Mrs.Brisby had slept in late, she had enjoyed the peace and quiet, but she
knew that it would never last. She was awoken with a start....
"Moooom!" screamed Teresa. "Martin won’t leave me alone!"

Mrs.Brisby sighed, there was no use in trying to get any sleep now. She
reluctantly got to her feet, as her children continued to fight.

"Ouch!" Martin yelled. "Get off my tail!"

Teresa stuck her tongue out at her brother, "Ha!, That’s what you get,
so there!" She stomped off to tattle on Martin. "Mom." Said
Teresa. "Martin and I were out gathering something for breakfast, just
like you said, when he purposely tripped me and then I dropped everything, now
what are we gonna eat?" asked Teresa, eyeing the corner of the doorway,
where Martin was spying on her.

"Tattle-tale." She heard him mutter.

"Well." Said Mrs.Brisby, "I guess that we’ll just have to go
out and see if we can find anything else to eat. We could have already been
eating now, if not for Martin." She to, glared in the direction of the
doorway. Martin grinned and quickly ran out the door, disparate to find
something else for their breakfast that morning.

When Mrs.Brisby got into the kicthen, Timothy and Cynthia were anxiously
awaiting their breakfast. "Mommy, I’m hungry." Cynthia complained.

"Well, I’m sorry, but we’ll just have to wait and hope that we can find
something else for breakfast, you have your brother to thank for this."
Said Mrs.Brisby, heading out the door.

Later that day, Jeremy, Mrs.Brisby’s good friend, the crow stopped by.
"Hey, Mrs.B, I got something for you." He sounded very tired.

"What is it, Jeremy?" asked Mrs.Brisby.

"A letter from....uh, what’s his name, the rat....I know it,
it’s,uh,it’s...."

Mrs. Brisby rolled her eyes, Jeremy was a very good friend, but, his memory
was just terrible. "Justin?" asked Mrs.Brisby.

"Yeah! That’s it!"said Jeremy, giving her the letter. It read:

"Dear Mrs.Brisby,

I have missed you deeply, as have all of us here at Thorn Valley. We
would be very pleased if you and your family would come to Thorn Valley for a
visit, or possibly, once you have seen what a true "wonderland" that
Thorn Valley really is, you might even consider a move to Thorn Valley. Your
children would have many friends, as would you, please consider this.

With Love,

Justin."

Mrs.Brisby felt like crying, she missed Justin and the rats so badly, but, a
move? Suddenly, she heard four tiny, excited voices coming from behind her. Oh,
wow!, can we really move to Thorn Valley, Mother?" asked Teresa.

"Yeah, Mom, can we?" asked Martin.

"Oh, please say yes, Mom." Begged Timothy.

"Can we, Mommy, can we, pleeease" Cynthia tugged at her Mother,
pleading.

"Well." Said Mrs. Brisby. "I can see that there are no
objections, give me overnight to think about it. Mrs. Brisby watched as four
smiling faces headed back inside.

That night, while the children, (unusually helpful that night), were busy
doing the laundry, Mrs.Brisby sat down in her room to think about what should
be done. True, she and her children would have lots of friends, but, this was
the only home that she or the children for that matter had ever known, and,
this was the same home that Jonathan had left them, on the other hand....

"Martin!!!!" screamed Teresa.

Mrs.Brisby sighed, now what?, she thought, she should have known that she
could never get a second to think around here, sometimes her children were such
a headache! Teresa screamed again, and, Mrs.Brisby walked into the kicthen,
only to be horrified. "Mother!" screamed Teresa. "Martin just
ruined my brand new dress!" Teresa was soaking wet with soapy laundry
water, and, Martin had the empty bucket in his hands, sprawled out on the
floor, laughing non-stop. Cynthia too, couldn’t help but laugh right along with
Martin, even though she had no part in the "joke" at all. Timothy was
more concerned about Teresa and was horrified that Martin would do such a
thing.

"Martin!" Mrs.Brisby scolded. Suddenly, Martin stopped laughing,
and, with a guilty grin, turned to face his Mother. "You should be
ashamed!" Mrs.Brisby yelled.

"Gee, I-I’m sorry, Mom." Said Martin, now looking towards the
floor. "I’ve heard that Before!, now, apologize to Teresa, and then go to
your room, no dinner for you tonight." Said Mrs.Brisby, angrily.

"But...." Started Martin. "Apologize Martin, now!"
Mrs.Brisby glared down at her son. Martin hesitated, and then very quietly
muttered. "I’m sorry, Teresa." It was so quiet that it was almost a
whisper, but it was enough for Mrs.Brisby.

Martin slowly made his way to his room, where he would spend the rest of the
night, but, what was worse was that he would get no dinner that night. After
Martin was in his room, Teresa started complaining about her brother.
"He’s a spoiled rotten brat!" she muttered, crossing her arms, and,
stomping her foot. Mrs.Brisby sighed, out of all of her children, Martin was
the most miss-behaved, and, she often worried what would become of him.

Late that night, after everyone else had already eaten and gone to bed,
Martin tossed and turned while trying to sleep. His stomach growled, and, he
felt sick. Just then, he heard someone or something open his bedroom door.
"W-who’s there?" asked Martin, grabbing a stick that he often played
with. "I’m not afraid of you, I ain’t scared of nothin!" Just then,
the door opened, and, in walked Cynthia. "Well, you looked pretty scared
of Mommy earlier!"she giggled.

Martin dropped the stick. "I was not!" he protested. "Now,
what do you want?, can’t you just leave me alone?, I’m being punhised enough,
without being pestered by little sisters too!"

"Well, alright then, I had brought you some food, but...."

Martin’s ears perked up. "Cynthia, wait....did you say food??!" he
asked.

"Yeah, but, I thought that I was just a pest."said Cynthia,
turning to go.

"Wait!, no, I-uh-I didn’t mean it, sis, you’re the best!, honest!"
Martin pleaded with Cynthia not to go.

"Really?"

Martin nodded.

"Well....alright." she handed him a half a cob of corn and a small
piece of bread. It wasn’t much, but at least it was something.

"I thought that it was funny." Said Cynthia.

"What?" asked Martin.

"When you ruined Teresa’s brand new dress, she looked so mad!"

Martin turned away. "Yeah, and so did everybody else too."

"Do you think that we’ll get to go to Thorn Valley?" asked
Cynthia.

Thorn Valley!, Martin had almost forgotten all about it. "I sure hope
so!"said Martin. "Now, you better get outta here, before someone
finds out that you brought me some food." Martin yawned, now, finally
starting to get sleepy.

"Alright, good night."said Cynthia, it was way past her bedtime,
and, she was starting to fall asleep while standing-up.

"Oh, and, Cynthia, Thanks."

Cynthia had always looked-up to her brother, even though he got into trouble
almost everyday. Mrs.Brisby also worried that she would be just like him when
she got just a little bit older. For two of her children to act the way that
Martin did, she would surely go insane.