Chapter 23

Westfield College

The week went by as if it were a dream. Olivia returned to her classes and was welcomed by her peers, although some said they were jealous of her engagement to the famous mouse detective, but congratulated her.

Olivia's teachers, including Mrs. Silverman gave her the opportunity to catch up on what was missed while she was away. She decided to study the material with a vengeance and that caught the attention of her teachers.

Mrs. Silverman decided to test her students' knowledge on the early legal systems that London put in place during the Middle Ages. Olivia was ecstatic about this, so she spent much of her time studying in the college's library.

As for Basil, the case he took involving the young couple's stolen life savings proved to be short, but rewarding as he would hate to see hard working mice be destitute. It turned out that their landlord, a gambler broke into their safe and took everything of value in order to pay off his debts.

Basil, with help from Scotland Yard were able to locate the jewels, but the savings were already gone. The judge sentenced the landlord to jail, but also gave him a job in the jail's masonry, so he would pay back the couple's savings.

When Friday rolled in, the two couldn't wait to spend time together over their first weekend at the campus. As soon as Olivia's last class was let out, she takes a few things from her dorm and heads to Mrs. Silverman's.

Basil noticed her through the window and goes down to the door to greet her. Olivia jumps on him, he almost lost his balance, but regains his footing as they shared a choking hug.

"Awe, young love," a voice said from behind and see Mrs. Silverman standing outside her front door.

"Excuse us, Mrs. Silverman," Basil apologizes and lets her in.

"A week away certainly feels like an eternity," Olivia said and Basil caresses her cheek. They settle in Mrs. Silverman's living room as she prepares supper for them. The two exchange stories of the week.

Olivia was astonished of the case Basil had completed, "A gambler who was desperate to pay off his creditors," she begins and continues, "I don't like to gamble, mostly because there's a lot of risk involved."

"I don't like gambling either," Basil replies and he listens to Olivia as she explains her week. "My word, and you are able to absorb this information?"

"What? You think I can't?" she asks with a smirk. Basil wasn't sure about how he should answer, so Olivia quizzes him on Aristotle's political theory by writing out the six possible constitutional forms. She gives him a minute to look it over and asks the first question, "Under the deviant rule, what do you call a government that's run by one ruler?"

"Tyranny," Basil answers and she nods.

"But what about a government that's run by many?" she asks, again.

"Democracy," he answers and she nods again.

She continues to quiz him on various topics and Mrs. Silverman just listens in as she leaves their supper on the table and takes a seat. "One last question, who signed the Magna Carta?" Olivia asks Basil.

"Fair King John," he replies in a prideful tone.

"Very good Miss Olivia," Mrs. Silverman said and hands them out plates of food. "I should warn you, you need to study a little harder. You will be tested in the first week of October, just to see how good you've remembered," she adds.

"First week of October?" Basil asks and looks at the calendar. "That's about a week and a half away," he adds.

Olivia, however, shows a face of determination. "I'll be ready before then," she replies and looks through her notes.

Mrs. Silverman chuckles, "No need to be prepared yet," she said, but Olivia doesn't listen. "I created a monster," she whispers to Basil, who chuckles.

"You can't stop a young mind from pursuing knowledge," he replies, but notices Olivia opening a book from one of her classes.

Basil dares himself to peek over her shoulder and was surprised to see a few familiar words, "Anarchy? Communism? What in the world?" he asks, but Olivia gives him a snicker.

"No, no, I am not an anarchist or communist. We do need to learn about state-less governments. I mean, not to offend Karl Marx, but communism sounds horrible when practiced," she replies and he nods in agreement.

"Indeed, I mean it's like making a group take a test where having half of them study, but the other half didn't. When they are graded, the balance between the two comes down to a middle, so to speak. In fact, the students who did study get half of what they earned," Basil replies.

Olivia rubs her temple, she was getting a headache. "Why don't we eat and head off to bed?" Basil asks and she nods. They ate Mrs. Silverman's food of meat clobber, which they detected canary meat.

