Chapter 24

Lofoten Islands, Norway

Basil, Dawson and Pedersen were dropped off in the village of Reine, which Basil found to be quite beautiful. In fact, he had never set foot in the northern countries of Europe. He had a few words to describe about this land, it was as if he stepped into a land from a fairy tale.

"Olivia would love to see this place," he said to himself. Dawson did hear him and pats him on the shoulder.

Pedersen shows them around the village and checks them into a room of a friend's house. Basil decides to sleep for a few hours, realizing how tired he was. While he slept, he knew that he was dreaming.

The detective was in Linlithgow, he was familiar with the landscape. The town was eerily quiet, the mist from the sea covered it like a blanket. Basil decides to walk around the place, but no one was around.

He came upon a cobblestone street and he sees two figures, two mice, but the mist made it difficult for him to see their features. Then, he hears hooves hitting the cobblestones and then two horses pulling a cart came out of the mist.

Then, Basil hears another noise, dogs barking and they were getting closer. Suddenly, three enormous dogs run out of the mist, heading towards the horses. The horses reared in defense, but many of the crates in the cart flew out.

Basil watches in horror as a crate crashes down on the two mice, then he hears a baby wailing. "Oh God!" he exclaims, the mice couple had a baby with them.

The male mouse was crying out, he had the baby in his arms, but he struggled to lift the crate up. Basil comes up from behind, placing a hand on the mouse's shoulder, but the mouse turns his head to face him.

Horror fills Basil as he recognizes the mouse as Hiriam, with the infant Olivia in his arms. Time began to slow and the scene fades away, except for Hiriam who stares at Basil. He noticed that the infant Olivia also vanished from Hiriam's arms.

"Don't be alarmed," he said, but Basil was afraid. What in the world was this? "I'm sorry you had to see that," Hiriam continues, "But I relived that memory every day of my waking life."

"What is this?" Basil asks, but Hiriam chuckles.

"Olivia told you that the spirits of loved ones often visit in dreams on All Hallows Eve, well I actually think they can visit whenever they want to," Hiriam replies. Basil takes a few deep breaths and Hiriam helps him sit on a piece of stone.

"Mr. Basil, or I should start calling you Elliott," Hiriam said and Basil nods, "You know, I've been watching you and I must say, I am happy in the way you treat Olivia. And let me ease your conscious, fighting is normal in a marriage," he adds, but Basil was shocked.

"You mean? Oh my Lord! I didn't mean...I mean I did get carried away," the detective replies, but Hiriam chuckles.

"But I did see you defend Olivia from that Robert Kinkle, you were right, they treat their female kin like rubbish," he said and Basil nods. "Elliott, nothing would make me happier to see my little girl be with someone she is certainly happy to be with," Hiriam adds and Basil smiles at this.

Then, the detective notices that the dream was dissipating. "Elliott, let me summon this down. This case..." Hiriam's words were beginning to fade, but Basil listens closely, wondering if Hiriam will give him a clue. "Go to...Borg..." Hiriam said and he fades away.

Basil wakes up with a start, he was shivering under the sheets, but he was sure it was from shock. "Basil?" Dawson said from the other bed.

"Where's Pedersen? I must ask him something," Basil insists, grabbing his robe. They found Pedersen downstairs looking over the journal again, he points out that many of the pages were smuggled from water, making the writing impossible to read.

"Pedersen, is there a place called Borg around here?" Basil asks and Pedersen nods. He pulls out a map of the island of Vestvågøya where Borg was located. Pedersen said that there was a Viking longhouse still standing after many centuries.

"Basil, what makes you think we should go there?" Dawson asks, but Basil shakes his head.

"I'll explain whenever I can, but right now, we need to go to Borg," the detective replies and hurries to change into his clothes. Luckily, Albert didn't leave the house they were staying at, so Basil asks him to take them to Borg.

"Will do Mr. Basil!" the albatross exclaims. They were ready to leave, but a cold wind came, sending shivers down to Basil's bones.

"It is freezing!" Dawson said. Pedersen provides them some fur coats, but Basil's body was not taking the weather well. He was hoping that he would not get sick while over here on the other side of the sea, away from Olivia.

Albert flies away from the village of Reine, battling against the harsh northern winds.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Meanwhile at Westfield College, Olivia noticed that the campus was preparing for a little All Hallows Eve celebration, but the Guy Fawkes ball was on everyone's minds. She saw many of the girls bringing home dresses, colored feathers, masks, and other items.

Olivia was waiting for Mrs. Hudson to bring her dress and that evening, the housekeeper came to the campus to deliver the dress. To Olivia's surprise, the dress was made of fine red thread with gold linen.

