Author's note. This was a request for IsmaelandLuigi21 who wrote out the plot. Afraid I've never been to San Antonia so apologies if I get anything grossly wrong.
Enjoy and please review.
"Where do you want to go now?" Penny asked her new best friend.
Cody grinned and examined the tourist map which was highlighted with the best places to visit. He was on holiday in the United States of American and so far, was really enjoying it. Ever since he was kidnapped over two years ago, he'd gotten in touch with other kids who'd been kidnapped but rescued thanks to the Rescue Aids society.
He'd gotten on really well with Penny because she'd been rescued by the same mice who'd rescued him, Bernard and Bianca. They'd exchanged a lot of letters describing their kidnappings and rescues, both were very different. Penny had been taken because she was on orphan with no prospect of being adopted and thus perfect to be kidnapped. After all, who would put all their efforts into finding her again?
Medusa had taken her to the Florida bayou and forced her to search for the world's largest diamond. This involved being lowered in a bucket into a cave that was periodically flooded by the tide meaning Penny had a limited timeframe to search. She'd found many diamonds, enough to make anyone rich but Medusa had been adamant, Penny would keep going down until she found that most precious diamond. It had only actually been with Bernard and Bianca's help that she was actually able to find the gem and she'd nearly lost her life in the process as Medusa refused to let her up until Penny had that diamond in her arms.
What had followed a lot of backstabbing and one crazy chase through the bayou which had ended in Penny successfully escaping with her new friends and the diamond. Medusa had met her end at the hands or jaws of her pets, Brutus and blank. She had been adopted on returning to New York, Medusa had been completely wrong about no one wanting her.
Cody meanwhile had been kidnapped because he'd befriended a rare giant golden eagle and an evil poacher named McLeach had wanted the bird's location. McLeach had faked Cody's death before taking him to his lair and trying to force him to talk. He'd offered Cody money, imprisonment and physical harm but Cody had refused to budge. So McLeach had eventually hit on a scheme to trick Cody into taking him to Marahute's nest and it had unfortunately worked. McLeach had then tried to dispose of Cody by feeding him to crocodiles at Croc Falls but Bernard with the help of Marahute had successfully foiled this scheme. The poacher himself had met his end by falling off the Croc Falls while Cody was reunited with his mother.
The mice had told him they'd rescued other children and if he wanted, he could get in touch with them and that was how he'd been introduced to Penny. When his mother had suggested a holiday to America, he'd asked to go to San Antonio because that was where Penny was going with her adoptive parents. They'd met up and their families had spent a couple of days together before Penny and Cody persuaded them to let them explore the city on their own. And so far they'd had a brilliant day, first seeing the Alamo which was a beautiful old church that was the site of a famous Texas battle a hundred and seventy years before.
There had been many things to see there, including Davy Crockett's buckskin vest, flintlock rifle used in the battle, period Bowie knife and an arrangement of flags representing the states and nations from which the defenders came. The Church its self had been the sight of fierce fighting during the 1836 battle. Outside, there was the Wall of History which detailed the Alamo's three hundred year history. There was also a museum that contained a theatre where they were able learn even more about the historic site.
Leaving with many souvenirs, they had gone to the famous River Walk which was a network of walkways along the banks of the San Antonio River. With no cars allowed, they could wander safely to their hearts content and they did, marvelling at all the sights and snapping loads of pictures. They ate lunch in the River Centre mall, munching on gourmet burgers topped with spicy cheese and all the other trimmings of a good burger. They also had onion rings, straw fries, coleslaw and corn on the cob as sides, washed down with some soda.
And now they were looking for a new place to visit.
"How about the Tower of Americas?" he suggested, pointing at a little information section on the map. "It looks cool."
She peered at the map and saw that it did look really good. So that's where they went, enjoying the sights of the Tower of Americas as well as its spectacular views. They were near the very top when they decided to stop for a bit, enjoying the view and chatting about things in general. But just as Penny glanced before her, she suddenly froze as her eyes met a familiar figure.
"What's wrong?" Cody questioned, noticing her tenseness.
"Mr Snoops," Penny gasped in horror, seeing the portly man still coming towards them. "Oh no."
"Wasn't he Madame Medusa's minion?" Cody questioned as he pulled her away.
"Yes, I didn't like him," she said fearfully, remembering her horrible time in the bayou.
"Then let's get away from him," Cody said firmly, heading for an exit.
They rushed out of an exit and up a set of stairs but to their horror, Mr Snoops was still after them. So not really paying attention to where they were going, they rushed outside onto a platform and quickly scrambled up a spindly ladder and paused. Mr Snoops came puffing out a few minutes later and looked up annoyed at the two of them.
"Why did you run off?" he asked, still panting, he'd put on a little more weight since Penny had last seen him. "I just wanted to talk to you."
"What do you want?" Cody demanded as Penny huddled against him.
"Nothing bad," the man cried, holding up his hands. "But...well, I know Medusa hid a lot of diamonds in that old teddy of yours...maybe you hid a few and don't want them?"
