Jonathan told his wife everything
he could remember. He started by telling her about the cat, the day he was
supposed to have died. He told her about the fact the he had lost his memory,
that he had been taken care of by the barn-rats and he told her about the night
when Jenner and Sullivan were found. Mrs. Brisby just couldn't believe her ears
when she found out that he had been that near all this time! Jonathan told her
that the barn-rats only went out at night, for they feared the big rats of
NIMH. Being nocturnal animals made that easy for the barn-rats. The rats of
NIMH changed their biological clock and somehow managed to live during daytime.
Mainly because of the fact that the farmer, his wife and two children were out
during the day. It was easier for them to work then instead of the nights.

Then he started telling her about
the rats of NIMH and how he had met them. Mrs. Brisby knew a big part of that
history already for she was told by Nicodemus, the day the rats moved her
house. What she didn't know was, that he managed to breakaway from the colony.
The reason for that was her. Caroline's mind drifted off to the days when she
met Jonathan. She was so happy that she felt that she could fly. When she got
pregnant with Theresa, she was the happiest mouse on the planet. She realized
that she had never been really happy since Jonathan... well, since Jonathan died.
But why couldn't she just be happy? Why couldn't she just embrace him, hug him?
Why couldn't she tell him that she loved him?

‘Where are the children? I'd like
to see them.' Jonathan said.

‘No, you can't see them.' Caroline
said without hesitation. ‘They are asleep and... I want to talk to them first.'
She got up.

‘Caroline....' Jonathan said and he
got up as well.

‘I'm sorry Jonathan. But please
give me some time.' Caroline said as the tears re-appeared in her eyes again.

Jonathan nodded. His eyes followed
her as she walked out of the room. As the door closed, he started to cry as
well.

 

‘Pfffff, I'm glad it's over.'
Gabriel said while he washed his hands by the sink.

‘You can say that again. What a night!'
Mr. Ages said while drying his hands. The mouse and the rat had spend the last
four hours operating Jenner. Isabella was still in the operating-room, trying
to clean up all the bloody mess. Jenner had been transported to the Intensive
Care area; the same area as where Justin had been recovering these past days.

Wendy Elisabeth was sound asleep.
The birth of Joshua exhausted her, but the days inside the old tree had been
even worse for her. She was safe now and finally able to sleep. Justin sat next
to her. He just couldn't stop looking at her. Baby Joshua was safely sleeping
in a tiny hospital bed. His small body safely wrapped into a blue, clean
blanket. Justin just couldn't believe that the nightmare was finally over.

 

‘Justin? Where are you? They've
told me you are here.' Those words brought Justin back on earth. He'd been
living on a light-blue cloud for a few hours. The voice he heard came from
Jonathan.

‘Jonathan!' Justin whispered. ‘I'm
so glad you're alright!'

‘Well, not yes and no.' Jonathan
whispered again.

Justin frowned and got up from his
chair. He stretched his back for he had been sitting in one position all this
time.

‘Jonathan?' He wondered, but soon
found his friend. He was covered in branches and leafs and he looked as if he
had just found out that the world was square instead of round.

‘What happened to you? Where have
you been all this time?'

‘The plan failed, Justin! I
inhaled some of the powder, so I guess they had to little of it. But you
probably already know that.'

‘I do know that the plan failed,
but that's not because of you. Ages forgot to tell that the powder didn't work
when the food was still cooking.'

‘Oh.' Jonathan said, but he still
looked said.

‘Are you injured? You are a mess!'
Justin said with a touch of worry in his voice.

‘I guess I'm okay. I fell down
when I inhaled it, but there's nothing you can do.'

‘Nothing I can do? No, I guess
you're right. But Gabriel can! He's just finished on Jenner and Wendy, so
perhaps....' Justin said, but he was interrupted by Jonathan.

‘I suppose he cannot fix a broken
heart, can he?'

‘A broken heart? I suppose not.
But can you please tell me what's going? I'm too tired for riddles.' Justin
said with a smile.

‘She hates me. Caroline hates me.'
Jonathan said and tears filled his eyes again.

‘Caroline... Oh dear, you mean your
wife?' Justin stumbled. His smile disappeared as soon as it came.

‘Yes, I kind of ran into her. I
never meant to, but she was there, outside, she... Oh man, she hates me.'
Jonathan said again, tears running over his cheeks by now.

‘No, she doesn't hate you! She
just... never expected this to happen.'

‘No, but Wendy was happy, you were
happy! Why can't she be happy? And why can't I see the children?' Jonathan
said.

Justin looked at his old friend. A
feeling of guilt and pity filled his heart. There he stood, once considered a
hero, now a pathetic piece of mouse, his shoulders and whiskers down. Tears
running over his face and covered in branches and mud.

