Chapter 10 ~Animal~

Karen blinked. "An… animal… at Martha's? That's right across the field from the cave. Oh, no."

"Are you thinking… could it be…" Donatello stared at her, his brown eyes wide with worry.

The radio crackled again.

This is Dispatch. Repeat, Sheriff, there's a disturbance at 1436 Arborglade Drive. Report of an animal in the house.

Gotcha, Jim. I'll… head over that way shortly. Pete out.

"An' dat ol' lady called da cops. We gotta get over there," growled Raphael, fingering his sai.

"Now, wait just a minute," said Karen quickly, moving to block Raphael's path to the door. "Martha is almost ninety. She doesn't see very well, and she's not… well, let's say she doesn't quite have all her marbles. You can't just go storming in there, you'll give her a heart-attack."

"I'll do more than give 'er a heart-attack if she hurts Mastah Splinter," Raphael shot back, glaring.

"She won't hurt him," said Karen, exasperated. "For goodnessakes, it might not even be him. Besides, if he's a ninja master, I'm sure he can handle a ninety year old woman."

"But you said she doesn't see very well," interjected Donatello, frowning. "If it really is Splinter, he wouldn't have allowed himself to be seen."

"Tell you what, I'll go over there myself. I'll just call Pete Darlee and let him know not to bother. Martha sees odd things in her house all the time. She calls Pete out three times some weeks. I honestly think she's just lonely," said Karen. "Luke and I can check things out. If it is Splinter, we can calm Martha down and bring him back here."

Raphael made a derisive noise. "Ya ain't goin' nowhere, Lady," he said, crossing his arms over his plastron.

Karen whirled, a retort on her lips, but Donatello held up his hand, stopping the argument.

"Wait. First of all, even if it is him, Splinter would never just go with you. Seriously, Karen, if he feels cornered or threatened, you could get hurt. One of us will have to go."

"You can't go, Donatello," argued Karen. "You'll scare Martha to death."

"And you wouldn't stand a chance with Splinter," Michelangelo piped up. "Seriously, Dudette, Sensei… you don't wanna mess with him."

Raphael smirked. "Yep. He's a ninety pound weapon of mass destruction."

Donatello chuckled. "I think you should go, Karen, but not alone. One of us should go with you. If you can keep Mrs. Willard busy, we could find Splinter and get him out."

"If it's Splinter," said Karen, nodding thoughtfully. "Ok." She pulled a cell-phone out of her pocket.

Raphael's eyes narrowed. "Ya didn't tell us ya had a cell," he said.

Karen glanced at him with a smirk of her own. "You didn't ask."

And I wasn't about to give up my last line of communication with the outside world, whether you like it or not. If you want this phone, you'll have to take it from me.

She dialed quickly, ignoring the red-banded Turtle's low growl.

"Hello, Pete? … I heard that call on the scanner. Yeah, Martha again, hmm? Well, I was just going to head over there to check on her. How about if I see if I can't deal with her animal 'problem'?… Yeah… If it's anything serious I'll call you… No problem, Pete." Karen hung up, smiling.

"Pete is a great sheriff, but he's just sitting down to a slice of cherry pie at Rosie's Diner," she said with a grin. "He's thrilled to let me go deal with Martha. Ok, Don, I'm ready when you are."

Donatello shook his head. "I can't go, Karen. I can't leave Leo alone."

She shot him a startled glance. "Ok. Well, Mike then."

Michelangelo squirmed. "But I don't wanna leave…"

"Mikey, Leo's going to be fine," said Donatello.

Michelangelo glanced at his brother uneasily, but nodded. "Ok, Dudette. Let's go," he said, standing.

"Luke," called Karen, grabbing her keys. "Come on. We've got to run over to Martha's."

"Now, wait jus' a cotton-pickin' minute," growled Raphael. "No way. Yer not takin' Luke, too. He can stay here wit' Donny an' me. A little… insurance. In case ya get any bright ideas about callin' dat sheriff back."

Karen whirled, glaring at Raphael. "No," she said simply. "I'm not leaving Luke with you."

Raphael glared right back.

Donatello cleared his throat. "He has a point, Karen. We're putting ourselves at a pretty big risk here," he said quietly. Karen shot the purple-banded Turtle a furious look.

"You are not holding my son hostage," she growled. "Do you want me to go and get your father or not?"

"Ya ain't both goin'!" snapped Raphael.

"He's not staying with you!" shouted Karen.

"What if Raph goes with ya?" asked Michelangelo suddenly. "He can ninja in an' get Splinter, and Luke's safe here with me and Leo and Donny, right?"

"Well…" Karen glanced at the blue-eyed Turtle. "I don't know…"

Luke crossed the room to grip his mother's arm. "Mom, it's fine. I'll stay with Michelangelo and Donatello."

Karen turned to gaze into his eyes. He looked back, unafraid and gave her a slight nod.

"… Ok," she said finally. "Come on, Raphael. We'd better get over there before Martha decides to whomp him with an umbrella or something."

She turned and stalked toward the door, not looking to see if the muscular Turtle followed. Karen got into the truck, glancing up, startled, when the passenger door slammed closed. Raphael's golden eyes met hers, glittering slightly in the dim light.

"I didn't hear you come out," she said after a moment.

Raphael smirked. "I tol' ya, it's a ninja thing."

