Revenge
Chapter 1: The Mausheimers
A female mouse sat in front of a vanity, brushing her soft hair into a ponytail with a large, curled bang framing the side of her face. Her name was Miranda. Miranda Lavender Mausheimer. She had light beige fur, like her mother, who was named Josephine Muringlade. Muringlade was Josephine's previous surname, of course. When she married Fredrick, Gussie's son, she became a Mausheimer.
Miranda was the youngest of 4 children, not counting herself. She was also the only girl, which meant she got spoiled by her grandmother, Gussie. She always enjoyed her grandmother's visits, mostly because it was the few times she let herself act like a young lady. Around her family, she was almost like one of the boys.
"Mira! Mira! Come downstairs, please!" Miranda heard her mother call from downstairs. She smoothed out her dress as she stood up and made her way downstairs. Once she got there, she gasped happily at the sight. Her parents and brothers were all holding up a pale blue box, wrapped in a bright green ribbon.
"Oh, you got me a gift?! What for?" she asked, gently taking the box.
Her second oldest brother, Henry, spoke up. "Well, we all saw how you act differently around Grandmother, and we wanted to give you something to help you keep that feeling whenever she can't visit." He smiled at her, seeing her rush to open the gift.
Inside the box was a pair of dark green dancing shoes. Gussie had taught her how to dance when she was younger. Miranda loved it ever since. She'd always dance for her family and for the servants at their manor. "Oh, they're beautiful. Let's break them in, shall we?" she asked, slipping the shoes on.
Fredrick put on a recording of vibrant music and held his hand out for his wife. She chuckled and gently took his hand. Miranda took the hands of the twin boys, Dan and Stan, who were only a year older than her. They twirled about the room, laughing and singing along.
Quite suddenly, the front door burst open and in flooded a large group of cats. Josephine screamed and clung to her husband. Junior, the oldest son, ran to stand protectively in front of Miranda and the twins. Henry clung to his parents.
Then, in strolled Warren T. Rat, an evil cat who tricked the mice of New York into trusting him and giving him money. He smirked down at the cowaring mice, then frowned. "Where's that stuck-up Gussie?"
"Don't speak about Gussie Gram like that! You good-for-nothing cat!" Miranda shouted at Warren. He glancd over at her and chuckled. "Oh, so you all are just family? Well, at least we'll get a nice snack, eh, boys?" he called to the other cats around the manor, who licked their chops hungrily.
"Don't you even think about it." Fredrick said, mustering as much courage as possible. "Mother will have you heads for this!"
Warren laughed. "We'll see about that! Round them up, boys! Every rodent in the house."
Miranda sobbed into the sleeves of her blue dress as she sat in the iron cage Warren T. Rat put her in. What was he doing to her family? What did he want from them? What did he want from her grandmother? She rubbed her eyes when she heard Warren walk up to her cage, cackling.
"What you want from my family?! Let us go!" She shouted, shaking the bars of the cage. Warren simply grabbed the top of the cage and gave it a hard flick backward. This sent Miranda falling backwards and into the bars behind her.
"I don't need anything from your family anymore. They wouldn't crack about where your grandmom is, so..." Warren sat back and took a drag from his cigar. "We ate 'em. They put up a good fight, too, I tell ya." He chuckled darkly as he took another long drag from his cigar.
Miranda felt empty inside. Her parents... her brothers... they were all gone. Why? Why would Warren do this? She brought her knees to her chest and wailed. She only cried harder when Warren pounded his fist against the cage in an attempt to shut her up.
"Eh, keep it down, will ya? You'd better be lucky wecan't eat you, too." Warren sneered at her.
Miranda wiped a few tears away and stood up. "Why?" she whispered, wondering what he meant. Warren chuckled as he stood up and examined himself in a mirror.
"Your grandmother ruined my plans and, with the help of that Fievel, sent me and my cats to Hong Kong. Now, we're gonna use you as ransom. Gussie will have to give up all of her money and power to get you back. Then," he took a moment to laugh evilly. "Ya all get the mouse trap!"
Miranda gasped and covered her mouth with her paws. She had to get out of here. Maybe, she'd find that 'Fievel' kid, and warn him and his family to leave New York. She nodded slightly to herself, glad Warren T. wasn't paying any attention to her.
As Miranda formed an escape plan, Warren went back to his hench-cats and smiled as they worked on the giant mouse-trap he'd designed. It was only a matter of time before everything would fall into place.