‘Jonathan, I'm so sorry. I should
have talked to your wife. I shouldn't have waited. Perhaps none of this would
have happened. Just give her some time. Of course she's happy, but she's also
angry with you, with us! She had no idea we even existed! Let alone that we
were your friends. Nicodemus might know what to do. Perhaps you could talk to
him, the both of you.

‘What's that sound?' Jonathan
remarked.

‘Oh, that's my son! Joshua! Oh
dear, what if he's waking up? What can I do? I don't want to bother Wendy!'

‘You have a son? Congratulations!
I'm so happy for the both of you!'

‘You want to see him?' Justin
asked.

‘Yes! Of course I want to see
him!' Jonathan said. A smile crossed his sad face.

‘Ok, on one condition. That you
help me. You're far more experienced.' Justin said, hoping to cheer the poor
mouse up a bit.

Jonathan nodded. ‘You can count on
me ‘dad'.'

 

Mrs. Brisby went up to her room
again. She gently opened the door, not to wake the children.

She closed the door as gently as
she could and she softly crawled into the bed again.

‘Mom?' It was Theresa's voice.

‘Theresa, go back to sleep.' Mrs.
Brisby said, hiding her sadness.

‘Mom, what time is it?' She asked
again.

‘It's still early. Go back to
sleep.'

‘But mom, you've been out a long
time. Where have you been?' Theresa asked again.

Mrs. Brisby sighed. ‘I've been to
the bathroom down the hall to drink some water. Just go back to sleep.'

‘I saw you talking to someone.'
Theresa said casually.

Mrs. Brisby's heartbeat started to
rise. ‘Who was that?' Theresa continued.

‘It was no-one important.' Mrs. Brisby
said while a needle stung her heart. ‘I'll tell you about it tomorrow. You
really should sleep now.'

‘Ok, mom... goodnight. I love you.'

‘I love you, too... so much.' Mrs.
Brisby whispered and tried to find a comfortable position.

Of course she couldn't sleep. She
thought about Jonathan.

 

Jenner tried to open his eyes when
the first rays of the sun peered through the curtains. When he realized he
couldn't, he tried to sit up. A stinging pain made him gasp and he fell back
into his pillow again, which also caused a tremendous amount of pain. He
moaned, hoping someone would hear him.

‘Jenner? Are you alright? Let me
get a doctor.'

Jenner recognized the voice but
couldn't place a face along with it. He tried to remember last night. The plan...
it failed. Stupid Jonathan. The barn-rats....

‘Jenner? Here, let me take a look.
You're sweating like crazy, did you have a nightmare?' Gabriel asked when he
stared at the huge black rat.

‘No, I... Wendy?'

‘She's fine, she's fine. Delivered
a beautiful, healthy... eh, grandson.'

‘A son?' Jenner asked, and a smile
appeared on his face. ‘Am I blind?' He asked again.

‘We're not sure yet. Your right
eye is... lost and your left eye is damaged, though not very sincerely. I suppose
that you'll be able to see again, but your left eye needs recovering, so I've
bandaged that one, too.' Gabriel said. Somewhere deep down he was glad he
didn't have to look in those green eyes for a while.

‘I guess I deserved that.' Jenner
said and he sighed. ‘So what else?'

‘Well, you've had multiple
internal bleedings, many scratches and bite wounds. There's a huge cut on your
leg which exposed and damaged your coronary artery....'

‘My what?' Jenner interrupted.

‘Oh, sorry. Your main leg blood
vessel got damaged.' Gabriel said, realizing that doctor's slang wasn't
understandable for everyone.

‘So it was messy.' Jenner said in
his own words.

‘Precisely.' Gabriel said.
‘They've managed to bite in your hind leg, which might have caused irreparable
damage.'

‘What does that mean?' Jenner
asked.

‘That you'll probably be limping
for the rest of your life.' Gabriel said.

‘I've deserved that, too.' The
large rat said. Gabriel nodded, knowing that Jenner wasn't able to see him
anyway.

‘And last but not least, they've
amputated part of your tail, but you were lucky.'

‘Lucky....' Jenner repeated. Perhaps
he would have been better off dead. Perhaps Justin would let him stay now he's
injured. But what would happen after that? At least his daughter was safe and
she had a son, although he doubted that he would ever be able to see him.

 

‘Is he awake?' Justin entered the
Intensive Care and he almost ran into Isabella.

‘I guess so. Gabriel is in there
for a while now.' She said, while she looked up to Justin. She had to admit
that she still thought he was attractive, but Brutus stole her heart
completely.

‘Ok, thanks Izzy.' Justin said and
he walked over to the only used bed. The curtains were closed, but he was able
to see Gabriel's feet from under them.

‘Gabriel? Can I have a word with
Jenner?' Justin asked from behind the curtain.'

