Meanwhile, while all this argumentation was going on, the soldiers were
almost at the site where they had been ordered to camp. All thirty of the rats
walked, single-file hiding behind bushes, tall grass, and at some points, deep
in the woods.

Simon was a tall rat. Like Brutis, he was extremely muscular, dark, and
adored by ladies. Simon always had a joke about everything. He took nothing
serious, and sometimes that got him in trouble.

Quaker was a very skinny rat, but he was strong, too. They called him Quaker
because he had a powerful tail. His tail was his weapon in almost every
situation of combat, and he controlled it well, too! Quaker’s real name was
Larry, but in time, he found everyone calling him by his nickname.

Leanne was the only female guard, as well as a soldier. Though she was a
girl, she had a reputation meaner than Brutis’! She was light-furred, with coal
black eyes. She was also muscular, and, unlike Quaker, she was terrible at
looking at reality. By that I mean that she is poor at math, and she is quick
with her actions. She doesn’t really think things through before she does
something. In a way that can be good, and it could be bad, too.

Anyway, all the rats were hiking through the woods beside a busy highway
when the captain, Alexander, ordered them to a halt. He held up his lanky hands
(He was weak, but his planning was safe, accurate, and well thought out).

"Here we shall camp! This is far enough. Tomorrow we will continue to
travel the rest of the way, but for now, we rest here. Unload your packs,
gentlemen," He looked down at Leanne and smiled, "And ladies, too,
and get some sleep. We will rise at dawn in the morning to continue." He
turned sharply, and headed toward his bag. He was going to set up his tent.

"Well Quaker," Simon said, looking over at him, "I guess this
means that it’s time to go to bed."

Quaker nodded, for neither of them had brought a tent, only sleeping bags
and blankets. Besides, Leanne had invited them into her tent, should it happen
to rain.

The two of them plopped down on the ground. Backs rested against a fallen
log, they all were silent. The only one of them that was up and about was
Leanne, who was vigorously setting up her tent. Simon and Quaker looked up at
the sky. It was well past seven, they’d been walking all day. The sky was just
turning purple, and the last of the crickets began to chirp.

Quaker looked down at his swollen feet. "You know, Simon," he
said, "How dangerous do you think this mission is going to be? I mean,
what if something happens? What if we’re caught? What if we are killed?"

There was a moment of silence until Simon answered. "I think we’ll
live," he replied, "because there’s thirty of us, and no more than
ten of them." He was referring to Jenner’s crew.

Quaker sighed. "That’s not what I meant," he continued, "I’m
not afraid of Jenner, or his bunch. I’m afraid of other things, you know, being
seen, hit by a car, hunted, or being chased by some… wild animal. It’s
dangerous out there." He nodded out toward nothing.

Both of them, all of them for that matter, knew what he meant. Their
families were back at home, wondering, crying. Each soldier knew that no matter
what Nicodemus said, they could be killed. Somehow or another.

The whole camp was then illuminated by moonlight. They could not have set up
a fire, for fear of the light or smoke attracting unwanted guests. By nine that
night, each and every rat was fast asleep. The night and the past few nights
had been warm, and that was a relief. They just hoped that it would stay that
way.

All but Alexander had a peaceful sleep. Alexander was teased of being a
geek, but he didn’t mind, he knew it himself. He was very smart, he could plan
well, and he was quick to do a job right. He was admired though, because of
this mind strength. He usually spoke out about whatever was on his mind, but
not that night.

That night’s dreams were filled with horrific battles, bloodshed, and death.
The thought of the danger of this mission lingered in the back of everyone’s
head, but it was a frightening thought for poor Alex. Alex dreamed that
Jenner’s band had mutated, and that Jenner had now over fifty people, and each
four times bigger than normal. He dreamed that he killed every soldier, and, as
Jenner had planned to begin with, he took over Thorn Valley. He was very mean,
and his motto was: Kill, Kill, Kill!

Alexander awoke when Jenner started to hang people. Out of breath, Alex sat
up in his tan-colored tent which was drowned in moonlight. He was panting and
sweaty, and was scared out of his wits.

You could see the moon through the thin material of the tent, and you could
see the dark shadows of the outside world surrounding the sides of the
caliginous tent. Alex looked up toward the moon, trying to calm himself down.
He began to breathe slower once again until he was startled by a screech owl’s
call, and it’s shadow flying across the moon. Alexander could now feel his
heartbeat grow stronger inside of him. It pounded at the walls of his chest
like a bass drum out of control.

"Only a dream," he reminded himself aloud, "It was only a
dream."

After that, Alexander could not sleep. The dream had been too real. It
seemed as if it had really happened; as if he himself had really been there.
But, as he continuously reminded himself, it was all a harmless little dream.
Right?

The next day came suddenly, bringing even more worries and thoughts for
those at camp. Thoughts about what would or could happen, thoughts about
families, and especially thoughts about whether or not they could live through
a battle.

With sore backs and droopy eyes, all rose to Alex’s command to awake. He was
right; they did get up at dawn. Quaker and Simon had slept in separate
sleeping-bags side by side. Leanne had had a peaceful slumber, unlike her poor
captain. She heightened her pack and folded tent onto her back. You could tell
she was ready for an adventure. When Leanne spotted her grumbling friends still
asleep on the ground, she lightly kicked them to alertness. The two sat up,
rubbing the spots where she had kicked them.

"Ow!" they griped. "What did ya do that for?" Simon
said. Quaker stood in agreement, and then looked around, searching for his
shirt.

"You lazy bones," Leanne teased, "You’d sleep through a clash
if you could!"

