His speech was prepared. It was worded to perfection, and he
was all ready to go to the meeting. He only hoped that Sara had done as he had
told her. If she hadn’t, she would surely die for humiliating and disobeying
him. It was a half an hour until he had to give the speech, and he was really
anxious. He knew that everything was perfect. Nobody should get in his way.

What a fine plan he had laid out before him. All Thorn
Valley stood at his feet; at his mercy. He had a fine plan. Everyone would
surely love him once they saw his brilliance. They would shout, and applaud,
and worship him. He would be one step down from God and people would only think
him higher. He was a genius.

Jenner thought back. He knew that stupid Dr. Shultz would
follow him. After the two rats were found in the rosebush, Shultz knew what he
had on his hands- something as smart as himself, if not smarter.

Jenner grinned at how he had used that man- a human
of all things- to get what he wanted. As he had estimated, Nicodemus did
meet him halfway, to save all their sakes. No, Nicodemus had thought Jenner
clumsy and careless for leading Shultz toward Thorn Valley, but he was wrong.
It was all part of his plan. He had used Shultz to get to Thorn Valley quicker.
He had used the doctor in such a way, it put him in an even better advantage
point than he had anticipated.

And now, as he listened to the radio, Dr. Shultz had given
up on his search for the traveling rats. He had lost them when Thorn Valley’s
troops came, therefore his search looked idiotic and outrageous. He had spent
government money to follow them, and then lost them. Surely he would lose his
job. And even if he didn’t, there was no way he could get to Thorn Valley
legally.

Thorn Valley was a reservation which meant that no
helicopters were permitted to fly over it. Vehicles weren’t even allowed to go
anywhere in Thorn Valley besides the outer rim of the forest, and only park
rangers were allowed to do that.

No, Jenner was not clumsy. He was brilliant. He had gotten
even more than what he had planned, and kept the entire valley safe while doing
it. The people of Thorn Valley should get down on their knees and thank him,
and kiss his feet. That’s what they should do.

Jenner found a chair and sat down. He liked praising
himself. He liked thinking about how fine his plans were, and how he had been
so smart.

It had taken place a long time ago, when he had seen Justin
and Mr. Ages walk over to the Fitzgibbon’s house and sneak under it. He had
followed them to the house in the darkness of the night unnoticed. No one had
heard the rustling of grass behind them, and they never suspected that someone
should be following them.

Mr. Ages had walked Jonathan in, since Justin was too big.
Only mice could fit through the hole in the house, and make it down the jump
under the cabinet.

He had watched Justin check his watch, and he had seen Mr.
Ages disappear under the house, guiding Jonathan along. He had witnessed the
packet of medicine be handed between peoples, and he had held his breath when
Justin drew closer to the corner of the house in boredom.

He had strained his ears that night, to hear the
conversation over the chirping of crickets. The agreement between Justin, Mr.
Ages and Jonathan was that they would meet Jonathan back in the rosebush when
he got done. Justin and Ages had to go to a meeting, and Jonathan had to feed
Dragon himself.

It was only by luck that the plan was to leave Jonathan
alone. It was only by luck that Ages and Justin left, leaving Jonathan in
danger. It had been a perfect plan- only the beginning of Jonathan had come out
from under the house safely- not killed by Dragon. Then, Jenner stepped out
from the shadows and beat Jonathan to a pulp with a metal pipe.

It worked perfectly. At that time, Jonathan was the leader
of the rats and of the rosebush. Nicodemus had only filled in as first in
command when he figured out that Jonathan had been killed. Sure Nicodemus was
leader when they were at the Boniface Estate, but things change. Jonathan was
brighter, and Jonathan was more aware of the world than any of the rats were.

When Jonathan woke up, he remembered nothing. Again, another
stroke of luck for Jenner. Beating him over the head with that pipe had
triggered a strong case of amnesia in the poor mouse. What perfect luck! Jenner
could tell him anything he wanted to, and Jonathan was at his mercy!

Everything so far had gone so perfectly. Everything had been
smooth and according to plan. In fact, even though Jenner had been surprised at
points, all the surprises had ended in pure wonder. All the surprises had been
with Jenner and for him.

Another wonderful thing about being here in Thorn Valley was
that he knew his opponents’ weaknesses. He knew as a fact that Nicodemus and
Justin carried on their backs a strong sense of guilt about that night. They
blamed themselves for Jonathan’s "death" and for leaving him there
alone that night.

They were not guilty, of course. They just didn’t know any
better. They didn’t know that Jonathan was alive, and they weren’t intended to
find out.

They were nervous. After that encounter with the guard, they
were not at ease until they were almost back to the group.

Timothy and Martin were still hauling their items. Several
times they had stopped for a break, but they could never stay for long. They
didn’t know what Jenner had in store, so they had to keep on their toes.

"What wing are we on?" Martin asked on their
break.

"I don’t know. We’re still on the cafeteria wing. We
must be coming to the center of Thorn Valley soon. From there, we’ll just read
signs. I didn’t really pay attention to which way we came. I’m sure there’ll be
a sign directing us to the Meeting Room or something. How could there not
be?"

They sat in silence for a few minutes until it was time to
head back. With all their things they were hauling, it tired them out quickly.
They stood up reluctantly.

"Do you think they’ve found Mom yet?" Martin
asked.

"I don’t know. I sure hope so. I really want to know if
she’s okay"

"I know. Timothy?"

He looked over at Martin. "What?"