Karen shook her head, closing her own door and putting on her seat belt before she started the truck.

"You're going to have to let me talk to Martha," she said.

Raphael snorted. "I can handle m'self. Ya jus' keep 'er busy," he said.

"If you scare Martha Willard, Raphael, I will call the sheriff and you can just deal with the National Guard and anyone else he decides to bring in," said Karen quietly. "She's a dear, sweet old woman and you just remember, you are invading her home. She hasn't done you or anyone else any harm and she doesn't deserve to be terrorized."

"Aww keep yer hair on," said Raph. "She'll never know I'm there."

"She'd better not."

Soon they pulled into the driveway leading up to a quaint old farmhouse. Karen shot Raphael one more dark look. "Wait here."

To her surprise, the dark-skinned Turtle nodded once. His amber eyes were trained on the door, a look of mixed longing and worry taking over his usually hard expression.

"Hey," Karen reached out and touched his arm. "He's going to be ok."

The Turtle glanced at her, startled. "Yeah," he said gruffly. "I know."

Karen climbed down from the truck and hurried up the steps. She paused for a moment to glance back at the truck before knocking. She could just make out the shadowed shape of Raphael still in the front seat, waiting. Karen knocked again. Martha was hard of hearing and it never hurt to be sure she'd heard.

The door burst open, revealing a short, thin woman with a cloud of white hair framing her sweet face. Her hands moved in agitation.

"Oh! Oh, Karen! I thought it would be Pete Darlee. That boy takes so long to come when I call, it's disgraceful, really, when I consider all the years I taught him and his sisters. I should take him over my knee, I truly should," she muttered.

"Hi Martha. I called Pete and told him I'd stop out and check on you," said Karen, giving the older woman a reassuring smile. "He said you had some kind of animal in your house and I thought it might be… umm…" Karen thought fast. "That old stray dog that's been hanging around out back. Luke was feeding him, but he took off on us."

"Well, he's trapped in my bathroom," said Martha, a triumphant note in her voice. "I went to take a shower and there he was, hiding in my bathtub. Near scared the life out of me, he did. I locked the door and called Pete. That ungrateful boy, he still hasn't shown up. I should take him over my knee. Shows no respect for his elders, that one."

Karen smiled, hiding her strain. "Well, Martha, why don't you let me go and have a look, ok? I'm sure I can take care of this for you, and then you won't have to wait for Pete."

"All right, Karen, but you be careful," scolded Martha. "That there dog growled at me, he did. I never did like dogs."

"He was probably just scared," soothed Karen. "Why don't you go and put on a nice pot of tea, Martha? I'll get that dog out of your bathroom for you, ok?"

"All right, Karen, but you be careful. And call me if you need any help, you hear? I may be ninety, but I can still swing a baseball bat with the best of them," said Martha, a sparkle coming into her blue eyes. "I'll give that old dog what for, if he gives you any trouble."

"Oh, don't worry," said Karen with a smile. "I'm sure he'll be just fine."

Martha nodded sharply and made her way toward the kitchen. Karen watched her go before climbing the stairs carefully. Raphael hadn't made an appearance yet, but she watched for the red-banded Turtle, knowing he could appear from almost anywhere.

Those boys and their ninja-tricks, she thought, shaking her head. They're like green ghosts. It'll never do to have him startle me. If I scream, Martha will come running. She deliberately slowed her breathing, determined not to shout out if Raphael appeared suddenly.

He didn't. She stood, looking at the glass knob on the very old, solid-wood bathroom door.

If this is Splinter, I wonder what he'll do if I just march in there? She wondered. The boys seem to think he's dangerous. What if he attacks me? Well, Leonardo and Donatello didn't hurt Luke and I when we found Leo in the barn. Maybe he'll at least give me a chance to explain I'm trying to help. I can't wait around for Raphael forever.

Taking a deep breath, she slowly turned the knob and gave the door a push so that it swung open. The first thing she noticed was the blood droplets spattered on the linoleum.

But Martha wasn't injured, she thought, fear spiking in her chest. I would've noticed if she were bleeding.

A sound registered in Karen's mind, a soft but ragged intake of breath.

"Hello?" she called very softly.

Silence.

"Hello?" she tried again. "Listen, I know you're in here. I'm going to come in now, ok? I… don't mean you any harm."

When there was still no response, she stepped into the room cautiously, looking around. There was a slight movement to her left and Karen whirled to face it, stepping back instinctively against the bathroom door.

There, crouched in the end of the bathtub, regarding her with furious, terrified onyx eyes, was a four foot tall… Rat.

Karen let out a half-laugh of relief. He really did look just like the creature in the movie Luke had shown her, except that his fur was slightly darker. He didn't look as… ragged, as the creature in the movie, either. His fur looked smooth and relatively clean, if a bit dusty and ruffled in places.

"Splinter?" she asked softly.

The Rat eyed her warily, pressing himself back against the cold porcelain. Karen was horrified to realize the dark red stain leaking down one side of his robe was not the natural color of the material. She started forward, instinctively reaching toward him.

For the first time he moved, flinching away from her hand, a low growl sounding weakly in his throat.

Karen hesitated. The boys were intelligent, and the Rat, in the movie at least, had spoken with a gravelly Japanese accent.

What if he's not like the movie at all? She wondered. What if he's not even intelligent? What have I gotten myself into?