A clash is what Leanne called a battle. Simon looked up at Leanne, trying to
think of a remark. He failed.

After a while, all of them had packed up, and were ready to go. All of the
camp was off by eight that morning. The three friends hiked side-by-side most
of the day. Simon had come up with a song to cheer up his companions.

"Alexander is our boss,
He needs to use some dental floss!
We’re supposed to walk single file,
But we only listen once a while!
We are rats with aching feet,
And they don’t smell so very sweet!"

The whole line laughed as Simon went on, mocking his friends and leader, and
others as well. Everyone included in the song took no offense, for they knew how
Simon liked to kid around. The only person who disliked this fun was, of
course, Alexander.

Simon sang yet another verse. Alexander’s eyes turned stone cold with anger.
He swung around, steadied himself, and inhaled deeply. Alex looked deep into
Simon’s eyes. As the line began to back away, Alexander said:

"You think you’re so funny, let’s see you laugh now!" Alexander
quickly tied his pack onto Simon’s, which added a lot of sudden weight to
Simon’s back. "And if you keep it up," Alex added, "for each verse,
you’ll get another pack. Am I clear?"

Simon nodded his head hastily. After Alexander turned and stormed off, Simon
made faces at the leader. "Ha," Simon remarked to Leanne, "He
just wanted me to carry his pack so he could have an extra hand to pick his
nose!!!"

Simon raised his voice when he said the "Pick his nose" part, so
that Alexander could hear. Giggles surrounded the crew, but Alex did nothing.
He just marched on even faster.

The day was slightly cool, and as they all looked around, they all noticed
that the leaves on the trees were already turning brown. Flocks of birds flew
high overhead, flying south for the winter. The only moving things in those
woods besides the party of rats were a few chipmunks and squirrels. Other than
that, nothing else was there.

After the incident with Alex and Simon, no one even said a word. For two
straight hours of hiking, all was silent. Simon’s back began to ache faster
than the others’, and he was getting tired. He was grateful when Alexander
finally called it quits.

"All right everyone," he shouted, "We’re here. We’ve walked
almost over our ordered place to stop, so you can unload and relax until we see
some sign of Jenner. When we see him, everyone get your weapons ready!"
Alexander eyed Simon for a moment, and walked away, to relieve himself of the
load on his back, and to relax.

The three friends stopped beside each other.

"Boy, Simon," Leanne commented, "I thought ol’ Alex was gonna
bite your head off for a moment there! What’s wrong with ‘em?"

Simon shook his head. "I don’t know," he said, "But it isn’t
like him to not tell us what’s up. I’m gonna find out."

But before Simon could take off after Alex, his attention was attracted by a
long moan coming from behind him. He turned around to find Quaker gripping his
foot in pain. Simon rushed to Quaker. "What’s wrong?" he asked his
friend.

Quaker removed his hands to reveal a giant thorn stuck in his foot. It had
been pushed in quite far, and if it was left in, it would surely get infected.

By then, Leanne had gotten there, and was already picking at the wound.
"Hold still!" she shouted as Quaker pulled his foot away from her
grasp. Leanne was trying to pull the thorn out with her long nails, and was
succeeding.

With a slight rip, out came the thorn. The trio sighed a sigh of relief.
Leanne then wrapped the injured foot in her red and white bandanna and tied it
tight.

"Thank you, Leanne." Quaker said with a smile. Leanne smiled back,
and left to go set up her tent.

After a moment, Simon left as well, but not without guaranteeing Quaker that
he would help him unload. "I’ll be right back." Simon assured, and
stepped a few feet away from Quaker.

He unloaded his things, laid out his sleeping bag, unloaded Quaker’s things,
and spread out his sleeping bag. Simon looked over his shoulder at his
friend. Quaker was rapidly motioning Simon to come to him.

Once again, Simon rushed to the aid of his companion. "What is it,
buddy?" he asked.

Quaker raised his hand, pointed, and whispered: "There.. in the bushes,
something is there!"

Mrs. Frisby had had a stressful day. After they ate, the whole family split
up to explore. Timothy and Cynthia went off to see the school, library, and the
play room (which was actually a day care). Teresa and Martin had gone off to
just look around, and to report the daily gossip back to Sara, so she could be
better in tone with her surroundings.

Unlike her children, Sara did not explore after lunch. Sure she looked
around, but she was mostly in search for Justin’s office. When she found it,
she reported the scene that went on in the cafeteria. Justin gave desperate
apologies, and gave orders (Sara never knew this) to all the peoples in Thorn
Valley to treat Mrs. Frisby and her family as if they had lived there in Thorn
Valley all their lives. The orders were taken by all, and from then on, there
were no more incidents where the Frisby family was placed under such a
situation.

After this report, Sara went back to her room and took a nap. In fact, you
shouldn’t call it a nap, she actually slept. She slept deep and calm.
She guessed, when she awoke at night, that she had just been worn out
emotionally.

By the time she woke up that night (the night that Alexander had his
nightmare), the children were not in the room yet. Where could they have been?

Sara sat up instantly, expecting to see her children slumbering in the bed
next to her, but they were not.

"Martin?" she called, but there was no answer.

She could tell that she had done more than overslept, she had practically
passed out! According by the lighting in the room, it was late. The room was
nearly pitch black, except for the last burning embers of a candle on the wall.

Mrs. Frisby stood up and looked around. It took a slight moment for her to
realize that her children may be in trouble, or that they could be hurt- or
even lost! She took hold of her worn out red cape in which she had used as a
blanket with both hands, and bolted out the door. Her first thought was to go
to Justin. Yes, Justin. If anyone knew where her children were, he’d know.