"Do you think Justin and Mom are going to get together?
I mean, marry?"

Timothy swallowed. "I don’t know. Maybe."

"I don’t know what to think about them. I guess it’s
okay, I guess. Justin’s a good person and all, but I would prefer Dad
instead."

"Yeah, well, Dad isn’t here, is he?"

Martin looked at the ground. He knew he was thinking
foolishly. He just didn’t know what to make of all that was happening around
him. With Jenner and all, it really sent him to thinking. He thought mostly
about Jonathan. He really did miss him, but he was afraid that he would just
have to set it aside. If all this worked out with Jenner, Justin might become a
new member of the family. His thoughts were interrupted by Timothy.

"Martin?" Timothy said.

"What?"

"Something isn’t right. I’ve been thinking, and, well,
it just doesn’t make sense."

Martin looked at him in confusion. "Excuse me, but I
don’t know what you're talking about."

"Well, Jenner had all these spies at Thorn Valley way
before he even started to come here, right?"

"Uh, yeah. What about it?"

"Well, with all the guards we have in Thorn Valley and
all, they couldn’t have just slipped past them, unless they came the night
Nicodemus called the meeting. But, Alice was a spy, and she was here just
before that. It’s weird."

Martin had never thought of this before. Timothy was right,
of course, as he always was. No, it didn’t fit together.

"What are you coming to, bro?" Martin asked. He
was really interested.

"What I’m coming to is that, when Jenner left years
ago, he didn’t just leave because he disagreed with the Plan or Nicodemus. He
had something else up his sleeve."

"Like what?"

"I don’t know. But, now that I think of it, it could be
anything, really. I mean, how much do we really know about the history of Thorn
Valley and the rats? We know nothing. We know their story, but from where the
story ends, we don’t know the gaps in between. Do you see it? We know about the
rosebush and all, but we don’t know anything about their life in the rosebush.
We know everything about them up until that point. I’m just saying that I think
Jenner had his own plan, before anyone else."

Martin rubbed his chin. He never realized this before, but
now that it had been brought to his attention, he became intensely perplexed.
"What do you think is going on?"

Timothy fell silent, and then cleared his throat.
"Follow me," he said, "let’s get back to the group first and
then we’ll think of something. I think I already know the answer, and it would
help solve the problem if Justin and Nicodemus were here with us."

The two mice continued on their way.

As Jonathan sat up, the others’ eyes got wide. Justin
released Sara and peered down at Jonathan. "Who are you?" he asked.

Jonathan got on his feet and looked back at Justin. "I
am Mr. Jonathan Frisby, Justin. Who else would I be?"

His jaw dropped. It really was him! Justin stared into
Jonathan’s eyes. It really was him. Justin looked at him abashed. "I am so
sorry, Jonathan! It really is you!"

Jonathan rubbed his head. He remembered everything. He
remembered that night, and Jenner training him. He remembered him marrying
Sara, and remembered that he had children. He also remembered walking down the
hall with Sara, and denying his identity. It was like a thick blanket of fog
had suddenly been lifted from his mind; he could actually see again.

Tears welled up in Sara’s eyes as she rushed to him. She
wrapped her thin arms around his neck and buried her crying face in his chest.
He was home at last. She couldn’t believe it. Like a broken dam, her emotions
poured out at that moment, as did his.

Jonathan looked down at his wife, who had her arms around
him now, sobbing helplessly. He hugged her back, and began to cry. He could
smell her, and feel her, and see the love in her eyes as he saw it when they
first married. He was home. He had his family back, finally.

It seemed like hours, but only a few minutes had passed when
they at last broke free of each other and stood, facing the crowd.

Jonathan stood on his tip-toes, looking for his children.
"Timothy? Teresa? Cynthia, Martin?" He called out.

Cynthia and Teresa ran forward and smothered their father
with kisses and hugs. No one said a word. Not the children, not Jonathan, not
the crowd. They just stood and watched. They stood and watched a broken family
at last piece itself back together. It seemed like something out of the
Odyssey. Odysseus and his family, finally reunited after what seemed like years
apart. Though it was planned for him never to reach them again, Jonathan had
reached home, and his family, at last.

After this moment of silence, the Frisby family looked up.
It was then that it struck Jonathan that his sons were not there to greet him.
Where were they?

"Where are the boys?" Jonathan asked.

Sara looked at him and wiped the dampness from her eyes.
"We don’t know," she said. "All we know is that they are missing.
We have an idea that they went looking for weapons, but that’s all. We don’t
know which way they went, or even when they left."

Jonathan peered around the hallway. This was dumb, standing
in the middle of the hallway like this, with Jenner around. "Let’s get
inside a dorm or something, so we aren’t seen. Once we get in there, we have
more time, and less likelihood of being spotted."

\In agreement, the group knocked on the nearest door. An
elderly man opened the door, took one look at the large group, and, in fear,
slammed the door in their faces.

Tony pounded on the door. "Open up, sir. This is an
order from the Thorn Valley Recruits!"

With that, the man reopened the door, just enough to show
his eyes, and then opened it further. He said nothing, only motioned them
inside. All of them went into his home, and began to form a plan.

The group that now stood in the old man’s residence spread
out about the room, as the old man himself stood in the corner, bewildered.

"Now, Sara," Jonathan asked, "you say that
both our sons went looking for weapons. Did you hear them say anything about
going to get them?"

"No," Sara replied, "but I know
Justin heard them mention something."

