Chapter Ten
A few minutes later, Toby sat on the pier looking down below him.
"Stay, Toby," Basil said. "Stay. Jet, you stay too."
"Why me?" Jet said. "I've got more experience in places like this then Dawson does."
"If anyone here recognizes you," Basil began, "we're done for. The plan will be ruined."
"Good point," Jet responded.
Basil, disguised as a sailor (complete with fake mustache), approached the front door of the pup, the Rat Trap.
"Uh, Basil?" Dawson said.
Basil pulled out a cigarette with the intention to look at home in the pup. "Come, come, Dawson."
"I feel utterly ridiculous," came the old mouse's voice from behind the pier column.
"Don't be absurd," Basil said. "You look perfect."
Dawson stepped out in his pirate disguise wearing a bandana, an earring, an eye patch, and a stripped shirt obviously much too short for him. He attempted to tuck it into his pants, but he had no such luck. "Perfect? Perfectly foolish!"
Basil then shushed him as he opened the door.
OOOOO
The pup was seedy all right. Practically every lowlife in London appeared to have gathered there this evening. In various places, there were mice smoking, playing poker, and even a few drinking at the bar. A mouse was playing the piano while an octopus on stage juggled three balls while tap dancing.
The barmaid tickled a patron under his chin, but as he puckered his lips for a kiss, she punched him so hard, he flew from his chair. Basil struck his match against the wall and lit his cigarette.
"Dawson," Basil whispered, "stay close and do as I do."
The bartender, who was cleaning a mug, looked to Basil and Dawson as they approached. Basil signaled him for service as he walked to a table. Dawson copied his movements, but his appeared to be a bit more exaggerated.
The bar patrons eyed them suspiciously. A knife suddenly landed at the floor in Dawson's path, causing him to stumble back, knocking a woman's chair forward.
"Ah!" Dawson said. "Oh I do beg your pardon, Madam. Quite unintentional, I assure you."
The woman, who was obviously in on the prank, blew her cigarette smoke in his face, making Dawson choke. Everyone laughed at Dawson's coughing as the woman returned to her poker game.
"How impertinent!" Dawson said, angrily.
"Remember, Dawson," Basil whispered. "We're low-life ruffians."
"Well, I was until that..."
Basil shushed him as the duo took their seats, Dawson giving a haughty nod at the woman. On stage, the octopus had nearly finished his dance. The pianist is growing nervous, seeing the unhappy faces of all the patrons. The octopus finished, catching the balls in his hat and bowed. He was very surprised to hear Dawson's applause, the rest of the pub beginning to boo, quickly drowning Dawson out.
"Get off, you eight-legged bum!" a lowlife said.
The octopus quite literally ran for his life offstage as food, knifes, bottles, and darts were thrown towards him. The barmaid came up to Basil and Dawson's table.
"What's your pleasure, mates?" she asked.
In his normal voice, Dawson spoke. "Uh...I'll have a dry sherry with...oh perhaps a twist of-"
Basil clamped his hand over Dawson's mouth, and adopted a tough guy accent to cover up his associate.
"Two pints for me and me shipmate." Now, the test. "Oh, by the way. We just got into port. We're looking for an old friend of mine. Maybe you know him. Goes by the name...of Ratigan!"
At the mention of Ratigan's name, the barmaid gasped, and so did several poker players, and even the pianist. They all stare at Basil in shock. The barmaid attempts to recover from her shock, clearly unwilling to admit her knowledge of the criminal mastermind.
"I, uh..." the barmaid began, "...never heard of him."
Dawson grows nervous from all the stares, but Basil was fairly pleased with the reaction he got. The pianist started another song, and the curtains opened to reveal a salamander on a unicycle, exhausted from the effort of holding a huge frog on his shoulders. The patrons immediately resumed booing and throwing food and weapons onstage.
As a knife strikes the piano, probably accidentally, the pianist nervously began the third act. The patrons were already armed with chairs, darts, and a random ax, ready to throw at whoever was next.
However, the curtains opened to reveal a pretty lady mouse standing onstage, wearing a blue tank top, purple skirt, and pink shawl. It was the great singer, Miss Kitty. The patrons slowly lowered their weapons as she began singing to them.
