‘I'll be fine.' Wendy softly
whispered in Justin's ear.

Justin didn't say a word, he only
shook his head.

‘I'll be back before you know it.'
She whispered again, ending her sentence with a small kiss on his ear.

Justin smiled a sad smile and
softly stroke her neck fur. It felt so soft and it smelled so familiar that it
brought a lump to his throat. He simply couldn't speak anymore.

Wendy took off her bathrobe and
placed Justin's hand on her chest.

‘Can you feel my heartbeat?' She
asked. ‘It's beating for you, remember that... please?'

Justin nodded. She slowly moved
his hand from her chest to her stomach. The baby inside her was softly moving,
untouched by everything around him or her. Safe within his or her strong and
brave mother.

‘Can you feel him moving?' She
softly whispered again.

‘Him?' Justin softly replied, and
he smiled.

‘Yes, him. You were right, it's
going to be a boy.'

Justin started laughing a bit.
‘Are you just saying that because I'm convinced of the fact that it's going to
be a boy?'

‘No, I'm saying that because it IS
going to be a boy. And I want you to name him. Now.'

‘Name him? But....' Then as of he
were struck by lightning, the sudden truth ran through his heart and soul. He
was never going to hold him, never going to see him, never going to get to know
him.'

‘I don't want this! I don't... I
can't!' Justin yelled.

‘Please! He's your son, and I want
you to name him. That's all I want. Please let us keep our heads up and let us
think positive. It'll all be fine. I know that for sure. I just want you to
name him.'

‘I want his name to be Joshua.
After my father. And Ethan after my brother.'

‘Those names are beautiful.' Wendy
said with a smile.

‘But what if it's going to be a
girl?' Justin wondered.

‘It's going to be a boy.'

‘How do you know all that?'

‘The Stone.'

‘The Stone told you that it is
going to be a boy?'

‘No, the Stone made me uhm... see
that it's going to be a boy.'

‘I can't make head or tail out of
it.' Justin said, gazing deeply into Wendy's calm, beautiful, shiny eyes.

‘I'll try to explain when Joshua
is born.'

After these words she gently
placed her lips onto Justin's lips and comforted him the best she could. She
could feel him fear and pain as she kissed him.

‘I wish there was something I
could do for you.'

‘Don't go.' Justin softly
whispered in her ear, and he kissed her again, this time more passionately.
Wendy answered his kiss with her entire heart. Without saying a word they lost
themselves completely in a complicated love-tornado full with mixed emotions,
passion and fear.

 

Somehow, they managed to sleep for
two hours, exhausted by the almost supernatural love-making. They woke up, all
tangled up in each other, warm, comfortable and sweaty. 

‘I miss you already.' Wendy softly
whispered.

‘Me too.' Justin said.

Wendy smiled after hearing his
words; Justin was finally able to let her go. She was going to make everything
better, she knew she was. She never felt more convinced in her life.

‘Shall we get up? I'd like to say
goodbye to the rats.'

Justin nodded and kissed her.
Three more hours to go and she would be gone, forever.

 

Thirty minutes later there was a
extra meeting set in the Meeting Hall.

All the rats had gathered to say
their farewells to Wendy Elisabeth.

She didn't pack a lot of things.
She didn't want to give Jenner the impression that she was planning to stay
long. She did take Justin's brown uniform with her, so that she could smell his
scent. She also left a piece of clothing behind for him. She was worried about
him. Worried that he would go crazy without her, that he would die out of
loneliness. That he would stop eating and drinking. That he would take all his
bitterness and frustration out on the ones who he needed most right now. That
he would be on his own... She wasn't scared for herself. She was convinced of the
fact that she and Joshua would be alright.

‘Joshua...', She softly whispered.
‘I hope you'll be just like your father.'

 

Nanny and Arthur were almost the
last rats in line to say goodbye.

Arthur felt terribly guilty of the
fact that he couldn't protect the Brisby Family.

Wendy shook her head. ‘Oh dear
Arthur, please don't blame yourself!' She kissed his forehead.' Jenner would
have found another way to get me. He is determent enough.'

Nanny just couldn't stop crying
when she embraced her friend. ‘Please take care of yourself!' She cried, almost
desperately.

‘I will, I will....' Wendy softly
said. ‘Will you two please do me a favor? Please look out for Justin. And
please don't be too hard on him if he says something wrong, something
insulting?'

‘Wendy, don't you worry about
that! We'll take care of him.' Arthur said.

‘Will you make sure that he doesn't
skip meals and such, please?' She asked again, this time with tears in her
eyes.

‘I don't care if I have to force
it into him!' Nanny said while she forced herself to smile.

‘Thank you so much, both of you.'
Wendy said, and she embraced both rats.

 

Nicodemus was the last person to
say goodbye.

‘Nicodemus, I'm so sorry for
Justin's behavior earlier.'

‘Wendy, don't apologize. I
understand his reaction. He still has a lot to learn. I will never, ever let my
boy down. He's far too important to me.'

‘Thank you. Could you please keep
an eye on him, just in case....'

‘I will my child. And good luck.
You'll be facing a difficult journey, one you will overcome. You are the Key,
Wendy Elisabeth.'

‘The key?' Wendy asked.

‘Yes, the Key... You'll understand.
Later.' Nicodemus said and he softly placed his hand onto her stomach.

‘Ah... This young man will have the
courage of his mother and the brains and determination of his father. He'll be
born in a safe environment. Rely on that knowledge... You are the Key, remember
that.'

The old rat embraced Wendy and
walked towards Justin. Without a word, he embraced him firmly as well. After
Nicodemus embraced Justin he walked towards his cabinet where he opened his
book onto an empty page. He dipped his pencil into the ink and started writing:

 

The
time has come.