Jonathan looked at Justin. "Is that
true?"

Justin could barely look at this mouse in front
of him. He was so ashamed. He had fallen for Sara head over heels, and even
kissed her, and now her husband stood before him. He felt that he had committed
adultery. It made his stomach churn.

"Justin?"

He looked up. "Uh, yeah, Johnny boy. They
mentioned something about going to the cafeteria for knives and things like
that."

"You knew this, and you didn’t say anything
to them? You didn’t tell us?"

"I told them not to go. They did have a
point – we don’t have the right equipment to go after Jenner with – but I told
them not to go. I swear it!"

Jonathan gave Justin a dirty look. What had he
been thinking? Justin obviously did not know the first thing about children.
"What were you thinking!? You should have kept them in your sight at all
times! You know how mischievous they are! What in the world made you think they
would obey you?"

Jonathan’s voice was so loud, Sara was afraid
that they would be heard. "Jonathan," she said, "Now, go easy
–" But Jonathan shrugged her off. He was furious. Now, thanks to this man
in front of him, his children were probably dead. What would he do?

Nicodemus, who had been standing back thinking,
said, "There is nothing we can do. If the children are all right, then
they will try to come back to where we were last. I suggest that we do not go
anywhere until they come back."

"But shouldn’t we send out a person to look
for them?" A female rat from the back suggested.

Nicodemus shook his head. "No. Then, if
that person got caught, and the children returned before them, we would have
wasted a person, and would probably be wasting our time waiting for that person
to return. All we should do now is to use this time for planning, and to wait
for Timothy and Martin to return."

They all knew he was right. It was the best plan
that could have been made up at that time. The group turned back to Jonathan,
waiting for instructions.

The old man stood silently in the corner of the
room.

"Where are they!?" Jenner shouted. "They should
have been done by now! Alice!" Jenner pounded his tail against the ground
as Alice came rushing into the room.

"Yes, Jenner?" she answered.

"I want to know where the Frisby girl and
Jonathan went. I sent them out to spread the word to Thorn Valley about the
meeting, and they have not returned. Go out and find them now, and bring them
back to me!"

Alice hurried out the door and down the stairs.

Jenner continued pacing. Where could they be?
Sara and Jonathan had better not mess with him if they valued their lives. If
they are caught fooling around it would be death for the both of them for sure.
Jenner would see to it.

Everything was going perfectly and he was not
about to let two measly mice mess everything up. That would not happen. He
would not let that happen.

Yes, he was going to be a powerful man. He soon
would be ruling all of Thorn Valley and no one could stop him. He had men
stronger than all Thorn Valley’s recruits. If Thorn Valley refused to go along
with his plan, he would start to kill the citizens off one by one. They would
take him seriously then.

Nicodemus could not even stop himself now. He
was determined to gain this power, and he would succeed even if it killed him.
It was his time to shine now.

Timothy and Martin followed the signs and drew
closer and closer to the group. Neither of them said anything. They both had
their minds full of ideas. Timothy was right - Jenner was up to something, but
what? They could only imagine.

Martin thought that Jenner was planning to go
against humans, and try to take over the world.

Timothy on the other hand, thought something
similar, but not quite as large. He figured that since Jenner had made it this
far, he had to have been planning this a long time ago. He also believed that
this problem with Jenner and Thorn Valley was somehow connected with the death
of his father. He had to get to Nicodemus. If he had time to ask him questions
he could then find out the truth, even though the truth might not be pretty.

Still silent, the two brothers rounded the
corner to the hallway where they first left the group. They were gone.

"Where did they go?" Martin asked.
There was a trace of panic in his voice.

Timothy shook his head. "I don’t
know."

"Maybe something happened to them,"
Martin suggested. "Maybe someone living in one of these dorms will
know." He reached up and knocked on a door.

The door opened slightly, and a tall, blue-eyed
woman peered through the crack.

"Yes?" she asked.

"There was a large group of people on this
hallway not too long ago," said Martin. "Do you know where they might
be?"

The woman looked at the two mice for a moment.
"Uh, yeah. Check two doors down. I thought I heard something in
there." She closed the door.

Timothy and Martin looked at each other. They
would try it. They walked two doors down.

Timothy was the one to knock on the door this
time. The door slowly opened.

"Baby!" shouted a voice from inside.

Before they knew what was going on, Timothy and Martin were
jerked inside. They were then smothered in hugs and kisses, and were surrounded
by people they knew. They were back.

After the commotion was over, they looked past the crowd at
the robust mouse standing in the back.

"Martin…" Timothy started to say, but
before he could finish the mouse ran up to him and picked him up.

"Do you know who I am?" the strange
mouse asked.

Timothy looked perplexed for a minute, but gazed
into the mouse’s eyes. "DAD!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

It was then that Martin saw it, too. He ran up
to his father and hugged him harder than he thought possible. His father was
back, at last.

When Jonathan finally set both boys down,
Timothy asked to Nicodemus, "I was thinking about all this that is going
on with Jenner. And my dad. How- (he wasn’t sure exactly how he should phrase
this) – how is my father alive? I mean, I thought everyone knew he was dead. I
thought – you see, I thought that Dragon killed him. Wasn’t that true? Well, I
guess not after all, had Dragon killed him, he would not be standing here in
front of me –"

Nicodemus cut him off. He knew already what the
boy was coming to. He knew that Timothy, and his whole family for that matter,
had been living in a lie, or at least something no one was truly sure about.