Mrs. Hudson helps her try it on and Olivia looks in the mirror. "It looks like...like the red hood from Little Red Riding Hood," she said as places the hood on her head. Olivia then tries on the red gloves and even the gold mask.

"It looks lovely on you," Mrs. Hudson said and Olivia nods.

"Have you heard anything on Elliott?" the young woman mouse asks, but the housekeeper shakes her head.

"Nothing dear, but it's only been a day. Give him time," Mrs. Hudson replies and Olivia gives a sad smile. They remove the dress and Mrs. Hudson proudly hangs over on the door.

Olivia looks out the window of her dorm room, staring out at the women mice who were with some male mice. They were having a grand time, but not her. She was missing Basil, very much.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Albert arrives in Borg, but it took longer then anticipated mostly due to the nasty winds. Pedersen pointed out the surviving longhouse and Basil felt drawn to it. They enter inside, it was just as cold as it was outside.

"This is really bad!" Albert calls out, "I'm going to find a safe location to rest!" The albatross flies away, but the wind took him by surprise.

Pedersen lights a lantern and he was overcome with shock when they see that the section for mice had been ruined. It was as if someone was looking for something and there were many things scattered on the floor. "No respect!" Pedersen spat, picking up a broken slab of ancient writing.

"Basil, what is it with the rune stone that the thieves took?" Dawson asks.

"I'm thinking it must be a key or maybe a knob of some kind," Basil replies, but then looks at him feet.

There on the floor was a piece of paper, it was written in modern Norwegian, so Pedersen translates. "Check burial mounds-no, check longhouse-no, check..." Pedersen stops and shows a look of surprise.

"What is it Pedersen?" Basil asks.

"Dame av Hvisker, also known as the Lady of Whispers. According to our records, she was a famous writer who wrote so many scriptures on a Viking's lifestyle. However, as you might have guessed, we only found one of those scriptures," Pedersen said and looks at the paper. "This says to check the monolith dedicated to the Lady of Whispers," he adds.

"Do you know where this monolith is?" Basil asks.

"It's not far from here, it's on a hill by the church," Pedersen replies and they leave the longhouse. Just then, a group of mice appear out from the blackness, nighttime had fallen, but they saw a dozen figures, guns pointing at them.

Most of them shout in Norwegian, "Put your hands up," Pedersen translates and they place their hands up. Then a tall mouse with white fur and one ice blue eye steps into the light.

"Isak Svendsen!" Pedersen exclaims in surprise. Basil then realizes that this Svendsen was responsible for numerous thefts of extremely rare treasures and selling them on the black market.

"Welcome, Mr. Basil of Baker Street," Svendsen said to the detective. Basil looks into his one eye, they were like Pedersen's, but they showed coldness, much like a winter storm.

Svendsen speaks to his crew and the three were tied up. "Be gentle with them, no harm to my guests," the crook said. They forced the three captives to walk towards a lone standing hut. Basil notices a few snowflakes falling from the sky, it was brutally cold and he was shivering.

"Winter is beautiful here," Svendsen said, "But it can be brutal when you are out for too long."

They enter the hut, it was large enough for a crowd, but Basil saw many artifacts that were from around the world. However, he notices a large stack of banknotes, various types of currency, and some of Svendsen's goons were counting.

"You have no respect for history, Svendsen," Basil said, repeating Pedersen's words.

Svendsen just snickers under his breath, "I am not concerned about history, do you have any idea how many mice will pay for a piece of Viking gold?" he asks.

"These artifacts belong to a museum!" Pedersen shouts, angrily.

Svendsen chuckles, "Even if you were to take these to museums, then they might collect dust in the basement," he replies. He speaks to some of his hench-mice and they force the three to another room.

It was really cold in the room and the three were locked in there. "Are they going to kill us?" Dawson asks.

"Not sure," Basil replies and curls up in his coat, trying to keep himself warm and then he falls asleep.

Basil finds himself in the same dream-scape and he was hoping Hiriam was nearby. The mouse detective then hears the tolling at Big Ben and the city of London forms before him.

He was at his home at Baker Street, but he could feel that something was familiar about this night. Then, he sees Dawson running towards the door of Basil's house. Once Dawson was inside, Basil notices Olivia, at her current age walking towards his front door. Her face showed despair and sadness.

It was then he realized that it was the day Hiriam was killed.

Then, he sees Hiriam's spirit just a few feet away and the toy maker looks at Basil. "I'm glad you took her in," he said to the detective.

"Normally I don't believe in the supernatural, but you have to be here for a reason," Basil replies and Hiriam nods.

"I went to the monolith Pedersen mentioned," he said and the scenery changes to where they were in Norway, but the hill by the church was shown. There at the top was a tall monolith, but there was one part that looked like a door.

