" Gadget asked.

"Caution to those who enter. From this point on you take your life into your own hands."

"Umm…maybe we should uh, come back some other time…" said Dale.

"We have to keep going," said Abigail.

"So these rats can read too?" Willy said, feeling more discouraged about being the only illiterate one.

"I guess they must have learned at NIMH," said Gadget, "Anyway, can you open the door Edgar?"

"Sure thing," Edgar answered, turning the knob and slowly opening it.

A dazzling golden light illuminated the room they were in, its rays shining through the door as it opened. They were awestruck by the chamber behind the door. The walls were lined with bright crystals, shimmering with electric sparks charging through them. The path ahead of them seemed to be made of polished crystal. Shallow pools of water were on either side of the winding path, which zigzagged around tall crystals sticking out of the ground.

"I've never seen anything like this…" said Gadget.

"It's so pretty,' said Michelle.

"Let's go," Abigail said.

Abigail held Michelle's hand tight, and was the first to walk through the door, the smooth crystal ground feeling cold beneath her bare feet. Willy followed alongside her, and the others trailed behind. They couldn't help but be awestruck by this beautiful chamber, neglecting to look where they were going as they craned their necks looking at the electrified crystal spires surrounding them. Abigail was the first to notice what stood at the end of the chamber; a large, elegant, golden double-door entrance, guarded by a huge, imposing rat.

The rat took a fighting stance immediately after they turned the corner around a crystal and toward the doors, pointing a double-bladed spear at them, its long blades charged with electricity.

"Who dares intrude?!" the rat shouted, dressed in menacing black armor.

Michelle hid behind Abigail as the rest of them stopped in their tracks.

"Excuse me, but…we wanted to see the rats," said Abigail, "It's important."

"No one must enter," the rat said, "Take one more step, and it will cost you your life. You will get no help here."

"But please-"

"Go, now!"

Abigail frowned, "We've come this far. We can't stop now. We need to help our families and friends."

The rat hissed, and lowered it's spear, "Then you choose death. So be it, impudent child." 

He began to charge.

"Run!" Gadget shouted.

They scattered, running in all directions, splashing through the shallow water. But the rat focused on Abigail. She pushed Michelle aside, who fell on her hands and knees into the water, and ran down the path, followed by Willy. The rat charged past Michelle, swinging his bladed spear and managing to rip the back of Willy's shirt.

"We have to do something!" Gadget shouted.

"We don't have any weapons to fight back with," said Dale.

Gadget looked to the string wrapped around her shoulder, "We'll just have to use what we do have."

The rat chased Abigail and Willy among the crystals, swinging his spear at them and narrowly missing. They ran as fast as they could. The rat finally began to catch up, shoving Willy aside with his armored elbow and smacking his body hard into the water with a loud splash. Abigail couldn't stop to look back as the rat came after her, chasing her into a dead end between two enormous crystals.

"I gave you a chance, little girl," the rat growled, clutching his electrified spear with both hands and raising it to do a horizontal slice at her.

Thinking quickly, Abigail ducked as the blade swung at her, slicing strands of auburn hair from her head and cutting into a crystal, electrifying the rat. As he tried to pull the blade out, vibrating as electricity coursed through his body, she scurried on all fours between his legs and ran again. It wasn't long before he pulled it out, his fur singed and his eyes narrowing with vicious rage. He charged at her again. Abigail continued to run on all fours, splashing through the shallow water and making her way back to the path. The path went between two white quartz crystals. The rat followed close behind, but, as he passed between the two crystals, Gadget and Dale, hiding behind them, pulled on the string she'd saved. The rat tripped, falling on his face and dropping his spear, which slid across the ground.

"Get his weapon!" Gadget called out.

Abigail, panting frantically, turned around, seeing the rat begin to get up, his spear on the ground in front of him. She ran back, and picked it up just before he could grab for it. It was heavy in her arms, but she pointed it inches from the rat's snout, it's blade sizzling with electric bolts.

"You're a clever one," he said with a scowl, holding himself up with his arms as he lay on the ground, "To think that the great Brutus will be finished off by a little girl. Go on then…stab me."

Abigail trembled, but kept the spear pointed at him, breathing hard.

"Get him, Abigail!" Dale shouted.

"W-won't the rats be mad at us?" Michelle asked.

"You may be right," said Gadget, looking on with worry.

Abigail hesitated, saying nothing, staring the rat in the eyes.

"You can't do it, can you? If the tables were turned I would do it without question. You're too soft." Brutus flashed a grin, and continued to get to his feet, Abigail unable to stop him.

"Give me back my spear before I take it from you."

Abigail took a few steps back, "I'll use this if I have to. But I don't want to hurt anyone."

"Cute," Brutus said, cracking his knuckles.

It was then that the sound of the double doors opening echoed loudly throughout the chamber. Brutus looked on in surprise, and Abigail spun around, brandishing the heavy spear. Two rows of rat soldiers marched through the doors, carrying swords. They stopped in front of Abigail.

"Uh oh," said Michelle, watching from behind a crystal.

"Surrender," said the soldier in the lead, who was stout and looked barely older than a teen, "Lay down your weapon, and no one gets hurt."

"My weapon, you mean," Brutus said angrily.

Abigail looked back to the others.

"I think you better do as they say," said Gadget.

Abigail sighed, and tossed the spear on the ground.

"I am the Captain of the Guard, and you're under arrest," said the soldier.

All but the Captain advanced past Abigail.

"Arrest?" Brutus protested, "That girl almost killed me and you're only going to arrest them?"

"Those are our orders from Justin," said the Captain, as he pointed a sword to Abigail's back, "You will be taken to the dungeons, and one of you will plead your case to the council before we decide your fate."

Brutus gave a disappointed grunt, and he turned and walked back.

"Where are you going?" asked another soldier, as he pointed his sword at Dale and Gadget, who put their hands up.

"I knocked one of the little runts into a pool back there, and he's out cold. I'm gonna go get him," Brutus answered, with a disgruntled tone in his voice, "There's more hiding around here, make sure you don't forget any of them."

The rest of the soldiers scoured the chamber, eventually finding Michelle, Russell and Edgar. Brutus picked Willy up out of the water by the collar of his shirt and slung his dripping wet, unconscious body over his armored shoulder, muttering to himself, "Lousy council, bunch of weak bleeding-heart goody-goodies…"

The rest of them were led through the doors by sword point, Brutus bringing up the rear with Willy, Michelle sobbing as she went. Zipper looked on as the doors closed, having hidden unseen behind a crystal near the ceiling.

Chapter 24: Chapter 24

After twenty minutes of cautious waiting, Zipper snuck through the doors to Thorn Valley, unguarded at the moment. Behind the door was a huge underground chamber, with stairs circling either side, filled with more dazzling crystals. Rats wandered around below, going about their daily business, dressed in capes and robes. He couldn't see where the others had been taken, so he decided to fly on and investigate. The walls had little apartments carved into them, where each rat lived. He watched as a rat drew water from a fountain at the center of the chamber, upon which a statue of an elderly rat with a long flowing mustache and a scepter was situated. A stand with food was situated at the other end of the chamber. The food seemed to be given out free of charge. And the chamber was illuminated by great electric light bulbs.

As Zipper discreetly hovered near the ceiling, he could hear rats below murmur and gossip about an alleged break-in attempt by a group of outside rodents. He heard someone say they were going to be tried before 'the council'.

Remembering that Mrs. Brisby had told them to seek out her two children, he flew on, looking for any mice in the crowd, who would be a minority among the rats. Finally, he saw what at first looked like a very short female mouse emerge from an apartment dressed in a cloak over a purple dress. He flew to her. She gave a startled gasp.

"Who are you? I've never seen a fly here before!"

Zipper tried to tell her what was wrong, acting out how Brutus had attacked his friends, and how they'd been marched off to the dungeons.

"Wait a minute…you were with the intruders, weren't you?" she asked with a frown.

Zipper nodded, but then shook his head and squeaked, clutching her dress and begging.

"You weren't here to hurt us, were you?"

Zipper shook his head 'no'. He wished he were able to speak. He stepped back and flapped his wings, doing his best to hoot like an owl.

"Do you mean…the Great Owl told you where to find us?"

Zipper nodded, glad that she was good at charades.

"Why didn't he eat you?" she asked, suspicious of the little bug.

Zipper pointed at her, and then cradled his arms as if cradling a baby.

"What?" she blinked.

Zipper repeated the gesture.

"My…mother, sent you?"

Zipper nodded.

"How do you know she was my mother?"

Zipper reached his arm high in the air and pointed down at the rats below, and then put his hand closer to the ground and pointed at her.

"Because I'm the only mouse here…"

Zipper smiled and nodded.

"If you did talk to my mother, maybe you aren't bad people. You certainly seem harmless…but we'll find that out at the trial," she said, picking Zipper up, "My name's Teresa, and I'm a member of the council. Come with me, I'll take you to Justin and see what he thinks."

Zipper nodded with a smile, and flew up to her shoulder as she walked on.

Abigail sat on the wooden bench within her dank dungeon, stroking Willy's forehead and hair as he lay in her lap, still unconscious. Everyone had been thrown into the dungeons, two to a cell save for Dale and Gadget who also had Michelle in theirs. Things looked about as bleak as they'd ever been. Their one hope now was that this council would listen to one of them, whoever was chosen.

"When are they going to feed us?" Russell asked, "Are we gonna starve in here?"

"Really, Russell? That's your biggest worry now?" Edgar asked irritably.

"What happens if I get an asthma attack in here?" Michelle sighed, clutching the bars and looking into Abigail's cell across from her.

Abigail looked up at her, and then fished through her pocket, finding the inhaler. She reached down and slid it across the floor, between the bars and into Michelle's cell. Michelle knelt down to pick it up. As she did, Willy began to stir in her lap and groan.

"Willy? Are you okay?" Abigail asked, kissing his cheek and massaging his shoulder.

"Where are we?"

"They put us in these cells after we beat that rat guard with his own weapon," she explained, "He knocked you into a pool…I was afraid for you."

"Aw, it's nothing I can't walk off,' he said, before feeling the top of his head and his back and wincing.

"Careful," Abigail said, nuzzling him with her snout.

"How 'bout you, are you okay?"

"I am," she said with a nod, "Thanks to Dale and Gadget's quick thinking."

"What are we gonna say when they take one of us in for questioning?" Dale asked.

"We'll just stick to the truth," said Gadget, "This is our chance to appeal for help. I hope they see that what we did to that guard was in self-defense."

The doors to the dungeon opened. A short, elderly mouse with long grey fur walked in escorted by two guards, one of them the Captain of the Guard from before, the other Brutus.

"Hm, so these are the trespassers who nearly took out Brutus," said the old mouse, adjusting his spectacles and walking past all of the cells, looking in, "Quite a ragtag bunch of misfits, eh? I don't think anyone has ever come that close to killing you before, Brutus."

Brutus sneered, "Don't remind me. I hope the Council will see to it that they're dealt with properly, as trespassers who nearly murdered me."

