The brisk air and chilling snow numbed the pain of sticks and thorns piercing Mickey's sides. He opened his eyes slowly. The first thing he noticed was that he was back in Toontown; probably in a Toontown forest. Snow covered twigs intertwined like a spider's web a few inches above the mouse's head. He was blind to most of the dead briar that tangled around him, for the night sky was cloudy and without moonlight. The second thing that dawned on him was that an object weighed down on his chest, and his arms held it there as if his life depended on it. Mickey lifted the object and touched its glass sphere. 'The snow globe!' Mickey mentally rejoiced. He was so relieved the snow globe was still safe after... whatever happened on the Jolly Roger. He couldn't remember at the moment.

An animal's howl sounded in the distance. Mickey shot up out of the snow, briefly getting his ears caught in thorns. Mickey ducked down low again. He felt around the twigs and vines, trying to find an opening. Suddenly something came tumbling through the brush; something on all fours and with a flashlight? The animal continued to yelp with every clumsy step. It's 'flashlight' jerked up and down. Mickey smiled upon realization.

"Pluto! Over here!" Mickey called. The flashlight shined in Mickey's direction, and Pluto came barreling through the wall of thorns. He happily barked and licked Mickey's face. The mouse was already crammed in a small space and knelt down to Pluto's level. So he didn't bother resisting the overfriendly greeting. "It's good to see you too... Pluto?" Mickey queried. He squinted at the bright light coming from Pluto's head. The dog wore a yellow AJAX hardhat with a headlamp clipped onto it. Pluto got the idea and pointed his hat at the ground. "Thanks." Mickey said. Pluto sat down a moment to scratch the burrs out of his coat. "Have you seen anyone else?" Mickey asked. Pluto shook his head. Mickey looked at the hollowed trail Pluto left through the thicket. "Gosh, you blazed a pretty good trail." Mickey observed. "You think it can get us outta here?" Pluto barked an affirmative, and lead the way through the animal trail. Mickey almost had to crawl to follow. They walked for some time only accompanied by the crunching of snow and the occasional snap of a twig. The more Mickey and Pluto wandered in silence, the more Mickey worried about Minnie and the others. The last thing he remembered was fighting Captain Hook. What happened afterwards was a mystery. A few steps ahead of him, Pluto stopped abruptly. His tail stuck straight out, his right paw lifted, the fur on the back of his neck ruffled up, and his nose pointed straight ahead. "What is it, boy?" Mickey wondered.

A menacing growl rose from Pluto's throat. His mouth opened slightly, revealing his canine teeth. Pluto's warnings sent chills down Mickey's spine. As if that weren't bad enough, the light on Pluto's hardhat began to flicker. Before Mickey could beg any deity to keep their pathway lit, the headlamp's battery burned out. The thicket was pitch black once again. Pluto never faltered. The dog stood his ground still growling at the unseen threat. However, Mickey was terrified. He looked in every direction for the danger closing in on them, but detected nothing. Was Pluto's growling getting quieter and Mickey's heartbeat pounding in his ears getting louder? The mouse nearly jumped out of his skin when a new light flashed a ways off Pluto's beaten path.

"Doggone dog, tearin' up my stompin' grounds! Doggone flea bitten mutt, why I uh-uh-uh I otta!" An oddly familiar voice grumbled. It sounded hoarse with a thick southern accent. Mickey latched his fingers around Pluto's collar to keep him from attacking the unknown friend or foe. The light moved onto Pluto's path. A lantern, highlighted the features of a toon about Mickey's hight; a rabbit in fact. The rabbit walked hunched over and with his eyes to the ground, following Pluto's tracks. With the stranger now in plain sight, and obviously not a bat-faced monster, Pluto ceased growling. However he stayed vigilant. Mickey's gave the rabbit a strange look. There was a toon he hadn't spoken to in over thirty years. Could it really be?

"Br'er Rabbit?" Mickey asked. The rabbit stopped his mumbling. He looked up from the tracks and waved his lantern about.

"Wh-wh-at? Who says dat? Who call me?" The rabbit stuttered. The light fell upon Mickey and Pluto. Br'er Rabbit recognized the mouse immediately. "HOWDY, neighbor! How you come on?" Br'er Rabbit exclaimed. He bounded up to Mickey. "Ain't you a sight for sore eyes! Yes sir, I hasn't seen you in a coon's age!"