It took at least five minutes for the small wandering mouse to remember
where she had found Justin’s office in the first place. She walked down a long,
empty hallway, filled with dark shadows. There, at the end, was a familiar
door. It was a deep chestnut brown, carved nicely, and was arched, just like
the door that she had walked through a few hours earlier to find Justin.

Sara knocked softly on the door. "Come in." a voice behind the door
said gruffly. Mrs. Frisby slowly turned the brass door knob. The door opened
with a creak.

Sara looked up hoping to see the face that she was looking for, but instead,
she found an even smaller rat, with a small black patch over his eye.

The rat had a large scar across his left eye, and a black eye patch that
covered it. He was much shorter than Justin, and even darker furred. His figure
was slim, and he wore a gray vest that was oversized for him.

"Why, hello, Mrs. Frisby," he said. "Won’t you please sit
down?"

It was all coming back to her now. The rat that it took her so long to
recognize was the head leader himself; Nicodemus!

"Hello, sir," Sara said, rather flabbergasted, "I’m sorry,
I’ve the wrong room… I was looking for Justin.." Mrs. Frisby tried to back
out the door, but her movement was interrupted by Nicodemus’ speaking:

"Well now," he said, "There is nothing Justin can do that I
can’t. Please- sit down." Mrs. Frisby sat as she was told to. "Well,
Mrs. Frisby," Nicodemus said as he cleared his throat, "Why do you
wish to find Justin? There is an expression of worry on your face."

Sara nodded. "Yes, you see," she said, "Earlier today my
children split apart from me to go look around. Well, I went back to my room
and accidentally fell asleep. When I awoke, which was only about eight minutes
ago, they had not come home yet. I’m worried that something has happened to
them. "

"Well now, I see. Come, Mrs. Frisby, let’s go look for them."
Nicodemus said as he stood up from his chair. The two of them left.

They walked down the halls in conversation about many things. They spoke
together about her children, why they moved, what they would want in the
future, and how Mrs. Frisby would eventually like to get a job. Of course, they
would wander apart, searching in little spaces, and their talking would always
be interrupted by the calling of the children’s names.

They had wandered far away from where they had first started. Sara looked
behind her, and she could no longer see the hallway on which Nicodemus’ office
was on. They were most likely on a totally different hallway now, anyway.

"Where are we now, Nicodemus?" Mrs. Frisby asked.

"We’re on the West Wing, well, almost. You see the archway up
ahead?" Nicodemus pointed, "That is where the West Wing begins. I
haven’t even heard a breath of life in these halls yet. I wonder where those
kids of yours are?"

They went through the West Wing archway. Sara looked around now, breath
taken. The sight that she saw! All these high-rise buildings! There was the
Meeting room, which was made to hold all the rats in Thorn Valley and more, the
Council Meeting Room which was made to hold at least one hundred rats, and the
court, it was made to hold a little more than fifty. They were all carved from
stone, and were quite a work.

Nicodemus pointed out to her what all the buildings were, and noted that his
office was soon to be part of all of it, whenever Arthur completed it. After he
got done talking, they both heard a bit of laughing coming from the end of the
hall.

Sara rushed forward. "Teresa? Martin?" she cried, as she looked
around.

Nicodemus followed her, them both hoping the laughter was coming from those
they were looking for. Nicodemus caught up with Mrs. Frisby, but by then her
face had fallen, and she had stopped running. Her eyes were fixed on a small
group of rats standing in the shadows of the hall.

The group consisted of only three rats. Two rats were males; each wearing
vests of different colors. The other was a girl. She was young and bright and wore
pretty clothes. She had a light brown vest, and a pastel yellow skirt that fell
just below her ankles. Sara had never seen her before.

With a slight sigh, they both turned around, and headed in the other
direction. "I don’t know where they could be," Nicodemus said, rather
exhausted, "but I promise you, we’ll find them."

"I hope so," Mrs. Frisby said back, on the verge of tears,
"It’s been almost and hour since we’ve started looking, and we’ve not
found them yet!"

Nicodemus and Sara turned around, not wanting to have a busy conversation
like they had before. "The only place we haven’t checked is outside. Let’s
go there. If they aren’t to be found, I’ll call a search party." Nicodemus
assured.

The two of them quickly headed outside. It took a while to get all the way
back to the main entrance, for they were quite a distance away from their
destination. They finally made their way outside.

Sara was right, it was late. The white moon was high in the air, and dew had
already settled on the grass. A few stars could be spotted here and there, and
the only sound that could be heard was the wind rustling in the treetops.

"They’re not here.." Sara said, very discouraged, "If they
were, we’d hear them!"

"Now, now, Mrs. Frisby," Nicodemus replied, "We do not know
that for sure. For all we know, they could be fast asleep somewhere."

They split up. Sara took the south side, back closer toward the cave, and
Nicodemus took north, in the opposite direction.

In the shadows, it was hard to see anything. Sara hunted around, frantically
searching in every nook and cranny. She found not a breathing thing. All she
turned up with were a few bird feathers and a piece of a torn vest; neither of
which belonged to anyone she knew.

Nicodemus, however, did see something. He saw in the dark a small lump
smuggled up against a fallen tree stump. It was slightly moving up and down, as
if it were breathing. He could not make out very well what it was, but he
reached out and touched it. The object was furry, and could be the size
of four mice squished together. Nicodemus shook it softly, for it was obviously
asleep. Of what he could make out, two small eye balls opened, there was a bit
of movement, and then-

"AAAAHHHHH!!!"