"I don't think a group like this would just stumble into Thorn Valley by accident," said the old mouse, "I wonder; Justin was going on about some silly prophecy the other day that had to do with outsiders coming here."

"We'll see what he says about it," said the Captain, "He's normally right though."

"You only say that because you're his apprentice," accused Brutus.

"If you'll excuse me, sir," Gadget began, interrupting them, "We didn't mean to hurt anyone. That big rat was going to kill us straight away. And Abigail gave him mercy when she could've killed him herself."

"Save it for the Council," Brutus snarled, before turning to the old mouse, "Ages, which one of these runts are we bringing to speak?"

"Hm…well which one nearly defeated you?"

Brutus grimaced, and looked down in shame, folding his arms, "The brat in the overalls."

"Take her then," said Mr. Ages, "She better have a good story."

They turned toward Abigail's cell. The Captain took his keys out and searched for the right one.

Willy frowned, "If you lay one paw on her I'll-"

"Shut up, weakling," Brutus shot back, as the Captain got the door open, and came in to pull Abigail to her feet, placing hand cuffs on her.

"We're taking you to the Council room now," said the Captain.

"I understand," said Abigail, feeling the light poke of his sword between her shoulder blades as she was forced out of the cell.

"Good luck Abigail!" Edgar called out.

"You'll know what to say," said Gadget, "Just remember to be truthful, tell them everything."

Willy got up and clutched the bars as the door closed, looking on as they marched Abigail outside and shut the door behind them.

Abigail was taken down a darkly lit hallway, worrying about what this 'council' was going to be like. They were silent as they reached the end of the hallway, and a door slid open automatically, startling Abigail. They walked inside. It was a round room of glass and metal, perhaps made from an old oil lamp. Abigail felt the room rise, and could see the dirt shaft around them move through the glass.

Mr. Ages glanced over at Abigail, looking her over.

"Excuse me, young girl," he began, adjusting his glasses, "Just one question. Have you ever heard of a place called Dapplewood?"

Abigail blinked, looking over to him, "Y-yes, that's…that's where I'm from."

Mr. Ages' jaw dropped slightly.

"Why do you ask?" Abigail inquired.

Brutus narrowed his eyes, looking to Mr. Ages, "Good question."

"Oh, no reason really," Mr. Ages said finally, looking away, "I'll let you find out yourself."

Abigail heard him mutter something under his breath about a 'Justin'. Her ears perked up, remembering being told about someone named Justin by the Brisby family. It was the name of their leader.

"Is your leader a rat named Justin?" Abigail asked.

Everyone else in the elevator froze.

"How do you know that?" the Captain of the Guard asked.

"She's a spy!" Brutus growled.

Abigail shrank, shutting her mouth tight.

"Now I don't know where you heard about Justin or this place, but you'd better keep quiet about it until we reach the council," said Mr. Ages, as the elevator stopped and the doors slid open on their own again.

Abigail nodded silently, feeling a poke in her back that told her to start walking. The scenery she emerged into was breathtaking. Before her was a great hall, built like the inside of a cathedral. Its walls were of quartz. The ceiling seemed so high a human could probably stand in the room. Along the walls were statues of rats and mice, former and current heroes of Thorn Valley she presumed. Two such statues stood out the most though, on either side of gold-plated double doors. On one side was the figure of a male mouse she hadn't seen before, but on the other side was a statue that looked like Mrs. Brisby, in her cape.

"Is that Mrs. Brisby?" Abigail asked, quite forgetting to stay quiet.

"You know my mother too?" the Captain asked, flabbergasted, "How?!"

"She's your mother? Oh! You must be…what did they say your name was? Martin?"

"Dear me," Mr. Ages muttered.

"She knows far too much," Brutus said.

Martin stopped, and Abigail walked a few steps before realizing the sword wasn't poking her anymore, She turned around.

"Did my mom send you here?" he asked.

Abigail nodded, "Well she didn't tell me where this place was exactly, but I did meet her. The Great Owl told me where Thorn Valley was."

"She must be lying," said Brutus, "They must have tortured the information out of Mrs. Brisby."

Martin frowned at Brutus, "Come on, you're just reaching for reasons to punish her for your bruised ego. Lets get to the council room, like Mr. Ages said we'll get this sorted out there."

"Mind your tongue, boy," Brutus snarled, "Or else I may not care who's son you are."

"Justin might," Martin shot back.

"Oh let's get this over with," Mr. Ages griped.

The four of them walked toward the door. Brutus opened it, and behind it was a large room lined with rats in seats both high upon balconies and down on the floor, all murmuring to one another or staring at her with weary faces. There were twenty council members.  Rystal pillars held the upper balcony seats up, and the room was lit by the glow of electrical lights. At the center of the room was a large throne behind a table, on which sat a tall, handsome rat. Abigail took immediate notice of him, and figured he must be their leader, Justin. But she was expecting some old, decrepit but wise rat to be their leader, not this dashing young rat who sat on the throne. Brutus, Martin and Mr. Ages left Abigail's side and the doors closed behind her, with two guards crossing long spears in front of them to prevent her escape. The three of them had seats in the council too, and they sat in vacant seats on the ground level.

"The council is now in session," said Justin, his commanding voice silencing all others in the room immediately, "We have before us one of a group of rodents charged with trespassing on Thorn Valley. This crime, rare as it may be, is punishable either by death if the intruder is hostile, or life imprisonment, or, in certain circumstances as the intruders are deemed benign, joining our community, never to leave. But, as our leader I say everyone is entitled to a fair trial, must be treated as innocent until proven guilty, and perhaps if we are thoroughly convinced of this young girl's innocence, exceptions can be made."

"To hell with exceptions, she almost killed me!" Brutus barked.

"Now now, Brutus, calm yourself. You will now have your chance to tell us what happened out there."

Brutus muttered as he got up from his seat and walked to the center of the room, in front of the throne.

"Your honor," Brutus began, "I was at my usual guard post in the first chamber when I heard the door open, and footsteps on the crystal path. Once I saw the group of around seven, I brandished my spear, knowing I was outnumbered. I gave them a chance to retreat, but the girl refused. So, I did my job. I was going to kill her because she was refusing to turn back."

The council muttered. Abigail gulped and looked up at them. After a pause, Brutus continued.

"But the little runts were crafty. Two of them tripped me with some string, and the girl took my spear."

Justin rubbed his chin, "So she did. But as we can all see, you're still alive."

"Well, yes. She was too cowardly to finish me off. But she might have, had the soldiers not come in at that moment."

"It seems to me that if these rodents were ill-intentioned they'd have killed you," said Justin, "Your…rather checkered history of attacking before questioning even the most harmless intruders is well documented, if we'll recall what happened when Mrs. Brisby came to us for help. But, it's up to the council to decide their intentions."

There was chatter from the crowd as Brutus glared at Justin, who remained stoic. Teresa and Martin both frowned at Brutus, having heard about that incident before.

"I'm only doing my job," Brutus retorted angrily, "If it wasn't for me this place would be crawling with spies, if it isn't already!'

"What are you insinuating?" Justin asked.

Brutus pointed an accusing finger at Abigail, "She already knew who you were when we were bringing her here. She knew who Mrs. Brisby was too."

The crowd was shocked. Except for Teresa Brisby, who smiled, confident now that the fly was telling the truth.

"Very well, let's hear from the girl herself," said Justin, "Please, tell us everything. Don't leave out a single detail."

He spoke to Abigail in a soothing tone, that calmed her heartbeat from the panic she'd been feeling during Brutus' testimony

"Okay…" she said, clearing her throat and walking forward, "My name's Abigail. My friends and I don't mean you any harm at all. We came here for help. Mrs. Brisby helped us when our plane crashed, and took us to see the Great Owl, who told us where to find Thorn Valley to come and speak to you."

Surprise swept the council at the mention of the Great Owl.

"She's only the third mouse I've heard of surviving an encounter with him," said Mr. Ages, who sat close to Justin, "Wait until you hear the rest."

Justin nodded to him with a concealed smile.

"Well, what is it you've come to seek us for? How did you find out about Thorn Valley?" Justin asked.

"W-well, it's a long story. The answer to the second question is that my friend Gadget found out about you by going on this human machine called a computer, looking at a website about NIMH."

Many of the rats were lost when it came to this explanation, having little idea what a computer or a website was.

"Okay, so the humans had some kind of record of our escape,” said Justin, "But why look for us at all?"

"Because NIMH attacked us too," Abigail said sadly, "Around a week ago, I think. The forest where I lived, Dapplewood, was completely devastated. They took my family and many of my friends away, and destroyed everything we had. Only me and three of my friends survived…unless the rest are still alive at NIMH."

"And what, you want us to rescue them?" Brutus snorted.

Abigail frowned, but then went on, "We escaped in a plane our teacher invented and went to a place called the City, where lots of humans live. There we met the Rescue Rangers, a group of rodents that decided to help us, but then…NIMH found them too. We weren't at their home when it happened, so we were lucky. And two…no, three of them got away. That's when Gadget, one of their members, took us to a library and went on the computer. She found out about you and we flew to the Fitzgibbons farm, met Mrs. Brisby and her family, and they told us to see the Great Owl which we did this morning, and then, when I told him what we needed, he gave us directions."

"What an incredible journey," said Justin.

Abigail nodded, "Please, we know you want to remain hidden, but you have to help us, somehow. We need to free everyone from NIMH. Gadget says the scientists there are finding out how smart rodents are, and soon they're gonna look for more to capture or kill. If we don't stop them, the humans are going to get rid of us all."

"But they'd never find Thorn valley," a rat said.

"Why endanger ourselves? It's not our problem," said another.

The room came alive with disputes, most of them arguing against sending rats to NIMH.

"We should never let them out of Thorn Valley in the first place!" said Brutus, "They'll tell everyone about us! And if any of us go to NIMH they'll find out about Thorn Valley!"

"What if she's lying?" asked another rat.

"Yes, how do we know she isn't making this up?"

"I believe her," said Martin Brisby.

"So do I," said Teresa, up above.

"Order!" Justin yelled, standing up, and the discussions ceased. Justin continued in a lower voice, "I have a confession to make myself. I know she's telling the truth. A week ago I prophesized that she and her friends would be coming, and I've been having visions of their journey."

Abigail blinked in surprise, "You've been watching us? How?"

"That I'll show you later," he said with a smile, "Anyone else in this room but her will know what I'm talking about."

"If you knew this would happen, why didn't you warn us?" Brutus asked.

"If I thought they meant any harm at all I would have," said Justin, "I did tell one mouse though. Mr. Ages."

The rats looked at Mr. Ages, who shrugged, "I had no idea these kids he spoke of would ever make it this far…"

"That's how he knew I was from Dapplewood," Abigail said.

"I don't fully expect you all to change your minds just because of this,” said Justin, "But be aware; NIMH is getting worse. They're becoming aware of things no human has ever noticed before. A lot of innocent mice like the girl you see before you are going to suffer in the process. A lot already have. Most of us know how terrible it is being in NIMH. They still may never find Thorn Valley, but it is what they're searching for. Are we going to sit back, bury our heads in the sand and let thousands of other rats and mice like ourselves go through that same pain? Or do we have a moral obligation to stand up for others who have suffered just as we have? The Great Owl seems to think we do, if he sent this girl to us."