"Mrs. Silverman, since I am not currently doing a case and I suspect there will be periods of not having a case, do you think..." Basil trails off, Olivia notices he looked embarrassed.

"Yes, Mr. Basil?" the teacher asks.

"I thought I help around by..." Basil stops and his cheeks turn red, "Can you show me how to clean clothes?" Olivia and Mrs. Silverman look at one another, but then start to laugh.

"You're embarrassed by asking?" Olivia asks, but Basil shrugs.

"I'd be glad to, but it's harder than you think," Mrs. Silverman replies with a hint of a warning, but then chuckles, "I'm just teasing. Why don't we start tomorrow? Seeing that you have a little to take care of."

Basil nods and escorts Olivia to bed. They cuddle for a bit, then Olivia kisses him and then they tickle each other before Basil kisses her, again. He rubs her rib cage and she does the same to him.

"I can't wait until all this is over," Olivia said, snuggling under his chin.

"You can't rush on time, otherwise, you'll miss out on some important lessons," Basil replies, but Olivia tightens her grip on him.

"Elliott, I know this sounds awful, but I hope you don't lose interest in me while I'm at school, and we only get to see each other on weekends," she said, with a hint of emotional distress.

"Darling, I made a vow and I'm going to keep it," Basil said, taking her hand that had the ring. "Yes, I know it will be difficult, but remember, I will always love you," he adds and Olivia nods, then she presses her tear ducts, preventing any tears from falling.

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Another week goes by, but Olivia finds herself in a bind as she prepares herself for the mid-term tests. Although she wanted to spend leisure time with Basil on the weekends, she couldn't help but be engrossed in her studies.

"You remind me of myself when I was in university," Basil told her on the weekend leading up to the tests. "It's going to be all right," he adds and decides to help her by quizzing her some information she learned from her classes.

Basil himself was learning a lot from Mrs. Silverman about how to attend the household, especially the laundry. The wringer was indeed a bit tricky as he was warned not to get his fingers caught. He did suffer a few bruised fingertips, but it was worth it as he proudly hung his clothes on the wire outside to dry.

Olivia was surprised when Mrs. Silverman told her of Basil's attempts to clean his clothes. She had him show his bandaged fingers and she kisses each them. "Mrs. Hudson would probably put you work," she tells him, but he rolls his eyes.

On the Sunday before the big tests, Olivia and Basil spent much of the day preparing for them, but that night they made love and Basil assured her that she would do well.

The love making did clear her mind and she told him that she will make him proud. "Not just me my dear, but to your family, including your father," he adds and she nods.

Monday came and Olivia felt ready for the first test at her class on Law in Society and she would deal with Criminal Justice Theory later that afternoon. Mrs. Silverman's test on Political Philosophy was on Thursday, but it felt good to be done with two in one day.

Tuesday was when she dealt with Political Theory, but she felt confident in it. Wednesday was a break for her, but she spent a lot of time studying on Political Philosophy that night. Before she went to bed, she made a call to Mrs. Silverman's, asking to speak to Basil.

"So one final test, you got this Olivia," he said to her and she feels a good thing about it. Hearing his voice made her calm and when she went through the test, she still felt that calm and finished the test.

Now it was the waiting time, but Olivia felt happy that she was going to spend time with Basil that weekend.

However, on Thursday evening, Basil met with Dawson who came to him with urgent assistance on a case. Dawson shows him a newspaper article that spoke of a murder at a bank in central London. No money was taken, so Basil was a bit stumped about it. He decided to take up the case as he hadn't taken a case in at least two weeks.

He makes a call to Olivia to her dormitory, telling her about the case, but made a promise to try and meet with her on the weekend. "Don't worry about me Elliott, you do your best," she said to him.

Basil, using his brain was able to crack the case within two nights. He correctly pointed out that the victim, an associate was being promoted over another who was at the bank much longer. However, Basil did point out that the suspect was in financial trouble and took a loan out from the same bank, but had trouble paying it back.

The senior associate was not a gambler, but he spent so much money on the welfare of his dying child, who had rubella. Basil never felt so saddened in his life, he had respect for the family mouse who tried so hard to keep his child alive.