Penny gasped as she realised what the man wanted.
"I don't have any diamonds," she protested hotly. "I donated the Devil's Eye to the museum and my parents got anything little ones left. I'm sorry Mr Snoops but I don't even have teddy with me, I couldn't give you anything even if I wanted to."
"You're lying," the man declared. "How could you be here if you didn't have a bit of money?"
"My parents saved for this," she said in exasperation. "I'm not lying."
"Leave her alone," Cody interjected hotly. "You go away and leave her alone, she's not giving you anything."
Mr Snoops's eyes flashed in angry and in a spiteful move, he knocked the ladder over. As they cried out in shock and anger, he said snootily.
"If you're going to be like that, then I'll leave."
"Hey, wait!" Cody cried but Mr Snoops was already re-entering the building.
"We're stuck," Penny exclaimed fearfully. "What are we going to do?"
"I don't know," Cody said grimly. "But someone will come and rescue us, you'll see."
Meanwhile, Cody's mother and Penny's parents were starting to get worried about their children. It was starting to get late and they'd had no word from them. Just as they were thinking of calling the police, there was a tap on the window of their hotel room and they were amazed to see three little mice standing there.
"My goodness," exclaimed Penny's mother. "It's those two little mice who rescued Penny."
"And my Cody," added Cody's mother as she quickly opened the window to let the mice in.
"Hello," Bianca said politely in her Hungarian accent. "I hope you don't mind but we heard that Cody and Penny were staying here and we wanted to see them again."
"They're not here," Penny's father said sorrowfully. "They went sightseeing in town today and we haven't heard from them since, we're worried something might have happened to them."
"Oh...oh gosh, that's terrible," Bernard exclaimed as Jake said.
"Don't worry folks; we'll track 'em down and get 'em back to you."
"Can you really?" Penny's father asked in slight disbelief as Jake grinned.
"No problem, we got a couple of rides that can cover ground fast."
He whistled and two albatross stuck their beaks into the room.
"Trouble?" asked Wilbur as Orville looked on.
"Uh...yeah...Cody and Penny are missing," Bernard told them, he still have a slight stammer.
"Missing? That's terrible!" Orville almost yelled as Wilbur cried. "We'll have to go find them."
"That we will," Jake declared, charging back over to Wilbur and leaping onto his back.
"Don't worry," Bianca assured the startled parents. "We'll find them and bring them back safely."
"T-thank you," they stammered as Bianca and Bernard ran back to Orville and jumped on.
"Come on," Jake whooped as he spurred Wilbur on and both albatrosses flung themselves into the air before soaring high.
"We should probably split up, cover more ground that way," Jake declared and the others agreed so that's what they did. They would search the main tourist destinations as that was what the children had been planning to visit.
With Orville, Bianca and Bernard searched the Alamo but no luck. Jake and Wilbur searched the river walk and they met up with the others at the river centre mall but again, they didn't find them. They were flying around, trying to decide where they could search next when Bernard pointed at the tower of Americas.
"W-what about up there?" he said, directing their attention at the tall tower. "I know that's a pretty big destination for tourists."
"We'd better go there then," Bianca said, shooting her husband a smile and he blushed back.
They flew straight for it and the two birds wheeled upwards, circling the building as they searched.
"Hey, what's that?" Wilbur exclaimed as he spotted a strange splash of colour near the top of the tower.
"Oh Wilbur, it's the children," Bianca cried joyfully and they flew straight over to the kids who jumped in surprise before whooping with joy.
"Bernard, Bianca," Penny cried as Cody grinned up at them. "You're there but how?"
"We were having a holiday when we met your parents," Bianca explained calmly. "And they said you were missing so we decided to look for you."
"I can't believe it," Penny said as she hugged them all. "You've saved us both twice."
"No problem," Bernard said as he received a kiss.
"Yep, all in a day's work," Jake said, docking his hat as Cody shook his hand. "But we'd better get you guys down."
"Mr Snoops knocked the ladder down," Penny said angrily. "Is there any way you can get it back up?"
"Ah, that'll be no problem," Wilbur declared as he leapt to the ground with Orville.
"Oh Wibur, remember your back," Bianca called out anxiously. Wilbur was very prone to putting his back out of joint and lifting something heavy could easily trigger it.
"Don't worry, I'll start the lifting," Orville assured her and he did just that, with Wilbur picking up the strain as they managed to pull the ladder up with Jake lassoing it so the kids could help pull it up the final bit.
"Hah, no problem," Wilbur said smugly as Orville said. "Come on, we'd better get you kids back home."
Laughing, they clambered down the ladder and were able to enter the building. Going to a payphone, they were able to let their parents know that they were safe and where they were. After a little discussion, they all decided to go out for dinner and naturally, the mice and albatross were invited. They all had a lovely meal and chatted late into the night.
And thankfully, no other disaster befell any of them and they were able to enjoy their holiday in San Antonio, Texas.
Author's note. This isn't my usual style of writing but it was written as a request so I hope everyone enjoyed it.