"I still think going to NIMH to save outsiders is a bunch of poppycock," said Mr. Ages, "NIMH lost our trail years ago. We're perfectly fine here, no human has come near our Thorn Valley since its inception. Why put that in jeopardy when the rats and mice outside could build underground communities of their own, if they applied themselves?"

"Is that what we should have done?" Abigail asked angrily, with her hands on her hips, "We had no idea the humans were coming. We even thought the humans were nice after they cleaned up a gas leak in the forest. How could we have known? It's gonna be the same for others too. It's gonna happen again and again. How will it end? Shouldn't we try to stop it?"

"It would be less dangerous to warn the communities that we do know of to take caution than to go marching into NIMH to probably get ourselves captured,” Mr. Ages argued, "You and your friends can stay here, where it's safe."

"But what about our families? Our friends?" Abigail said, her ears going down.

"Count your blessings, little girl," said Mr. Ages, "Most of us haven't seen our families in a very, very long time."

"I think it's about time to put it to a vote," Justin said, turning to the council, "Firstly, what do we choose to do with the prisoners? Shall we let them out of prison to live among us? A show of hands."

The show of hands for letting them out of prison was nearly unanimous. Notably, Brutus kept his arms folded and glared at Abigail.

"Good, so they stay," Justin declared, "Now, for her request. There are multiple questions here. Firstly I'll ask one. NIMH is terrorizing the outside world. Do we send aid, and try to help its prisoners escape a life of torture? Or do we concern ourselves solely with our own safety? Those in favor of the first choice, raise your hands now."

There was a lot of hesitation. One by one, a few rats slowly raised their hands. Martin and Teresa both eagerly supported the idea. 

"Just say yes!" urged Martin.

But in the end, only eight council members raised their hands. And although Justin was in favor, his vote still wasn't enough to tip the scales.

"Are you all certain?" he asked, unable to mask his disappointment.

No one changed their minds. Abigail's face fell, and she looked down sadly.

"Like I said before, I wouldn't oppose some measure to send representatives out to warn other forest communities," said Mr. Ages, "But going to NIMH is just too reckless."

"We'll have to discuss such things in depth later,' said Justin, "I know that you all know my opinion on this matter, but I can't go against the council. There is one final question, however, regarding the fate of our prisoners. Should we allow them to leave Thorn Valley? Those in favor, raise your hands."

But those who were against intervention at NIMH were also against letting the prisoners leave, and potentially give away their location. Once again the vote came 11-9 in favor of keeping them at Thorn Valley. Abigail sniffed and wiped her eyes.

"Understood," said Justin, "We'll reconvene tomorrow to discuss aiding those on the outside. This meeting is adjourned."

Abigail fell to her knees, defeated. The rats got out of their chairs and exited in lines around her. But Justin, Teresa and Martin stopped, standing over her after everyone had exited.

"I'm sorry, Abigail," said Justin, "I had a feeling the council wasn't going to listen to us."

She looked up at him with teary eyes, "W-we're…we're never gonna leave…?"

"Not all is lost," Justin said, offering Abigail his hand, "I have a backup plan. Come with me."

Abigail shakily raised her arm and Justin took her hand, pulling her up to her feet.

"Martin, Teresa, you two can free the others. I'm going to take Abigail to my chambers. There's a lot I need to explain to her."

"Yes sir," said Martin, saluting.

"We'll see you later, Abigail," said Teresa, "You'll find one of your friends at Justin's chambers too."

She smiled, and Abigail blinked, curious about what she meant. The two of them exited the room, and Justin led Abigail out of the room as well, leading her in a different direction. She wondered what this strange but handsome rat had planned, while all else seemed hopeless.

Chapter 25: Chapter 25

"You'll have to excuse the council," said Justin as he led Abigail by the hand down a winding, crystal-encrusted tunnel lit with a string of small electric lights along the walls the size of Christmas lights, "We tend to take ourselves a little too seriously around here."

Abigail still felt heartbroken by the harsh decision of the council. She and her friends were going to be stuck in Thorn Valley for the rest of their lives, while her daddy, Cornelius, and the others would suffer and die at NIMH.

"I may be the leader here but we're still a democracy, my opinion only holds so much weight," Justin said with regret, "If it were up to me we would send soldiers to try and rescue your family and friends. But you can't blame them for being afraid to do that. After all, we've been there before."

Abigail stayed silent. She did understand why they voted not to help her, but it didn't make her feel any happier about it.

They reached a round stone door. Justin closed his eyes and held his hand out in front of him. Abigail looked at him with curiosity, her eyes widening when the door opened on its own.

"This way," Justin said.

He stepped through the door, but Abigail stayed put. He turned around.

"Well?"

Abigail frowned, "What about my friends? Why did you take me here alone?"

Justin got down on one knee, to bring himself to her level.

"There's something special about you, Abigail," he said, "You'll know why by the time this little meeting is over. Your friends are going to be well taken care of while they're here in Thorn Valley. Which, I promise, won't be forever. Not if I can help it."

He lightly stroked her cheek and lifted her chin up.

"Now come on in," he said with a comforting smile.

She couldn't help but feel flustered at this. She blushed lightly, and nodded. Justin got to his feet and walked through the door, and Abigail followed him, the door shutting behind them. His chamber was relatively humble. With its shelves of books, a wooden table, a modest bed and a desk with papers scattered about it reminded her of Cornelius' home. Of note however was a strange contraption at one end of the room made up of a series of brass or gold rings. Abigail couldn't explain it, as she'd never seen such a thing before. But soon Abigail was taken by surprise, as a fly zipped across the room and hugged her chest.

"Zipper!" she exclaimed, patting his head.

"Teresa found him flying about the town square," Justin explained, "When she brought him here, I knew you'd arrived. He's been in my visions too, and from what I've seen he's quite the little hero. Anyway, sorry for the mess in here. Have a seat."

Abigail nodded, and pulled up a chair at the table as Zipper sat on the table in front of her. Justin strolled around the room, walking up to the ringed device.

"I suppose you're wondering how I knew you and your friends were coming," he began, spinning one of the rings.

"I was wondering that," she said, glad to finally receive some explanation.

"Well you see, it all starts with the serum that each of us were injected with at NIMH. Every rat you see here has it in them. The Brisby kids, who you met, retained some of its effects because their father was injected with it. For some of us, our mental abilities increased ten-fold. We use more of our brains than humans do. For others, it was strength and aggression that increased. Brutus is the worst case of that."

Abigail shuttered, "Why does he hate me so much? I didn't hurt him when I could have."

"You'll have to forgive him," Justin answered, "Being bested by you must have been pretty hard for him to swallow. And the things that he went through at NIMH were unspeakable. The serum turned him into what he is today. But despite that, he is loyal. Maybe too loyal, considering his misguided attempt to kill a harmless little girl while in his mind protecting Thorn Valley."

Abigail nodded, starting to understand things from Brutus' perspective, "So, it's all because of that stuff the humans put in your bodies. And that's how you are able to tell the future?"

Justin nodded, "Exactly. And that's not all. You saw how I opened the door earlier, right? Some of us can move things just by thinking really hard about it. It all comes from tapping into parts of the brain. I'm not exactly sure how much anatomy your teacher taught you, but are you following me so far?"

"I think so…" Abigail tilted her head.

"Good, now then," Justin continued, "What to explain to you first? I'm sure you're curious about how Thorn Valley came to be. Perhaps I'll start with what happened to us, because what happened to us directly caused what came to happen to you. Pray, stare into the rings. You should have a vision."

Justin spun one of the rings again, and a bright orb flickered in the middle. Abigail shielded her eyes from its brilliance, but then stared at it as a picture came into focus. She saw rats and mice being gathered up by scientists, taken to a dim, terrifying place she knew could only be NIMH, a place where animals suffered. Seeing this place filled her with horror. Was this where her loved ones were now? She then bore witness to the injections of the rats and the mice.

"It was originally a drug used to re-grow damaged brain matter," Justin explained, "But when they tested it on us, they had no idea what it would do. None of us could read before, but we picked it up quick just from watching the scientists, and figured out how to open our cages. And we were home free."

Abigail watched in awe. She briefly glanced back to see if there was a projector like at the movie theater, but there was none. Justin continued, telling how after escaping by hitching rides on cars and trucks the rats eventually came to the Fitzgibbons farm, to make a settlement. But one so close to humans could never be permanent. A few years later, during what Justin called the "Brisby Affair", it was found that NIMH was coming to exterminate them, and they moved instead to Thorn Valley.

"We were often debating moving at that point anyway," said Justin, explaining the images Abigail was seeing, "We couldn't live with stealing electricity from the humans anymore. Everything you see here is powered by electricity we make ourselves using hydroelectric power with the river, enhanced by crystals."

"Oh, Gadget has talked about electricity before. We didn't have it in Dapplewood."

"Mice living among humans often have access to that kind of technology," Justin said, "Well anyway, enough about our history. You can see why the council is hesitant to do anything that has the remote chance of ruining what we have here, right?"

Abigail nodded unhappily.

"But I'm still going to help you. And I know just how I'm going to do it."

Justin walked toward his desk and opened a book, glancing through its pages. Abigail got up, looking over his shoulder, and Zipper hovered over them both.

"You see Abigail, you and your friends aren't the only group of mice out there bound for NIMH."

"We aren't?" she asked.

Justin got up, walking toward the glowing orb once again. Abigail followed him. "No, you aren't. In my visions I've been monitoring two others. The day after you left the city another catastrophe befell the mice of the Rescue Aid Society."

Abigail blinked as the image of mice choking to death in a cloud of deadly gas flickered onto the orb. She gasped.

"The Rescue Aid Society…I think I heard my friends from the city mention them! Oh no…"

"Six were captured by NIMH, but two escaped. The fate of these two are tied with someone else," Justin said, reading through the notes he'd taken during his visions.

The images changed, showing a human woman curled up in bed, crying into her pillow. Abigail's eyes widened with surprise.

"A human?"

"Yes, her name is Penny Stacy. She was saved by the Rescue Aid Society once, but after a hard life of ridicule and brainwashing she came to work for NIMH. I believe you even saw her the day NIMH came to Dapplewood."

"The blonde lady," Abigail breathed, remembering her, the first human she'd seen without a mask on.

"She isn't a bad person. She was only misguided. And with a little convincing she could take your side, and be your way into NIMH. Those two members of the Rescue Aid Society who escaped are the key to getting her on our side. They rescued her as a child."

"How do we meet her?" Abigail asked.

"Fate is conspiring to converge all of your paths, eventually. But without the help of the rats of Thorn Valley, even with a human on your side your chances are slim, for she has her own hurdles to overcome. For instance, the evil Dr. Nimnul."

Dr. Nimnul appeared in the orb, giving a mad cackle.