Dearest friends, dear gentlemen,
Listen to my song.
Life down here's been hard for you,
Life has made you strong.
Let me lift the mood,
With my attitude.
As the beat picked up, she began to strut onstage with every eye on her, bouncing along with her song. Dawson looked up at her as though he'd fallen in love.
Hey, fellas,
The time is right.
Get ready,
Tonight's the night.
Boys, what you're hopin' for will come true.
Let me be good to you.
Basil was the only one uninterested in the singer. He turned over to the bar, curious about what was taking the drinks so long. Right then, he saw the barmaid whisper something into the bartender's ear, who discreetly poured the contents of a vial into two mugs of beer.
You tough guys,
You're feelin' all alone.
You rough guys,
The best o' you sailors and bums,
All o' my chums.
So dream on,
And drink your beer.
Get cozy,
Your baby's here.
You won't be misunderstood.
Let me be good to you.
She moved behind the curtain as the band joined in, picking up the beat even more. The curtains pulled back, revealing Miss Kitty who had been joined by two other twin lady mice, in pink hats, dresses, and black elbow length gloves. During the next few lyrics, Miss Kitty put on black gloves, removed her shawl, and ripped off her skirt, which revealed her garter and feather boa around her waist, causing the patrons to whistle.
Hey fellas,
I'll take off all my blues.
Hey fellas,
There's nothin' I won't do
Just for you!
A patron tried to get up on stage, but was restrained by others. Miss Kitty then kicked him down. She then pointed to Dawson, who seemed very bashful now. She left the stage, leaving the two other lady mice onstage to dance for the pub. Right then, the bartender returned to Basil and Dawson's table, handing them their drinks.
"There you are, boys," she said. "It's uh...on the house."
"I say," Dawson began, "how very generous."
Suspicious of the contents of the vial, and this generous offer, Basil swirled his finger in the beer and took a small taste, confirming his suspicions.
"Dawson...these drinks have been..." He paused and looked over at Dawson, who had already drained his beer. He then squeaked, "Drugged!"
"Has a rather nice bite to it," Dawson said, drunkenly. Under the influence, Dawson turned his attention back to the stage, cheering and applauding loudly. "Jolly good, ladies, jolly good!"
"Dawson," Basil said. "Get ahold of yourself!"
Dawson, however, is undisturbed. "Oh, bravo, bravo."
Basil is irritated until he hears the sound of a peg-legged figure approaching. Turning around, Basil attempts to confirm it is who he thinks it is. Fidget.
The bat's attention was focused on the showgirls, just like everyone else in the pub, and he didn't notice that Basil had spotted him. Fidget ended up getting his peg caught in a hole in the floorboard, and he ended up falling. He angrily yanked his foot out, sending himself stumbling back into the bar. During this, Miss Kitty had come back on stage to finish her song.
So dream on,
And drink your beer.
Get cozy,
Your baby's here.
Hey boys,
I'm talkin' to you...
"If it isn't our peg-legged friend," Basil said, happy his theory was correct. "Dawson, ooh hoo, what luck!" Unfortunately, Dawson is gone. "Dawson?" He then looked towards the stage and discovered his friend, still in his drunken state, has joined the dance. "Dawson!"
Miss Kitty took his arm and swung him around, as he rejoined the twins. Basil then slapped his forehead and dragged his hand down his face. In the back of his mind, Basil knew this had come from being around his nephew one too many times.
Your baby's gonna come through.
Let be be good to you!
At the ending, the twins each gave Dawson a kiss on the cheek. He giggled, drunkenly, then twirled right off the stage and onto the piano. Miss Kitty then struck one final pose, saying, "Yeah!"
A dazed Dawson had visions of showgirls dancing around his head. The pianist, angry at Dawson for destroying his instrument, was ready to hit him with a plank. But, just as he began to swing, Dawson slumped down again. The pianist instead hit the head of a big, mean-looking mouse, who stood up, prepared to fight. Nervously, the pianist tried to hide the plank, but the larger mouse grabbed him by the neck. The pianist managed to get loose, resulting in the punch from the larger mouse hitting the piano so hard it crashed into the band members, sending them and Dawson flying in separate directions. Dawson ended up landing on his back as a full-blown bar fight broke out.