"I have some explaining to do,"
Nicodemus said at last.

Justin stepped forward. "Me too."

While the two of them had the group’s attention,
they told the story about Jonathan. They told how they had left him on his own
which did not make certain the fact that he was "killed." They told
how he never came out, and how they just assumed that Dragon had caught
him.

"After all," they said, "The
seven rats that had died in the hardware store were supposedly Jenner and his
troops. But that was just assumed, also."

After the story, Sara was speechless. She didn’t
know what to think. She had been living in a lie ever since Moving Day. All the
thoughts that had been put into her head about her husband and the fate of
Jenner had been merely based on assumptions. She couldn’t believe it. When
Nicodemus told her his story that day in his office, the least he could have
done was tell her that they weren’t sure if Jonathan had been killed. It would
have at least given her and her family some sense of hope to hang onto. Oh
well for that, she thought.

All of them sat around for a minute after Justin
and Nicodemus had finished speaking. Like Sara, none of them knew what to
think.

Cynthia broke the silence. "So you
lied?" she asked.

Justin didn’t like it, but now that he thought
about what he and Nicodemus had done, he realized they had sort of lied. They
hadn’t told the Frisby family about their uncertainties, and that could really
be considered lying.

"I guess so." Justin answered.

Nicodemus saw this too, and felt that he should
say something. "I know this is bad. And I know that we should have told
all of you, but I’m sorry, we can’t change that. All we can do is apologize and
you do what you want with that."

Sara stood up and held Jonathan’s hand. She knew
Nicodemus was right, too. You can’t change something you did in the past, but
apologizing doesn’t necessarily make things better. It was a sticky situation
filled with mixed emotions.

Then she snapped out of it. Why were they standing
around feeling poorly about someone who had helped them? Jonathan was alive and
that was all that mattered. Besides, they had work to do. They had to do
something about Jenner. If they didn’t, they might be dead in a matter of
hours. They had better figure something out…quickly.

"Listen, everyone," Sara said at last,
"Who cares what Justin and Nicodemus did? Jonathan is alive and that is
all that matters. We have more important things to deal with right now, anyway.
We have to make a plan about Jenner. He is a great threat to Thorn Valley, and
us just sitting here doing nothing about it is putting Thorn Valley in greater
danger."

As if nothing had ever happened, the group began
to plan once again. Not another word was exchanged about what had just
happened. Everyone just exchanged smiles, and began working again.

Alice walked down the hall in panic. She really
wanted Mrs. Frisby to figure out some way to stop Jenner, but how could she?
Her children were in jail along with Nicodemus and Justin. Her husband had
amnesia, and was now a totally different man. Oh, how could Jenner be stopped?

Instead of checking the hallways, maybe she
would stop by the jail to see how they were. Maybe they would have a message
for her to tell Sara. She had to do something. Maybe she could tip Sara off
about what to do. But what could they do? Jenner is now almost
unstoppable. He has the strongest men, and all of Thorn Valley is at his mercy.
If anyone tries anything, people would definitely be killed.

What was the one weakness Jenner had? She didn’t
know of any. It was almost as if Jenner did not have a heart. Maybe if she
could convince Jenner’s men that what he was doing was wrong they’d have a
chance. She didn’t think so. What if…

What if. That is all they could really do now,
is say what if. What if this, and what if that – there just wasn’t any way to
be sure of Jenner’s defeat. He had made it this far, why shouldn’t he go all
the way?

She kept asking herself questions she couldn’t
answer, and that made her even angrier. If she were a bit –a lot – stronger,
she would kill Jenner herself. She was there when Jenner killed that young rat,
Amber, and she saw him do it without flinching. She watched him hurt Simon –
poor Simon. She hadn’t seen Simon in years. The last of him she remembered was
a small frightened child having his mother killed right before his eyes. Jenner
probably killed him by now. Jenner probably killed him before he left Thorn
Valley. Poor Simon.

She had to think. What was one thing Jenner
cared about more than anything in the whole world? His life, no doubt. He cared
about nothing other than himself, and that was for sure. She had to think of
something, she just had to.

The first thing she noticed when she reached the
jail was that there wasn’t anyone in the outside cells. The doors swung open
freely, their big metal mouths squeaking with the slightest breeze. What had
happened?

This filled her with worry as she began to walk
faster toward the back cell where Nicodemus and Justin were kept.

To her surprise, when she got to the back of the
jail, the outer door of the cell was unlocked. She let herself in, and, to
further surprise, saw a weary guard locked in the cell where Justin and
Nicodemus had been. Where did they go?

"Let me out of here, Alice!" The guard
spoke up in a raspy voice. He was cradling his head.

It took a moment for his words to register in
her mind. "What?" she asked.

"I said let me out of here!"

She knew who it was, it was Tiny, the security
guard. "I’m sorry, Tiny," she replied, "I don’t have the key.
The door was unlocked. How did they get out?"

"I don’t know," Tiny answered.
"All I remember is that I saw some rats on the hallway, and I had a good
chase with one of them. And I would’ve gotten the little rascal, too, if
someone hadn’t come along and hit me on the head. After that, everything went
black. When I woke up, I was in here, and my keys were gone."

This brought a smile to her face. This meant
that they were out, and maybe, just maybe, they've found Sara by now. Maybe
they were already making plans against Jenner. But where were they now?
Hopefully, somewhere safe.

"Thank you, Tiny!" Alice shouted. She
felt like kissing him. It took all her strength not to.