"His influence over NIMH is already having many dire consequences, and he sees Penny as a threat, so he is now plotting against her. She may need your help first before she can help you. So you see, you all have enormous challenges to overcome. But, I'm willing to loan you something that might just tip the scales in your favor."

"Hm? What could you loan me that would help against someone like that?"

"Come here," Justin said as he walked toward his desk.

Abigail followed, watching as he sat down, and picked up a little box sitting on the edge of the desk, placing it on the desk in front of her.

"Go ahead, open it." he said.

Cautiously, Abigail lifted the lid. A golden light escaped the box, fading after a few seconds of brilliance. Abigail reached in, and picked up a magnificent ruby-like amulet on a golden necklace. She was breathtaken by its beauty.

"What is this for?" Abigail asked.

"Read the back," Justin said, smiling as she beheld it.

Abigail turned it over, and began to read, "'You can open any door, if you only have the key.' Um, what's that mean?"

"You'll know, Abigail," Justin said, getting up from his chair and folding his arms behind his back as he stared at his book shelf, "Courage of the heart is very rare. The stone has a power when it's there."

Abigail held the amulet in her hands and looked at Justin, gazing down at it again.

"The Great Owl said I had courage of the heart. And this is supposed to help me against NIMH?"

"Don't underestimate its power," said Justin, "I've seen it myself. Wear it with pride and bravery, and its energy will protect you and those you love."

"Well, it's a little girly but…I guess I could wear it…"

Justin chuckled, looking back at her "Girly?"

"I don't like dresses and jewelry and all that princessy stuff," Abigail said firmly.

"Don't worry about it. That amulet can be worn by anyone with courage of the heart. Even tomboys."

"You mean it?"

"I wouldn't lie about such a serious matter."

Abigail held the amulet up for a few moments and looked at it, before carefully sliding the necklace over her head and letting the amulet hang against her chest. She had to admit, she did like wearing it. Somehow she did feel safer.

"So…is that it then? Your backup plan?"

"I'll try to arrange something else to help you all out," said Justin, "I also need to get you out of Thorn Valley, even if it means sneaking you out. It could get me into a lot of trouble though, going behind the council's back. Give me some time to think it through. Maybe you ought to go find your friends. They should be out of prison now. I'll summon you again later."

"Okay, thanks Justin," she said, clasping the amulet in her hands.

Justin nodded, "Take care Abigail. And you too Zipper."

Zipper smiled and saluted, as the two of them exited Justin's chambers and made their way back down the long tunnel.

Meanwhile Willy awoke with the sound of a keychain jiggling and unlocking his cell. He sat up with a groan, having a splitting headache.

"What's going on?" Gadget asked.

Martin turned around with a smile, opening Willy's cell, "You guys are free to go. But you're not allowed to leave Thorn Valley. At least, not yet."

Willy staggered out of the cell as Martin freed Edgar and Russell.

"What happened to Abigail?" Edgar demanded.

"She's talking to Justin," Martin answered, "She talked to the council already."

"But they decided not to help us?" Gadget deduced.

"I voted for it, after I found out you guys know my mom. But…the motion was defeated by one vote."

Edgar and Russell took each of Willy's arms to hold him steady.

"Darn it," said Dale, "So we're stuck here forever?"

"Unless their minds are changed somehow," Martin answered, unlocking their cell finally.

"Do you at least have TV?" Dale asked.

"What's TV?" asked Martin, blinking.

Dale dropped to his knees, "NOOOO!"

Gadget pulled the chipmunk to his feet, "Control yourself, Dale." She turned to Martin, "So you mean Mrs. Brisby is your mother?"

"Yes, she is. My name's Martin Brisby."

"What are we supposed to do now?" Edgar asked.

"I'm gonna show you to a room, we've had extras made just in case of something like this. You can go anywhere in Thorn Valley except out."

"Do any of you ever leave?" Gadget asked as Martin walked toward the exit.

"You need special permission from the council to go outside," said Martin, "The only ones who leave do so to collecting supplies. You should just sit tight, I don't think Justin's gonna take their decision lying down."

"Sit tight and do what?" Dale asked, distraught.

"Why not look around?" Martin opened the door. Teresa was waiting outside for them.

"Hi! So how's mom doing?" she asked immediately.

"Oh! Um, she's doing fine." Gadget answered, "So are Timothy and Cynthia."

Teresa breathed a sigh of relief.

"You must miss them," said Gadget.

"I do," Teresa sighed, "We can't even leave and go visit them."

Gadget realized at that point just how strict the rules were here. But she couldn’t just sit around here too long, one way or another, with Chip and Monty at NIMH. There had to be some way out of this.

Chapter 26: Chapter 26

Penny breathed a heavy sigh as she parked her car at the staff parking spot at NIMH, taking the key out of the transmission and gripping the steering wheel. She wore her lab coat and her usual uniform but her hair was unkempt, and she'd neglected to wear her makeup. She felt as if those things didn't matter much anymore.

She worked up the willpower to open the door and step out of her vehicle, closing the door behind her. She couldn't think of another time in her life where she'd been filled with more dread. But she knew just what she was going to do when she got in. Penny walked up to the entrance of the building, and swiped a key card through a slot at the door to enter. Once inside she headed straight for the lab with the test subjects.

She passed by Dr. Clark, who began to greet her, "Oh, Dr. Stacy, how are you-"

"Sorry, I have business in the lab," she replied hastily, walking past the scientist.

She slipped her keycard into another slot beside the laboratory door and walked in. She looked around, the room was empty of any other human being. Good. She closed the door behind her and locked it. Scanning the wall of cages, she decided to walk up to the old badger, the one who she'd spoken to before. Eyes scanned her from inside the other cages, but the prisoners said nothing but a few whispers. Perhaps they didn't want to scare her off again like last time. But Penny wouldn't be scared off again. She knew she wasn't going crazy now. As horrible as the events of the past Saturday were, at least she came away knowing that.

"Hello, Cornelius is it?" she began timidly.

There was a short silence before she heard groans, and slow footsteps inside the cage, and his face peering through a slit in the door.

"Yes. Is that you, Penny?" he asked sleepily.

Penny nodded, "Yes, it is. I've thought a lot about what you said the other day. And…what he said."

She looked to the cage above his, where Chip was watching silently.

"About letting us go?" Chip asked.

Penny nodded silently, and whispered, "I could get into a lot of trouble if I'm caught. I'm afraid it's not as easy as opening the cage doors and sneaking you outside, but I'll think of some way."

"Such a curious species," said Cornelius, "Just when I start to think you're purely irredeemable, an act of kindness changes my perception."

He coughed again, and rubbed his bloodshot eyes.

"What's the matter with you? What have they been doing to you?" Penny asked with concern.

"Those pills for my rheumatism are making me fatigued, but my symptoms are worsening instead of improving. All of my joints ache, and I'm becoming feverish."

Penny put her hand over her mouth, "That's awful…you said willow bark works best right? I need to try and bring some in."

"It would be appreciated, but I'm far from the most needy around here."

Penny nodded, and replied in a whisper, "I had another question. Did you see six new test subjects added this weekend?"

"We have heard the scientists talk about them, but we haven't seen them,' said Cornelius.

Penny didn't see that as a good sign. Where were they being kept?

"What do you know about them?" Chip inquired.

Penny hesitated, rubbing her temples, "Something horrible happened Saturday. And I…I feel like it's all my fault."

"I'm sure you didn't mean it," said Cornelius, "Just tell us."

"Okay. First I've got to explain something. I never got the chance to tell any of you this, but I was kidnapped when I was a little girl. I was rescued by two mice who were members of the Rescue Aid Society, Bernard and Bianca."

"The Rescue Aid Society?" Chip asked in surprise, "I know about them."

"Do you?"

"Yes, well…they're sort of our competition, the Rescue Rangers I mean," Chip replied with a nervous chuckle, "But Bernard and Bianca are famous for their work. They're the kinds of rescuers we all aspire to be like."

Penny smiled, having finally had their existence fully confirmed for her.

"I knew they were real," she said, more to herself than anyone else.

"Come again?" Chip asked.

"Oh, sorry, it's just that…for the rest of my childhood I was told by adults that they were only imaginary. And after a while, I started to believe that. I started to believe that mice and other animals were just unfeeling, simple creatures. That's why I ended up working here. But I was wrong…"

Chip and Cornelius both felt for her. They could understand how she became what she was today.

"As long as you realize that, it's never too late for redemption," said Cornelius.

"Not every human can talk to us," said Chip, "You have a gift. Anyway, so what happened Saturday?"

"Well, I decided to go to the UN building in New York, to see if the Rescue Aid Society, and Bernard and Bianca, really existed or not. That was going to help me prove to myself that I wasn't going crazy. And…and they were real. But I was followed…Nimnul and Strauss were there too, and they had exterminators with them. They gassed them all, and took six as prisoners."

Chip gasped, as did many other rodents. None of the ones from Dapplewood knew anything about the Rescue Aid Society, but they knew well enough about the dangers of poison gas.

"You don't suppose two of the prisoners could have been Bernard and Bianca?" Penny asked, almost pleading.

"We don't know,” replied Chip.

She looked down sadly, "I'll find out sooner or later…"

"Forgive yourself, dear girl," said Cornelius, "You had no way of knowing that would happen."

"They must have been spying on you,' said Chip, "They could be spying on you right-"

Chip was interrupted by banging on the lab door.

"Dr. Stacy? Strauss wants to see you ," came the voice of a scientist.

Penny cast a glance at the two rodents she'd been talking to.

"I promise to do anything in my power to save you. All of you." she said.

This was met with cheers of gratitude from the cages. Penny gave a bashful smile, before turning around and exiting the lab.

Nimnul was waiting once again at Strauss' office, all alone this time. Penny was puzzled not to see Strauss at his desk as usual. He was nowhere to be seen. Along the desks were six cages, each with a rodent inside.

"So nice to see you again," he said with a smug grin, "I do hope you checked your phone messages."

"Yes I did," Penny replied angrily.

"Well then you know exactly what I want," he said, reclining in the cushy chair with his arms folded behind his back, "Here are the only survivors of the raid. See any old friends of yours?"

Penny walked up, desperate to see Bernard and Bianca in two of the cages. But,  as she looked closely at each frightened, naked mouse, she didn't see a single one she recognized. The final cage housed an orange-haired squirrel, huddled in the corner and covering her body. She didn't feel like shedding tears in front of that monster Nimnul, but inside her heart had shattered. She'd gotten Bernard and Bianca killed.

"Aww, they aren't there, are they?" Nimnul gave a chuckle, "Oh well. Being gassed is a quick death, hm?"

Penny clenched her fists and stared at Nimnul with bitter contempt.

"Don't look at me, I hoped they'd be there too," Nimnul said, "If only to help jog your memory. But, back to the old drawing board I guess. Now then are you going to be cooperative and tell me everything else you know? Because I know you're keeping more from me."

"Where is Dr. Strauss?" she demanded.

"Oh, him. I suppose he's thinking of retiring. It's not important. What is important is that you tell me more about those rodents. Now then, about this Rescue Aid Society."

"I don't know anything else about it," Penny snapped, "And if I did, why would I tell you?"