The younger associate had planned to rat the senior associate out to the director of the bank, but the senior wanted to keep it quiet because anyone with an incurable disease was unfortunately scorned upon. He tried to scare the younger associate with a gun, but it went off by accident.

Basil decided to plea for the senior associate to the judge and it was decided that the associate serve only a month in prison, but the bank's director did not want him to come back. However, the case had attracted attention from various charity groups and a few places that wanted to offer a better paying job for the desperate mouse.

Basil was able to return to Mrs. Silverman's on Saturday morning where Olivia was waiting patiently for him. She had read the case in the newspaper and it did move her to tears.

"Olivia, if there's one thing I dread about having children, it's that one or all of them will get sick and possibly die," he tells her and she hugs him. "But I still want children with you!" he exclaims and kisses her with tears rolling down his face. They embrace and cry over this latest case.

Mrs. Silverman was awakened from her sleep and sees the two together. They apologize for the loud noise, but she brushes it off. "I don't know if this will brighten the mood, but I was planning on posting the grades on Tuesday," the teacher said and hands over Olivia's test.

On it, they see check marks on each question and at the top it said, "Wonderful! PASS!"

"And do except a big surprise on Monday," Mrs. Silverman warns.

True to Mrs. Silverman's warning, Olivia's other teachers gave her passing grades on her tests. Olivia decided to telephone Basil about the tests and he was just ecstatic.

"You're not going to get jealous, are you Elliott?" Olivia asks, but Basil was surprised to hear this.

"Maybe a little, but I want you to let yourself shine," he replies and they plan for the upcoming weekend.

More time passes, October brought a much colder autumn than last year, but Olivia and Basil liked the autumn months. The trees had changed to many shades of gold and yellow. However, most days were plagued by autumn rains, so they stayed close by a warm fire.

During that time, they received word that the king invited Basil's and Olivia's families to the wedding ceremony and the ball afterward. He did make additional invitations requested by Olivia that her friend Claudia would witness the event and write an article about it and to Mrs. Silverman, for providing Basil accommodations during their time apart. The king also invited some of the important families of Mousedom of London, which meant that the Kinkle family would attend.

"I would not mind, that is if they behave," Olivia said to Basil, "I mean for Samuel and Robert," she adds and he nods in agreement.

"I'll keep a close eye, if you want to," he replies, but she shakes her head.

"I know how to defend myself, but I would hate for them to ruin our night," she said.

"Same here darling," he said and they snuggle up against each other to keep warm. Olivia then looks at the calendar, it was two weeks before Guy Fawkes Night, but All Hallows Eve was just a few days away.

"Do you celebrate All Hallows Eve?" Olivia asks Basil.

"Not really," he answers, "Although, I did have a case where a client said he had strange dreams and he asked me to help, although I thought he was crazy." Basil explained the case of the client who suspected something terrible would happen at a grand mansion outside London at midnight after All Hallows Eve. The client's suspensions were correct as a fire broke out at the Apple Hills mansion, which was outside London.

Many of the mansion's occupants were celebrating, but after midnight, a fire broke out. Basil was able to point out that someone neglected to put out some burning kindling and it spread to the mansion's wooden structure. Many did not survive as they were asleep and had succumbed to smoke inhalation.

"So it wasn't a crime you're more use to solving?" she asks.

"No, although I was disturbed by the client's prediction," Basil replies.

"I often think that the dead would come visit us in our dreams on All Hallows Eve. It would be wonderful to see and speak to daddy, just for a moment," Olivia said with a sad sigh.

"I would certainly like to speak with him, too, just for advice," the detective said as they dozed off to sleep.

The next day, a Monday, Olivia returns to her classes and was eager to study for her finals. Basil, suffering from a lack of cases to solve, took up his time doing his laundry and keeping Mrs. Silverman's home tidy.

It was around lunchtime when Dawson came to fetch Basil. "His Majesty wishes to see us," the doctor said.