Alice departed in an instant, leaving Tiny alone
once again in the dim room. He just sighed.

This meant there was hope! This meant that there
was a chance that Jenner may be unsuccessful in carrying out his plans. This
meant that she knew something Jenner did not know.

The plan had been brought about by accident, but
it was almost brilliant. Actually, Teresa had been the one to come up with it.

The plan was to attack Jenner’s room that night.
Jonathan would act like he was still a guard, and act as if he was bringing the
enemies (Nicodemus, Mrs. Frisby, Justin, Simon…) to Jenner so they could be
"dealt with". When they all enter Jenner’s room, they would attack
him. As they were doing that, the rest of the group (the prisoners that had
been freed and the children) would burst in and help take care of the guards.
It was risky, but anything they did would be risky.

Though this plan fit together perfectly, and
sounded like it would go just as planned, there was one little problem: what
would they do to Jenner? They would, of course, do away with him, but should he
do anything before his death? And how would they end his life? Kill him with
swords? Poison him? Hang him? They didn’t know what to do.

"I don’t like the idea of killing
him," Cynthia said, almost in a whisper.

Justin knew where she was coming from. He didn’t
want to kill Jenner, either. After all, Jenner and he used to be good friends.
Jenner had been a good friend to Nicodemus, and Jonathan for that matter. In
addition, Cynthia was young. She would always have that knowledge inside her
that they, her family and friends, had killed someone. Who knows what that
would do to her? For her sake, Justin came up with an idea.

Justin cleared his throat. "I have an
idea," he stated as he lifted his hands. The group gave him their full
attention.

"I don’t think the children should be
included in this fight."

Martin and Timothy raised their heads and began
to protest. "What?" Martin said, "What? You mean to tell us that
after we got all of you weapons, we can’t fight? After we walked all that way
from the cafeteria, we can’t fight? You’re not serious."

Nicodemus said, "He is serious, just as he
is right. I agree with you, Justin. I think all the children should stay in my
office while we carry out the plan. In my office they’ll be right there on the
West Wing so if there is any danger that we learn of, we can get to them
quickly."

And so it was. They all packed up their things
and headed toward the West Wing. On their way to Nicodemus’ office, they would
also stop by the supply room to pick up some of the Thorn Valley army supplies.
For this mission, dishes and cups weren’t going to do the job.

With the children left behind, the crew could
finally work out details. They could discuss death and punishment; things that
were not suitable for young ears.

"Sara," Justin said, "we need you
to act like you’re in serious distress. Jenner is going to be furious when he
sees Nicodemus and me out of our cell. Just keep in mind that Jenner is not
hesitant to kill. Just act real."

Sara rolled her eyes. "Thanks. That makes
me feel a lot better."

Night came. The plan seemed perfect and
confidence was high even though the tension in the air was so thick you could
taste it.

Justin, Nicodemus, Jonathan and Sara all
approached the stalactite cautiously. This was it. This was the hour of
judgement. In just a few minutes they would find out exactly who was destined
to be the leader of Thorn Valley. Everyone hoped for the best.

It was so quiet you could hear a caterpillar a
mile down the valley. Silence did not make Sara’s stomach feel any better. She
felt like throwing up.

The elevator raised the four of them up slowly,
slowly. Not only was the anxiety choking but the suspense was deadly.

The door opened without a sound. It was as if
the room had been expecting them. The secretary was not at her seat and the
whole hallway was deserted. Phase One complete.

Jonathan tightened his grip on the three of them
and made his way up the stairs. Perspiration was dripping down his nose by the
time he reached the top. He opened the door.

"Jonathan! Where in Sullivan’s name have
you been? Ah, I see you brought little Miss Sarah, too. Oh? And what’s this?
What are Justin and Nicodemus doing here? Answer me!"

Jonathan swallowed hard. "Well, sir,"
he said meekly, "I caught Justin and Nicodemus roaming the hallways. Don’t
ask me where the children are…they must have escaped. Sara here tried to pull a
fast one on me, but luckily I’m stronger than all three of them put
together."

Jenner eyed the three prisoners angrily then
made his way over to Sara. "Well, well. I see I have misjudged you, my
dear." Jenner reached up and stroked Sara’s chin softly. "See where
thinking gets you? It gets you death, that’s what it gets you. As for your
children, I don’t care where they are. They cannot live without you. In a
matter of hours you will be dead. If they turn up they will be my slaves. Do
you like thinking?"

Fury. Sara’s stomach filled with fury. She
looked in Jenner’s eyes and could almost read his every thought. Then the room
began to spin. She couldn’t recognize where she was. What was happening? Her
stomach…

"You fool!" Jenner roared as he wiped
vomit from the front of his vest. "How dare you!"

Sara fell to the floor in dizziness. Jonathan
strained himself from picking her up. He had to keep character.

It was then the group burst through the door. It
was perfect timing – they had caught Jenner completely off guard. Phase Two
complete.

Justin and Nicodemus broke free and pulled out
their weapons. The fight was on.

At first they came out of nowhere. Jenner had an
army of men equaling three men in strength. The first one came after Nicodemus.
Of course Nicodemus would be the prime target.

The first rat came after Nicodemus with a sword
but Nicodemus dodged it just in time. Nicodemus whipped around behind the rat
(they were strong, but they were big and slow) and plunged his dagger deep into
the rat’s back. It would take a good many hits to bring him down, but this
slice should slow him up.

