Chapter 15

221B 1/2 Baker Street, London

Albert the albatross made record time by reaching London before the sun was about to set. Olivia and Basil take in the familiar atmosphere, London was often hazy with smoke from coal fires, but it felt good to be home.

Albert lands by Basil's stoop and the three settle on the ground. "Thank you so much Albert," Olivia said to the albatross.

"Don't thank me yet, still need to make the trip to Scotland," he replies and Basil opens the door to his home.

"Give us about 30 minutes," the detective said to his friend and Albert nods. The three enter inside, taking in the familiar setting and were about to proceed upstairs.

"MR. BASIL!"

"Now what?" Olivia asks the detective, now her fiancé, but he shrugs just as the housekeeper appears from the kitchen.

"Mr. Basil, I was going through your mother's belongings and I can't find it!" Mrs. Judson cries out. The three of them give her a confused look.

"Find what Mrs. Judson?" Basil asks, but notices her eyes were full of tears.

"The engagement ring your father gave to your mother, the emerald one!" she cries and falls to her knees, crying. Basil and Olivia start to laugh, which confuses the housekeeper a bit. "What's so funny?" she asks.

"Nothing Mrs. Judson," Olivia replies and shows her the ring on her finger. Mrs. Hudson's eyes grew wide, she looks at Olivia and then at Basil.

"Oh my...Mr. Basil...Miss Olivia...are you...?" The two nod and Olivia leans against Basil, causing the housekeeper to shriek in delight. She hugs Basil and then Olivia, "Oh my dears!" she exclaims, "I was hoping this day would come!"

She gives them another hug, but Basil clears his throat, "I'm sorry Mrs. Judson, but we're in a hurry," he said and she stands up to attention.

"Oh yes, the funeral! This way Olivia, I'll help you into your dress," Mrs. Judson replies and takes her up to the guestroom, "Your clothes are ready too, gentlemen! They're in your bedrooms!" she calls down to the two male mice.

Basil looks at Dawson and they chuckle, "You just made Mrs. Judson happy," the doctor said to his partner and they go into their bedrooms.

Basil sees the mourning suit that Mrs. Judson picked out for him. He despises the color black, but he wanted to show the Flaversham's respect, especially for Olivia. He dresses in a white shirt, a black tie and then both the black pants and frock coat. He notices the black hat and places it on his head, although he preferred his deerstalker hat.

He packs a set of clothes, including his robe as he wasn't sure how long they were going to stay in Scotland. He goes downstairs to see Dawson also dressed in a black frock coat and sees a luggage bag.

"Not sure the hat suits you," the doctor said, but Basil shrugs his shoulders and then Dawson looks behind him. He turns to see Olivia descend from the upstairs, wearing a black dress and a black hat that had a veil, but she had it up over the hat. She also wore black gloves, which hid the ring on her finger.

"I hate the color black," she whispers, but they hear her.

"So do I, my dear," Basil replies, but then looks at his housekeeper, Mrs. Judson was also wearing a black dress. "Mrs. Judson, you want to come too?" he asks.

"Miss Olivia here deserves to be surrounded by those who love her in this time of grief," she said and Olivia smiles, giving her a hug.

"In that case," Basil said, then retrieves a notepad and a pen. He writes down a few words and tapes it to the front of the door. Olivia looks at it, it reads "AWAY ON URGENT BUSINESS. PLEASE CALL AGAIN."

"Oh, Mrs. Judson," Basil said to the housekeeper, "Don't mention anything about our..." he trails off, not wanting anyone to hear of his engagement to Olivia and the maid gives a serious nod.

The four mice then walk up to Albert, who was waiting patiently for them. "Four this time?" he asks, but Mrs. Judson gives him a serious look. "Sorry, never been to many funerals," the albatross said.

The housekeeper then turns to Dawson, "Do you have those pills you mentioned?" she asks and he nods. They quickly take some and then settle in the sardine can on Albert's back.

Like before, Albert checks his wings and tail feathers before take off. He runs down Baker Street and a light breeze takes him upwards. It took him a few minutes to fly above London.

"Where to Lady Flaversham?" Albert asks Olivia.

"Linlithgow!" she calls back, but adds, "But my family's home is on a hill! I'll point it out to you if you wish!"

"Please do!" the albatross replies and flies with the north wind.

"Linlithgow?" Mrs. Judson asks, although she did sound drowsy, "Your family is in my neck of the woods!" she adds, but then lies back at the seat.