OOOOO
Up in the streets of London, Jet is trying to listen to what was going on. He heard Miss Kitty's song begin to play, unable to believe he was missing the show. Toby, on the other hand, was lying down a little ways away. The dog wasn't sleeping, just resting his legs. He wasn't as worried about Basil as Jet was.
Why did I have to stay behind, Jet thought to himself. Everyone in London knows Basil. If his disguise is discovered, there's nothing he can do either! Of course, my hair might be a dead give away, but I could wear a hat to hide it! I can handle myself in a bar!
Jet's mind began flashing back to what happened a few years earlier. He had helped Basil solve a case where a singer's life was being threatened. Jet ended up putting on a fairly convincing disguise and ended up performing with the singer. He enjoyed it so much that when he went back to America at the end of the summer, he began singing in the streets, just for fun.
After a few weeks, a passerby tried to give Jet money for his great singing. Originally, Jet didn't want to take the money, but the passerby wouldn't take "no" for an answer. Eventually, Jet took the money and put it in his hat, which he placed on the ground. Soon, even more mice were giving him money for his singing.
A year later, Jet got his big break in singing when he was hired to sing, part time, at a mouse bar. At first, he was a little off-put, but he soon got the hang of it. And when he returned to London that summer, Jet decided to try singing at a few of the more nicer bars around town.
Everyone loved his singing, even mice in London. Now, the boy was just hopping for his big break to start singing either on Broadway, or even in Hollywood.
Suddenly, Jet was dragged out of his thoughts by the sounds of a fight starting in the bar below him. Right then, his heart skipped a beat. Not because he saw a fairly beautiful mouse, but because he was scared his uncle had been discovered. Of course, with Dawson, that type of guess was probably not far off base.
Be careful, Basil, Jet thought to himself as went over to Toby and began testing his fighting skills using the sword that was constantly strapped at his belt. From the sounds of the brawl, Jet would need to make sure he was in top fighting shape. Dawson probably doesn't know how to fight, so as far as protecting yourself goes, you're on your own.
OOOOO
Back in the bar, mice were strangling each other, hitting them with whatever they could. There were shoes, a chair, and even a few kicking others as they swung from a ceiling lamp. The barmaid and bartender rushed over to break up the fight while Fidget enjoyed his mug of Rodent's Delight. Several gunshots went off, some of which ended up shattering the light bulbs. Basil finally found Dawson and helped the old mouse sit up, lightly slapping his cheek to wake him up.
"Dawson?" Basil said. "Dawson!"
The drug finally began wearing off, and the sounds of gunfire awoke Dawson.
"What? What?" Seeing the fight in progress, Dawson was thoroughly confused. "What in heaven's name is going on?"
"I've spotted our peg-legged-" Basil looked to the bar, but Fidget had disappeared. Basil helped Dawson up, looking for the bat. "Come on, old fella. There's not a moment to lose."
The bar fight had become even more violent. In the back of his mind, Basil was glad Jet wasn't here. This is the exact type of scene Jet would love. A great chance for him to train his fighting techniques. Although I do hope he is practicing, for we may just need it.
Basil looked behind the bar and saw a trapdoor. Unnoticed, he and Dawson moved toward it. The fight continued as Dawson climbed down the passageway, with Basil right behind him. Basil quietly shut the door, just as a chair flew over, hitting it. Down below, Basil spotted Fidget up ahead, climbing into a drain pipe. Basil motioned for Dawson to follow him and they quietly crept behind, Fidget singing Miss Kitty's song to himself.
Basil and Dawson looked into the pipe and saw Fidget pick up his lantern and disappear into the darkness.
"Basil-" Dawson began, but Basil shushed him as he climbed inside the pipe.
"Follow me," Basil said.
"Great Scott," Dawson said. "I can't see a thing."
"Shh. Grab my coat and follow along. No, no, no, not that way. Dawson, look out for your-"
Dawson then ran right into a sealed cap, causing it to rattle. "Oww! Confound it!" The duo then began continuing up. "Do you have any idea where we're going?"
"But of course. Left turn. Right turn here, Doctor."