"These may not be your friends here on the desk, but surely you wouldn't want me to dissect them alive, would you? I know how soft you are. Still letting childish empathy get in the way of scientific research. You'd be better off at PETA than at NIMH."

Penny was close to leaping over the desk and pounding his face in. But it was true. She had too much compassion to simply let the creatures on his desk die. But what could she do?

"Look, I've already told you everything. The Rescue Aid Society was the only group of intelligent rodents I knew of. I never saw another one…or if I did, I'd blinded myself to it."

"Hmm…" Nimnul studied her face, "Very well, I'll believe that. But, I know something else you're not telling me about."

Penny frowned, "Yeah, what?"

"I know that you've been talking to them."

Her eyes widened, "What?"

"I've been reviewing the security tapes from the lab for the past couple days," Nimnul said, leaning back in his chair again, "I heard your little one-sided conversations on Friday and today."

Penny stayed silent.

"Now, either you have some fantastic gift to talk to animals like a real life Dr. Doolittle, or, you're completely mad. Which is it?"

"I'm not mad," she snapped.

"What do those rodents tell you?" Nimnul persisted, "When I had my body switched with a fly I could understand what they were saying. I know you must be able to hear them too. Tell me what they're telling you, and we'll do business. We can rid the world of these pests."

"Never!" Penny yelled

"Talking to rodents shows all the signs of a nervous breakdown you know, do you really want to test me on this? I could have you in a padded room within the hour."

"I'm not going to let you hurt any more rodents, it ends now!" Penny said, getting ready to attack him.

"Tell me everything you know, or I'll tell a mental asylum about your recent sanity slippage. Deal?"

"No…" Penny stepped back from the desk, clenching her fists. Could he really do that?

"Then you've left me no choice," Nimnul said with mock-disappointment, as pressed a button under his desk, "In fact, I already have some medical personnel from Glenbrook Mental Asylum waiting right outside, just in case my little 'mental evaluation' we just had proved you to be insane. You're a very sick woman, Dr. Penny Stacy. I'll see to it that you're well taken care of."

"I'll kill you!" she screamed, but the doors opened, and medical personnel in white coats tackled Penny to the ground. She struggled, but the muscular orderlies subdued her and fitted her into a straightjacket, "I'm not crazy! Nimnul, you're dead!"

"She's a violent one, boys. It'll take a lot to cure her," Nimnul called out, as the men dragged Penny away and closed the door. Nimnul rubbed his hands together and laughed, getting up from his desk, "Now with her out of the way, nothing's stopping me."

He walked to the office's supply closet and opened it, where Dr. Strauss sat, in a total daze.

"And with you under my total control…we'll get rid of all of those pests, won't we?"

"We'll get rid of all those pests won't we," he repeated. His pupils were completely dilated.

"Hehe! Slip a couple of those experimental mind control pills into his drink, and NIMH is mine. I love it when a good plan comes together." Nimnul slammed the door, walking to the desk and looking at the rodents, "I suppose I'll put you with the others, but don't get too comfy. We'll find out just what makes all of you tick, and we'll put it all to good use. For me, that is…"

Chapter 27: Chapter 27

Abigail sat staring at the gem Justin had given her, on a makeshift little sofa the rats had furnished their new living space with. Willy and Michelle sat beside her. They were alone for the moment; Russell went to find something to eat, while Gadget, Dale and Edgar had gone on a tour of Thorn Valley. Willy stayed behind to nurse his injuries. Naturally Abigail stayed with him. And also naturally, Michelle wanted to stay with Abigail. So, they were having a nice day in. Though their room amounted to essentially a more comfortable prison cell.

"That sure is a pretty necklace," said Michelle as she looked at the gemstone too, leaning against Abigail, "Why'd Justin give that to you?"

"I wouldn't mind knowing that either," Willy said, raising an eyebrow.

"I guess he thought I was special somehow," Abigail said, staring at her reflection in the jewel, "It's supposed to help us when we really need it."

"Like magic or something?" Michelle asked.

"I guess so…"

"Uncle Cornelius said there is no magic," Michelle said, "There's only science that hasn't been explained yet."

"He did say that," Abigail replied, "Maybe there's some kind of science to this thing. I don't know. I mean, Justin and the other rats are supposed to be a lot smarter than we are, maybe we should just take their word for it."

"I think he just likes you," Willy said, folding his arms.

"Ha! Come on, he's gotta be twenty years older than me," Abigail said, elbowing him in the side with a giggle.

"I need to look for an even prettier gem to give you now," Willy said, rubbing his side where he'd been elbowed, "Can't have some charmer come out of nowhere wooing you with gifts."

"I'm not into gems anyway, Willy, and he said I had to give it back later so it isn't a gift. It's funny seeing you all jealous. I suppose it's fine for you to have your little crush on Gadget huh?" Abigail stuck her tongue out at him.

"You've got a crush on Justin so that makes us even," Willy said, sticking his tongue out back and pulling an eyelid down.

"Stop fighting you guys," Michelle said, shaking her finger.

"Ohhh alright," said Abigail, "I'll agree that Gadget must be pretty attractive when you're a boy. As long as you think I look good too."

"I do, trust me," Willy said, holding her hand.

"And even though Justin is charming and handsome, you're handsome too, not to mention more my age, and you've done more for me than I think anybody else ever has," Abigail said, smiling and giving him a peck on the lips. Willy returned the smile and hugged her.

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in," said Abigail, turning.

It was then that Teresa Brisby entered, "I hope I'm not interrupting anything, I just didn't get to talk much with you guys last night so I thought maybe I'd get to know you better, and maybe hear what happened between you guys and my mom."

"Oh! Well sit down and we'll tell you," said Abigail, "It's no trouble. I'm Abigail, and this is Willy and Michelle."

"Hi," said Willy.

"Hello," Michelle said shyly, hugging onto Abigail.

"Nice to meet you all," she said, "Weren't there more of you?"

"They're out at the moment," Abigail explained, "Getting a tour I guess. Willy got hurt yesterday by that Brutus character so I stayed behind with him, and Michelle didn't want to leave me."

"That's understandable. I'm sorry how you were all treated yesterday. I guess Thorn Valley isn't the most welcoming place."

"Got that right," Willy muttered.

"You'll get used to it," Teresa said, "I never felt like I fit in anywhere else, due to, well…I'm sure Justin told you about it Abigail."

Abigail nodded, "Your father had an injection at NIMH."

Teresa nodded, "Well, I ought to get to know you guys better. So you said this boy's name was Willy? Is he your boyfriend?"

The two of them exchanged glances and blushed lightly, nodding. There was no denying it.

"Aww how adorable," she smiled, "And who's this little cutie? Michelle?"

"She's our friend," said Abigail, "She's been through an awful lot. She's like a little sister to me."

Teresa tilted her head, "What's wrong with her eyes? Why does she have glasses?"

"The poison gas made me have bad eyesight and asthma," said Michelle.

"Oh no, poison gas?"

"It's a long story," said Abigail.

"You know, we might be able to help her with that," said Teresa.

"Really?" Michelle asked.

"Dr. Brannigan is the doctor for Thorn Valley, he knows how to fix eyesight. He's done it before. Since his eyes got experimented on at NIMH too."

"Truly?" Michelle asked, bewildered.

"Uh huh! Why don't you let me take you to him and you can tell me about your adventures on the way and in the waiting room. The doctor should be more than happy to help."

"What's he gonna do to my eyes to make them better?" Michelle asked.

"He developed this treatment that shoots lights into each eye and reshapes it to work right," Teresa explained.

"I-is it gonna hurt?" Michelle asked, nervously clinging to Abigail.

"It shouldn't hurt, and it could fix your eyes. Don't you want that?"

Michelle nodded.

"I'll be by her side the whole time," said Abigail, hoping for the best.

If they couldn't give Michelle her parents back, and if things went awry trying to give her Cornelius back, at least maybe they could give back her eyesight. It was worth a try.

Gadget stared at Thorn Valley's underground electrical generator, amazed by its ingenuity. Dale was bored and his legs ached from walking, while Edgar and Zipper were a bit more impressed. It was built within a massive underground cave made by the rats themselves, consisting of a mill wheel beside an underground stream connected to a massive engine constructed of parts from a car battery among other odds and ends. The generator was looked over by three rats, in charge of making sure it worked, though it was fairly automatic anyway.

"Hydroelectric power? Golly!" Gadget exclaimed as she got closer.

"Yes yes, came up with it ourselves," said Mr. Ages, "Justin didn't want us stealing our electricity from the humans anymore. Of course, we're using one of their batteries, but we got it from an abandoned car I'll assure you."

"Back home I used to make mine through solar power." said Gadget.

"Solar power? Like from the sun?"

"Yeah! You just use panels to collect rays of sunlight and convert it into energy."

"Interesting…and you can do this discreetly?" Mr. Ages asked.

"Sure can. I mean, NIMH did find us eventually but we didn't exactly live in the middle of nowhere."

"Right in the middle of a city correct?" Mr. Ages scoffed, "It was bound to have happened some time."

"It was only because an old enemy of ours joined them," Gadget explained, "His name was Dr. Nimnul. We were fine until then. No one noticed the solar panels high up in the leaves."

"This doctor was human?" Mr. Ages asked.

"Yes, he is…he's an awful one at that."

"Direct conflict with a human. I can't say I've ever heard of a rodent surviving something like that."

"We have our ways," Gadget said.

Dale yawned as they walked along the of the power station, "All this technology and you guys don't do anything fun with it?"

"We put it to good use. Our minds have developed beyond the need for mindless entertainment," Mr. Ages said with a sarcastic snort.

"Mindless?!" Dale frowned.

"Yes, mindless. I've heard about those television things humans numb their minds with," Mr. Ages said, "If you ask me humans squander the gift of electricity, which was why I had little problem with our stealing it back when we lived at the farm."

"It still wasn't ours to take, regardless." came a voice from behind.

They turned around, only to see Justin entering the cavern from a doorway.

"You're never one for announcing your entrances are you?" Mr. Ages remarked.

"I was under the impression that I just did," said Justin, "Anyway, I just wanted to converse with some of our new guests for a bit, before attending to other business."

"It's an honor to finally meet you," said Gadget.

"Likewise…" Dale said nervously.

"Thanks for your help so far," said Edgar.

"I've tried, but I know it hasn't been enough," Justin sighed, "The council didn't quite see it the way I did."

"And you know they'll have to stay here forever," Mr. Ages added.

"If I could have just changed one mind, they wouldn't have had to," Justin said, an obvious jab at Mr. Ages.

"Rules are rules, even leaders have to follow them."

"I know you tried your best," said Gadget, "I was just admiring the electricity you have here, and talking about the kind of power I used."

"And what kind is that?" Justin asked.

"I used solar power for my lab. Maybe I can help you guys use it too. You have that big tree at the entrance after all. It'd be perfect."

"Sure, if you can show us how it works," Justin said.

"If I could get the materials I'd be happy to."

"That could be problematic, but we'll see," said Justin, "As you can see we've needed to make use of what we have."

