Chapter 9

Castle Grün, Berlin, German Empire

Castle Grün or Castle Green stood proud on top of a hill. Flowers and small trees flourished around the castle, hence the name Castle Green. It was nearing midnight, but inside, the castle residents were celebrating the start of Oktoberfest, which would begin once the clock strikes 12.

Even though Munich was the birthplace of the festivity, Berlin did not want to miss out on this spectacular event with good beer, dances, and even fireworks. The human patriarch of Castle Green had ordered his men to prepare the best firework display for his guests.

The mice who occupy the castle were also eager to see the fireworks, but deep in the dark recesses of the structure, a creature had received word from his minions that Basil of Baker Street, his partner Dr. Dawson, and Olivia Flaversham were on the way.

"Keep a close eye on the sky," the creature said in a deep voice. He had a scary tone to his voice and he had trouble with his breathing. He relied on a cane to help him walk and he suffered from pain in his ribs.

"SIR! An albatross is coming from the west!" one of the minions call out. The dark figure pulls out a pocket watch, just a few more seconds until midnight. Up on the castle towers, the humans lit the first few fireworks and the festivities began.

Albert calls out to his passengers, "My lady and gentlemen, we'll be descending into Berlin. I just want to thank you for choosing Albatross..." he cuts off when a firework explodes right in front of him.

More and more fireworks explode, waking the passengers. Albert was caught in the midst of the display. The three mice struggled to stay in the sardine can, but suddenly, Dawson shouts, "ALBERT! YOU'RE ON FIRE!"

A firework had ignited Albert's tail feathers. "MAYDAY! MAYDAY!" the bird panics and suddenly, Olivia losses her balance and falls out of the can.

"BASIL!" she screams and Basil grabs a parachute from underneath the seats. Dawson does the same thing and they jump out. Basil does a free fall, grabbing Olivia in a tight hold and pulling the cord. The parachute opens, slowing their descent to the ground.

They watch as Albert falls into a pond. The fire on his feathers went out. "LOOK OUT BELOW!" Basil calls out. The three mice landed on the ground with no injury.

"What in the world was that?!" Albert cries and they look up at the fireworks.

"Looks like we were caught in some kind of celebration," Olivia said, but Basil quiets everyone as his ears picked up some sounds.

"Wer ist da?!" he calls out in German. Then, a few dark figures come out of the tall grass, guns in hand. They were wearing uniforms with a crest of a wolf on the left breast.

"Tu uns nicht weh!" Basil shouts, holding his hands up and Olivia, Dawson, and Albert do the same. "Karl Koffman! I know you're here!" Basil shouts, again.

"Bleib stehen!" a voice calls out and the mice lower their weapons. Then a tall mouse with light brown fur and wearing a similar uniform comes out. He walks up to Basil and Olivia notices that Basil was shorter than this mouse.

"Karl! You old brute! It's nice to see-" The mouse, Karl holds up a hand, stopping Basil from talking any further.

"Basil of Baker Street," Karl said in a thick German accent, "You have a lot of guts in coming back here!"

"Karl, this is a misunderstanding, we are here on urgent business," Basil replies, but Karl didn't seem moved by this.

"Basil, I'm afraid I can't let you go any further," Karl said, but then adds, "That is..." he then starts poking at Basil as if it was funny. He lifts him off the ground in a choking hug.

"Oh Basil! It's good to see you!" Karl exclaims and Basil begins to chuckle, too.

"You certainly have a nasty sense of humor!" the detective replies and Karl places him down.

"Dawson, I see you haven't lost any weight! I bet that beer I sent to you was too good to put down," Karl said to the doctor and Dawson chuckles a little. Olivia then steps forward.

Karl pulls off his hat and asks, "Who is this, Basil?"

"Karl, this is Olivia Flaversham, the young lady I spoke of after the Ratigan case," Basil answers and Karl kisses Olivia's hand.

"Welcome Fräulein Flaversham," Karl said and then looks up at the sky. "So sorry about the fireworks, but it is the start of Oktoberfest. The humans decided to...um...how should I say? Start off with a bang," he adds.

"Oktoberfest? Oh dear Lord, I forgot about it," Basil said.

"Um, Basil," Dawson replies and they see Albert checking his feathers.

"I'm going to need some good burn ointment," Albert said. Karl orders a few of his soldiers to take Albert to the medical wing of the castle, but Albert had his passengers take their luggage.

Basil then remembers something and checks his pocket. The velvet case was there and he sees the ring glinting in the light of the fireworks. He breathes in deep, he hadn't lost it.