"Does Olivia need to come?" Basil asks, but Dawson shakes his head. The two went to Buckingham Palace where the king would offer them an assignment.

"Did you hear of the theft at the museum last night?" the king asks. Basil remembered seeing the newspaper discussing a break-in at the history museum, but the only thing taken was an old rune stone.

The king then summons a male mouse, the director of the ancient Viking department. The mouse had white fur with ice blue eyes and he introduces himself as Eivind Pedersen.

"You're from Norway?" Basil asks.

"Born and raised," Pedersen replies in a Norwegian accent. He reveals some photographs of the rune stone, but Basil was stumped about one part of the stone. It had a hole in the back, as if it would connect to something, maybe like a key.

"Mr. Basil, I would like for you and your partner to go to Norway, maybe you can discover the reason the stone was taken," the king orders. Basil's face drops, he didn't want to be so far away from Olivia, but the king would probably not take no for an answer.

"Your Majesty, I accept, but I must tell my fiancee of this and to make a telephone call to a friend who can take me to Norway much quicker than by boat," Basil said, but he felt regret inside. How would Olivia understand this? He would hate to miss the masque ball, if the case took longer.

Basil has Pedersen take him to the museum and let him look around the area where the stone was taken. While looking around, Basil came upon a journal of some kind, but couldn't read it.

"It's in Norwegian, can you translate Mr. Pedersen?" Basil asks. Pedersen reads through the passages, but came upon a page where the culprit wrote about the stone. "Lost Viking treasure?" Pedersen asks himself after reading it, but his face brightens a bit.

"You suspect something?" Basil asks. Pedersen shows him the archives and finds several documents that an old Viking village somewhere at the Loften Islands on the northern coast of Norway was said to have hidden some great treasure.

"But unfortunately, no one knows if the treasure exists because many Viking folktales were often spoken orally and that can change through generations. Many writing records are rare to find, but I wonder if someone did find something about the treasure," Pedersen replies. He explains that the details about the treasure are vague, but some historians suspected that the treasure was either gold or possibly written records of the Vikings' daily lifestyle.

"It would be wonderful to find a piece of written history of the Vikings," Pedersen said with a smile.

"Yes, a written record of a civilization long past," Basil replies and Dawson nods in agreement. Basil returns to Mrs. Silverman's to call Albert about the case in Norway and he accepted to take them, including Pedersen.

"I should warn you, it's extremely cold in the northern part of Norway at this time of year, especially by the ocean," Pedersen warned.

"I must tell Olivia of this case," Basil said and both Dawson and Pedersen nod.

Basil was able to locate Mrs. Silverman, who told him that Olivia was in the library, studying for an upcoming test. She shows him the library and gives the detective permission to go in. Basil looks around and sees Olivia, her eyes fully focused on a book and writing on paper. Basil takes a seat across from her, but she didn't seem to notice.

However, she looks up to see the occupant. "Elliott!" she exclaims, but hushes, "What are you doing here?" she asks. Basil explains the new case he was assigned to from the king and that he, Dawson, and Pedersen would be going to the Loften Islands in Norway.

Olivia decides to leave her things behind to bid them luck on their new case. Albert had arrived from Dover to take them to Norway. It was time to go, but Basil and Olivia share one tender embrace before he leaves.

"I'll be home in time for the masque," he whispers, causing her to squeeze him.

"Please, be careful Elliott," she replies and watches as the three mice get in the sardine can on Albert's back. They wave goodbye to Olivia as Albert runs down, taking flight and was gone.

Olivia looks up at the sky, the sun was setting and she saw the first bright star in the sky. She shuts her eyes, allowing some tears to fall and whispers, "Daddy, if you are in the afterlife, even up there, please, watch over Elliott."


From the author: So it's all mashed up here because I want to move things along so we can see the wedding, but I would like to show the masque ball on Guy Fawkes Night. We'll have to see if Basil will make it and return to Olivia.

I am currently working from home as many states are on lock down due to the pandemic and my home state might be placed on lock down for who knows how long. I am just hoping that things will calm down in time for summer.