Simon looked around. "What?" he whispered.

"Over there.. behind that gathering of shrubs." Quaker nodded
toward a large circle made by overgrown bushes and small trees. He was right,
there was something moving.

Simon immediately signaled Leanne to come. Silently and swiftly, she came.
The only thing Simon did was whisper in Leanne’s ear that there was something
in the bushes. With that, Leanne perked up, and her eyes got huge. They could
not run for Alexander, because if the thing behind the bushes found something
suspicious going on, it might take action.

They also noticed something else- more movement in other hedges. There were
more than one of them. The friends slowly picked up their weapons.

"On the count of three, we take charge and yell," Quaker ordered,
"When the others hear the shouts, they’ll come, too." It was a good
plan. Quaker did the counting. "One.. two.. three!"

The three rats yelled and screamed as they took charge, ready to stab
anything or anyone who stood in their way. They broke through the dry leaves
with a great crackling only to find a group of their fellow rats.

The rats that were behind the bushes were wide-eyed and still, not even
daring to say a single word. They had no clue to what a fright they had caused,
and they did not know why they were being attacked.

"What in the name of Saint Paul are you doing back here?!!?" Simon
ordered the rats.

"We were just talking," one of the rats replied, his voice
slightly shaking, "Nothing for everyone to get all uppity about."

Leanne, Simon, and Quaker all looked at each other in disbelief. How could
they have been so stupid? They were really too tense about this whole
"Jenner" deal. They apologized to the innocent victims, and walked
away.

"Jeez," Leanne sighed, disappointedly.

"I know it." Simon commented. Quaker looked up at the two.

"Come on, guys," he said, "You should all be glad that it
wasn’t him, I mean, we went at that all alone, no one to back us up; we could
have been killed if it had been Jenner."

Now, Quaker’s last sentence made Leanne and Simon a bit angry.

"It was your idea to go after them in the first place, Quaker!"
Leanne snapped. Leanne and Simon left Quaker alone with his sore foot to think
about what he said.

"I’m gonna go and see if I can get anything out of Alexander, Leanne.
I’ll be back in a while."

Leanne nodded back at Simon, and then turned her head to eye Quaker. Quaker
was then thinking about how he had made it out to look like the mistake was all
their fault, instead of his. The mistake could be blamed on all of them,
really.

Simon spotted Alexander in his tent a short distance away. He jogged up to
Alex’s tent. "May I come in?" he asked.

Alexander motioned him to enter. "Why did you snap at me this
morning?" Simon demanded (At times like these, Simon could be a bit
straight-forward).

Surprised, Alexander looked at Simon. "I’m sorry," he said,
"I didn’t sleep very well last night. I knew you were joking, but I was a
bit cranky."

In silent agreement, Simon sat down. "Why couldn’t you sleep?" he
asked, calmer.

"Jenner," Alex answered, "I dreamed that he came back, and
took over Thorn Valley. He was killing a whole lot of our people, it was so
real…." After that, Simon looked away, and there was a long drag of
silence. Simon knew why.

Because of this uncomfortable situation, Simon left. If the dream had been so
bad, he did not was to bring Alexander back into it. He found out what he
wanted, and that was all. He did not want to interfere with anything else.

Simon left the tent slightly abashed that he left his friend in such a
state. Shaking it off, he walked over to Leanne. "He’s messed up big
time," he whispered, "He had a nightmare, and it kept him awake all
night."

"Fill me in on this one, pal!" Leanne whispered back, anxiously.

"Well," Simon continued, "He dreamed that Jenner came back
and took over Thorn Valley."

"You mean like an empire?" Leanne asked, interrupting.

"Yes," Simon went on, "Exactly! He woke up, and the dream
scared poor Alex so badly, he couldn’t sleep the rest of the night! He said it
was terribly real."

The two looked up. Quaker was standing over them. "I’m sorry, guys, I
meant nothing by what I said."

"That’s okay," Leanne and Simon said, "Did you hear what we
were talking about?"

Quaker nodded, smiling. "I once heard that dreams have meanings. I
wonder if that one meant anything?" he said.

It was just a thought, but it did send all three of them off thinking deeply
about it.

The rest of the day was pretty normal, the whole camp just sat and waited
for Jenner to show up. While they waited, many played cards, talked, and other
things that you do when you’re bored. After a while, everyone began to get
comfortable with the coming of Jenner. Whether it was because they were all
bored, or whether they were just becoming less fearful, it was anyone’s guess.
All the camp knew, was that they were ready for some action.

Morning passed into afternoon, and afternoon sank into evening. The east sun
slowly became the west sun, and the blue sky turned into yellow sky. All the
birds were gone that time of season, and, as Mrs. Frisby had predicted, the
night was going to be chilly. It was not night yet, it was still about five,
but the air was cooling slowly.

The three friends sat around a small flashlight in Leanne’s tent. To keep
their minds busy, they were carrying on a conversation, and somehow, it got
onto the subject of Alexander’s dream.

"That would be impossible," Leanne argued, "When we get
Jenner and his band back to Thorn Valley, he’s sure to be killed- he’s a
traitor, remember?"

Leanne and Quaker had gotten themselves into an argument about whether or
not it was possible for Jenner to take over. "But remember, Leanne,"
Quaker said in return, "Jenner is and can be very manipulative…."

Then Simon broke in: "I’m going to step outside for a breath of fresh
air. I’ll be back."

The two other rats nodded, and continued arguing. Simon opened the tent
door, flooding those behind him with chilly air.