Basil and Olivia look down as the north side of London disappears behind them. The smokey hazy also vanishes and Basil breathes in the clear air of the British countryside.

He looks back at Olivia, who was also taking in the countryside. He takes her hand into his and asks, "Will you be all right?"

"I guess I'll find closure when we attend Daddy's funeral," Olivia said and looks into his eyes. "When I was talking to Daddy for the last time, he said he wanted to be sure I was taken care of before...before..."

Basil quiets her and lets her rest her head against his chest, but she adds, "He also wanted to see some grandchildren, but he won't...he won't..." she struggles to finish as tears fall from her eyes.

"Shhhhhhh," Basil quiets her, he did feel terrible that Hiriam was no longer alive to see his and Olivia's children. Then, something clicks in the detective's mind, having children sounded like a good idea, but he was a little afraid of the idea.

"Elliott?" Olivia asks and he listens, "I am sensing that you are afraid of having children," she adds and Basil feels a bit embarrassed.

"My word, you must've developed another sense," he said, trying to make light of this subject. Olivia looks up at him with teary eyes, so Basil decides to come clean, "Yes Olivia, I am a bit afraid, but you know, I heard through the grapevine that children change grownups."

"Grapevine?" Olivia asks, but she chuckles, she remembers that Basil saved some children twelve years ago and he might've saved other children in some of his other cases.

"Actually, I...oh never mind," Basil said and gives her a comforting hug.

Then, Albert shouts, "We just entered Scotland! We'll be in Linlithgow shortly!"

Basil looks down at the scenery, even though it had gotten dark, he could smell the mist of the hills of Scotland. "Olivia," he said and she looks at him, "I just hope your family accepts our proposal."

"We'll have to wait until after the funeral to tell them," she replies and then looks out on the scenery.

Scotland had so many open hills. Basil couldn't remember the last time he ventured out in the Scottish countryside, he only set foot in the city of Edinburgh some years before on a case, but he always wanted to see the neighboring country to Britain.

He notices that the sun had set, probably about an hour ago, but he could still see the rolling hills of Scotland. Then, they see lights of a village and he could see a body of water just ahead.

"Albert!" Olivia calls out, "See that hill over to your right?"

Basil looks over to see a high hill and sees lights peeking through windows, but he sees that there was a church just behind one house.

"The one with the house with the red roof?" Albert asks.

"That's my family's home!" Olivia calls back and Albert begins his descent towards the ground, just within reach of the house. Once his feet touch the ground, the albatross allows his passengers to move out of the sardine can.

"Albert, you are the best aviator in existence!" Olivia exclaims, but Albert just chuckles.

"Ah shucks, it was nothing," the albatross replies, just as Dawson and Mrs. Judson set foot on the ground.

"AH! LAND!" Mrs. Judson cries out.

"Basil, would you like for me to take you back to London afterwards?" Albert asks and Basil looks up at him in surprise.

"You do that?" the detective replies and the albatross nods. "We'll think about it," Basil adds.

"All right, I'll be hanging out by the water, I'll be back tomorrow evening if that's okay," Albert said and Basil and Olivia nod at once. He then flies away and the group turn towards the big house.

There was a light coming from below, indicating that there were mice residents living there. Basil takes Olivia by the arm and they walk towards the front door. He briefly looks up at the exterior of the house, he could see that the roof was red and the structure was made of old stone.

They stop at the front door, it was also colored red, like the roof, but it had a door knocker in the shape of a lion's head. Olivia uses the knocker, hitting the door three times and they hear someone from the other side.

Then, it opens just a creak, "We're sorry, but we're having a family funeral right-" the voice stops and Uncle Logan stares at his relative. "Olivia! You're here!" he exclaims and opens the door wide enough for them to enter.

Olivia's family turn their eyes to the arrivals and Basil could his heart pounding, but mostly from nervousness. He counts at least 10 adults and 12 youngsters, including infants. A very big family he thought.

Then he sees Aunt Sophie sitting at a comfy chair and she stands and walks over to them. "So, you made it," she said, she still had that icy tone. Basil kept his hatred down, it would make him look bad to Olivia's family.

Olivia introduces Basil to her family and they thank him for bringing Olivia. Basil then meets Hiriam's two brothers and their children.

Then, one of the adult women mice, Olivia's cousin Edine steps forward, she had a newspaper in her hand and she shows it to them. "So you did solve Uncle Hiriam's murder," she said and Basil's sees the front page. The headline reads: MOUSE DETECTIVE SOLVES TOY MAKER'S MURDER

"So it was that Rosenberg," Uncle Logan said and Olivia nods. Aunt Sophie points to a closed door.

