Gabriel patted the sweat of his
forehead. Thank goodness the injection worked. He was worried about Wendy's
condition, but he was even more worried about her safety.

Wendy was sleeping now, the
contractions had stopped, but were bound to start again if she didn't keep
calm. He knew one thing: She had had to get out of here.

 

He gently pushed the door open to
the hallway. It was completely deserted. The silence which filled the hollow
room made him shiver. What had happened to that rat Jenner pulled off of Wendy?
He started moving a bit further, firmly holding his knife in his right hand. He
didn't want to go too far for he was afraid someone else would attempt to kill
Wendy Elisabeth.

Suddenly he heard a noise from
behind him. He turned around as quickly as he could. He could hear his blood
rushing through his ears. He will never forget what he saw.

 

It was Jenner. He was panting for
breath and holding a sword in his hand. It was covered in blood. ‘Did you... kill
her?' Gabriel stumbled as he looked at the sword.

‘She deserved it.' Jenner replied
and he came closer.

Gabriel wanted to run, get away
from this horrific place, but he thought about Wendy. He couldn't possibly
leave her here now.

‘How is Wendy?' Jenner asked.

‘She's... she's alright, I guess. I
was able to calm her down with an injection. This place is not good for her.'
Gabriel stumbled.

‘This place is perfect for her.
Especially since the ‘problem' is out of the way.' Jenner replied casually. ‘Go
home, doctor. You're no longer needed here.'

‘But, she cannot stay here!'
Gabriel yelled.

‘She will stay here.'

‘She's not able to get up, she
needs to rest until the baby gets born. The baby could die, but so could she.'

‘I'll make sure that she won't
have to go through this again.' Jenner said, as he lifted his sword. ‘Now GO!'

Gabriel turned around and started
running towards the exit. On his way out he saw the faces of dozens of strange
looking rats. They looked as if they were dead, but they weren't.

‘This is a nightmare, wake me up!'
Gabriel whispered to himself. He pushed the exit door open en fell out. He
scratched himself up again and started running; back to safe walls of the
Castle.

 

‘Gabriel?' Justin softly moaned.

‘Gabriel?' He said again, this
time louder.

He tried to sit up and stared
around him in the darkness. He must have dozed off after dinner. The infirmary
was completely empty except for him.

Suddenly he heard a door open and
close again. Instinctively he grabbed his sword.

The infirmary doors swung open and
Gabriel stumbled in, completely out of breath.

‘Gabriel? What are you doing?'
Justin asked, while he put his sword away again.

‘I... I... nothing. I went out for a
walk, and thought I saw a cat.'

‘A cat? In Thorn Valley?
You probably mean a puma?'

‘Yeah, that's what it was; a puma...
the bastard. He scared the hell out of me.' Gabriel replied, as normal as he
could.

Justin started to laugh. ‘Do you
have any idea when I can finally kiss this bed goodbye? I really can't stand
sitting here and doing nothing for Wendy.'

‘I'll make sure that that won't
take long.' Gabriel said as he whipped the sweat from his head with his sleeve
again.

‘Thanks Doc. How much longer do
you think before Josh... the baby gets born?' Justin asked.

‘I guess that is hard to tell.
Could be in less than as month, could be tomorrow.'

‘Tomorrow?' Justin asked, frowning
his forehead. ‘What kind of nonsense are you talking about? Did that puma hit
you over the head or something?'

‘No, Justin... Let's just hope for
one more month....' Gabriel said and he felt the urge to talk to someone about
what he saw tonight, but he knew he couldn't.

 

Jenner softly closed the door
behind him. He immediately locked it and shivered. He killed Gloria. He killed
her with his own two hands by sliding her throat with his sword. Gloria's body
was still in Wendy's room. ‘They'll find out what I did to her soon.' Jenner
thought to himself. ‘They will kill us for sure.'

 

Jenner walked over to his bed
where his daughter was resting. The slow movement of her chest reassured him.
He looked up to the roof of his room and whispered: ‘If there is a God, please
let me know how I can protect my little girl!'

