Oscar was pacing through the halls, staring at the clock every few minutes.
"I can't go home now...I'd…I'd be disowned!!" he said out loud.
"Oscar? What are you doing?" A familiar voice came from the end of the hall. It was Basil, wearing a long sleeping robe and a very lethargic look in his eye. Suddenly another flashback went through the mouse's head. This time it was Olivia, the last time they saw each other. Basil watched as the little girl leapt into his arms, he mispronounced her name, and she just shook her head, smiling at his mishap yet again. No longer was his flashback, did he realize what he was doing. He was hugging…a mouse…named Oscar Fisher…tightly.
"Mr. Basil…" Oscar asked patiently, choking a bit, "What are you doing?" Basil yelled in alarm and stumbled backward, only to fall onto his old suit of armor. Startled, he ran forward again into Oscar, who backed against the wall, and soon enough, the two mice were nose to nose with each other. Lightning flew through each of Basil's vertebrae as he looked straight into Oscar's brown eyes. Suddenly, Oscar squealed in a high pitched squeak and pushed him away…hard. All of a sudden the sound of the knocker on the door filled the awkward convene. Oscar ran off, and Basil ran toward the door. I was raining, and when he opened the door, thinking how ridiculously late it was, he saw the last person he expected. It was Sir Flavershum, the famous royal toy maker.
The lights were dim, and the thunder from outside seemed to make Mr. Flavershum jump every time it crackled with lightning. Basil had lit his pipe, and was walking around, contemplating what the old man had just told him.
"Are you sure she wasn't just out?"
"Her room was ransacked. I went the moment I heard noise. She was gone. Nothing had been taken…except for…Olivia…" he sniffed. Basil unconsciously rolled his eyes. "The only thing they would want Olivia for is ransom. That is all I can-oh! H-hello…?" Basil swiveled around to see Jasmine and Oscar, walking arm in arm, mostly for Jasmine's sake. "Do…I know you? You seem familiar." Oscar suddenly started to squirm.
"Y-yes" he stuttered. "My name is Oscar. I tried to marry Olivia…" Still no recognition in Mr. Flavershum's face. "She poured hot tea on my mother…?" he whispered, discomfited by the sudden recognition he received once he had said this.
"Ah, yes! I believe she was very taken with you!" he said this, glaring over at Jasmine, clinging to his arm for dear life. "What are you doing here, dear boy?"
"He's my pupil, Flavershum, now if we could get back to the matter at hand"
"Why? What's happened?" Oscar asked, "What's happened with Olivia?" This made Jasmine turn bright red, and she squeezed Oscar's arm so tight, that Oscar finally yowled in discomfort.
"Sorry" Jasmine apologized.
"She's gone missing, Oscar. She's disappeared" At Basil's words, Oscar's face suddenly turned bright red, then pale, and then he ran to his room. "Oscar, where are you going?" Basil yelled after him.
"To get my clothes! I have some urgent business to attend to!!" And he was off, leaving a very awkward looking Jasmine behind. She squeaked, pulled her bonnet low over her forehead, and streamed out of the room.
The next day, early in the morning, Basil got a phone call. It was the police department, calling about a young Mr. Fisher, who had been found streaming around the sewers and trespassing on property. Basil, for some reason, had completely forgotten about Oscar's "urgent business". He never heard Oscar coming back out of his room. He had just assumed that Oscar had forgotten the whole thing, and had just gone back to bed. Turned out he was slicker than Basil originally thought" Just like Olivia… Basil thought to himself. He shook his head. He hadn't shown his troubled condition in front of Mr. Flavershum because he did not want to worry the poor man any further. Basil had not gotten a wink of sleep, trying to convince himself that he was doing this for the sake of the mystery, not the person. However, he couldn't shake the idea of a much older Olivia…shaking and scared inside another champagne bottle. Suddenly, Olivia's face changed into Oscar's, and suddenly, Basil slammed the phone down, and ran to the Police Station where Oscar was being held.
While waiting for the papers to be evaluated, Basil sat next to Oscar, who had been beaten, wearing a good black eye, a torn suit, and a wrist that looked like it had simply snapped.
"Oscar…what were you thinking?"
"I think these events are too close to home to be mere coincidences. I went to go see some old acquaintances of mine. I slipped up and they all ambushed me. Police found us after that" Basil, for some unnatural reason wanted to go over to Oscar, put his arm around him and say everything was going to be okay. However, after the uncomfortable happening the other night, he felt it best not to.
They walked home in silence as the rain poured down on their faces, causing Oscar to pull the collar of his coat up, trying to keep the chill out.
When they got to Baker Street, they opened the door to see Doctor Dawson sprawled in the middle of the floor, in the middle of a ransacked vestibule.
"Basil!" Dawson cried out. His leg looked twisted, cracked at the knee cap. "They have Jasmine!!" As Basil instantly ran to the phone, Oscar ran to the Doctor's aid. However, before Basil could ask for the operator, Oscar said something that might have solved everything then and there, if anyone had been listening.
"They should know by now."