"Yeah, it's been a while." Mickey agreed awkwardly. Pluto curiously sniffed at Br'er Rabbit's cotton tail. The rabbit swiftly swatted Pluto's nose away.

"Hey, a-buh-buh-buh- back off now! Ya hear?" Br'er Rabbit warned, raising his fist. He did a double-take at Pluto.

"Br'er Rabbit, this is my dog Pluto." Mickey introduced. Br'er Rabbit scowled.

"Yeah I reckon I done seen him in the pictures." Br'er Rabbit pondered, referring to Pluto's cartoons. "And I reckon he done gone n' tore up my briar patch." The rabbit blamed.

"We're really sorry about that." Mickey apologized. "We were just trying to find our way out. Can you help us?" Br'er Rabbit scratched his head with the tip of one ear.

"Sho' thing, Mickey. But 'splain somethin' to me first. How'd y'all get in without leavin' tracks at the gate?" Br'er Rabbit asked.

"I... don't know. I can't remember how we got here." Mickey confessed. He shrugged his shoulders, lifting the snow globe just enough for the glass to reflect back the light of Br'er Rabbit's lantern. Br'er Rabbit's eyes lit up with surprise.

"What's dat you's holdin'?" The rabbit inquired. Mickey glanced down at the snow globe. "C'mon. Lemme see it." Br'er Rabbit insisted, snatching the snow globe out of Mickey's grip. Pluto barked in alarm.

"Hey! Be careful with that!" Mickey pleaded. Br'er Rabbit examined the snow globe, before giving it a definitive nod.

"Yep. Dat why you's here." Br'er Rabbit sighed to the snow globe. He looked at Mickey again. "Ya flew here." Br'er Rabbit announced.

"Huh?" Mickey questioned.

"Ya flew in from Neverland 'cause da pirate done shoot ya outta a cannon." Br'er Rabbit elaborated, scrutinizing the snow globe again, as if he were reading from a crystal ball. A light bulb turned on in Mickey's head.

"Br'er Rabbit... don't tell me..." Mickey began. Br'er Rabbit met Mickey's stare with an all-knowing smirk on his face. "You know exactly what that is, don't you?" The mouse concluded, pointing to the snow globe.

"Mm-hmm, 'deed I do." Br'er Rabbit confirmed. He handed the snow globe back to Mickey. "C'mon now. We got a load a' business to take care of." Br'er Rabbit urged, turning around and marching back the way he came. Mickey and Pluto followed at the rabbit's heels.

"Wait a minute. Do you know where Minnie and the others are?" Mickey implored.

"Oh, they's someplace about here or over yonder." Br'er Rabbit guessed casually. "But they'll turn up some time, don't you worry none." Mickey opened his mouth to voice his opinion on the rabbit's current lack of concern, but a high-pitched shriek cut him off.

"MICKEY!"

"Minnie!" The mouse gasped. Br'er Rabbit just smiled.

"See? What I just got done tellin' ya?" Br'er Rabbit boasted.

It took Mickey, Br'er Rabbit, and Pluto twenty minutes to track down each toon's crash site in the briar patch. Despite being fired out of a cannon, not even the Mouse children had a scratch on them. The Sensational Six minus Pluto, was rather shocked to see Br'er Rabbit again. But Timothy was most interested in him. As the adults conversed about Captain Hook's deed with the grey monster, Timothy concentrated on Br'er Rabbit's foreign dialect. Finally whilst Br'er Rabbit lead his nine guests through the least dense part of the briar patch, Timothy limped (on the count of pixie dust wearing off) to Br'er Rabbit's side and asked

"Why do you talk like that?" The question caught everyone off guard, including Br'er Rabbit. The rabbit hung his jaw for a second before coming up with the simplest answer he could think of.

"Cuz my voice actor taught me to, honey." Br'er Rabbit responded.

"Oh." The youngest mouse said. "Why did he do that?"

"Timothy!" Minnie rebuked.

"What?" Timothy innocently cried. Mickey gave Br'er Rabbit an apologetic half-smile. Br'er Rabbit shrugged it off. 'Kids say the darnedest things.' both of them seemed to think.