As Simon stood with his arms folded across his chest, he thought about the
dream. It was so pointless! Alexander’s dream was only a dream. It was not
real, it will never be real, and everyone was getting too serious over it.
Simon now regretted mentioning it.

"Jenner may never even get here." Simon said to himself.
Then, he felt a cold hand on his shoulder.

"Oh really?" Jenner asked.

"Hush, hush, hush, Teresa!! It’s only me!" Nicodemus said.

By then, the rest of the children had woken up, and Teresa had stopped
screaming. The four sleepy mice sat up, wondering what was going on. They all
had fallen asleep together, and completely forgot about going back to their
room.

Teresa had never seen Nicodemus before, and waking up to his frightful
appearance resulted in her screaming.

"I’m glad I found you," Nicodemus said, relieved, "You’ve
worried us sick!"

"Where’s mommy?" Cynthia asked, rubbing her eyes.

Nicodemus stood up and held out his hand. The four youngsters grabbed his
hand, and followed him to their mother.

Mrs. Frisby came running to them when she saw them, with her arms wide open.
"Where have you guys been?" she cried.

"We were looking around," Martin explained, "and it got late.
We all thought that we should lie down, and we did. We fell asleep soon
afterward, and where Mr. Nicodemus found us was where we had been ever
since."

"Don’t you ever do that again.. do you understand?" Mrs. Frisby
shook her finger at her children for a minute, and then brought them together
for a close hug.

After that, all six of them stood up and went inside. Holding one of Sara’s
hands, there was Timothy, and holding the other was Cynthia. They walked down
the deserted hallway quietly. The only people that they saw while they were
walking were the people that were in the group earlier. The two men, and one
lady still stood together, talking seriously.

Mrs. Frisby and her crew walked by, trying not to disturb the gang, but she
failed. All three of the rats looked up, as if there was something wrong. They
all peered over at Sara, and then at Nicodemus. At the sight of Nicodemus,
their eyes sunk and got wide, and they each slowly stepped back into the shadows.

After Sara, Nicodemus, and the children walked out of view of the group,
Nicodemus spoke up. "I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen them before," he
said, "But they looked at us funny. I need to check up on our member
records."

Sara said nothing, but she silently agreed. Though she did not really know
anyone personally, she had seen quite a many faces, but never them. That was
odd, too, but no one really cared. Everyone was exhausted.

No one spoke as they all walked down the lonely halls. The only one who was
aware of where they were going was Nicodemus; the rest of them were half
asleep. Most of the children thought about what life would be in their new
home. Frankly, all the kids thought that except for Timothy. Timothy had
something on his mind that was very important.

Nicodemus dropped the five tired mice off at the door of their room. Mrs.
Frisby thanked him for helping find her children, and then he was off, back to
his office (or more likely to bed).

"Get into bed, children," Sara told her family, "Hurry
up."

But before she could finish what she was saying, she saw four little lumps
under the blankets. Mrs. Frisby sighed and climbed into her bed. The room was
completely dark; it was amazing that no one tripped over anything.

Slowly, after Sara had removed her cape, and after she was settled into bed,
she relaxed. She folded her arms behind her head, rolled over on her side, and
closed her eyes. It felt soooo good to relax. She had had a very busy day, and
a very busy night.

Mrs. Frisby rested peacefully in the bed and thought about all the soldiers
out there maybe fighting for Thorn Valley. They could all be dead for all
anyone knew, or they could be waiting patiently for Jenner’s arrival. Who knew?
She just prayed that everything was going alright.

"Mom?"

Sara jumped at the sound of her son’s sudden voice. "Yes,
Timothy?"

"I need to tell you something. I think that it’s important."

Mrs. Frisby opened her eyes and saw a little frail mouse sitting up in his
bed. "Go ahead, I’m listening, dear." She answered.

"You know that group of rats standing in the hallway earlier,
right?" Timothy went on, his voice haggard, "When we were all walking
around, I heard them talking. They said something that was really
frightening."

"What?"

"They were talking about someone. I don’t know who, but it was a ‘him’.
They were talking about taking over. I didn’t think they were playing, they
were quite serious. They mentioned a new ‘Plan’. They said that he should be
coming soon, and hoped that he was not delayed. I do not know who he
was, but I thought that the conversation was strange." Timothy flopped
back down on the bed.

"Oh, honey," Sara whispered back, "I wouldn’t worry about it.
I know you think that they were talking about Jenner, but they couldn’t be.
Jenner left with all his men, and no one that wanted to go with him stayed back
here. Besides, Jenner is far away. No one could have come back without getting
through the guards. Now don’t worry about it. It’s just a little something that
doesn’t mean a thing. Go to sleep."

Timothy sighed, and made one last note. "The guards haven’t been here
the whole time we’ve been here. They may have been gone even before that."

Sara said nothing, for they both knew how true this was. They both knew that
they all had come at a bad time, and they both knew that Thorn Valley was
unprotected.

The two of them soon were asleep.

Simon turned around. "Well, well, well! It’s ol’ Jenner here to
terrorize us again, eh? You’d think a rat like you would call it quits after
‘The Engine in the Hardware Store’ thing, or did you want another seven of your
people killed?"

"That’s enough from you, Simon," Jenner snapped, "and it
wasn’t exactly an engine, either, it was a motor. Ha!"

Simon thought for no more than a second, and then he came back with a
comment: "Same thing, pal. What are you guys… stupid? The Public Health
Service came after you! Nimh came after you!"

Jenner then spat on the ground, barely missing Simon’s toe. "That one’s
for Nimh!" he shouted.

