Chapter Eight

Well, getting to the restaurant wasn't so hard.

Surprisingly, no one batted an eye at a little girl traveling all by herself, though that may have had to do with school being off today. In any case, Megan was grateful no complications came up until she reached the eatery. The fact that Buddy, Mr. Feng and the other mice were traversing the roofs alongside Megan's path helped as well since no one would be screaming bloody murder at the sight of rodents.

Peeking in through the window, Megan felt her mouth start to water at the scrumptious food inside but then she hastily wiped away the drool and stepped back from the window before she drew attention to herself. Even before she checked her pockets, Megan knew she wouldn't have enough money to cover a single item on the menu in there. Heck, just a children's meal would be enough to wipe her finances out!

Yet, she huffed in determination, choosing to believe in her Uncle Buddy and his friends. They were going to get her food, she just knew they would! Megan looked to and fro and then up, hoping to catch the sign Mr. Feng said once his mice would pass to her.

Suddenly she noticed a leaf flutter to the ground right before her feet. The signal.

With a smile, Megan hurried down the nearest aisle, making sure no other people followed her in. There she saw one of the mice peek their tiny head from behind a massive dumpster and wave to her, signaling the girl to hurry over. Megan complied and soon found herself behind the dumpster and wave to her, signaling the girl to hurry over. Megan complied and soon found herself behind the dumpster with Mr. Feng and a few of his followers.

Mr. Feng gave Megan a grin of approval "Good, we are all in position."

Megan tilted her head "Does that mean Uncle Buddy and the others are already inside?"

The elder mouse nodded his head "Yes. You and I and these fellows will be standing as guards while the others sneak food out of this facility." his face then grew serious and waved a finger "If something goes wrong thought, be ready to run. Don't worry about the rest of us if that happens; we're used to these sort of things."

That assurance didn't help Megan feel much better. As much as she knew she'd be a liability if she were to try protecting everyone from the other humans, it didn't feel fair to stand around and wait while her newfound uncle and his friends risked their lives just because her stomach loved being greedy.

Those were her thoughts at least. Megan didn't exactly see herself as someone worth going through all this trouble for, even after all the kindness the park animals had shown in basically adopting her.

A familiar weight plopping onto her head and then onto a nearby trashcan drew Megan out of her self-deprecating, worrisome thoughts and towards Buddy, who stood before his human niece smiling as though he had just conquered the entire known universe in the last ten minutes-and as far as the rat was concerned, he had.

Putting his fingers in his mouth, he whistled a low enough sound so as to not be heard by eavesdroppers but loud enough for anyone in the immediate vicinity to hear him clearly. On cue, the other mice returned with doggy bags and Styrofoam containers abound with food, delicious smells wafting from them and making Megan hop up and down in excitement.

No more worries for this girl!


If only the same could be said for Andie and Surly.

The squirrel couple had set out with Precious, Frankie staying behind to look after their pups. The trio stuck to the shadows, Precious growling at any suspicious looking animals that dared stray too close. As risky as the alleys could be, the three animals agreed that going out in the open would be too risky.

Unfortunately, as strong as Precious's nose could be and despite all her efforts to focus on the search and not the delicious smells of food that taunted her at every turn, the group had not seen hide nor hair of Megan anywhere, let along any indication that she'd been through someplace.

At this point, Andie was ready to lose her mind, not that Surly would let her of course. As freaked out as he was himself, panic would do them no good here.

Luckily for the couple, Precious finally perked at a familiar smell.

"Oh OOHHHH! I got her! I think I got her!" she cried with excitement

"Are you sure it's not buttery popcorn again?" Surly asked

"I mean it, hang on!" Precious said as she walked in the direction of the scent and the squirrels hung on to her collar as the pug trotted over to an alley and the three saw Megan dining on the stolen food with Buddy, Mr. Feng and his army. Megan smiled when she looked up, slurping up some noodles before she said "Hi Mom and Dad, care to join us?"

"My baby!" Andie cried as she hopped off the dog and didn't stop until she had climbed up to Megan's shoulders, where she began to nuzzle her human daughter's face happily "Oh, my baby! I was so worried!"

"I was gonna come back." Megan said

"You didn't tell us where you were going, you had the both of us worried sick!" Surly snapped angrily "Seriously, do we have to put a leash on you just so you don't go wandering off or what?!"

Megan began to tear up as she began to sniffle. Mr. Feng shot Surly a nasty look as he said "Now you've done it, you made her cry!"

Megan sniffled as tears began to form in her eyes and said "I... I didn't mean to make you worry... it's just that... back at the orphanage everyone has no parents to turn to for anything, it was like every man for themselves or something. I... I've been so used to being on my own for so long... I don't even know what it's like to be part of a family who actually wanted you around."

Surly frowned, feeling guilty for snapping at her as the others looked on, Megan wiping a few tears from her eyes with her arms as she said "Are... Are you going to take me back?"

"Take you back?" Andie asked in shock "No! Never! You're still part of our family. Mistake or no, you are still my baby girl and I am your mommy, and that will never change no matter what."

Surly climbed up to Megan's shoulder and stood on the other side as he patted her head and said "I'm sorry kiddo... I didn't mean to snap, I was just worried something bad happened to you, like any regular father is suppose to do... how about we start over and take it from there?"

"Okay." Megan said, smiling as she started to feel better.

"Good." Surly said "Now let's get out of here before something else happens."

So they packed up the food and headed pack to Liberty Park, unaware that a pair of eyes was watching them, filled with anger and a lust for revenge.