Another rat was attacking Tony. Tony was pinned
on the ground biting and lashing with all his might. Luckily, though, one of
the rats from the prison cut the enemy’s tail off. The enemy lay on the ground
and bled to death.

Justin was cornered by the female rat. She was
probably the best fighter of all Jenner’s men. She was quick, agile and strong.
She had already taken a few good chunks out of Justin’s arm.

Justin fought her one-handedly but seemed to do
little damage. She lashed her tail around and whipped him in the legs. Justin
fell to his knees but kept swinging his sword. It seemed like forever, but he
finally cut the girl’s throat and she fell to the floor bleeding excessively.

The battle lasted forever. Leanne and Simon
fought as hard as they could as did the rest of the group. Then, after it
seemed like the group could no longer carry on, the last of Jenner’s men fell
to the floor in a crimson puddle. But all was not success. The majority of the
group lay wounded on the floor. Two members were in critical condition and had
to be taken to the hospital immediately. Phase Three complete.

It was silent for a moment when Tony realized
that Jenner and Mrs. Frisby were no longer in their presence. He announced this
to the group.

Jonathan went into panic. Although he had been
stabbed three times in the leg, he bound up and rushed for the back room. The
two of them were nowhere to be found. He cursed under his breath. He had to
find them.

"Come on, guys," he ordered,
"Let’s go.

Those who were capable of walking followed Jonathan
urgently. Those too weak to stand remained on the floor at rest until hospital
staff came along. If they came along.

"Where do you think they went?" A rat
asked Jonathan.

Jonathan shook his head. "I don’t know. But
when I find Jenner, I will kill him. That’s not a threat, that’s a
promise!"

Walking behind Jonathan there were five rats,
all of whom he did not know; they were all from the prison. Their names were
Allie, Tobias, Chay, Piers, and Skylar. They all seemed pretty nice.

Jonathan didn’t know where to start looking.
They could have escaped at any time during the battle therefore they could be
anywhere by now. He only hoped he would come across them with luck.

As the six of them walked down the hallway,
Jonathan remembered all there was about Sara and his family. He remembered
their wedding and the birth of Martin. He remembered thinking about her before
he went to put the powder in Dragon’s bowl, and he remembered that Sara had
said something about being in Thorn Valley for about two weeks. What would he
do?

"If you were Jenner, where would you
go?" asked Piers.

"Well," Jonathan replied, "if I
were Jenner, I wouldn’t do anything stupid. Jenner may be ignorant, but he is
not a complete idiot. I would certainly not corner myself somewhere in Thorn
Valley. I would, of course, take a winding path to get to where I was going,
but I would go somewhere hidden, yet easy to escape."

Chay sighed. Where would he go if he were
someone like Jenner? It was then that they all passed a window. Chay glanced up
through it and suddenly he had an idea. There, just beyond the side yard, lay
the escape tunnel which was built for the farmers in case of emergencies. The
tunnel went about five feet underground and wound around to the other side of
the mountain where, if in need to, you could descend down the side of the
mountain toward the city.

"Jonathan!" Chay cried. "Check
this out!" He pointed out the window.

Before Chay could explain his thoughts, Jonathan
already knew what he was thinking. He ripped a piece of cloth from his vest and
wrapped it tightly around his fist and then jabbed the window with all his
might. The glass shattered instantly and they all wiggled their way outside.

The storm had passed, leaving nothing but red
mud and rubble on the ground. Rocks had tumbled down from the far cliffs,
creating craters in the Thorn Valley yard. A thin gray cloud still loomed
overhead, but conditions had improved by far.

The tunnel was about twenty yards ahead of them.
The entrance was nothing but a small thin door placed in the middle of what
seemed to be just a pile of rocks cemented in place. Once you opened the door,
you had about a eight inch drop off (which was a lot to a rat) before the steep
stairs began.

The six rodents approached the tunnel entrance
in huffs. Winded, Piers threw the door open. Skylar grabbed a lantern from off
the wall (they were kept there in case of power losses and such) and lit it up
just in time to see a shadow shift down below him.

"This way! I see them!" he shouted.

Down, down, down they went. The dark tunnel was
wet and musty due to the prior rainfall. Trying his hardest to keep his
balance, Jonathan strategically placed his feet on the narrow steps. He could
hear heavy breathing ahead of him in the darkness. He kept his eyes open wide
in vain in effort to see something yet it was, of course, impossible if the
lantern was not ahead of him, which it wasn’t.

Soon the stairway stopped going down and
smoothed out into a path that headed toward the west. An occasional taproot
would trip someone up, but nothing much. Jonathan made a personal note to clear
the tunnel of roots when all this was over…if it was ever over.

Onward they walked in search of something that
could not be seen. Every once in a while, one of them would hear a wisp of air
ahead of them, indicating someone nearby. They were close. Very close.

The tunnel was endless. It began to veer
slightly to the left, which left the six feeling the wall for guidance.

Then there was a scream. Jonathan, already
running as fast as he could, picked up speed. He was sure it was Sara, he was
sure of it. There had to be a door here somewhere…

And as if on cue, Jonathan caught sight of a
sliver of light up ahead. As he rounded a corner he realized that it was
finally the outdoors. There must not have been a door put at the end of the
tunnel for he could see the sky clearly now and could feel the damp air rush by
his ears.

When he reached the exit, he came to a sudden
halt which made the five other rats collide into his back. Looking down, there
was no more pathway, just open air and a drop of about five hundred feet. He
knew Jenner had come down this way, but where had he gone?