And with this shout, the tent door opened, and Quaker and Leanne stepped
out. Not realizing who was in their presence, they walked up to Simon. You
could barely make out any face- features anyway because of the darkness of the
outside world.

Leanne placed her hand on Simon’s shoulder. "Tell Quaker here that
Jenner could very well come ba-" She stopped.

She and Quaker were now staring at the rat standing next to Simon. No one
said a word. They only looked. Leanne’s eyes were bulging out of her head. Out
of nowhere, she took off on all fours toward Alexander’s tent. Quaker still
stood motionless.

"Listen shrimp," Jenner growled at Simon, "I’m not looking
for trouble. If I bleed one drop tonight, you’re dead."

Jenner stepped away from the spot in which he had been standing. Behind him
were about twenty rats, all muscular to the extreme. A few women stood in the
band, and they looked tougher than Leanne! Jenner wasn’t kidding- the rats
could easily handle Thorn Valley’s recruits.

Although these rats were large, there was one that stood out from the rest
of them. He was much shorter than the rest, but was still unusually muscular
for his size. This rat’s face even seemed familiar. He had light fur, and big
brown eyes- eyes that were bright, unlike the cold eyes that belonged to the
others, and unlike the harsh expression he held on his face. There was just
something about him that was haunting.

Simon shook it off. "If you bleed one drop tonight, Jenner," he
said, "it would be because they make a move. If they pull anything, you
will be killed first. That’s a promise." Simon looked back at the rats,
trying not to look scared. "You hear that, guys," he said shouted at
them, "You move, you’ll only be killing your leader!"

Simon went down. Before he could finish getting the words out of his mouth,
Jenner was on top of him. The two rats battled it out right there. Simon bit
and clawed, Jenner pulled and sliced. He got Simon on the ground. Lying on his
back, Simon tried to yell, but he was then choked off.

"You think you’re bad, don’t you?" Jenner said out of breath,
"Well your mouth needs a little work!" He held a dagger up to Simon’s
throat. "I ought to kill you right now….. But I’m not. I’m just going to
leave you with a little something to remember me by." He then took the dagger
and sliced the tip of Simon’s ear off.

Simon cursed in pain, blood dripping down his forehead. "You’ll pay,
Jenner! I swear! If it is the last thing I do, I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you if
you do anything else!" He screamed out.

Simon jerked his head around when he heard the others coming. Alexander and
the others would soon be there in a minute.

"Band ‘em, boys." Jenner said, quietly.

With a single motion of his hand, four of the biggest rats stepped out of
the shadows and tied Simon with rope. The force at which they pulled was so
great, Simon could hardly breathe; the cord did not allow him enough room for
his lungs to fill. Simon reached out in vain, but his arms were tied as well.
He just stood back and watched Jenner work his magic.

Jenner took his dagger and sliced himself down the leg, and he stabbed his
upper arm once. Cringing from the agony, Jenner looked up at Simon.
"That’ll do ya!" he said. At that point, no one knew what Jenner was
doing.

Simon and Quaker’s breath were now only fog puffs in the air. As the night
grew on, it also got colder. You could tell that fall was on it’s way. Quaker
had seen the whole thing. He moved not a muscle during the struggle, for fear
of Jenner’s people. One tear of fright slid down his cheek as he watched his
friend be bound. He knew that they all were in danger.

"What in the world is going on here, Jenner?" demanded Alexander
when he arrived.

Jenner limped over to Alex. "I showed up," he said, "and
Simon here went wild. See what he did?" Jenner pointed to his arm and leg.
"I didn’t want to," he continued, "but I had to - he was about
to kill me! He took my dagger and sliced me. I tried to-" Jenner fell to
the ground (supposedly in pain).

"Get the doctor over here," Alex screamed at the top of his lungs,
"NOW!!"

The doctor came immediately to Jenner and carried him off. Jenner’s party
followed with the best fake sorrow faces they could come up with. On their way
after Jenner, they each stared at Simon.

"What do you think you were doing, Simon?" Alexander asked.

"Jenner is lying, Alex," Leanne interrupted, "I saw most of
it."

"Y..Yeah, yeah, A..Alex," Quaker stuttered, "I s-saw the
whole th.. thing. Jenner jumped Simon. See? He even cut his ear!" Quaker
pointed to Simon’s wound which had not stopped bleeding yet.

Alexander stroked his chin. "Well Simon? What do you have to say? I
know Jenner would not do that to himself. What did you do?"

Simon tried to speak, but he could not catch enough breath to speak. He was
cut loose by Alex and tumbled to the ground, gasping for air.

"I did nothing! You could expel me if you want, you can do whatever you
want to me," he declared back at Alex, "But I did nothing to him! I
only told Jenner’s party not to try anything stupid. That’s all."

The seriousness in his voice was just barely enough to convince Alex.
"Alright Simon," Alex concluded, "I believe you. I saw nothing
therefore I cannot punish you. If what your friends say is the truth, the truth
shall come out in time. Go. Out of here. But I’ll keep my eye on you."

Alexander walked away toward the "Injured Tent." Quaker and Leanne
helped Simon up gently, and wrapped his ear in a cold water-soaked towel. Simon
fell asleep shortly afterward, wearied from all the action that had taken place
that night.

No one knew that from then on, Simon’s life would be in danger. No one ever
knew that Simon and Jenner had been archenemies all their lives. Not long
before Jenner left the Plan, he killed Simon’s mother for not going along with
his own plan.