"Your father is in there," she said and Olivia feels her body shake as she opens the door to a dark room that had lit candles.

She sees the open coffin and steps inside the room, shutting the door. Basil thought of going in with her, but he looks at the Flaversham matriarch, who doesn't say a word.

Olivia kneels at the pew, looking at her father's frozen face. He was dressed in a fine suit, hands crossed on his chest and Olivia feels the tears fall from her face. "Daddy..." she begins, "I went back...to Basil...we solved the case..." she struggles with her words as she cries.

She looks behind her, making sure no one was in the room with her. She continues to speak to her father's body, "It was...Rosenberg..." she tells him his killer's name. "Daddy...Basil...he and I...we fell in love..." she then removes the glove, revealing the emerald ring.

"He proposed...and I accepted...you don't have...to worry now...he will take care of me..." Olivia finishes and cries even harder. She wishes that he survived Rosenberg's attack, so he could walk her down the aisle and care for his grandchildren.

Meanwhile, Basil settles down with Olivia's family as he explains the case, but leaves out the part of his marriage proposal to Olivia. "I'd give anything to tear off that rat's tail!" Hiriam's older brother Kendrick angrily whispers.

"That bastard deserved a watery grave!" Hiriam's younger brother Stewart adds and looks to Basil, "We are eternally grateful that you saved Olivia, more than once I should say this time. If those two crooks, Rinhart and Chiffield ever get out of prison, I'll tear them to pieces."

Basil nods at Stewart, the younger brother did remind him a bit of Hiriam. He stands up from the couch, exploring the house a bit and speaking to the other family members. He then notices a table full of framed photographs and he notices that they were of Hiriam. He examines them, it did show Hiriam when he was younger and then sees a wedding photo of him and a female mouse that looked identical to Olivia. There was writing at the bottom, it said "OUR WEDDING MAY 12th, 1886".

"So this is Olivia's mother?" Basil asks the brothers and they nod. "She...she looks exactly like Olivia," he adds and they nod again. Basil then sees a photo of Hiriam, his wife and the infant Olivia.

Basil then remembers from ten years ago when he first met Olivia that he suggested her mother would know Hiriam's whereabouts, unaware that he was kidnapped by Ratigan. Olivia replied that she didn't have a mother. He did feel terrible then and he certainly feels terrible now.

"Pardon me for being...um...nosy, but what happened to Olivia's mother?" Basil asks. The two brothers stare at the floor and Kendrick scratches the back of his head.

"She was...killed...um...crushed by a...oh it was a freak accident," Stewart begins and Basil feels his body grow cold. Olivia's mother suffered a dreadful fate, one that he prevented by saving Olivia in Big Ben.

"I think that's what made Hiriam leave for London," Kendrick said, "The pain was too unbearable and so he left our home, taking Olivia. We were very bitter about it." Basil nods and then notices Olivia coming back into the room, her face puffy from crying.

Mrs. Judson provides her a handkerchief and Olivia blows her nose. Aunt Sophie stands from her seat and says, "You are welcome to stay for the night." She was referring to Basil, Dawson and Mrs. Hudson.

Stewart leads them upstairs, Olivia also went with them. She goes into one room and Basil was shown his, just a bit away from Olivia's. The room was big enough for him to settle his things, but he wasn't going to sleep here. He wanted to stay with Olivia tonight, just so he would provide any comfort. He had to wait until everyone from downstairs went to bed.

He dresses in a nightgown and his robe. He sits at the chair in the room, staring out the window, gazing out at the dark landscape, but he listens carefully. When it was midnight, he hears the Flaversham's settle in their rooms and he opens the door, looking out into the hallway.

He then shuts the door quietly and walks silently towards Olivia's room. He leans his ear in, "Olivia?" he whispers. Then, the door opens and Olivia brings him in, then shutting the door.

"I was hoping you come," she whispers, "I don't want to be alone tonight," she adds and he nods. He sees that she was wearing his mother's robe, he didn't like the black dress she wore. He also notices that her eyes were still glistening with tears.

Basil takes her into his arms, letting her cry softly and he cries with her. They settle in the bed, holding each other and Basil whispers, "I love you Olivia."

Olivia smiles at him, "I love you too Elliott," she replies and they fall asleep.


From the author: This is a very sad chapter to write, but I felt it should be here. Funerals are tough I should say. There's more on the way! Have a nice day!