"Our guests will be wonderful, permanent additions to Thorn Valley I'd say," Mr. Ages said, emphasizing that they weren't going anywhere.

"They certainly would be," Justin said as a subtle counter.

Mr. Ages narrowed his gaze, wondering what sort of harebrained scheme Justin was concocting.

"Anyway I would like to apologize for that misunderstanding yesterday," Justin continued, "Brutus certainly jumps the gun sometimes."

"We're all right," said Gadget, "Well, except for Willy, who got pretty roughed up."

"It was a regrettable mishap. I'll be having a talk with Brutus about that later. Speaking of which I would like to invite you all to a private dinner tonight, over which we'll have a discussion of your current living arrangements."

"Oh! Well thank you!" Gadget said.

Justin bowed, "Of course. Now if you'll excuse me, I hate to make my visit so brief but I've business to attend to. We will talk more this evening."

He turned, his cape flowing behind him as he exited the area, followed by two guards.

"Where are you going now, Justin," asked one of them, "The meeting isn't for a while yet."

"Take me to the entrance. I'd like to have a word with Brutus as well."

"Brutus? Right now? What for?"

Justin smiled, "Why, to invite him to dinner of course.”

The guard gave Justin a dumbfounded look. Justin was a concoctor of harebrained schemes indeed.

Chapter 28: Chapter 28

Michelle lay down on an operating chair holding Abigail's hand, as Dr. Brannigan prepared his equipment. Willy was in the waiting room, though he'd been given some herbal painkillers to help with the beating he'd taken the day before.

"It's perfectly safe, Miss Abigail," the rat said, wearing a lab coat with gloves as he readied the equipment, "Humans have been perfecting this technique for a few years now, though it has yet to hit the mainstream. They were even testing this out on some of the rats at NIMH. It works by using concentrated beams of light called 'lasers' to reshape the cornea and correct vision. It's a little uncomfortable, but quite painless. In little Michelle's case, her eyes were damaged by poison gas; the chlorine gas caused an acidic reaction that burned her retinas and caused scars on her corneas. It looks like the medical herbs were applied just in time to prevent her from going completely blind. But, with this sophisticated piece of technology, the damage shouldn't be too hard to repair."

"Um…wh-what's all that mean?" asked Michelle. Abigail herself only understood bits and pieces of the medical jargon.

"It means I should be able to get you seeing just like you used to again, without corrective lenses," the doctor said, examining the glasses, "By the way these glasses are rather advanced for a forest creature to have."

"Uncle Cornelius made them for me," Michelle said, "We had to test them out lots and lots of times before he made a pair that helped me see."

"What about her asthma, doctor?" Abigail asked.

"Oh…I'm afraid that might be much more difficult. You see, the chlorine gas damaged her inner respiratory system."

Michelle sighed, as Abigail stroked her hand.

"That inhaler device is rather impressive as well though," said the doctor, "More human technology adopted for rodents I presume."

"We got it in the big city," said Michelle.

"As I thought. Now then, anyway, I want you to sit back and relax. This shouldn't take too long."

Using pieces of adhesive tape, he taped each one of Michelle's eyelids open.

Abigail squeezed her hand, "Don't be afraid."

The doctor handed Abigail a glass of water, "If you'd like to, you can administer water droplets to her eyes periodically so that they don't dry out."

Abigail gave a silent nod, looking down at a worried Michelle. The doctor moved the device toward Michelle's face; a microscope-like device which shined a bright light through a red crystal.

Out in the waiting room, both Willy and Teresa could hear Michelle's frightened whimpers.

"The poor girl," said Teresa.

"I sure hope these rats know what they're doing," Willy said, "You know back in the field where I'm from you could never trust a rat. Then again, members of separate species never got along there."

"This isn't the wilderness," said Teresa, "Here we have unity, and everyone works to help one another instead of just themselves."

"That why the council voted not to help us, and I ended up getting knocked out by a gigantic maniac when we got here?" Willy asked in a bitter tone.

Teresa didn't have an easy answer for that. The room was silent save for Michelle's fearful gasps, asking the doctor to let her shut her eyes. Willy had grown very attached to Michelle, and he hated hearing it.

"I know Thorn Valley has a way's to go before it's perfect," Teresa conceded, "I guess if I'd received the kind of welcome you did I'd be jaded by it too. But really, what we're trying to build here is a utopia, just as Nicodemus would have wanted it. He was one of our founders you know."

"Seems to me like the kinda place they'd build at the meadow I'm from if the mice and squirrels were more intelligent; someplace to keep everyone else out."

"We just don't want anyone else finding out about it," Teresa argued.

"There's another thing that's been bothering me too. If you guys really are so much smarter than everyone, how come our friend Gadget can build all sorts of electrical stuff? She was never injected at NIMH. I've felt like a dummy ever since I left the meadow, but even I can see this."

"W-well, that is a good point…but the serum made us stronger, made us live longer, and it did make our brains larger."

"Ah, well okay, I'll give you that," Willy said, rubbing the back of his head.

"But you're right…maybe we aren't all we make ourselves out to be."

At that moment the door to the waiting room opened. Edgar and Russell entered, followed by Gadget, Dale and Zipper.

"We heard Michelle was here," said Edgar.

"Yeah, she's getting her eyes fixed," said Willy.

"I'd have never guessed they'd mastered laser eye surgery here," said Gadget, "I've been reading about it in my science magazines, it's a pretty new procedure."

"Is it really gonna fix her eyesight?" Edgar asked.

"We'll see for sure if it does," said Gadget.

"Why don't you get it done too?" Russell asked Edgar.

"There's nothing wrong with my eyes. I'm just a mole, we don't see well in the light. I'd be underground most of the time if it weren't for you guys."

"Bet you must love it here," Dale grumbled, "I'm getting claustrophobic."

"I've been fine here actually," Edgar said.

"Well the whole procedure for Michelle should take a couple hours, depending on when they started," said Gadget, "You know, we got invited to dinner with Justin, I hope he understands if we run a bit late."

"Dinner with that guy huh?" Willy said, "Maybe he'll give us more answers."

"He wants to find some way to let us go," said Gadget, not speaking too loudly.

"I think he will," said Teresa, "That's got to be why he gave her the stone."

"What exactly does that thing do anyway?" Dale asked.

"Well, my mom used it to lift our house when we were sinking into the mud," said Teresa.

"Really?" Gadget asked.

Teresa nodded, "I didn't see it, I was inside the house. But I heard she glowed like she was on fire, and she just lifted it. The whole cinder block. With her mind."

"You sure you aren't embellishing the story just a little?" Gadget asked, skeptical.

"It's what she said, and everyone who was there," said Teresa, "She even had burns on her hands when it was done."

"Hm…I'd have to see evidence first," said Gadget.

"So how long are we waiting here for?" Dale asked.

"Until she gets out," said Willy, "At least I am anyway."

"Me too," said Edgar.

"Yeah, and me,' said Russell, "We furlings stick together."

"I think we should all be here when she gets out,' said Gadget, "She needs our support."

Zipper nodded with a smile.

"Oh alright," said Dale, "Anyone for tic tac toe or something? Maybe hangman?"

The wait was long and tense, a tension only broken by Dale's playing games with the children by drawing on the dirt floor, if only to relieve his utter boredom. After a long wait, finally the doors opened. Michelle was led out by Abigail, with a blindfold over her eyes. It immediately made everyone in the room fear the worst.

At noticing the worried expressions, Dr. Brannigan was quick to inform them, "Not to worry folks, I believe the operation was a success. She'll need to keep her eyes closed for the time being though, and to help with that I've provided a blindfold."

"You sure she's not blind now?" Edgar accused.

"Heavens no, she'll be fine by morning."

Abigail led Michelle toward Willy as she stumbled.

"Are you alright Michelle?" Willy asked.

"My eyes feel dry, I had to keep them open for a long long time, and the doctor flashed some bright lights in my eyes too."

"Poor thing," Gadget said, "Why don't we get you back to the apartment."

"Phew, I thought we'd never get out of here," said Dale.

"Maybe someone should carry Michelle," said Abigail.

"I'll do it," Willy offered.

"But you're hurt," said Abigail.

"Nah, it's no problem," Willy said, picking Michelle up in his arms and wincing. Abigail put a hand on his shoulder with concern, but Michelle wrapped her arms around his neck and he had her up.

"You sure are strong," said Michelle.

"Y-yeah, I guess I am…" he said, as they exited.

"If it starts to hurt I'll take her," said Abigail, before turning back to the doctor, "Thanks again."

With that they walked through the catacombs of Thorn Valley back to the living space they'd been allotted.

Justin sat at the end of the dining table, reclining in it carelessly, when the double doors opened. The tall caped figure of Brutus entered the room, leaning his spear against the wall near the door.

“I'm here. Now what is this really about?" he demanded.

"Easy Brutus, just have a seat,” Justin said, motioning toward the other end of the table. Plates were set out, and bowls with berries, grains and nuts were placed across the long table, "I'm going to explain everything."

"Seems to be set for a lot of rats," Brutus remarked, sitting down, "I am not the only invite am I?"

"Ah, that serum must have finally enlarged your brain," Justin said, polishing a berry and biting into it, "You'll see."

Brutus glared, "I'm in no mood for your jokes, Justin. Whatever you have in mind here better not make me sore."

"I hope you'll behave yourself," Justin said firmly, "The others should arrive any time now."

It was only a short wait before a rat soldier opened the doors to Justin's dining room.

"Your guests, sir," the soldier said.

Brutus looked over his shoulder, and gave a snarl of disgust when Gadget entered the room, followed by the others. Only Michelle and Zipper were missing. They in turn were shocked to see Brutus sitting at one end of the table.

"Oh no, I'm not gonna be in the same room with that guy again,' said Willy.

Abigail held onto Willy's hand, and looked to Justin, "What is this about?"

"I'd like to know that too," Brutus said, turning to Justin, "You expect me to share a meal with these intruders?"

"Sit down, everyone, please,' Justin answered, "I want us to discuss things like civilized creatures. Is that alright with everyone?"

"I guess so," said Gadget, "As long as its safe."

"Luckily you have Justin here to protect your scrawny hides," said Brutus.

Uneasily, the furlings, Gadget and Dale sat down, with two seats closest to Brutus empty. Russell was the first to begin filling his plate. Since there were no objections to this, the others did so as well.

"Are we missing people?" Justin asked.

"Dr. Brannigan fixed Michelle's eyes," said Abigail, "Zipper and Teresa stayed behind with her in case she needed help, but she's asleep anyway."

"Is that so? Hm, well I trust in the doctor's skills, he's performed the operation successfully before. Anyway, now then, Brutus?"

"Yes, your honor?" he answered irritably.

"I know you have a brilliant mind underneath all of that anger and aggression. And honestly I understand why that anger and aggression is so prevalent, after what NIMH put you through. But I'm going to ask you this, and I'm only going to ask this of you once. I want you to open that mind, and I want you to listen to what Abigail and her friends have to say. And maybe you'll see that bringing them to justice may also bring justice to you, and everyone here at Thorn Valley."