Karl then leads the trio towards the castle, the noise of the human residents celebrating grew louder as the got near. Basil looks around, no mice were out celebrating. "Karl, why are you not partaking in the festivities? You usually hold good parties," he asks his friend.

"I'm afraid we can't afford to celebrate at the moment, I received word from the city that..." Karl trails off and clears his throat. "Rosenberg is back," he finishes.

Basil and his two comrades stare at him in shock. "So he is alive," the detective said.

"Indeed, I'm just as shocked as you my friend," Karl replies, "I had to send my wife and children away so they will not get hurt if a battle is to come."

They enter the castle's main entrance, the hall was decorated with the same symbol as the soldier's crests. A great wolf with a gold and black background was displayed with pride on the flags and shields.

"Karl, is this your family symbol?" Olivia asks.

"Indeed, yes," Karl answers and adds, "My ancestors made an alliance with the wolves and they have been great friends ever since."

"I actually never seen a wolf," Olivia replies and they step into a lift.

"While you are here, I could let you meet a few of the wolves that reside in the forest," Karl said. The lift takes them up a few floors and the noise from above was growing dimmer.

"The humans must be heading off to bed. I could take you to the great hall for some food, but I suppose you're exhausted from the journey," Karl said and shows them a few empty rooms with beds and furniture.

"I would like to find that Rosenberg," Olivia replies with a hint of anger, but Basil places a hand on her shoulder.

"We will, but I believe that some rest will do," he said and he goes into the room next to hers. His room was adorn with red and gold decorum. He finds a spare robe in the dresser and hangs his coat and hat inside.

Lucky for him, his room had a connecting door to Olivia's. He gently taps on the door and Olivia opens it. She was also dressed in a spare robe and she lets him in. Her room was adorn in a light blue color.

"Basil...I mean Elliott, can I tell you something?" she asks.

"Of course you can, what's on your mind?" he replies.

"I have this feeling that Karl is hiding something," she explains, "He sends his family away, but that sounds like putting them in greater danger if Rosenberg were to target them."

Basil's ears perk up and he scratches his chin, "That does sound unusual, but Karl knows these woods far better than anyone I've met here. He does have a small underground bunker he likes to use sometimes," he said and finds a pipe and some tobacco in one of the drawers of his room. "Karl certainly knows my habits," he adds, filling the pipe.

"But I just don't know if I can trust him," Olivia said. Basil places a comforting hand on her face and kisses her forehead.

"I know, Karl usually doesn't make good first impressions, but his family has been part of the German royal army for as long as I can recall. German soldiers are a bit...far more serious than the British," Basil replies and lights the pipe.

Olivia then opens her case to reveal the bottle of wine, it survived the plunge. "Do you want to open it? It sounds silly to have French wine to celebrate Oktoberfest," she asks and Basil chuckles. He sees a table that has wine glasses and a corkscrew.

He opens the bottle with ease and smells the cork. It gave off a sweet scent, he detected some spicy aroma with a bit of fruit and a hint of herbs. He pours an equal amount for both of them.

"Here's to Oktoberfest," Olivia said, lifting her glass.

"And here's to you, you're finally in a different part of Europe," Basil adds and they take a drink. The sting of the alcohol took them by surprise, but they swallowed. Olivia takes another, but slower this time.

"This is pretty good," she said and Basil takes another sip, it was good. The two of them finish their glasses and Basil places a cork stopper in the spout of the bottle.

"Save some for Karl and Dawson, if they desire," he said and was about to head back to his room, but turns to Olivia, "Would you like to stay with me tonight?" he asks.

"I was going to ask the same thing," Olivia replies and adds, "But I rather not partake in any love making."

"My thoughts exactly, these castle walls have bigger ears than my own home," Basil said and they settled in the large bed in his room. He turns off the oil lamps and removes both his and Olivia's robes. He gives a brief kiss on her neck and they doze off.

Elsewhere, Karl enters a dark room, where the unknown figure was waiting for him. "Have they settled?" the scary voice asks.

"Yes," Karl replies and asks, "I want to know how my wife and children are? You haven't laid a finger on them, because I will-" "Settle down, Koffman," the figure cuts in.

"Your family is safe, mark my words," he adds.

Karl didn't speak any more, he hated this rodent that invaded his family home, but he needed to be sure that his family was safe. Even if it meant betraying his good friend Basil.


From the author: The trio has made it to Germany, but it's obvious that Karl is hiding something. Just who could this intruder be?