"Say, you folks mus' be a-hankering fo' supper, huh?" Br'er Rabbit predicted. The Sensational Six looked at each other, searching for an explanation.

"Supper?" Goofy repeated. The Mouse children locked their eyes on Br'er Rabbit, having not understood the fast talking rabbit the first time.

"Yes, please!" Martha voiced.

"We're starving!" Peter blurted.

"Br'er Rabbit? What day is it?" Mickey asked with a sinking feeling in his stomach.

"Thursday. Why?" Br'er Rabbit answered.

"What about the date?" Mickey continued.

"December da 15th. Why?" Br'er Rabbit replied.

"And the time?" Mickey went on.

"Do I look like yo' personal planner to you?" Br'er Rabbit complained. "Seven in da evenin' give o' take a few haurs. Now, uh-uh-uh-uh what's dis about?" Mickey felt like kicking himself.

"But that's impossible." Daisy claimed.

"No, Daisy. It's not." Mickey countered. "We spent too much time in Neverland. We lost an entire day we could have been solving more clues."

"Aw, dat's no trouble. See my clue is a-better sought out in da nighttime anyways." Br'er Rabbit reassured. The briar patch opened to a small clearing and a dirt path. To the right stood Br'er Rabbit's house under a human sized split-rail fence, almost completely taken over by the briar patch. The path was blanketed in snow and littered with rabbit tracks, leading in and out of a rabbit sized picket fence and door. Just as Br'er Rabbit mentioned, the path was clear of Mickey's or Pluto's tracks. "Well, here we is. Home sweet home." Br'er Rabbit chimed. "Y'all come in an' make youselves at home." He invited, opening the door. The mice, ducks, and Pluto entered in easily, but it was a bit of a squeeze to get Goofy inside. Thanks to toon logic, of course the house was bigger on the inside. In fact it looked a lot nicer on the inside too. Br'er Rabbit had not a rundown shack, but a well kept, quaint country house. "Go on, sit down. Relax a bit. Keep yo' shoes on. I don' mind none." Br'er Rabbit coaxed. "Oh, an' Mickey. You best hear my clue, whilst I cook up some grub. I figure ya ain't heard it yet." He added.

"Will do, Br'er Rabbit." Mickey assured. The gang took their seats in front of the stone fireplace on the wood floor. The couch wasn't occupied. Everyone just wanted to be as close to the snow globe as possible. They were all anxious to hear the next clue. So on the floor they gathered just as the Sensational Six gathered in Walt's apartment. Mickey took a calming breath.

"The third clue." He stated. "Okay, Daisy. What's the code?" Mickey asked.

"Zero, seven, zero, nine, two, eight." Daisy recited. Mickey keyed in the numbers on the bottom of the snow globe. Then he flipped the snow globe over, and placed it in the middle of the group. Once again the globe filled with a swirling snow storm, and another recording of Walt's voice played.

"If you hit the briar patch, you're in the right place. When you've got your bearings, ask Br'er Rabbit for an open fire cooked meal and a story. Stay alert, Mickey. Not just for danger, but for things you never knew before. As many things as I ask you to do, I also want you to learn. You will understand soon enough. The next code is 062528. Use it after midnight."

The snow globe's picture pieced itself together in red and brown shapes. A pixelated ash colored background stormed behind the colorful figures that made out an image no one expected. As seen in Mickey's 1939 cartoon The Pointer, there stood Mickey with gun in hand, staring down the throat of a brown bear with his head half inside the animal's gaping mouth. After the image had earned a sinking feeling in Mickey's gut, the image broke apart. The colors were lost into the whiteout, and the blizzard calmed to a few particles of fake snow landing on figurine Mickey's head.

"Well, that can't be good." Mickey gulped, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"Yes, sir! I hope y'all's hungry, cuz I done cooked up the sweetest buffet in all..." Br'er Rabbit beamed. He entered in the room with what looked like a rug rolled up over his shoulder. The rabbit paused when he noticed his guests sitting on the floor. "What's goin' on here? Is y'all savages?"

"No Br'er Rabbit. We were just waiting to hear a story by the fireplace." Timothy hinted. Mickey had to smile at that.