"I already heard their whole story at the council meeting." Brutus protested.

"I don't think it was enough to really make you see the gravity of the situation," said Justin, "Abigail did try her hardest out there, but maybe just hearing what they've been through wasn't enough. I want you to listen to everyone here."

"I see what this is, you want me on your side so that you can get the council to vote on it again," Brutus growled, "Well you're going to have to impress me a lot for that to happen. One question though. Why me?"

"This is as much for you as for them," said Justin, adding jokingly "Also, I didn't think I could get Mr. Ages to change his mind."

Brutus folded his arms and sat back, "Proceed then."

"You know the gist of what happened to us," said Abigail, "You know that we've lost family and friends because of NIMH. I don't know what happened to you, maybe you've lost ones you loved too. Can't you sympathize with that?"

"It happens to a lot of us, kid. I may have lost those I cared about before getting sent to NIMH, but right now I care about one thing alone, and that is Thorn Valley. We have to protect our own. Strangers like you can't just trespass and expect help."

"Abigail spared your life, doesn't that mean a thing to you?" Gadget asked.

"My life wouldn't have been in jeopardy in the first place without you imbeciles."

"Hey, tone down the insults," Justin cautioned, "Hear them out."

"The struggle against NIMH isn't my fight anymore. We are safe from them now. Only the struggle to protect Thorn Valley concerns me."

"Your allegiance is admirable," said Justin, "But, don't you think taking out NIMH would be the best way to protect Thorn Valley, not to mention the rest of our species?"

"Who said anything about taking NIMH out?" Brutus shot back, "What makes you think any of us can even do that?"

"I've given Abigail the stone."

Brutus was taken aback. He looked at Abigail, noticing the golden thread around her neck. The amulet hung below the table where he couldn't see it. He stood up, and looked to be sure.

"You think this little whelp has what it takes to bare the sacred jewel? Have you lost your mind?"

"She survived an onslaught from you, didn't she?" Justin asked, "She has courage of the heart. Mrs. Brisby thought so, the Great Owl thought so, and so do I. I'm not just doing this on a whim, Brutus. I think she deserves to wear the stone. Nicodemus always hoped that gem would save us all one day. Maybe that day is drawing near."

"Is that so," Brutus stared at Abigail, who stared back at him, sitting straight, as if to show him she had the courage everyone said she had, "If this is your judgment, I must respect and follow it. I mistook her courage for brash cockiness."

"So that changes everything then?" Gadget asked, confused as to the significance of the stone and still skeptical about its supposed powers.

"It changes a great deal," Brutus said, "Not that I have any more respect for you trespassers of course. But this girl…maybe there's something about her."

"Then I'd say progress has been made," said Justin, "So you'll support letting them leave if I try to convince the council to vote on it again I take it?"

"Yeah sure. The less I'll have to see of them."

"Excellent," Justin said, very pleased with his results, "Now providing no one else changes their minds, you'll be able to continue your journey by tomorrow."

This brought a smile to everyone's face. Finally their prison sentence would be lifted.

Chapter 29: Chapter 29

After having finally tracked down the Stacy residence, Wilbur circled the roof and came down for a landing next to the chimney.

"Zis must be ze place," said Bianca, double checking the address they'd found in the phone book.

"Do you have the string?" Bernard asked.

Bianca reached down by their feet and gathered up a long thread of string, "Here it is."

"Alright, let's go down the chimney," Bernard said.

"Right," Wilbur replied, placing his beak near the edge of the chimney.

Bianca and Bernard climbed up Wilbur's neck and across his head to the brick chimney. Bianca handed one end of the string to Wilbur.

"Hold on to zis. Ve'll tug on it vhen ve vant back up again," she explained.

"You can count on me," said Wilbur, taking the string in his beak.

Bianca tossed the rest of it down the chimney, and they began to climb down, carefully lowering themselves. The walls were covered in soot and it smelled terrible, but luckily it was summer, so the chimney likely wouldn't be in use. Even now they could hear the voices of humans down below.

"Do we have enough gas to get to this place?" came the voice of a distraught woman.

"We'll manage," a man answered, "We have to visit her. I just can't believe this is happening."

"It sounds like something's wrong," said Bianca.

"Let's be sure we've got the right place first. But keep your ears open."

They made it to the bottom, their fur darkened by soot. They shook themselves off and scurried out of the fireplace. In the next room an older couple was discussing taking a trip to see someone the next day. The mice ran behind the leg of a small table.

"If we climb this table maybe we'll find a clue," said Bernard.

He shimmied up the leg of the table, and Bianca followed. When they finished climbing and reached the top, they discovered all the evidence they needed. There stood a framed picture of a father and mother, and a little girl holding a teddy bear. It was unmistakable, the girl was Penny.

"It wasn't the way we raised her, was it?" the mother asked tearfully.

"It couldn't have been dear," the father said, comforting her, "We gave her all the love and attention she needed. I blame her upbringing before we took her in; alone in that orphanage, before being kidnapped by that maniac. She never fully recovered."

"She's in trouble," Bianca gasped, holding onto Bernard, who put an arm around her.

"I can't bear to think of her there, alone in that insane asylum," the mother cried.

"Insane asylum?" Bernard questioned.

"Glenbrook will give her the care she needs, and once she's cured she'll be back home," said the father.

"What about her job at NIMH?"

"I'm sure they'll take her back in, won't they?"

"Glenbrook," Bernard repeated, "We need to go there."

"Vhat could have happened to her?" Bianca asked.

"We know for sure now that she works at NIMH."

"But zat means she vas there vhen…"

Bernard closed his eyes and looked down, "We'll get all the answers when we find her. Come on, I think we've found out all we wanted to know."

"Ve are going to rescue her?"

"We'll at least talk to her and hear her out," said Bernard, "As much as I don't want to believe she deliberately got the Rescue Aid Society exterminated on purpose, we have to be cautious before we rescue her from that place. For all we know, there may be a good reason she's there."

Bianca sighed, "You're right, Bernard. But I hope there's still a chance for Penny to be innocent."

"I want to believe it too," said Bernard sadly, "But we can't let our feelings cloud our judgment."

The two of them walked toward the fireplace again and tugged on the string, grabbing a hold as Wilbur pulled them up again. They'd now need to find out where the asylum was. It was time for some more research before making their next move.

The debate in the council that night was fierce, but Abigail and the others could only sit outside the council room, beneath the statue of Mrs. Brisby, and overhear raised voices and shouts from within. With Brutus' tentative support though, they hoped his voice might make a difference. Also being discussed was how to go about warning other rodent communities about the oncoming human onslaught coming from NIMH. Martin was the first to exit and let everyone know what was happening.

"The council wasn't happy about it, but they agreed to open the discussion again due to Justin's belief that you're the next stone-bearer, and that you're supposed to get NIMH to stop searching for us once and for all," Martin said to Abigail.

Abigail stood up with an excited smile, "Did they vote on it?"

"Yes," Martin answered, "And it came out in your favor by a small margin. They're going to have a look at your plane too before you go, Justin said something about fitting it with a new power source, in exchange for Gadget's help in converting Thorn Valley's power source to solar."

"I knew Justin would come through for us," Abigail said, satisfied.

"So what you're saying is we're allowed to leave now?" Dale asked.

"Yes, indeed," answered Martin.

"Awesome! We’re free!!" Dale cheered, before seeing Gadget fold her arms and raise an eyebrow at him for being disrespectful, "Err I mean…gee, I'm sure gonna miss this place…with its lack of things to do…"

"So they really do want solar power," Gadget said, hoping to rescue Dale by changing the subject, "That sounds like a deal. We'll come back here as soon as it's all said and done, and I'll help you with that. And no one else will know about Thorn Valley when we leave…except maybe our other friends and family…"

"Just make sure it's all kept under wraps, and don't reveal the location under any circumstances," Martin warned, looking around, "Best not to bring that point up, lest those who supported it change their minds."

"We'll be careful," said Abigail, "You can trust us."

"I'm sure we can," said Martin, "Anyway, I've been told to inform you that your plane will be fixed up and enhanced by morning, at which time you can leave. Though you'll be assigned a representative from Thorn Valley to assist you and make certain you do as you've promised."

"Really?" Edgar asked, "But…we don't have enough seating in the Ranger Wingamathing as it is."

"I think they're fixing that," said Martin.

"Are they against me overseeing this process?" Gadget asked, rather protective over what remained of her plane. It was after all the only thing NIMH hadn't taken.

"Not at all, just talk to Mr. Ages after the meeting," said Martin, "Right now they're talking about sending warning to nearby communities. The rest of you should head back to your rooms now, so as not to block the entrance."

"Alright, let's go then,' said Abigail, "I wonder how Michelle is doing."

"Yeah I do too,' said Willy, "Hope she can still see."

The furlings, along with Dale, headed back toward their room while Gadget stayed behind. When they arrived, they gathered into the bedroom where Michelle had been sleeping with Zipper and Teresa watching over her.

"Is she alright?" asked Edgar.

"She's been sleeping this whole time,' said Teresa.

"Maybe we ought to see how her eyes are doing," Russell suggested.

Teresa got up and turned off the lamp, the only light coming from the living room, "She shouldn't be exposed to too much light yet."

Abigail stroked Michele's head, "Michelle…can you wake up for us?"

Michelle groaned and stretched with a yawn, "What is it?"

"Take off your blindfold," Abigail said.

"Phew, finally," she said, removing the blindfold from over her eyes, rubbing them and blinking. She looked around.

"Can you see us?" asked Willy.

"It's dark in here, but yes," she replied.

Abigail held Michelle's hand and smiled, "So you're not blind?"

"Nuh uh, I'm okay. Not really sure yet if I see better though, because it's dark."

"That's great news, I mean, that you can see at least," said Russell.

"By tomorrow morning we'll know for sure if she's cured," said Teresa, yawning too, "I think I best be off, now that you're back. Best of luck in the morning. If Justin had reason to believe in you, then I do too."

"Okay, good night, and thank you for your help" said Abigail, as Teresa left the room.

"So now what?" Dale asked.

"I guess we rest up, now that we're leaving tomorrow," said Abigail.

"Sounds good to me," said Russell, "What a day."

Abigail climbed into bed beside Michelle, and Willy climbed onto the other side of the bed, the three of them cuddling and drifting off into a slumber.

Long after NIMH closed for the night, and its employees headed home, Nimnul remained locked in the laboratory, tinkering with beakers and vials, mixing an insidious brew, with the occasional cackle to himself.

"This hormone was genius, really. Regenerating damaged brain tissue, prolonging cell life and thus the life of the host. It could have been revolutionary. The government shutting down its production was a severe oversight."

He continued mixing chemicals together, reading off of a printed list.

"All of those dirty rats ended up with its benefits. Ha! Those idiot scientists. Couldn't even keep them caged up. Teaching them to read and then having instructions printed on the cage doors on how to open them, just what did they think was going to happen? Ah, but therein lies the problem. Why use rodent test subjects at all? When somewhere, if you look hard enough, you're bound to find a willing human test subject. Someone crazy, desperate or suicidal enough. Maybe I fall into that first category, but crazy doesn't mean I'm not smart!"