 

Suddenly Jenner turned around and
faced the blind door. There had clearly been a knock. Again there was a knock
at the door, a more determent one. Jenner's heart bounced in his ears. What if
it was them? What if they were going to kill him and even worse; his daughter.

‘Jenner, it's me... John.' A
soft voice came from behind the door.

Jenner took a deep breath and
slowly walked towards the door. He took out his sword, just in case, and opened
the door.

The person named John entered the
room.

‘What have you done?' John
blurred.

‘Shhh, shut up! She's asleep.'
Jenner hushed.

‘Who is she?' John wondered as he
walked closer towards Wendy.

‘She's my daughter, John. She's
alive.' Jenner said.

‘For now she is.' John replied.
‘The barn-rats are furious! They've even called in a meeting!'

‘A meeting? Couldn't you be part
of that? You know, to inform me about their plans?'

‘No, I'm not a barn rat remember?'
John said, while he moved closer to Wendy. She looked familiar to him, although
he had no idea from what.

‘You're right, you're a mouse.
Mice are never accepted.' Jenner sighed. ‘It would have been convenient,
though.'

‘Tell me about it. You've turned
the room next to you into a massacre. I wouldn't be surprised if they were
planning yours right this moment.'

‘John, you have to help us!'
Jenner said, desperately shaking the poor mouse.

‘I cannot help you until you tell
me what happened.' John replied, trying to get Jenner's hands off of him.'

‘Gloria tried to kill my daughter.
Tried to kill her unborn baby. She's jealous.'

‘She did?' John asked with wide
open eyes.

‘Yes, she did. It's the truth
John.'

 

John narrowed his eyes. He didn't
know Jenner that long yet. He had been living with the barn-rats when Jenner
arrived. John wasn't his real name. He named himself John, after having been in
a coma for at least three months. The cat almost killed him. John Do, that's who
he was. And it was a miracle that the barn-rats let him stay with them. Jenner
had been brought in by Gloria, along with another rat. For some reason, they
both looked familiar to him. But how could he have known rats? He was a mouse,
and rats and mice don't combine at all. John had never liked Gloria. She was
always nervous and a little insane if you asked him. He was surprised when the
big rat married her. Still, he wondered where he knew the two rats from.
Probably because they were sharing the same garden. The Fitzgibbon Garden.

 

‘I believe you.' John said after a
while.

‘We must protect ourselves.'

‘Will you leave me out of this? I
didn't cause this! I wasn't even here!' John replied angrily.

Wendy moaned a bit.

‘You idiot! You're waking her up!
She must rest! Otherwise she could die!'

‘I'm sorry Jenner. I just want to
make you realize that YOU are the one with the problems, not me.'

‘You've made yourself clear, John.
Then don't do it for me, do it for her!'

‘What do you want me to do?' John
asked, unsure how to react on the situation. He knew her, but from where? He
looked over his shoulder again.

‘What's her name?' John asked,
hoping to find a clue.

‘Her name is Wendy.' Jenner said.

John frowned for a while. ‘That's
a... nice name.' He said. Her name didn't ring a bell.

‘We have to take her to a safe
place.' John said casually.

‘Ok Albert Einstein, and how do
you suppose we should do that? Her doctor said she wasn't able to move!
Besides, moving down the Hallway means suicide.'

‘Her doctor as in Archer?' John
said, a sarcastic smile appeared around his lips.

‘No, her doctor as in Gabriel.'
Jenner replied, almost losing his patience.

‘Gabriel....' John whispered.
‘Gabriel... where did I ever hear that name?'

Jenner took a deep breath. ‘John,
face it! You've lost you memory, and it's never coming back! Stop living in the
past and start living in the future!'

John looked at Jenner angrily. He
refused to believe that his memory was gone forever.

‘Will you help me John?' Jenner
asked again, more friendly this time.

‘I shall do what I can.' John said
and he walked out the door. When he was outside he could hear that Jenner
turned the key.