"This way!" Shouted Allie, who had
spotted a small passage carved into the body of the mountain. The trail must
have coiled all around the mountain like a screw until you reached the bottom.
They had to get to Jenner before they got into the city. If they reached the
city, they were as good as dead.

One by one, they filed down the track as fast as
they could. Every now and then, they would hear a few pebbles crumble behind
them as if someone was following them, but they did not have time to turn around.

"I see them!" shouted Jonathan.

And sure enough, he was catching up with the tip
of Jenner’s tail. In Jenner’s arms was Mrs. Frisby, gagged and passed out.

"You’ll never get me, now!" Jenner
roared. "I can see the city from here!"

Jonathan sucked in his gut. He had to get to
Jenner. If there was only an opening….

He jumped. His stomach flew into his throat and
fell. Falling, falling. It felt like a giant roller coaster. It was the only
way. Besides, it was only a few yards.

He landed with a thug. His side ached along with
his head. He looked up and saw the other five rats peering down at him. They
probably thought he was crazy for jumping down the trail like that, but hey, it
was the only way he could get ahead of Jenner.

"What, are you crazy, Jonathan?"
yelled Tobias. "What are you doing?"

"Go! Keep following him! Go!" he
shouted. Instantly, the five resumed their places in the chase.

Jonathan estimated about three minutes before
Jenner would appear around the bend. It was a fat mountain, so he had time to
do some planning.

He looked around for something to protect
himself with. All he found was a brittle stick and a few muddy rocks. He
doubted seriously either could hold up to Jenner’s sword.

Before long, Jonathan heard the huffing and
puffing of a rat ahead of him. The swerved around to face Jenner. He clutched a
rock firmly in his hand.

Jenner rounded the corner at break-neck speed,
but came instantly to a screeching halt. He dropped Sara on her back and
stepped over her to become face-to-face with Jonathan Frisby. This was it. This
was the final showdown.

Where the other rats were, Jonathan did not know
nor did he care. At this point all he wanted to do was kill. Gripping the rock
tightly, he swung his fist around and whapped Jenner right on his temple.
Although the blow was mighty, it did not bring Jenner down. It didn’t even seem
to phase him.

Again Jonathan tried to hit Jenner, but was this
time stopped by Jenner’s arm which grabbed him and twisted Jonathan in such a
way, he doubled over in agony.

"I taught you well, Jonathan," Jenner
said with a growl, "but I didn’t train you to beat me. That, of course,
would be impossible!"

He twisted harder, bringing tears to Jonathan’s
eyes.

"I don’t care what you do to me,"
Jonathan cried, "Just let my family go, please."

Jenner looked coldly in his opponent’s eyes.
"Now, how foolish is that? If I wanted to kill them, I would have done it
by now. Heh, I just want to keep you in suspense, Jonathan. I want you to die
first."

Jonathan analyzed the situation. It made a lot
of sense now. Jenner would only want to kill him first because he was the
biggest threat to him. Of course! It was not Nicodemus or Justin Jenner wanted,
but it was Jonathan! Why?

The pain was excruciating now. It was as if his
arm would break at any instant. Then, as if the twisted arm were not enough,
Jenner kicked Jonathan in the back with all his might.

The world was fading now. The pain was almost
too much to handle. Focusing on the sky, Jonathan watched the world get dimmer
and dimmer….

Then CRASH!

The pain was instantly relieved, allowing blood
to flow once again to his fingertips. What had happened?

Jonathan turned around to find Jenner sitting on
his butt in a pile of mud. He seemed to be a bit dazed, but he was surely not
unconscious.

Jonathan looked up. Above him, staring down, was
his own son Timothy, who had, just in the knick time, dropped a heavy dish down
upon Jenner’s head. He got ready to shout back at Timothy when Jenner started
to come to. The battle was only beginning.

Jenner growled. "Now you die, Jonathan.
Which is a shame. I put so much effort into you. Training you, building you,
brainwashing you…"

Jenner then drew his sword from behind his vest
and held it up high. "Don’t move, Jonathan," he said, "This
won’t hurt a bit."

It seemed like it was all over. There was
nowhere to go but farther down the trail, which would be ridiculous. Jonathan
ducked and, in the reflection of Jenner’s sword, saw a dark figure approach
them.

Jenner brought the sword down and…missed. The
sword, along with Jenner, fell to the ground beside Jonathan.

"That was for my mother, you no good, lousy
excuse for a rat!" said Simon.

"Thanks, Simon. I thought he had me."

"Na, you know I’d never leave your side,
Jon," Simon replied with a smile. He tossed the rock with which he had hit
Jenner with up in the air and helped Jonathan to his feet.

"Now what are we to do about your wife?"

Jonathan walked over to Sara and gently stroked
her forehead. He felt her pulse, and she was still alive and breathing. She was
only unconscious.

"Got any water?" asked Jonathan.

"I do, dad!" a voice said from behind
Simon.

"Timothy! I thought you were supposed to be
in the caves! What are you doing out here?"

"Well," he said, "I didn’t go all
the way to the cafeteria for nothing. I wanted to use one of these
things!" He held up a plate and grinned as his father hugged him.

"I guess that’s okay. After all, I would be
dead if it weren’t for you and Simon here."

Timothy bent down and emptied a canteen of water
over his mother’s face. Immediately Sara came to.

"Where am I?"