‘Yes, but keep short, ok? He's
badly injured.' Gabriel said as he peeked his head around the corner. He
welcomed Justin with a warm, but tired, smile.

‘I will.' Justin said and he
opened the curtains.

‘Hello Jenner.' Justin said and he
looked down at Jenner's battered body. 

‘Justin, how is my daughter?'
Jenner said with a huge amount of effort. It was clear that he was in pain.

‘She's doing great. She'll
probably visit you when she can get up. The birth of our son has made a deep
impact on her. Well, so has her stay at your place, of course.'

‘I'm sorry about that. I'm such an
idiot. I should have died yesterday.' Jenner said.

‘I suppose you should have, but I
guess someone wanted to give you another shot.'

‘Another shot... To what? A better
life? I've ruined so many that I cannot believe that anyone would give me
another shot. That person is only keeping me alive to make me pay.'

‘Don't be so hard on yourself. You
have been a hated person for numerous reasons, but I suppose you could still
make it right.' Justin said with an uneasy feeling.

‘And what do you suppose I could
do....' Jenner asked, knowing Justin didn't have the answer.

Justin didn't say a word. He
looked at Jenner. He used to look up to him. He used to be so strong, so intelligent.
Jenner was his role model when Nicodemus and he were still friends. He wanted
to be just like him. Now he looked pathetic. Wrapped into bandages like a
ancient mummy. Justin tried not to laugh as this comparison crossed his mind.
Instead he chuckled.

‘What's so funny?' Jenner angrily
asked.

‘You.' Justin started laughing a
bit louder now.

‘Me? What's so funny about me?'
Jenner was stunned. He never felt this much pain and discomfort in his entire
life and his punk son-in-law was laughing his head off.

‘Yes, you! You look like a
mummy!' Justin laughed.

As Justin's words sank in, Jenner
also started to laugh a bit. But he stopped immediately because of the pain. ‘I
really don't know what my daughter sees in you. She really must be blind.'

‘Then I guess that makes two of
you.' Justin said. ‘Oh sorry, that was stupid! I've gone too far this time.' He
quickly said, realizing that his joke wasn't funny at all in this situation.

Jenner smiled and said: ‘I
probably deserved that.'

Justin smiled and placed his hand
on Jenner's shoulder. ‘Get well, for your daughter's sake.'

‘Thanks Justin, take care of
them.'

Justin nodded and left the
Intensive Care Unit. He had another important visit to make.

 

He found Mrs. Brisby and her
children in the dining room where they were having breakfast.

‘Mrs. Brisby? Can I have a word
with you?' Justin asked.

‘Oh Justin, I was so glad to find
out that Wendy is okay.' She softly said. Her face didn't look too happy,
though.

‘Mom? Is Wendy alright? Can we
bring her the pancakes now?' Timothy asked.

‘Later.' Mrs. Brisby said. ‘I have
to go with Justin, now. If you've had enough, you can go outside, okay?' The
children nodded and finished their breakfast.

‘It's nice to see you together
safe and sound.' Justin said, not knowing what to say really.

‘Yes, we appreciate your
hospitality.' Mrs. Brisby said, while looking straight ahead of her.

‘Mrs. Brisby, I'll cut to the
chase. Please sit down.' Justin said and he offered her a chair in the same
room where she and Jonathan spoke last night. Mrs. Brisby looked around and
realized that it hadn't been a dream after all.

‘Jonathan came to see me last
night. He was really sad.' Justin started.

‘I know.' Mrs. Brisby said,
swallowing the tears.

‘I don't want to interfere in your
relationship, I mean, it's none of my business, but won't you please talk to
him again?'

Mrs. Brisby looked at Justin and
shook her head.

‘Why not, Mrs. Brisby? He's in the
same state of shock as you are in. The both of you belong together. You have
children together. I know it's hard, I wouldn't know how to react, either, but
please tell me if there is still a chance for the two of you. I love you two
both and I would hate to see you fall apart like this. He's dreadfully caught
up by it.'

‘And how do you think I feel? What
about my children?! He's been gone for over a year! I had to tell them that
their father wasn't coming home anymore, that he was dead. And then I found out
about you! Jonathan never mentioned you to me! Couldn't he trust me? Didn't he want
to trust me?' 

‘Oh Mrs. Brisby, if only you
partly knew how much that secret had been eating on him! It's our fault that he
never spoke of us. We told him not to. You see, those injection have destroyed
our biological cells. We are mutants. Humans in a rat or mouse-suit. We
couldn't age anymore and we had no idea what the consequences were for the long
term. We didn't know what that would mean for the children of two or at least
one NIMH-injected parent. Don't you see? He wanted to tell you, but we didn't let
him. And that was wrong and it was stupid. And we are sorry.' Justin said and
he meant every word of it. He and Wendy had always felt the need to inform
Jonathan's family. At least when they had found out that he had died.