You see, Simon’s mom didn’t like Nicodemus’ plan, so she joined Jenner’s
side. But once she heard that Jenner wanted to leave and start a colony on his
own, she refused. All the people in Thorn Valley thought that she had left with
Jenner. No one ever found out the sad fate of Amber (Simon’s mother).

Simon’s father was not one of the original twenty-two, therefore he passed
away a few years after Simon’s birth. Being an only child, the death of Simon’s
mother left him alone. Sure this all sounds terrible, but it’s true. Ever
since, Simon vowed to rid the world of Jenner. All he needed now was a good
reason to….

Mrs. Frisby awoke that morning all cheerful and pleasant. She looked over at
her children, still asleep in their beds. Sara wondered what this day would
bring, new sights, more scares, what? The answer to that question is as good as
anyone’s guess.

Mrs. Frisby reached over and grabbed her cape which was hanging on the
doorknob. She tied it around her neck and stood up. What would she do? The
children wouldn’t wake up for another few hours, and she didn’t want to just
wait around. She decided that she would go and see Justin.

She wandered the halls trying to remember where Justin’s office was. Was it
the third door on the right, or was it the fourth door on the left? Was
Nicodemus’ office north, or was Justin’s office south? Sara strained her brain
trying to think. If she ever found Justin, she’d ask him for a good set of
directions.

She walked east at her own pace (she wasn’t in a hurry today). As she walked
further down the hall, she could faintly hear the sound of music drifting
beautifully in the air. Curious, she followed the sweet sound up the "Up
Ramp" (which lead to the second floor of caves).

The noise gradually grew louder as she continued to walk down the deserted
hallway. She saw no offices, only the hospital and one large door that lead
into some bigger room. Trying not to be noticed, Mrs. Frisby stuck her head
through the door of the unknown room. Oh what she saw!

The room was dimmed, and full of couches and chairs all facing a stage.
There were a few tables randomly set about the room, each with a vase of
flowers sitting in the center. All the seats were filled at the moment by rats
both young and old. They all stared up at a group of rats sitting up on the
stage.

The rats on stage sat in nice chairs, and they were all playing a different
instrument. One lady played the violin, a young man played the flute, and
others were playing different instruments as well.

Mrs. Frisby stood, leaning against the doorframe for a moment in awe. She
had never seen musical instruments in her whole life, she had only heard about
them. It amazed her and left her in a trance.

"Mrs. Frisby?"

Sara turned around sharply, for fear of being in trouble, but it was only
Justin. "Oh," she said, "Justin! I was just looking for
you."

Justin knew better. "It’s beautiful, isn’t it? The music, I mean."

"Why yes, lovely."

There was a stretch of time where no one said a word, they just listened.
The silence was disturbed by Justin. "What did you need me for?" he
asked, dreamily. By now he too was leaning up against the doorframe.

"I wanted to know if there was anything around here for me to do, and
for my children as well. I know there is probably plenty, but I’d like to plan
my day." Sara answered with a smile.

Justin thought for a moment. "Hmmm…" Justin thought, "If you
want a job to do, you and your family could go to the jail and fix up Jenner’s
cell. I do believe he’ll have quite a group with him. Or, you could listen to
this concert, take the kids to school, you could see if they needed help at the
day care…" Justin spoke of this whole long list of things to do.

Surprised, Mrs. Frisby tried to remember all the things he said, but that
was nearly impossible. "Oh goodness! Thank you," Sara went on,
"I’ll see if there is anything I can convince my kids into doing. If you
are to need me, I’ll be around. Supposedly at the school or the sewing
room."

The two parted once again. "Uh, Justin," Sara called back from
down the ramp, "Can you do me a favor?"

Justin turned. "What?" he shouted.

"Can you draw me up a map if you get time?!"

Justin smiled big, and nodded vigorously. "Sure!!"

They both continued about their way.

The night had been a long one, but everyone eventually managed to get to
sleep. Leanne and Quaker decided to go to bed shortly after the incident with
Jenner. The three all amazingly slept sound; the only noise that was to be
heard that night were Jenner’s evil whispers.

"Listen," Jenner said to one of his men after the camp had fallen
asleep, "We’ll all head back to Thorn Valley tomorrow. Remember, keep on
your charm until I succeed. Understand?"

The rat that he was talking to nodded his head, and left Jenner alone in the
doctor’s tent. After that, the whole camp was silent.

With the next day came a heavy rain. To make matters worse, they all had to
travel to Thorn Valley that day.

The camp awoke at dawn, as usual. Each rat put on his or her own gear, and
marched off. Jenner followed in the rear of the line, not saying a word. Quaker
and Leanne tried their hardest to keep the two separated (for safety reasons).

The sky was a dark gray as the bullet-sized raindrops fell to earth. All
fifty rats trudged along in knee-high mud, cold as ice. Their goal was to reach
Thorn Valley that day, whether it took them all two straight days of hiking or
not.

The rats were allowed one ten minute break every two hours, but no one owned
a watch. On their first break, the whole line flopped down on the ground,
burying their rears in the mud.

Quaker sat down beside of Simon. "I’m sorry." he said at him
softly.

"For what?" Simon asked.

"For not helping you last night. All I did was stand there and stare. I
feel really bad about that."

"That’s alright," Simon answered patting Quaker on the back.
"You couldn’t have done anything anyway. They would have gotten you, too
if you interfered. Believe me, I know how mean Jenner can get. I’m just glad
that they didn’t hurt anyone besides me."

The three friends knew that it was going to be a long haul to Thorn Valley.
They each knew that Simon was forever on in danger; Quaker and Leanne would do
everything in their power to help protect him.

"How’s the ear?" Leanne asked, out of nowhere.