"You’re safe, on the side of Thorn
Valley," Jonathan answered. "And Jenner is out like a light. I doubt
he’d try something again."

"Timothy," Sara demanded, "why
are you out here?"

"Don’t worry about it, mom, I’ll tell you
the whole story once we get back."

Sara looked up. She saw him. She saw him standing,
sword in hand, ready to strike. She had to say something. Oh, where was her
voice, where was it? She was speechless!

Jonathan, who had been watching his wife’s
expressions saw the reflection in her eyes. He grabbed his wife and thrust her
to the ground, and bent over on top of her. Simon and Timothy, who had not seen
Jenner rise, took the same action.

Jenner, already in position to kill, was leaning
forward. And as he brought his sword down, he lost his balance and fell. He
missed the narrow trail and fell completely off the mountain. Instead, he fell
about one hundred feet to the bottom of the mountain to his death. It was as
close as he would ever come to the city. Phase Four complete.

The Frisby family stood quietly together in
hospital room 515. Justin’s arm had been bandaged up and he was asleep.
Nicodemus was drugged up and rambling on about the Plan.

"Mommy? When are they going to wake
up?" Cynthia asked as she tugged on her mother’s paw.

"Shhh, honey. Just a little bit longer, and
then we’ll leave."

"Do you think Jeremy is still
outside?" asked Martin.

"I should think he is, son," Jonathan
answered as he ruffled his son’s hair. "We told him we’d be a while before
we could come out to talk. If he has gone somewhere, I’m sure he’ll come back
later this evening."

"Jonathan?" someone asked.

"Quaker!"

Heads turned to the new visitor as he entered
the room and shook Jonathan’s hand.

"I thought I’d never see you again. How is
everyone?"

Jonathan smiled and glanced over at his family.
"Oh, we’re doing alright. Right now we’re waiting for Justin and Nicodemus
to come to. They’re waiting for them in the meeting room. They have some awards
for them."

"And I see they had some for you,"
Quaker said as he noticed the shiny medals around his friend’s neck.

"Yes, they did. And for Sara and the
children, too."

"That’s great. And guess what? I have some
good news to. Wanna know what it is? Good. I’d tell you what it was anyway. I’m
getting married."

Jonathan could not believe it. Quaker and he had
been friends since childhood.

"And I would like you to meet my fiancée,
but I’m sure you already know who she is."

Leanne stepped out from behind the wall and
blushed. "I thought he might need some help taking care of his kids."

And from behind Leanne appeared three young
children, all boys. One was six, one was ten, and one was about fifteen, the
same age as Teresa.

And, of course, Teresa perked up at the sight of
the eldest son. She got to her feet and walked over.

"Hi," the son said with a slight
smile.

"Hi," Teresa answered.

They stood looking at each other for a while, occasionally
blushing. It was as if they would read one another’s thoughts. Before long,
they were both asking if they could go off by themselves for a while.

"Yes," replied Quaker, "Just be
back in time for lunch."

"My, what a day," said Jonathan.
"My archenemy destroyed, and my best friend getting married!" He put
his hand on his forehead. "What will happen next?"

There was an awkward silence before Quaker
interrupted.

"Well, I best be on my way. I have a house
to clean and a wedding to plan. I’ll see you around, Jon. And you to, Mrs.
Frisby."

Sara nodded graciously and watched Quaker leave
the room. He had a slight limp to him, but that was understandable. She
wondered if it would be permanent.

Jonathan looked over and caught Justin’s eyes
beginning to open.

"Uh, what’s going on?" he asked
wearily.

"You’re in the hospital, Mr. Justin."
Answered Cynthia.

"Yeah," Martin butted in, "And
they have something for you and Nicodemus down in the Meeting Room! Can I wheel
you down?"

Justin tried to answer the child, but was too
focused on seeing that he didn’t reply.

"Maybe in a little while," said
Jonathan, realizing the trouble his friend was having.

While the Frisby family was waiting for Justin
to improve, many visitors had come by to congratulate them all. Brutis brought
a bouquet of flowers, and Tony brought some clothes Judy made for the family.

Mrs. Frisby’s head was spinning. She could not
believe that at last Thorn Valley was safe. At last she could try again to
start a normal life here in the Valley. She had a feeling in her stomach
somewhat like the feeling you get when you just finish a really, really good
book. It was a feeling of emptiness, yet a feeling of renewal. It was a good
feeling.

School was continued the next day. All the Frisby children
loved it dearly. They made new friends as quickly as ever, and always seemed to
be smiling.

Timothy’s class had been given an assignment to write a
two-page essay on their experiences while Jenner was at Thorn Valley. Timothy,
of course, exceeded the required amount by six pages.

…we thought we were fine after that, he
wrote, But we were wrong. Jenner rose from what seemed to be the dead. I was
frozen stiff, but his desperate efforts were his own undoing. As if in slow
motion, I watched the evil rat lean forward and lose balance, causing him to
plummet downward, downward to his tragic death…

Timothy’s paper was posted up in the hall of fame, right
beside a photo of his father. Sara had never gotten the chance to read the
whole thing, so she now stood in front of the framed paper looking over it.

…the weight was lifted then, to never return. Once again, peace consumed
Thorn Valley and relieved the frayed nerves of the people. And I’m glad of it
all. It gave me a wonderful example of how the lust for power can control a
person. I even look forward to the coming of the future generation of the rats,
so I can tell my children and grandchildren of what would have been the empire
of Thorn Valley!

THE END