Mrs. Brisby placed her arms on the
table and buried her head in it. Justin got up and left the room. As he closed
the door he called Jonathan who was standing on a safe distance.

He nodded at Jonathan and opened
the door for his still limping friend. He looked a lot better now he was cleaned
up. ‘Good luck.' Justin whispered. Jonathan smiled at him and went inside.

 

‘How long have I been sleeping?'
Wendy asked when she opened her eyes. She felt someone's presents nearby, a
pleasant presents. ‘Justin?' She asked.

‘No, it's me.' Nicodemus softly
said.

‘Nicodemus, it's good to see you.
How long have been sitting there?' Wendy said and she tried to get up.

‘No, no... don't get up. You need to
heal. I haven't been here so long, yet. Congratulations on your beautiful son,
Wendy.'

‘Thank you so much Nicodemus. Have
you seen him yet?' Wendy asked.

‘No, not yet, but I'll introduce
myself to him later.' Nicodemus smiled. ‘How are you feeling?'

‘I'm not sure, well, that is... I'm
fine, but my father....'

‘Your father is going to be
alright.' Nicodemus said.

‘Did you see him?' Wendy asked.

‘Not yet, I'll pay him a visit
later. First I wanted to see you.'

‘Thank you. Eh... Nicodemus? About
the Stone?' Wendy stumbled.

‘What about the Stone, my child.'
Nicodemus asked, but he knew exactly what Wendy was talking about.

‘I think I figured it out. I think
I know what the ‘Key' is.' Wendy said.

‘You do? What do you think the
‘Key' is? Nicodemus asked. He knew what the ‘Key' was, of course, but he wanted
to hear it from Wendy personally.

‘I think ‘Love' is the ‘Key'.'
Wendy said.

‘You are absolutely right, but you
know, Love is just a small part of the Key. As you remember, I told you that you
are the Key.' Nicodemus said. Pride filled his heard.

‘Yes, I remember. So, if I'm the
Key, some people are supposed to really love me, right?'

Nicodemus nodded.

‘So if Justin, Joshua and Jenner
all love me, then I'm the one who's able to... to make sure that there's peace!'
Wendy said, her ideas made sense to her.

‘That's correct, my child.'

‘The inscription said: ‘You can
unlock any door, if you only have the Key'. So I guess a door mean a heart, am
I right? So I guess the Key, as in me, is able to open people's hearts.'

Nicodemus looked at the young
female rat with admiration in his eyes. ‘Yes, my child. You are the Key, as I
said. And you've proven to be the Key.'

He took a deep breath. ‘You see, I
was the one who needed the Key for many years, even when things were fine.
Being a Leader is the hardest job on earth. Justin will be able to tell you all
about it, and his challenge isn't over yet. The Key can be seen as a
peacemaker, a negotiator in difficult times. I have realized that you were the
Key not too long ago, in fact, I was almost too late. But I always knew there
was something about you. Something which made you different you than the
others, but I just couldn't lay my finger on it. Until the day Justin told me
that Jenner was your father. Then I knew that you were the Key. I'm proud of
you for finding out what it was so quickly.'

‘Well, I couldn't have done it without
you. You helped me in my dream, remember?' Wendy said, thinking back at the
beautiful dream she had.

‘Dream? I'm sorry, I know nothing
about dreams.' Nicodemus said, but a small smile appeared around his lips. ‘I'd
better pay a little visit to your son and your father. I'll see you later.'
Nicodemus said and he left Wendy Elisabeth. She was a bit confused but she knew
better; Nicodemus had been there in her dream. No doubt about that.

She heard Nicodemus talking to her
son. What she didn't know was, that he placed a kiss on his forehead and he
spoke a spell over the boy. A spell that would protect him against evil.

Then he moved on to Jenner, his
old friend.

 

Mrs. Brisby slowly raised her
head. She realized that Justin had left the room. Perhaps he was right. His
words echoed through her mind. She didn't want to be parted from Jonathan, that
was the last thing she wanted!

‘Caroline?' Mrs. Brisby turned her
head and saw Jonathan standing in the left corner of the room. She didn't even
hear him come in! How long was he standing there?

She looked at Jonathan who was now
looking far more like the old Jonathan she used to know.

‘Jonathan, I'm so sorry. I should
have listened to you better. I guess it's the shock.'

‘Hush, my love. I know, I know.'
Jonathan said and he came closer.

Caroline Brisby got up from her
chair and embraced her husband firmly. ‘Don't ever lie to me again, and don't
ever leave us again like that!'

‘I won't, I promise. I'll stay
with you until the end. Oh Caroline, I've missed you so much!'

‘I've missed you, too. I thought I
had stopped living myself!' She said and she looked up into Jonathan's eyes.
‘Let's go tell the kids.'