‘The key....' John softly whispered,
although he had no idea why he said that.

 

Jenner walked towards his lazy
chair. He sat down in it and took a deep breath. John was his last hope. His
only hope to get Wendy to safety. What did he do? Bringing her to a place like
this? He jeopardized her life by bringing her to the barn-rats. He hated the
fact that he relied on the help of the barn-rats to get revenge on Justin,
Nicodemus and all the other damned rats of NIMH! And then there was John. He
thought he had seen a ghost as he opened his eyes back there in the barn! He
was supposed to be dead! But he turned out to be a good friend, a friend he
could rely on. Thank God he lost his memory. But what if Wendy recognized him?
What if she revealed his true identity?

 

There was a knock on the door
again. Was it John? Was he back already?

‘Jenner, it's me, let me in.'

‘John, what did you find out?'
Jenner asked as he let the mouse in.

‘That they are bound to kill you,
both of you.' John replied and he looked in Wendy's direction.

Jenner started walking up and down
his room to try to find a solution.

John was curious about the new rat.
He stepped closer to have a better look at her face.

She was young and very pretty for
as long you could say that from a rat. Much more pretty than the barn rat
females. He knew her. He would eat his tail if he was mistaken. But
where did he know her from?

He heard a soft moan when he was
close enough. ‘Can you hear me? Wake up!' John carefully said, not to alarm
Jenner. He would probably freak if he saw what he was doing.

Wendy's eyes slowly opened and she
looked into John's face.

‘Gabriel?' She softly whispered.

‘Is that my name? Gabriel?' John
asked. Hope filled his heart. That's why that name sounded so familiar!

‘I'm tired.' Wendy whispered as
her eyes closed, opened and closed again.

‘It looks like you've been
drugged, the way I used to....' John paused. ‘Hey wait a minute! I remember! I
was drugging the cat! But why was I drugging a cat?'

Wendy's eyes opened again.

‘Who are you?' She whispered, a
little stronger now.

‘I'm John, but you can call me
Gabriel if you'd like.'

‘John? Gabriel? Ok.' She said and
closed her eyes again.

‘I cannot believe you are Jenner's
daughter.' John whispered.

‘John... Jona... Jonathan Brisby....'
Wendy whispered, and she dozed off again.

‘Jonathan Brisby?' John replied.

‘John! Get away from there! Leave
her alone. She's been trough enough today already.'

‘Who is Jonathan Brisby?' John
asked directly towards Jenner who gasped for air.

‘Jonathan Brisby is dead! Where
did you get that name?' He yelled angrily.

‘From your daughter, but I guess
she doesn't realize what's she's saying. She's been drugged pretty thoroughly.'
John said while he shrugged his tiny shoulders.

‘Then I guess she's delirious or
something.' Jenner said, hoping to change the subject soon.

John only nodded. Perhaps she was.
But that name Jonathan Brisby ran a bell, too.

‘Who was Jonathan Brisby?' John
asked, not willing to give up.

‘Why do you even care?' Jenner
replied, sounding more impatient than ever.
‘Tell me who it was and I'll help you and your daughter.' John said casually.

‘John... are you blackmailing me?'
Jenner said from behind the room.

‘Well, no I....' John stumbled.

‘Then DROP THE SUBJECT! NOW!!'
Jenner yelled.

 

Wendy Elisabeth opened her eyes
immediately when she heard the yell. Her head was rather painful and she
couldn't quite find out where she was. As she turned her head she saw her
father and another person standing in the room. It was her father's room. The
other person was a mouse. A field mouse for as far as she could see in the dim
light. The mouse looked familiar, but then again... he didn't. Although the way
he moved looked familiar. The spots on his fur looked familiar, too. If he only
looked in her direction. If only he would stare at her for a little while.

‘Dad?' Wendy said and she was
successful. The mouse turned around and looked straight at her. Wendy Elisabeth
gasped for air.

‘Jonathan?! Is that really you?'