"Good.. But it’s been better." Simon assured.

The rain pelted down even harder and the wind picked up. It was probably
cold enough to make ice-cream out there! All the rats had huddled together by
then, to keep warm. Some had untied blankets from their packs, and others just
kept their heads low. Although their efforts were in hope, they did not help
bring up the temperature.

The silence was broken by Alexander. "Alright guys," he said,
"Time to go!"

With moans and groans, the troop gathered their things and headed out. The
mud squished between their toes with a "SLOP," but they still
continued on their journey. Simon did not notice who was following behind him
in line.

"Gee Simon," Jenner said (he was walking behind Simon), "I’m
sorry."

Simon turned around and looked behind him. Jenner sounded sincere! What was
he up to? "Yeah, sure ya are!"

"No, really," Jenner insisted, "I’m truly sorry. What I did
last night was immature, and I now regret it. I know you will never forgive me,
but please- give me another chance?" Jenner then wrapped several blankets
around Simon, in effort to be kind.

"What’s up?" Simon asked, a little suspicious.

"Nothing. I just want to be your friend again. Please?"

Simon turned back around. "I’ll consider it." he said under his
breath.

Jenner left Simon alone for the rest of the day, hoping to have made an
impact on the one he attacked last night.

"Why won’t you forgive him?" Leanne asked later, when the rain had
cleared away.

Simon grasped his ear. "You wouldn’t understand."

Leanne was confused now. "Why?" she said.

"He hurt me. That is all I am going to say." Simon replied.

Even more confused, Leanne still asked questions. "I know he hurt you-
your ear!"

"I told you you wouldn’t understand!" With that, Simon ran off to
get away from Leanne. He couldn’t tell anyone about his past with Jenner. Then
everyone would treat him as if he had a problem. Everyone would have sympathy
on him. Everyone would act different. He did not want that.

After her family had awoken, Mrs. Frisby took each of them somewhere to be
active. She took Timothy to the school and the library, she took Cynthia to the
day care, Martin to the jail (by request), and she took Teresa with her to the
sewing room. Teresa was a good seamstress.

After Sara had dropped the rest of her children off, she and Teresa walked
slowly down the hall. "Is Jenner coming back?" Teresa asked.

"Yes." Mrs. Frisby answered.

"When?"

"I don’t know."

"Why does everyone hate him?"

Mrs. Frisby looked at Teresa, still walking. "He is a bad person. And a
very dumb person. When he comes back, stay away from him."

"Why? What did he do?"

Sara sighed, and began to explain. "You see, Teresa," she said,
"When Nicocdemus came up with the Plan- you do know what the Plan is,
right?- he Plan was to move here to be safer. Well, Jenner didn’t like the
Plan, so he tried to convince other rats to disagree with the Plan, too. He got
several followers, took them, and left. He and his followers almost got
themselves caught and killed a few months back, and now they’re being dumb and
are accidentally leading Dr. Shultz to Thorn Valley."

Teresa nodded, and her gaze switched from Sara to the hallway.

The hallway was now quite busy. It was dim with the rainy day outside, and
slightly chilly. They were heading toward the North Wing, to the Sewing room.
There were rats standing and talking, going and coming. There were a few
janitors sweeping the floors, and a small child sitting in the corner playing
with a blue marble. It was peaceful.

A few minutes passed, and Sara and Teresa were standing in front of the door
of the Sewing Room. The door was knicked and chipped from constant use, and the
edge of the door was worn from where people had pushed it so many times to
enter.

In the room, there were about seventy female rats sitting at tables sewing.
They were not sewing with the machines that were in front of them, they were
all sewing by hand. It took a moment for Mrs. Frisby to remember that Thorn
Valley hadn’t gotten electricity yet.

No one looked up as she and Teresa walked in. There was an empty table in
the back right hand of the room, so Teresa and her mother sat down at it.

Already, there was a pile of material sitting on the edge of the table. A
packet of needles lay beside of it, as well as other sewing tools. Teresa and
Sara took their seats, and picked out the material in which they wanted to make
their first clothes.

Teresa wanted to make a blue dress with a white vest to go along with it. It
was easy to make those, and she could already sew well. Sara wanted to make a
green shirt for Timothy, a yellow jumper for Cynthia, and a blue shirt to
replace the one Martin was wearing.

Without a word, the two got to work. Mrs. Frisby picked out a rich green for
Timothy, cut it out, and got down to work. She was sewing a sleeve when the
lady next to her spoke to her. "Hello." She said.

Mrs. Frisby looked up, afraid to say anything. "Hi." She replied
with a slight smile.

"Sewing for children? I am."

Sara nodded. "Yes, I do believe so."

The lady held out her hand. "My name is Judy. You’re Mrs. Jonathan,
right?"

Sara shook Judy’s hand. "Please- call me Sara. How do you do?"

"Oh, exhausted! I’ve to make a few clothes for my family and husband.
How many kids do you have?"

"I have four.. a load!" Sara answered.

"I have eight," Judy continued, "fun fun!"

Sara was now ashamed of her added comment. She just smiled, flustered.

The two chatted for a while, and soon became good friends. Judy and Sara
talked for a long time while Teresa just sat back and admired her mother. She
wished she had a new friend.

The two new friends got into the conversation deeply. They talked about
children and their husbands, what they were sewing, and things like that. None
of them noticed the slight humming noise that began to fill the room.

All the women in the room continued sewing and talking with each other, just
as content as could be. But then, all of the sudden, Mrs. Frisby looked up.

ZZZZZZTTTTTT!