There was a piece of stone that looked like..."The rune stone goes here?" Basil asks himself. He notices that Hiriam was not there, the detective thought he left, but the ghost comes through the wall.

"There's something in there," Hiriam said and shows something in his hand. It looked like another rune stone. Then, the dream was starting to fade, again.

"No! Not again! Hiriam!" Basil shouts, but Olivia's father was not there.

Basil awoke with a start, startling Dawson and Pedersen awake. "Basil, what's wrong?" Dawson asks. Basil looks at his partner and then at Pedersen.

"I'm going to do something crazy," the detective said, "I just hope it'll save us though," he adds. Basil walks up to the locked door, there was a goon guarding it. "You!" Basil shouts, causing the goon to walk up. "Fetch your master," the detective orders.

The goon scurries away and Basil notices some light coming from the outside, it was morning. Then, Svendsen appears before him. "You have something to say, Detective Basil?" the criminal asks.

"I'll lead you to the treasure, but on one condition," Basil said, "I don't want you to hurt my partner Dawson and Pedersen, is that understood?"

"Basil, are you crazy?!" Dawson asks in shock.

"Very well," Svendsen replies and orders one of his goons to unlock the door. The three captives were tied with rope and Svendsen leads the way out of the hut. The wind was treacherous, it was blowing much harder than it was the other day.

"It's a gale!" Pedersen shouts over the noise.

Basil never experienced a powerful wind storm, but it felt like it could take him off his feet at any moment. It felt like it took hours for them to reach the monolith, but Basil recognizes the structure.

Once they were near it, the dream Basil had was replaying in his mind. "The stone, do you have it?" the detective asks. Svendsen pulls out the rune stone from his pocket and has his goons release Basil.

The detective didn't have to look far, he found where the stone was suppose to go and slips it in. He turns it, there was a click and he pulls open a door. Basil looks around the door, inside was a small chamber and in it was a dried out skeleton of a female mouse, dressed in fine clothing of the Viking era.

"Lady of the Whispers," Basil said under his breath. He then notices a scroll on the skeleton's lap and he reaches for it. He unravels it, but he was shocked to see that there was no writing on it.

Suddenly, the scroll was taken out of his hand and he was pushed inside the chamber. Svendsen looks back at him with a snicker. "Well done, Mr. Basil of Baker Street," he said.

"You won't get away with this! That manuscript belongs to the descendants of the Vikings!" Basil shouts, but Svendsen just laughs.

"And I owe her thanks for this, why don't you two have a nice chat before you die?" the criminal asks, placing a lantern on the floor. Then, the stone door slams shut, trapping Basil inside the chamber.

The air was sucked out, he had to get out before he suffocated to death. Basil takes the lantern, he looks around for a way out. Then, he sees a space behind the skeleton. He gently takes it out, it was the real manuscript!

Something fell out and Basil picks it up, it was the stone Hiriam showed in his dream. He turns around to face the door, a slab of stone was sticking out. He inserts the rune stone like a door knob and turns it. There was a click and Basil pushes it open. He was free.

"Basil!" Dawson shouts. The detective steps out, it felt good to breathe in the cold air. He sees that Dawson and Pedersen were still tied with rope, but Svendsen and his crew were gone.

Basil unties them and once they got their footing, he reveals the manuscript. "Is this...?" Pedersen asks and looks through the ancient writing. "It's real! But what about the one Svendsen has?"

"It's blank, I saw it. I have a feeling that this lady knew that some rotten mice would want to have it for a fortune. So she hid behind her back, quite literally," Basil replies. Pedersen peers into the chamber, the Lady of the Whispers looking back at him.

The Norwegian police force was summoned and they were able to capture Svendsen and his crew at his hut. Svendsen realized that he had the blank manuscript and was about to head back to the monolith just as the police arrived.

Pedersen was thrilled to discover the resting place of The Lady of Whispers and he informed his colleagues all over Norway. However, the gale force winds were too strong for anyone to come see the monolith.

Albert could not fly in these conditions, so the best they could do is wait out the storm and fly back to London. Basil could not wait for much longer, he had to attend the masque ball with Olivia.

He did notice that he was feeling rather unwell. "What day is it?" he asked Dawson some time after solving the case.

"It's November 3rd," the doctor replies.

Days had passed and the 5th was edging closer. However, the winds had died down quite a bit, allowing Albert to take Basil and Dawson home to London. Pedersen decided to remain behind in Norway and head to Oslo with the manuscript. He was planning to spend time on translating the manuscript and revealing the culture of the Vikings.

Albert, with his passengers flew away from Norway. Basil had no intention to return, except when it was warm and sunny. He curls himself in his seat in the sardine can, his body was shivering hard.


From the author: I apologize for rushing, but I wanted to get to the masque ball in the next chapter. I will probably return to this at a later time.

See you soon!