It
won't take much longer before Wendy Elisabeth realizes that she is the Key. Of
course, the Key is a complicated... thing. One will have to go through a number
of tests before getting to that level. I just realized that she is the Key a
few days ago. But she's clever. It won't take her long to find out. Justin, my
dear boy Justin... So scared and angry. There's so much work lying ahead of you.
But you will get there, together with your Wendy. Just concentrate on your own
being, Justin, concentrate... I'm proud of you. Both of you.

Nicodemus.

 

There was a soft knock at the
door.

‘Nicodemus, Jenner has arrived.'
Brutus whispered.

‘I'll come with you.' The old rat
said, as he took his walking stick firmly in his hand.

He turned around to look at the
book. He realized it was still open. He raised his hand and the book slowly
closed. He smiled. ‘Magic'. He softly whispered and followed Brutus.

 

Jenner was nervous. He wasn't
aware of this emotion first, probably because he hardly had a reason to be
nervous ever before. This emotion was somehow familiar to him. His thoughts
drifted off to the laboratories of NIMH. He shivered and shook the thoughts
away. NIMH was far away from here. There was no reason to be nervous.

 

Wendy was the first to walk
outside, with Justin closely by her side. Followed by Arthur, Nanny, Brutus and
Nicodemus. Jenner's heartbeat began to raise when he saw Wendy's stomach.
‘She's pregnant.' He softly whispered.

‘Where are the Brisby's?' Justin
said, when he was within Jenner's reach.

‘Be patient, they'll be here.'
Jenner softly said. ‘You're pregnant.' Jenner said, turning towards his
daughter.

‘That's right. I'm pregnant.'
Wendy said casually.

‘Then I guess you should have
taken more baggage with you.'

‘Perhaps.' Wendy said, and stared
right into Jenner's eyes.

Jenner softly laughed. ‘You turned
out to be just like me.'

‘You couldn't be more wrong.'
Wendy answered, still keeping her eyes onto his.

‘We'll see about that. We've got
plenty of time to get to know each other. We've got a lot to talk about...
GLORIA!' Jenner shouted.

A small nervous rat with a huge
scratch over her face came closer from behind him.

‘This is my wife Gloria. As you
can see she had a little accident. She'll tell you where the Brisby's are,
Justin. You can go with her.'

‘No way! That's not part of the
deal. You'll have to bring them here, otherwise you can kiss your trade
goodbye.' Justin said, moving towards the larger black male.

‘Gloria... Bring them here.' Jenner
said again, without looking at her.

The rat named Gloria took off
again.

‘As you wish, Justin. We'll play
the game your way.' Jenner said.

‘So this is a game for you?'
Justin replied angrily.

‘A little competition cannot
hurt.' Jenner answered again. His words disgusted Justin.

‘You don't give a damn about her,
do you?'

‘Oh you mean Gloria? For once
you're right. I hate her. You know what? You'll get her for free.' Jenner said,
pushing Justin to the limit.

‘I meant about Wendy. She's
pregnant with my child.'

‘So I noticed. I do care about
Wendy, but the child means nothing to me. It will be as worthless and
meaningless as it's pitiful father.'

This time Justin couldn't bare it
anymore. He jumped towards Jenner, taking his knife out of his pocket so
quickly that Jenner was taken completely by surprise.

Jenner tumbled on his back as he
tried to pull his knife from his pocket. He gave Justin an enormous push so he
landed on his back as well. Within seconds he reached for his knife and jumped
on top of the much smaller male, pushing his blade right under Justin's
collarbone. Justin screamed out of pain and frustration. Blood rushed from his
shoulder down as Jenner pulled the blade out. He was ready to strike again as
he heard Wendy's scream.

‘Daddy NO!' It made him stop
immediately. It was like her scream went straight through his heart. He took
Justin by his shirt and pulled him up.

‘Next time it'll go directly into
you heart.' Jenner snarled.

Wendy immediately ran towards
Justin. ‘Justin! Are you alright?' She cried.

Justin was out of breath and in a
lot of pain. Blood flooded out of the injury as the blade hit his main blood
vessel. ‘We have to get him inside, NOW!' Brutus yelled.

Brutus lifted Justin up and made a
dash towards the Castle.

Wendy wanted to follow them but
Jenner pulled her arm before she was able to.

‘Jenner please! Let her see her
husband!' Nanny pleaded.

‘No way, the Brisby's are here.
She's mine now. You're coming with me.'

‘NO, please, no... Let me stay with
him. Please!' Wendy cried, but Jenner lifted her up and carried her further and
further away from her safe Castle. ‘JUSTIN!'

‘STOP IT!' Jenner screamed. ‘Stop
crying and shut up! Forget about him! He's not worth it!' He started dragging
her towards the old tree. He pushed a few branches away and pushed her inside.
They were followed by Gloria who constantly tried to touch Wendy's stomach.

‘Don't touch me!' Wendy shouted to
the little rat and Jenner slapped the small barn rat so hard that she was
smacked against a huge branch. She was on the floor, unconscious.

‘Get away from my daughter.'
Jenner shouted.

Wendy just couldn't believe what
just happened. Her husband is badly injured, her father pulled her away from
everything that was safe to her and that same father hit his new wife
unconscious! That all in less than a few minutes! Jenner pulled Gloria off the
ground and carried her towards a small, smelly room. He laid her on a unstable
bed. ‘This is the infirmary. This is where you will have your baby.'

Wendy's eyes grew big and she
gasped for air.

‘Let me out of here, let me out of
here!' She panicked, breathing faster and faster. Then all went black.