"Bless yer heart, child." Br'er Rabbit chuckled. "Ya jus' said da magic words." The rabbit unrolled the rug on the floor, revealing plates, silverware, and many dishes of southern meals and appetizers. The guests marveled at the toon trick. Br'er Rabbit sat down at the head of the table/rug. "Dig in, folks." Br'er Rabbit permitted. "An' lemme tell ya a story. Long ago in old times, der lived a couple a rabbits an' der young 'un. Papa Rabbit had smokey black fur. Mama Rabbit had fur like burnt tree bark; brown an' gray. An' Baby Rabbit's fur was as black as night wit'out stars, an' his cheeks were white. Just the brightest, purest white. Yep, Baby Rabbit was a cutie. His ma and pa say so, an' all da pretty rabbit dames say so too. Papa Rabbit loved Baby Rabbit mo' then anythin'.

Well da Rabbit family had some neighbors. Der was da Chipmunks, Bluebirds, Squirrels; all good happy family folk. But der was one neighbor who lived alone an' was kind to nobody. His name was Mink. Round dem parts, folks called him Charred Bottom for de way his snowy white fur turned black on his rump. Like he sat backwards too close to da camp fire one night." A few pairs of eyes looked up from dinner to give the rabbit narrator an awkward stare.

"Anyways... I says before, Charred Bottom Mink wasn' kind to nobody no how! Except when folks asked to harvest his prized gardens. Yes sir, Charred Bottom Mink had fields of gardens! Mo' den 'nough crops to feed da whole forest in hard times! An' when folks asked to harvest 'em crops for der families, Mink would say "Sho thing, neighbors! Take all da food y'all need! In exchange for ya silver 'n gold please. Ev'ry pick has a price, from apples to peas. A karat for a carrot. An' a gold piece for ev'ry fruit seed."

One bright n' sunny mornin', Baby Rabbit came hoppin' down da path wit' a big armful a' golden flowers. When all of a sudden he caught sight of Mink's cherry trees. He was awful hungry. So hungry, dat he walked straight into Mink's garden wit'out one thought a-payin'. He picked cherry after cherry an' stuffed 'em in his pockets. Dat's when Mink caught him. "Hope you can pay for all dat, boy!" Mink yelled. Baby Rabbit sloooowly looked down at his golden flowers an' said "Oh yes, Mr. Mink. I can pay." Just like dat, Mink let 'im be. Den Baby Rabbit spotted Mink's strawberry patch an' figured "Maybe if I pay wit' real tiny gold pieces I can get mo' food." So Baby Rabbit picked ev'ry last fruit in dat garden. An' all he left Mink was a pile o' tiny golden flower petals; one fer ev'ry seed.

Ol' Mink was furious! He marched up to Papa Rabbit dat afternoon sayin' he'd skin him if Baby Rabbit didn' give back his stollen harvest. But by den Baby Rabbit an' his friends ate all de harvest. Yes sir, dey ate it all up. Da Rabbits were poor an' had no gold pieces to pay Mink. So Papa Rabbit did de only thing he could do. He'd pay for da harvest wit' Baby Rabbit's labor. It broke his heart, but he sold Baby Rabbit."

"What?!" Peter spoke up. Mickey glared suspiciously at Br'er Rabbit. Where was he going with this story anyway?

"Papa Rabbit could've done the labor himself." Martha suggested.

"Dat's what he wanted to do. But dat sly Mink tricked Papa Rabbit. Tricked him inta makin' Baby Rabbit a slave. Fer two seasons Baby Rabbit worked hard in Mink's garden to pay off dat debt; only leavin' his work to go home an' sleep. But when da two seasons were up an' da debt was payed, Mink wouldn' let Baby Rabbit go home. Say Baby Rabbit his property now. Papa Rabbit tried ta sell Mink everythin' he own in exchange fer Baby Rabbit. Mink took da Rabbits' home an' property. But Mink jus' wanted Baby Rabbit. He was a hard worker an' too kind to make a fuss anytime Mink kicked him 'round. Left wit' nothin' but a few carrots, Papa Rabbit an' Mama Rabbit had ta leave da forest fo' a better life. They never saw Baby Rabbit again."