As Mercy walked to the main
library she reflected on her first month in Thorn Valley and how every day
seemed like heaven, it was so wondrous that every morning when she woke she
expected to be back in a cage or in Jenner’s colony. But now she had things
she had never had before, hope, family, friends and freedom. It was almost to
much to believe. Her time with Mr. Ages was proving to be very fruitful. He
was a stern but fair teacher and he had even commented that she had a definite
gift for medicine. She had thrown herself whole heatedly into her studies.
Justin had given her and the other prisoners a second chance when they had expected
only death and she would rather die than risk wasting it. As for the other
prisoners, who had no education, they were working on the farm and getting a
great deal of remedial education. She was also overjoyed that those who were
still at Jenner’s colony would one day soon be set free. The day after her
pardon Justin had called another community meeting to explain to them the
plight of the other colony. To her amazement the people of Thorn Valley had
agreed with Justin that something had to be done and plans were even now being
prepared to rescue the other colony so that they could be in the valley before
winter. She didn’t believe such people or such a place as this could exist.
She found it hard to believe that these strangers that she had attacked had
pardoned her and her fellow prisoners and had opened their hearts to them and
were willing to free others like her and then to be willing to share their
world with them, the Brisby family in particular had been especially kind to
her. She thanked God every day for these things.

Rose Brisby had practically
moved into the library over the last month, now that she could read she spent
almost every waking moment making up for lost time. At the moment she had the
whole place to herself as the librarian had gone on break. As she was reading
she looked up and saw Killian with his son in his arms. He quickly walked over
to her.

“Good day, Rose.” He said with
a smile.

“Good day to you, Killian. How
is little Jeffrey today?” She asked.

“As good as gold.” He said and
offered the baby to her. She took the large baby rat in her arms. The baby
looked at her, smiled and grabbed her nose. She could sense only joy from the
baby, it was a wondrous feeling knowing that this was coming from the being
that had once been the loathsome Jenner.

“Thank you for everything, I
don’t know how I can possibly repay you for all that you have done for us.”
Killian said.

“If you want to repay me, just
be a good father to your son.” She replied happily as she looked at the baby.
As they were speaking Mercy entered the library.

“Hello, Mercy.” Rose called
out.

Mercy approached, she saw that
Rose was holding a baby rat. She had heard that Killian found a baby on the
battlefield, she couldn’t imagine where the baby came from. To her knowledge
all the children born at Jenner’s colony had been left there when the soldiers
left. As she approached and got a good look at the baby she suddenly
recognized his familiar presence, she gasped in alarm and took a step back.

“Its...its...” Is all she could
say. Rose and Killian each looked to the other and then to her. Killian
leaned close to her.

“Its a secret that you
will take with you to the grave, do I make myself perfectly clear?” He said in
a very serious tone. Mercy nodded vigorously.

“Like you, Jenner is being given
a second chance here also and its best that the fewer who know, the better.”
Rose said and handed the baby to her. Mercy took him hesitantly. How can
this be? I thought she had killed him. In my arms was the cruel and vicious
master I had served and now after all that he had done to them, even he was
being allowed to start over here with the son that he had abandoned. She
thought to herself. As she held the baby, she smiled down at him, he looked up
at her, giggled and reached for her nose.

Justin sat in his office
studying the document before him. When I sign this document the weaponry of
Thorn Valley makes the quantum leap from the fifteenth century to the twentieth
century. He thought. He heard a knock on the door.

“Come in.” He said.

He looked up and saw Jonathan
Brisby enter the room and walk up to his desk.

“I hope I’m not interrupting.”
Jonathan said.

“Not at all, I needed a little
break, what can I do for you?” He asked.

“Justin, there is something I
need to say to you.” Jonathan said and walked to the window, his tone was sad.

“Jonathan, is something wrong?”
Justin asked with great concern.

“No, not at all. What I want to
say is...Thank you. Thank you for caring for my wife and especially for my
children in my absence. As I have gotten to know them again your name comes up
very often when they all talk about the time I missed.” He said seriously.
Justin was glad Jonathan was facing the window when he said the part about
caring for his wife, that way Jonathan couldn’t see the look of extreme anxiety
on his face, he only hoped Jonathan didn’t know just how much he really cared
about her. Jonathan, had things gone differently you might have returned to
find Rose to be my wife. The thought of that scene made Justin shudder.

“You’re welcome, Jon. I looked
after them as I hope you would look after my family if something ever happened
to me.” Justin said earnestly.

“That is true, I should have
said this earlier but I am ashamed to say I resented you for being so close to
them, I was jealous, but as I thought about it, I instead realized how lucky I
was to have a true friend who cared enough to share his life with them.”
Jonathan said. Justin was touched by Jonathan’s confession. Justin had been
secretly dreading this inevitable conversation. He wasn’t sure if Jonathan
would be angry or bitter about his caring for Rose and the kids. Yes, he did
care deeply about Rose, but he did what he did not just for her but out of
respect and friendship for Jonathan, he cared deeply for them all, the Brisby’s
were like family to him. Jonathan’s words were like a great weight being
lifted off his shoulders. He rose from his chair and joined Jonathan at the
window.

“Now that you’re back, you can
share your life with them, I’m sorry that you missed being their father as they
grew up, but its not to late to still be there for them.” Justin said.

“Your right of course, I look
forward to being their father again and any day now a grandfather.” Jonathan
said with a little sadness in his voice. He paused a moment then he spoke
again with a noticeable cheerfulness in his voice. “As you said Justin, Thorn
Valley is a place for second chances and new beginnings and that’s just what I
got.” The way Jonathan said that made Justin believe he was missing something.

“In what sense?” Justin asked.
Jonathan looked up at Justin and smiled broadly.

“We just got confirmation
today. Rose is going to have a baby!” Jonathan exclaimed. Justin grabbed
Jonathan and lifted him into the air so that they could look eye to eye.

“Congratulations! Lets go find
Rose, this is a moment to celebrate.” Justin said happily.

Dante sat at the desk in his
living room, filling out his daily report. Over the last few weeks his
apartment had begun to feel more like home every day. He had traded in his
human clothes for a guard uniform. His new sword sat nearby, an amazing piece
of metal work, courtesy of Martin Brisby. His once empty life was now full to
bursting. He had made more friends in the last month than he had made in his
entire life up to that point. He had a real home, a purpose and a sense of
place that had eluded him for so long. He had even managed to find something
he had never even dared to look for before. His thoughts were interrupted by a
knock on his door. He opened it to reveal the smiling face of Cynthia Brisby.

“Hi, Dante. Are you ready? The
play will be starting soon.” She said. He quickly joined her in the hall and
he felt his pulse increase dramatically the moment she took his hand. They
made there way to the amphitheater and waited for the show to begin.

The play was quite good. About
halfway through the play Cynthia rested her head against his shoulder and he
noticed her crying at a few parts. The leading rat in the play was
particularly good. Dante had learned during his brief time in the guard that
Brutus was not mute as some thought. He spoke sparingly and he chose to use
silence to intimidate the way that Lieutenant Snap used volume. However, while
Brutus was a very reserved rat under normal circumstances, put him on a stage
and he comes to life.

“STELLA!” Brutus cried out in
anguish.

The End