After filling the beaker with a clear substance, he readied a syringe, filling it with the fluid from the vial. He then gazed at it for a few moments. He knew that, being the first human ever to try it out, he could easily wind up dead, or near enough. But what did he have to lose? It was only a matter of time before what he had done to Dr. Strauss would be discovered, and he'd be hauled off to the asylum for good this time. What little rationality that remained in Nimnul's skull was able to see the reality of his situation. He had only a small pocket of time before he was exposed. And of course, this had been his true plan all along once discovering what had happened with those escaped rats. That and ridding the world of such dangerous vermin.

"If this works, I will be even more of a genius, and an immortal! I will be a god! I'd say the positives outweigh the negatives. Death doesn't scare me."

Nimnul removed his belt from his pants and wrapped it around his bicep tightly, taking the syringe, and slowly and with hesitation, punctured his arm with the needle and injected the serum into his body. He winced; the hormone coursing through his veins felt extremely painful. He removed the belt, and got up from his seat, staggering. His vision was becoming blurred, and the pain was overwhelming.

"Is this…supposed to happen?"

As he felt the world swirl around him, he blacked out, and collapsed to the floor.

Chapter 30: Chapter 30

Penny sat cross-legged on the floor, restrained in the straightjacket, staring up at the stars behind the bars of the window, high up where she couldn't reach. It was before dawn, perhaps four or five in the morning, but she couldn't sleep. She wouldn't have been constrained to a solitary confinement cell if not for Dr. Strauss' "insistence" that she'd become a danger to herself and others. Nimnul must have been controlling him somehow, she thought. He wasn't the same scientist who'd hired her to work for NIMH anymore. Sure he'd always had a creepy, impersonal side to him, but this was out of character.

Her plan now was to act completely calm and sane, and maybe she'd be released. It was just her first night, maybe after a while they'd decide she was cured, that the whole thing was just a little nervous breakdown caused by deep-seated emotional trauma in her past. The they would give her some pills and send her on her way. Since arriving she insisted to everyone within earshot that she was fine, that rodents couldn't talk, that they were just animals. Of course, she still knew better than that. But the evidence against her was sizeable; Nimnul had sent their psychiatrists the security tapes of her speaking to the animals, as well as copies of the old news clip from the day she'd been adopted. They had records of her therapy sessions from when she was a child too. Her act would only go so far. But, maybe if she kept it up long enough, there was hope.

There was a strong possibility she'd have to keep up this ruse for the rest of her life even if she did get out of here; insisting to everyone that rodents couldn't speak. She would need to do this for her own protection as well as the protection of those rodents who, through some mystery of science, were as intelligent as humans, perhaps even moreso. But as long as Penny knew in her heart that she was lying, and that she didn't start believing her own lies like she had before, she was okay with doing it. It was for an important cause. She'd been careless as a child. She should never have said anything to anyone about talking to mice. She knew that now.

But the next big question was what to do after she was released. Penny couldn't just let the imprisoned rodents at NIMH stay behind to be poked and prodded, studied and then killed. She had to rescue them. She owed them that. But she didn't think it would be enough to redeem herself after all of the animals she had hurt, all of the screams she had turned a deaf ear to on the lab table because she had tricked herself into viewing them as objects. Penny felt like she deserved to die after all of that. She felt like she deserved to suffer and die the same way they did.

But…she'd be of no use to those animals dead.

That was her epiphany. Maybe she'd never feel redeemed if she pressed on but if she could do anything to help the rodents who were in peril now, her life would have a purpose. Sitting in that cell at the insane asylum all night and coming to that conclusion made her feel more calm -indeed, more sane- than she'd felt in years.

It was then that finally she noticed two small shapes descend to the sill of her barred window. She couldn't recognize them because it was dark, but they looked like mice.

"Hello? Are you two mice?" she asked quietly, hoping no one on guard would hear her as she was trying to convince them she was 'cured'.

"Can you understand us?"

Penny nodded and stood up. The voice of the male one sounded all too familiar.

"Penny? Is it you?" Bianca asked.

Penny felt a pang in her heart, and almost immediately her eyes watered.

"Am I dreaming this? Aren't you both…"

"It's us, Penny," said Bernard, "We survived the gas, if that's what you're asking."

Tears rolled down Penny's cheeks and she became choked up.

"A-after all of these years…I stopped thinking you were real, and now…you're here."

"Penny, vhat are you doing here?" Bianca asked.

"I don't belong here. I was put here for talking to mice, b-but I know you can talk. You're real. Both of you. You're really here."

"Yes Penny, ve are real," Bianca said to her, her voice soothing.

"Everyone told me you were imaginary," Penny said, in tears, "I was made fun of, told I was crazy…and then I started to believe them, about you being imaginary. That's why…that's why I did those horrible things, those experiments…"

Bernard and Bianca looked down at her with deep pity.

"But I started to hear their voices again, and I…I knew that the rodents were speaking to me, that they needed my help to get out of that terrible place. But I couldn't know if it was my imagination until I knew the two of you were real. So I looked for you at the Rescue Aid Society headquarters, right where you told me it was when I was just a little girl. But they followed me. I…I never meant it to be that way. It's all my fault."

Penny curled up and began to cry once more. Now Bernard and Bianca knew the truth. She was innocent in that she didn't mean for the Rescue Aid Society to be gassed, and truly sorry for the past crimes she had committed against her test subjects.

"I deserve to be punished," she sobbed.

"Oh come now Penny, you didn't know," said Bianca, climbing down the padded wall. Bernard huffed a sigh and followed her, "Maybe ve vere wrong too. Our society expects children to forget us eventually and conclude ve are imaginary. I don't think any of us considered the lasting effects zat could have on a child."

"I could have used your rescue again many times," Penny said sadly, wiping her eyes on her kneecap without the use of her hands and sniffing.

"You have us now," said Bernard.

"Your childhood vas hard because of us, and for zat ve owe you," said Bianca, "Bernard and I have you to thank for us being together as husband and wife after all."

Penny smiled a little, "You got married? I always knew you two would."

Bianca giggled.

"I want to get out of here," said Penny, "I want to do something right, and rescue all of those animals. I don't think it'll make what I've done in the past alright but…I want to do good from now on."

"It's never too late to change your life," said Bianca, "Let zis be the first day of the new you. You are on our side from now on. A human Rescuer."

"An honorary member of the Rescue Aid Society," Bernard added.

Penny smiled through tears, "I'd like that. I'll devote my life to helping all of you."

"But first ve have to rescue her one more time," said Bianca, "How are ve going to do that?"

"I think the nurse has a key," said Penny, "The one working the graveyard shift. Think you could get it somehow and open the door?"

"That's easier said than done for someone our size," said Bernard, thinking, "Is there a way to unlock it from the inside?"

"Not that I know of," Penny replied.

"We'd need a human to open it then," said Bernard, "I can't think of any other way to get the door open."

"Okay okay, you two help me get out of this straightjacket, and I'll get the nurse's attention," said Penny, "When she opens the door, I'll make a break for it."

"I think zat can be arranged," said Bianca, "Come Bernard, let's unbuckle ze straps on her straightjacket."

The two mice set to work undoing the straightjacket that bound her arms. With the straps unblocked she could move her arms again, and she slipped it off, wearing a blue medical patient's uniform underneath. Penny scooped the two of them up and nuzzled them to her cheek before reaching up and bringing them as close to the window as she could.

"Best to do it before daybreak," she said, "The nurse will make her rounds again soon, I'll meet you outside."

"Alright Penny, we'll find you when you come out through the entrance," said Bernard as they climbed the padded wall to the window and made their way to the sill, climbing back up the string again to reach Wilbur.

Inside, a drowsy nurse sat at a desk near the entrance of the asylum, thumbing through a magazine and whiling away the hours until her shift was up. She'd be making another run through to check up on the patients in another half hour, but for now she was only to keep watch. It was then that she heard pounding on one of the doors.

"I need help!" Penny shouted from down the hall.

The nurse sighed and sat up, "Guess I'll make my rounds a little early."

She walked down the hallway carrying the keys with her. The other patients were all asleep as usual. But Penny was throwing her body against the door and screaming. It was normal enough around these parts but still best to at least check up on her.

When she got there, Penny was nowhere to be seen through the window on the door. In reality, she was hiding just beneath it.

"Where is she?" the nurse took her key out and opened the door.

When it opened, Penny took her chance. She knocked the nurse to the ground with a shoulder tackle and darted down the hallway. The nurse had the wind knocked out of her, and struggled to her feet, but by that time Penny was swiftly making her way to the entrance. As she ran barefoot on the concrete outside, she could hear an alarm go off in the building. She noticed an albatross flying overhead.

"Penny!" Bianca called down, "A car is coming through ze front gate! Run!"

The asylum was surrounded by high walls and black gates. A car coming through would be the only time those gates would open, after entering a code. She spotted the car, one which probably belonged to one of the nurses, and ran through the gate as fast as she could before it closed. The car stopped, and a man yelled after Penny exited the gates before they closed, "Someone call the police!"

Penny ran toward some nearby woods, panting, as the albatross flew down in front of her.

"Wow what an escape!" said Wilbur, "A lucky one too."

"Great job Penny, now ve need you to keep moving," Bianca said.

"We'll need to get her some other clothes somewhere too," said Bernard, "Where can we take her?"

"I can try to make it back to my apartment in Bethesda, somehow," said Penny, "But I'll need to get there in secret, and I'll need a disguise."

"You don't have any money, do you?" asked Bernard.

"Not on me," she sighed.

"Hey, vhat about your parents, vill they help?" Bianca asked, "Ve found out vhere you vere by going to your parent's house."

"That's right! All I need is some change for a pay phone, maybe they'll listen. Or…m-maybe not. They never believed me about you two, they might just think I'm crazy and take me back to the asylum."

"We need to prove it to them somehow," said Bernard, "We'll try to speak to them, or write them something on a piece of paper if they can't understand. They'll believe you."

Penny thought a moment, and then nodded, "We'll show them once and for all that I was right all along."

"I'll fly around and scan the ground for coins," said Wilbur.

"Oh, are you Orville?" Penny asked.

"Nah that's my brother, my name's Wilbur," Wilbur chuckled, "I remember him talking about the time he helped Bernard and Bianca rescue you though."

"Very well, you stay here in the bushes and hide," said Bianca, "Bernard and I vill keep vatch in case anyone comes looking for you, and vhen Wilbur comes back vith money ve'll find a gas station or something vith a pay phone."

"Perfect," said Penny, "Thank you all so much. I've been waiting for this since I was a child. My parents will finally know the truth."

"No one will call you crazy after this Penny," said Bernard.

Penny smiled and picked the two of them up again, kissing their heads and placing them back on the ground. Once it was all said and done she'd proudly serve as the only human member of the Rescue Aid Society. All it took now was to finally convince her parents at long last that mice really did rescue her from her kidnappers when she was eight, all those years ago.

Part Four